The Brannen Booner

George Brannen poses with the 18-point Worth County buck soon after he shot it from a food plot on Nov. 7 last season. The rack has many amazing features, including remarkable main beams — almost 30 inches each — and a 14-inch tine.

Checking any recent issue of GON for land prices that include significant acreages of excellent wildlife habitat can be a brain-numbing experience. Less than 50 years ago these same types of properties, lands classified as unsuitable for farming or growing pine timber, had very little value. However, beginning in the 1970s and continuing through the 1980s, a growing statewide deer population fueled a phenomenal growth in the popularity of whitetail hunting. Not surprisingly, that dramatic growth directly affected the value and availability of quality hunting land throughout the state.

George Brannen can relate first-hand to the limited availability of land for sale during that particular time. Beginning in the 1980s, he spent sever- al frustrating years searching unsuccessfully for a large acreage tract of quality timberland to purchase. Finally, in 1994, George was meeting with a land broker in south Georgia when he learned that Mercer Mill Plantation was interested in selling a 4,000-acre block of land along the Flint River. After touring the Worth County property and seeing the impressive stands of oak timber along the river corridor, he immediately made arrangements to buy the land, which he later appropriately named Red Oaks Plantation.

George’s acquisition was a long- term investment aimed specifically at providing future hunting opportunities for his family and friends. In terms of sound decision making, second only to the land purchase, was his eventual decision to hire Brian McClure as a full-time manager of Red Oaks. McClure, a wildlife professional with more than 11 years experience of managing other plantation proper- ties, was given the task of developing an overall management plan for quail, turkey and deer, with whitetails having high priority.

“Initially, we did some scrambling for a couple of years, trying to deter- mine an accurate estimate of our deer population,” Brian said. “We tried a number of census methods, including track counts and spotlight counts, but it quickly became apparent that those were primarily useful to establish trends, not derive population estimates. “Eventually, by trial and error, we found that an annual camera survey was the best method for determining population estimates. Basically, the survey involves 27 trail-camera locations set up in a grid pattern, with each section of the grid including approximately 160 acres. The survey takes place over a 10-day period in late summer when antler growth is nearly complete. Each camera is usually located near a food source, and the locations remain constant from year to year.”

From the beginning, there was never any doubt that Red Oaks harbored a substantial deer population. In fact, even prior to the camera survey, the harvest strategy was to take as many antlerless deer as possible.

“I knew we were heading in the right direction when the results of the first camera survey showed that our population was approximately 90 deer per square mile,” Brian said. “We fur- ther increased our harvest efforts on the antlerless segment of the population, and within a couple of years our population estimate had dropped to a more manageable level of about 75 deer per square mile.”

Red Oaks can maintain a population of this size because of the high- quality natural habitat, an annual control burning management plan, and the fact that approximately 10 percent of the total acreage is annually planted. This planted acreage is in the form of wildlife openings, 2 to 10 acres in size, interspersed throughout the area’s upland habitat.

“Our primary summer planting is iron-clay peas, with a few scattered openings of clover.” Brian said. “In the fall, we switch to one of the cereal grains, such as wheat or oats, plus clover.

“In the beginning, we did no supplemental feeding and under normal conditions, I really don’t believe it’s needed. However, after experiencing a severe summer drought and losing all of our summer plantings, we decided that a back-up food source was necessary. Now, from March through August we make available an alternate food supplement, primarily a dry protein pellet that deer can utilize when needed.”

Arguably, the most important decision with any intensively managed whitetail population involves the harvest criteria for antlered bucks. Opinions will usually vary in proportion to the number of individuals involved. However, at Red Oaks, George and Brian were in agreement from day one that the primary criteria should be a buck’s age, which in most cases can be determined by body size and configuration.

“Our general rule is if a buck is at least 3 1/2 years old and has 8 points or less, the deer can be taken,” Brian said.

“I realize that may be a little controversial, but our data indicates that if a buck still has a basic 8-point frame at 3 1/2, there is little chance the deer will eventually turn into a 10- or 12-pointer. Our management goal is not to produce mature 8-pointers.

“Additionally, our fairly intense antlerless harvest has brought the deer population very close to a 1:1 sex ratio. Under these conditions, too many mature bucks will increase fighting, which then increases the incidence of broken antlers and unwanted mortality.”

Over the last few years, George, his son, Sam, and other family members or friends have taken several exceptional bucks on the plantation. While the gross antler measurements often exceeded record-book figures, required measuring deductions always managed to drop final scores just below the minimum entry level. Nevertheless, everyone agreed that it was only a matter of time until Red Oaks produced a book deer.

During the plantation’s 2010 cam- era census, a number of photos were recorded of one particularly impressive buck. The deer’s huge rack included a 6×6 typical main frame, plus several additional abnormal points.

“I immediately recognized the deer from the previous year’s survey,” Brian said. “The buck was also a fairly big 12-pointer in 2009, but the right and left antlers didn’t match up well. Since we had estimated the deer to be only 3 1/2 years old, the decision was made to not hunt the buck that fall.

“That’s always a tough decision to live with because in many cases the end result will be negative. There’s no guarantee the deer will still be around the following year, or for that matter, even the following week. Whitetails are known for sporadic movements, especially during the rut, and in the past we have had other big deer suddenly dis- appear from the area. Also, there’s always the risk of the buck being injured while fighting or lost to a vehicle collision on one of the bordering highways.”

In this instance, the gamble paid off; not only was the buck still on Red Oaks, but its rack was noticeably larger. Understandably, everyone was excited to hear the news; however, there was still the small task of encountering the deer during hunting season.

During early October, the big deer was captured on a trail camera, along with several other bucks and does, feeding at night in a recently planted oat food plot. This was the same general area where the buck had previously been photographed, so Brian was confident the deer was primarily staying in an adjacent pocket of thick hardwood ravines and bottoms along the river.

Shortly after the opening of gun season in mid October, George began hunting the location. Positioned in a 12-foot ladder stand along the border of the oat plot and planted pines, the hunter was approximately 100 yards from a hardwood drain on the north end of the opening. Because of the terrain and plot location, the stand could only be hunted when the wind was from an easterly direction.

By the end of the season’s first three weeks, George had logged more than 36 hours in the stand. Seeing deer had not been a problem; however, the buck he was looking for had yet to make an appearance. Nevertheless, he remained optimistic that the approaching rut would eventually push the big whitetail out of its nocturnal movement pattern.

Around mid afternoon on Nov. 7, George climbed back into the oat-plot stand. The weather was clear and cool with only a slight breeze out of the east.

“By sunset, there were six bucks, including a big, long-tined 8-pointer, and several does feeding in the oats,” George said. “I was using my binoculars, scanning the surrounding woods when I detected a flicker of movement and saw a flash of antlers off through the trees at the north end of the plot. Thinking it might be the buck, my heart immediately skipped a couple of beats.”

Within seconds, the hunter’s eyes confirmed what he had been anxiously hoping for. Quickly swapping the binoculars for his rifle, he watched the big deer turn out of the hardwoods and enter a stand of planted pines before finally walking into the field. Eighty yards away, George waited until the buck turned broadside before taking a deep breath and squeezing the trigger. At the shot, the deer bolted forward and began running. It covered only a short distance before crashing to the ground.

“Until that moment, I had remained surprisingly calm,” George said. “But once the buck went down, I couldn’t stop shaking. Everyone had heard me shoot and within minutes, Brian and Sam arrived on the scene; we did some real celebrating.”

The biggest surprise of the evening took place after the buck was carried to the plantation’s cooler. After recording the weight and other data, Brian removed a jawbone to check the deer’s exact age.

“It would be an understatement to say I was stunned when I looked at the tooth wear on the jaw bone,” Brian said. “Instead of the buck being 4 1/2 or possibly 5 1/2 years old, as I had expected, the actual age was no less than 7 1/2, and very possibly 8 1/2 years. Never before have I misjudged a buck’s age that badly. Had I known the true age in 2009, I certainly wouldn’t have gone along with the decision to not hunt the deer. Fortunately, the way things turned out, this was one time when it paid to be wrong.”

One look at the buck’s awesome rack and Brian’s statement becomes quite understandable. Official antler measurements, taken after the required drying period, include 18 scorable points, 12 of which comprise the basic typical frame. Exceptionally long main beams that exceed 29 and 28 inches, five tines that tape between 11 and 14 inches in length, and an inside spread of 19 2/8 inches, contribute to an amazing gross typical score of 200 3/8 inch- es. Minor asymmetry deductions reduce the net figure to 191 4/8.

After including the six additional abnormal points, totaling 17 5/8 inches, the rack’s final non-typical Boone & Crockett score is 209 1/8.

The buck is Georgia’s top white- tail of 2010 and is the second biggest non-typical ever recorded from Worth County. On the state’s all-time list of non-typical whitetails, George Brannen’s giant buck ranks No. 11.