10-Year-Old Smacks A Giant Georgia Buck

A 150-class buck is special, but when a 10-year-old kid is the hunter, it becomes water-cooler chatter.

The lucky hunter was Randal Holder (aka Boom), of Hawkinsville, and he killed the big buck on Thanksgiving morning in Houston County. He was hunting with his dad Doug.

“Back at the beginning of the 2014 season, Boom and I had a short, quick encounter with this buck,” said Doug. “Late on Saturday morning of the second weekend of rifle season, we caught a glance at what seemed to be a tall, dark-racked buck that had a long body. The buck caught us off guard and gave us just a second or two peek at him. Luckily we had not spooked him.”

Even with trail cameras out since bow season, the Holders didn’t have a picture of this buck.

“Several weekends went by of hunting the same stand, and it produced only sightings of small bucks,” said Doug. “Later in the season, the rut had finally started, and on some other stands, we saw some chasing and a few different nice-sized bucks. Boom and I had several conversations about wanting to see that tall, dark-antlered deer again.”

With Randal out of school for the Thanksgiving holiday, the father-and-son team planned to hunt hard. Thanksgiving morning brought strong winds before daylight, but they calmed by daylight.

“The first light would produce no sightings of any critters other than squirrels and crows,” said Doug. “We listened to a far-off duck hunt and heard several other rifle shots way off in the distance. We like to say that the rifle shots we hear are just does being shot for meat.

“Around 8:15, we caught movement, and it turned out to be the tall, dark-antlered buck walking quickly through the woods. He was heading in the direction of one of our shooting lanes. Boom got ready with his .243, and I got the camera rolling. The buck continued to walk until he stopped in our shooting lane. Without hesitation, Boom placed a shot just behind the shoulder. We were able to watch the buck run a short distance and then expire.”

There was no ground shrinkage on the deer.

“This was one of the few bucks that got bigger the closer we got to him,” said Doug.

“Boom’s smile got bigger and bigger, too.”

Boom’s daddy was not a GON subscriber, so the deer is not eligible for the Truck-Buck contest, although we certainly enjoy showing off this fine buck for GON readers. It is expected to gross in the 150s.

As December marches on, it historically becomes easier and easier to win a week of Truck-Buck. Make sure those subscriptions are up to date at bit.ly/1rXoxla.

Whether you are a subscriber or not, if you kill a giant Georgia buck, make sure to contact GON by e-mailing [email protected], or call 800.438.4663.