Georgia Public Land Giant Buck Expected To Make Fab-40

Jeff Goins, of Good Hope, harvested a giant Georgia buck while hunting on the Oconee National Forest in Putnam County early this morning. It was the last day of his two-week vacation.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of deer,” Jeff told GON.

Jeff was hunting with his fiancée, Erica Maxwell, also of Good Hope. The two were hunting in a naturally built ground blind on top of a ridge that was built by Jeff and his son Ethan. This was Jeff and Erica’s first time hunting in the ground blind this deer season. He has hunted this particular stretch of public land for more than two decades.

Jeff and Erica got in the ground blind around 6:45 this morning. For nearly three hours they sat without seeing a deer. Around 9:30, that changed.

“The buck came across the bottom of the ridge and continued to make a circle. I lost sight of the deer and thought he was in the wind,” said Jeff.

Jeff Goins, of Good Hope, harvested a huge buck while hunting the Oconee National Forest in Putnam County on Nov. 11, 2016.

Jeff and Erica both said the winds were swirling really bad this morning.

“The deer came back into sight as he continued walking. I had to turn and stand to shoot the deer since my line of view was blocked,” said Jeff.

Jeff and Erica came by the GON office to share their hunt story.

Jeff was hunting with his fiancée Erica Maxwell, of Good Hope, when he killed the buck.

“The national forest officers that we ran into as we were leaving with the deer told us today was not a good day to go hunting according to the solar calendar, but we do not hunt by the solar calendar anyway,” said Erica.

Even with the windy conditions, Jeff was able to shoot the deer 21 yards away with his .308 Savage rifle. According to Jeff, the buck dropped as soon as he shot.

The deer is a main-frame 10-pointer that gross green-scored 172 inches and has 16 scoreable points. The buck is expected to net in the mid 150s. Jeff also killed a buck 10 days ago, so he is tagged out for the season on bucks.

When Jeff isn’t deer hunting, he is a captain with the DeKalb County Fire & Rescue. Jeff has been a GON fan for a long time but is not a current subscriber so he can’t enter Truck-Buck. Still, GON enjoys recognizing all big deer that are reported. If you have one, e-mail a picture to [email protected].