Truck-Buck Scoring Results 2004-05 Season

We knew it was a great buck. We even figured it as a lock to make the Boone & Crockett record book… but 180 4/8? Net!? TYPICAL?!

The buck that Tony Lewis of Cordele shot and entered in Week 10 of the contest set a new standard — it’s the highest-scoring typical rack we’ve ever had in the contest. It is also the No. 7 buck on Georgia’s all-time typical Boone & Crockett list.

This giant Dooly County 12-pointer was even better than we thought. The buck netted 180 4/8 Boone & Crockett points, making it the best typical buck ever in Truck-Buck and the No. 7 typical on Georgia’s all-time list. Tony Lewis of Cordele shot the buck on November 19 and won Week 10 of the contest.

The 12-pointer has a total of 192 inches of antler before deductions. Tine length is amazing, including G-2s that measure 12 3/8 and 13 3/8 inches, and G-3s of 13 2/8 and 13 4/8 inches. Another huge factor in the amazing score are G-4s that measure 9 6/8 and 8 5/8 inches.

Week 10 also produced our Runner-Up Wild-Card for the highest-scoring second-place buck during a week. It’s fitting that Bobby Brannen of Tifton won a seat in the Shoot-Out with the Runner-Up Wild-Card. With a net score of 158 0/8, Bobby’s Colquitt County 13-pointer was the third-best buck in the entire contest. Only Week 10 (his week) and Week 9 had higher-scoring bucks.

There were plenty of other highlights from this year’s scoring weekend, most notably a father and daughter who both earned a spot in the Shoot-Out. Gary King of Oakfield won Week 1 with a Worth County 10-pointer that netted 153 1/8. His 14-year-old daughter, Samantha Linhart, shot an 11-pointer in Week 15 that netted 150 2/8 and earned the Ladies Wild-Card.

Here’s the best bow-kill of the contest and maybe of the season. Gary King of Oakfield won Week 1 with this Worth County 10-pointer that netted 153 1/8 typical, but a rule only allows one Shoot-Out competitor per subscription. Gary’s daughter, Samantha Linhart, won the Ladies Wild-Card and will compete for the truck and four-wheeler in the Shoot-Out next August.

Unfortunately, contest rules only allow one Shoot-Out contestant per subscription. The family decided that Samantha would take the Shoot-Out stage. Gary still wins the bow for placing first in Week 1, but Marshall Compton of Conyers moves up to the Week 1 Shoot-Out slot.

There were other highlights are well:

• Bowhunters tied a Truck-Buck all-time record with 17 bucks that will make the bowhunting record books. Nine of those Pope & Young class bucks were taken during bow season, and eight were killed during firearms seasons, continuing a trend of many bowhunters who stick with their stick and string throughout the deer season.

The top non-typical P&Y was the Week 2 winner. Taylor McCann of Covington arrowed a DeKalb County 16-pointer that had a net non-typical score of 174 7/8.

A bowhunter also made waves in Week 15. Chuck Birchfield of Dallas accomplished two impressive feats. First, he arrowed a huge P&Y buck, a 10-pointer from Fulton County that netted 151 3/8. Second, Chuck won Week 15 of the contest with a bow-kill. Actually he tied for the Week 15 top spot. Both Chuck and Jeremiah Brinson of Pelham will earn a Browning A-Bolt rifle and have a seat at the Shoot-Out. Jeremiah killed a Grady County 10-pointer that also netted 151 3/8.

• The primitive-weapons week went to a hunter who will have a chance at two trucks. Phillip Harper of Luthersville won Week 5 of Truck-Buck with a Meriwether County muzzleloader buck that netted 146 2/8. He will be competing for the Chevy Z71 in the Truck-Buck Shoot-Out. Also, as a GONetwork member, Phillip won his district, and he has a 1-in-32 chance in a grand prize drawing for another truck in the GONetwork Deer contest.

• The young ladies dominated the Wild-Card categories this year. As mentioned, Samantha Linhart took the Ladies Wild-Card spot, and she also had the top-scoring buck in the Youth Wild-Card category. The contest gives priority to the youngsters, meaning they are first counted in other Wild-Card categories they might be eligible for, so Samantha won the Ladies slot. Waiting in the wings for the Youth Wild-Card was 12-year-old Brooke Tomlin of Covington, whose Newton County 11-pointer netted 142 4/8.

The Youth Wild-Card spot in the Shoot-Out goes to 12-year-old Brooke Tomlin of Covington. Brooke’s Newton County 11-pointer netted 142 4/8.

• The Shoot-Out will feature two hunters who killed their bucks on public land. The WMA Wild-Card went to Paul Ewing of Sylvannia with a Tuckahoe WMA 10-pointer that netted 137 0/8, and Week 6 was won with a Piedmont Refuge buck killed by Gerald Goss of Canton that netted 146 5/8.

• Typicals & Non-typicals: In many weeks there are non-typical bucks that score higher, but rank lower, than typical-racked bucks. When comparing typicals versus non-typicals, the scores are divided by the Boone & Crockett minimums for the all-time B&C record book — 170 for a typical buck and 195 for a non-typical. When the net score of a buck is divided by the B&C minimum, it gets a “percentage of the B&C minimum.”

Truck-Buck is not over. We’ll have the hunt stories of our Shoot-Out qualifiers this summer. Then in August at the Perry Buckarama we will have the Shoot-Out competitionfor the 4-wheeler from Motions in Marietta and a new Chevy Z71 pick-up from John Megal Chervolet in Dahlonega. Added excitement during the event will be the GONetwork Deer Contest grand-prize drawing, where one of 32 GONetwork district winners will win a Chevy Colorado truck.