BY THE NUMBERS
3 Number of non-typical firearms bucks entered in the 2012 Big Deer Contest
30 Number of typical firearms entries.
41 Number of typical archery bucks entered.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has announced the winners of the 2012 Georgia Big Deer Contest. The competition is the oldest continuous whitetailed-deer contest in the state. The first awards were handed out in 1967.
Awards are presented in four categories. The divisions are for the largest typical and non-typical racks taken by archers and those taken by firearms hunters. Judging is based on the rack’s score using the Boone and Crockett Club scoring system for firearms kills or the Pope and Young Club scores for bucks taken with a bow and arrow. Both systems measure the antlers in increments of one-eighth of an inch.
Fletcher Culpepper of Sylvester won the Non-Typical Firearms Division. He shot a Worth County buck scoring 234 3/4 B&C points. The deer is the No. 3 all-time largest non-typical taken in the state.
Michael Spurlin of Leesburg claimed the Typical Firearms Division honors. His Lee County buck scored 168 3/4 B&C points.
David Campbell of Marshallville won the Typical Archery title with a Lee County buck scoring 173 5/8 P&Y points. His deer also is the largest typical archery buck ever taken in Georgia.
No deer meeting the minimum required score were entered in the Non-Typical Archery Division.
To qualify for the contest a buck must have been legally harvested during the 2012 hunting season. Archery typical racks must score at least 120 P&Y points. Non-typical archery bucks must score 155 P&Y or higher. The minimums for firearms bucks are 140 B&C for typicals and 170 B&C for non-typicals.
The winners will receive plaques and award certificates at the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association annual awards banquet Saturday evening in Albany. Georgia Sportsman magazine and GOWA are co-sponsors of the contest with the DNR.
A list of all qualified entries and contest rules are published in the Georgia In The Field column of the September edition of Georgia Sportsman.
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