While receiving his Big Deer Contest award, Ian McTurk of Valdosta displayed his No. 1 non-typical firearms buck from the 2004-05 season. Photo by Dottie Head.

On the pages of Georgia Sportsman each September, hunters can read about the winners of the previous year's Georgia Big Deer Contest. For some, it's a shot at recognition for that once-in-a-lifetime deer; for others, it's a chance to dream of earning a spot on next year's list.

But what exactly is this contest? Who sponsors it? And what's the best place to hunt in order to maximize the likelihood of your making the list?

Let's start with some history. The Georgia Big Deer Contest is the oldest continuously-operating big-deer competition in the state. It's not the only contest, but it does have the longest uninterrupted history. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources founded the annual contest back in 1968 for deer harvested during the 1967 season. Deer hunting was just making a comeback after years of restocking efforts by DNR, and the contest was a means of recognizing some of the larger animals harvested. Today, the DNR doesn't promote trophy hunting per se, but since many hunters take high-quality bucks each year, the contest is a vehicle for taking note their accomplishments.

Over the years, other sponsors have joined to help with the program -- the first being Georgia Sportsman, which has been involved with the contest on and off for 30 years. Then, in 1991, the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association teamed up with the DNR and Georgia Sportsman to provide a venue for presenting this award. GOWA, consisting of outdoors media and communications professionals, hosts an annual awards banquet each spring. It is at this event that the sportsmen and women harvesting the largest bucks in each of the four categories are honored.

The Big Deer Contest recognizes winners in the categories of Archery Typical; Archery Non-Typical; Firearms Typical and Firearms Non-Typical. Deer harvested by means of crossbows are eligible for entry in the firearms categories.

The minimum scores for entries are 120 Pope & Young Club points for archery typical, 145 P&Y for archery non-typical, 145 Boone and Crockett Club points for typical firearms and 170 B&C for non-typical firearms kills. Of course, to be recognized, individuals must enter the contest.

Over the years, many winners have been lauded for taking many impressive racks. Let's take a look at the last 10 years of the contest and track the locations in which the biggest deer have been harvested.

From 1995 to 2004, the top deer in the archery typical competition scored 160 7/8 Pope & Young Club points; David Campbell took that Macon County buck in 2003. The largest archery non-typical deer, killed by Wyman Brooks in Henry County in 1999, scored 182 6/8 P&Y.

In the firearms typical category, Tony Lewis claims overall bragging rights with the whitetail he downed in Dooly County in 2004; it scored 180 4/8 Boone and Crockett Club points. Taken by Blake Voltz in Muscogee County in 1997, the largest deer in the firearms non-typical contest scored an amazing 231 2/8 B&C.

The Peach State is carved up into 159 counties -- more than any other state in the nation except Texas. Fifty of these counties posted no entries in the Big Deer Contest in the past decade -- but others posted some big numbers. If you're looking to add your name to the annals of the winners, consider these counties, all of which have generated a passel of entries in recent years.