Another outstanding buck was arrowed on Sept. 9 by 25-year-old real estate agent, Jeff Fulford of Albany. Like the Byrd buck, it too was taken in southwest Georgia of county of Lee, long known for its record-book whitetails. Oddly enough, however, the county hasn’t produced many P&Y bucks.

Though relatively young, Fulford is by no means inexperienced, having downed three other bucks by means of his compound bow on the same property in the past few years. One of those -- an 8-pointer he shot in 2004 -- made the P&Y record book with a score of 127 6/8.

The land Fulford hunts, which belongs to a friend’s dad, lies in the northeast portion of the county. Although it’s only 65 acres of planted pines, pasture and broom sedge, it’s bordered on one side by a large tract of hardwoods, and virtually no hunting goes on anywhere around the property.

A small opening not far from the hardwoods is planted in ladino clover, a deer magnet during the summer and early fall; acorns dropping from the two large live oaks anchoring the center of the food plot offer an additional attraction. Pre-season scouting had shown that multiple deer had been coming into the food plot every afternoon at almost the same time.

“Honestly, I probably would not have gone on opening day because of how hot it was,” Fulford stated, “but I had been getting pictures of a very large buck on my Cam Tracker for the past three weeks. Actually, I got some photos of what I believe to be the same deer two years ago, when he was an 8-pointer.”

By 4:15 p.m. Jeff had walked some 250 yards from his truck to the 16-foot ladder stand that he had attached to one of the live oaks in the food plot. Nestled within tree’s spreading limbs, the stand afforded a good view of the opening, plus a well-worn trail entering from the hardwoods.

“I had been sitting there about 45 minutes, and I started hearing deer coming through the hardwoods,” Fulford recalled. “That place is one that, when you see the first deer, you better get ready, because they usually start coming out one after another.”

Sure enough, a doe and two fawns meandered into the clover, followed shortly by another doe and a small 4-pointer. As they fed on the lush legume, looking like contented Holsteins, a 6-pointer joined them moments later.

“I had already stood up in the stand and hooked my release on the string,” Fulford continued, “and, all of a sudden, I hear footsteps behind me. When I turned and cut my eyes around, I could see that it was -- the big 10-pointer 5 five yards from the tree I was in.”

The buck ambled on past the tree and started feeding well within range along with the other deer. The problem now was that some of the deer had become alert and seemed to be looking right at the hunter, even though the big buck seemed oblivious to what was going on.

“That’s the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life,” Fulford confessed, “knowing I’m going to have to draw back to shoot, but can’t, because the other deer were watching me.”

After a few anxious minutes, most of the other deer began working their way back into the woods -- all except for the 10-pointer and one of the smaller bucks, by then a mere 10 feet from the base of the stand. After what seemed an eternity, the smaller buck turned to follow the already departed deer, and the master of the patch lifted its head and began to move in the same direction. At 20 yards, fortunately, it stopped briefly.

“It was one of those now-or-never deals,” Fulford said. “I drew back, settled the pin right behind his shoulder and released. I was really shook up, but I thought I made a good shot.”

After watching the buck run off -- low to the ground, its tail tucked -- Fulford waited in the stand for 30 more minutes. He then got down, retrieved his arrow and followed the ample blood trail a few yards before deciding to give the deer another hour before tracking him.

It was dark when the archer returned to the trail, flashlight in hand. By 10:00 p.m. his dad, Ed Fulford, had joined the search. What had started out as a slam-dunk retrieval soon became to feel like an airball, as the blood trail totally vanished after about 200 yards. Following 30 minutes of random searching, the duo was ready to give up and come back the next day when they stumbled upon the buck, dead in the middle of the mowed road that led to their truck.

The trophy’s beautifully symmetrical rack had good mass, 10 better-than-average points and traces of fresh blood on the beams from just shedding its velvet. When later measured, the rack grossed 144 7/8 and netted 140 5/8 P&Y points, making it the No. 3 bow buck from South Georgia last season and the second-best ever from Lee County.

In total, nine P&Y bucks were arrowed in the southern part of the state last season -- and next month we’ll cover the best bow kills from North Georgia.