--- title: "‘I Was Shaking.’ Georgia Hunter’s First Archery Buck Could Be the New State Record" description: "A bowhunter's first buck green-scored 188 inches, which puts it in the running for a potential new state record." date: "2026-10-13" modified: "2026-10-13" authors: - name: "Bob McNally" job_title: "Contributor" link: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/authors/bob-mcnally.md" url: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/georgia-archery-buck-possible-record/" categories: - "Big Game Hunting" - "Deer Hunting" - "Hunting" - "Trophy Deer" - "Whitetail Deer Hunting" tags: - "News" --- # ‘I Was Shaking.’ Georgia Hunter’s First Archery Buck Could Be the New State Record ![A photo of a hunter with a nice typical georgia buck that could be the new state record.]() *\Photo courtesy Josh Pfeiffer\* Josh Pfeiffer of Perry, Georgia, is a rural real estate businessman. Four years ago, he bought a small farm in Macon County as an investment, but in time his family learned to love the place. “We hunted it, but only shot a couple deer there over the four years we’ve owned it,” the 46-year-old tells *Outdoor Life*. “But during that time I noticed a good buck that I watched get bigger and bigger.” Pfeiffer planned to let the buck grow to six, but when trail camera photos showed the buck’s rack had jumped in size from the previous season, he figured he had waited long enough. But ahead of bow season, Pfeiffer suffered a leg injury that ruled out climbing into a tree stand. Undeterred, he dug a pit along a field edge — where he’d seen the big buck on camera — and created a ground blind. Pfeiffer has taken plenty of does and wild hogs with his bow, but he’d never arrowed a buck before. His old Hoyt was in storage, so he borrowed a buddy’s setup — also a Hoyt. “I shot his bow and arrows and I did well with them, so that’s the setup I used.” ![Two girls in camo suits hold the antlers of a big buck.]() *Maris (left) and Julep helped blood-trail the buck. *Photo courtesy Josh Pfeiffer** On his very first time hunting the ground blind, Pfeiffer spotted the huge buck. But the deer caught a little movement as Pfeiffer was getting ready to make a shot. “I thought I really spooked him, so decided to give him a few days to settle down before going back to the ground blind to try again.” He kept an eye on the trail cameras and, sure enough, after a couple days the buck had returned. And on the afternoon of Sept. 21, Pfeiffer did, too. He got into the blind around 5:30 p.m. and saw a few does. At 7 p.m., he saw the buck in the timber. His antlers — huge and symmetrical — were unmistakable. The buck quickly entered the field and stopped at 20 yards. “I ducked down in my blind, hooked on my release, raised up, drew, and my whole peep sight covered his shoulder. I put my 20-yard pin on him and released.” Pfeiffer watched the buck race away, leaning hard to one side. He’d made a perfect shot, with the broadhead passing completely through. “I was shaking, and called some friends, and my wife, Desiree,” he says. “They wanted to come and look for the buck right away. But I wanted to go back home and wait to give the deer plenty of time before we trailed it.” Pfieffer, his wife, and their two daughters Maris, 9, and Julep, 6, returned later to track the deer. They followed a blood trail through the woods, with Maris leading the way. “She’s hunting now, and is all about tracking,” says Pfieffer. “We followed the blood trail, and in a flashlight beam Maris spotted his rack and the deer lying there.” ![A dad with his two daughters with a nice buck.]() *Another view of the buck. *Photo courtesy Josh Pfeiffer** With help from family and friends, they got the buck out of the woods and home. A couple days later Josh took the buck’s head and cape to Dublin, Georgia, to drop off at Tim Knight Taxidermy. “When Tim got a look at my buck, he went wild. He said right away it was a 180-inch buck and may be a Georgia archery record. I thought it may have just been a county record, but it green-scored at nearly 188 inches.” The buck can’t be officially scored until the 60-day drying period passes. The rack is likely to lose an inch or so, but it should score at least 180 inches, and likely more. The current Georgia typical archery record, according to the Pope & Young Club, is a 177 1/8-inch whitetail taken in 2018 by Manny Kaloyannides from DeKalb County. The overall largest typical whitetail taken in Georgia is 191 4/8-inch deer taken in 1961 by Buck Ashe in Monroe County with a .30-30, according to the Boone and Crockett Club. No matter how the buck scores — the first he’s ever taken with a bow — Pfieffer will have it mounted. **Read Next:** [The 5 Most Controversial Trophy Bucks in Recent History]() “He wasn’t an especially heavy buck, maybe 220 pounds, and I think he was five years old,” says Pfieffer. “I always say that the way to get big deer on a farm is to ‘feed ‘em birthdays.’ But this buck was plenty big enough this year.” ## Author Bob McNally has been an outdoor writer since shortly after the earth’s crust cooled. He has written 12 outdoor books, more than 5,000 outdoor magazine stories (including many for Outdoor Life) and more newspaper outdoor columns and features than there are hairs on a grizzly bear.