|
| News |
|
| Seab Temples Wins Truck No. 22! |
| |
| By Daryl Kirby |
|
Posted Wednesday July 27 2011, 9:14 AM |
| |
|
|
Seab Temples, of Valdosta, made it into the Shoot-Out as the runner-up wildcard, and he went home as the Shoot-Out champion. Seab accepts the keys to his new truck from Jonathan Megel of contest sponsor John Megel Chevy in Dawsonville.
|
|
|
|
View All Images (5)
|
|
Put a group of Georgia deer hunters in front a big crowd in a pellet-rifle competition, dangle a pickup truck and a 4-wheeler on the line for the two best shots, and you’re guaranteed a heavy dose of excitement and hand-wringing drama.
The 22nd annual Truck-Buck Shoot-Out did not disappoint.
For the second year in a row, a contestant who made the Shoot-Out as the runner-up wildcard drove out of the Macon Centreplex in the new truck, meanwhile a pretty young lady from Fort Valley brought the crowd to its feet with her dramatic run at a grand prize.
The event was held July 23-24 during GON’s Outdoor Blast. There were 39 Shoot-Out contestants, down from the standard 42 because three Shoot-Out spots had no qualified entries last season. The lesson from that is to enter your buck, no matter how big — or small. A 1-inch spike would have made the Shoot-Out in any of those three scoring periods.
The winner of the 22nd Truck-Buck Shoot-Out was Seab Temples, of Valdosta. Seab earned his spot in the Shoot-Out with a Brooks County 10-pointer that netted 149 1/8. The buck didn’t win its Week 9 scoring period, but it was the highest-scoring Southern Zone buck that didn’t win a week, earning Seab a spot in the Shoot-Out as the runner-up wildcard.
The drama in the Shoot-Out finals was building several rounds before Seab made his winning shot.
Seven of the 21 shooters made it to round 5, a 30-foot shot at a raw egg, but only four of those would advance. When the Week 17 winner, 23-year-old Traci Hancock, of Fort Valley, busted the egg, the arena erupted. The crowd had a favorite.
First up in round 6 was Week 1 winner Curt Staley, of Albany. Curt missed, so three shooters remained. Next up was Week 10 winner Harley Davis Jr., of Gray. Harley had been in this situation before, having made a deep run in the 2006 Truck-Buck Shoot-Out. Harley’s pellet exploded the egg, so a miss by either of the remaining two would guarantee Harley the truck or 4-wheeler.
Next up was Traci, who took her time lining up her shot, then lowered the gun to take a deep breath and regain her composure. Again she lined up her shot, and when the pellet exploded, so did the crowd.
The only shooter left with a chance to join Harley and Traci in round 7 was Seab. Seab shot, and the egg didn’t break; however, the pellet nicked the rubber band holding the target, and the egg began to shake. At least four seconds after the shot, the rubber band shook enough to send the egg to the floor — a hit by Shoot-Out rules.
Three shooters headed to round 7, 60 feet at the egg. Harley was first, and he missed. Then came Traci with a chance to lock up one of the two grand prizes, but she also missed. Seab stepped up on the stage and calmly put a pellet on the mark to win the 22nd grand prize truck given away by GON.
Still to be determined was the 4-wheeler winner, so Harley and Traci shot again. Harley missed, and Traci made the pressure-packed shot.
Truck-Buck is a statewide big-buck contest that is broken down into weeks, or scoring periods, during the Georgia deer season. The highest-scoring buck entered during each week of the season from both the Northern and Southern Zones by a GON subscriber earns a spot in the Shoot-Out and a weekly prize. At the Shoot-Out, the Northern Zone winner competes heads-up against the Southern Zone winner, and the winner of that earns a Mathews bow, a CVA muzzleloader or a Browning rifle and a spot in the Shoot-Out finals to decide who wins a brand-new pickup truck from Megel Chevy or a 4-wheeler from Mountain Motorsports. The losers of the heads-up competition earn great prize packages that include items from Hunter Safety System, Tinks and Realtree.
In addition, there are four wildcard categories for the highest-scoring buck taken by a female hunter, the highest-scoring buck taken on Georgia public land, the highest-scoring buck taken by a youth under 16 years old and of course, as Seab Temples knows, the highest-scoring buck that doesn’t win a week — the runner-up wildcard.
Another year of the Truck-Buck Shoot-Out contest will begin with the Georgia archery-season opener for deer on Sept. 10.
Hunters must be paid GON subscribers before they kill a buck to be eligible for the contest. To subscribe online, visit <www.gon.com> or call (800) 438-4663.
The complete rules and an entry form for the GON Truck-Buck contest can be found on pages 76-77 and on the GON website.
Click here to watch highlights of the 2011 Truck-Buck Shoot-Out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
