12-Point “Doc” Officially Ben Hill County’s Best Buck Ever

It’s that time of the year when some official scorers are getting their hands on and measuring tapes around some of the season’s best bucks, and one of those bucks just measured came out even better than expected. Usually estimated scores seem to be inflated, but in the case of Logan Crosson’s giant 12-point buck from Ben Hill County, everyone was a bit conservative on how well the buck’s rack would score.

Certified scorer Bill Cooper taped Logan’s buck at 168 3/8 net, the best buck ever recorded from Ben Hill County. The buck’s main-frame 6×6 rack tallied 173 6/8 total inches.

Below is the original story about “Doc” and Logan’s hunt that was published on Nov. 4, 2020.

The hunt for an elusive buck nicknamed “Doc” in Ben Hill County is finally over.

Logan Crosson, 19, of Tifton, was able to take down the monster deer Friday, Oct. 30, while hunting on his family farm. Countless hours had been spent hunting this particular buck.

“He was so inconsistent, everyone around us had pictures of him too, about seven to eight people,” said Logan.

Someone had even gotten a shot at Doc last year, and had missed. Within the week leading up to Logan’s encounter with the buck, two other hunters spotted the buck while in the stand, but neither was able to take a shot at him.

“My dad and I had gotten a pretty good idea of his home territory and what he was doing,” Logan said. “The deer appeared to be spending the majority of time on our farm but was traveling over to several of the neighbors’ farms in the area, and there were several people that had him as No. 1 on their ‘hit list.’

“I bowhunted Doc as often as I could earlier this season when time and the wind allowed. I’m also a freshman at Georgia Southern, so that also made it difficult to get back home and hunt as often as I would’ve liked.”

Logan had already decided to come home from college for the weekend to hunt knowing cooler weather was moving in.

“On Thursday my dad said Doc was in front of my stand around 9:50 a.m., according to a trail camera,” said Logan. “I knew if he was there that morning when it was 73 degrees, then he would be there the next morning if it were going to be 48.

“I hunted Thursday afternoon and didn’t see anything, but as I was walking out, I heard a buck grunting and what sounded like him pushing a doe. Daddy and I talked about it that night and made plans for the hunt on Friday morning. I’m an avid bowhunter and really wanted to harvest Doc with my bow, but daddy convinced me that it would be better to take my rifle, especially for the stand I was planning to hunt.”

Logan got to the stand Friday morning extremely early, being as quiet as he possibly could.

“Right at daybreak, I had a deer walk into the food plot. At first I thought it was Doc, but it turned out to be a small yearling buck. He fed for a few minutes before walking into the woods to my right and bedding down less than 40 yards from my stand. I was watching him and kept hearing something over my right shoulder in the woods. It didn’t really sound like a deer, so I didn’t pay it much attention. After continuing to hear it, I looked back and saw dark chocolate tines through the limbs. As soon as I saw his dark horns, I recognized who it was.

“All I could see were his huge G2s,” said Logan.

Logan Crosson with his Ben Hill County 12-point that has a 6×6 rack that has been officially scored at 168 3/8 net and with 173 6/8 total inches.

“He was just looking in my direction, I was thinking, ‘Oh My Gosh, Oh My Gosh,’ Then because of a slight wind, he smelled me and started stomping, I thought to myself, I’ve got to shoot right now.”

Logan normally shoots right-handed, but due to the buck being over his right shoulder, he raised his rifle and took the shot left-handed.

“I knew I couldn’t waste time, I couldn’t shake, I knew I couldn’t mess this up,” said Logan.

“He continued to move to my right, and when he walked behind a tree, I made my move and turned my rifle and adjusted in the stand. I aimed left handed and free handed and found him in the scope and squeezed the trigger. As soon as I shot, I knew that I’d made a good shot. I thought I heard him go down but wasn’t 100% certain.”

Turns out, Doc ran only about 30 yards before crashing.

“I called my dad right off the bat, I was almost in tears at this point with the adrenaline going,” said Logan.

Logan’s friend, Ally Pate, and her mom, Kim, were the closest people who were available to come help Logan retrieve the buck from the woods.

“I wish my dad could have been there to see him,” said Logan. “Together we have put a lot of time and effort into hunting. He has been a huge help with cameras and food plots since I’m away at college.”

Logan’s dad, Bert, was able to stop by Ballard’s Taxidermy the next day to see this buck that had become a local legend in the area.

Logan is entered in Week 7 of the Truck-Buck Contest.

Ben Hill County All-Time Buck Records