Bag-A-Buck is back for 2026

Enter your buck in the Bag-A-Buck Contest

The Carolina Sportsman Bag-A-Buck Contest returns for the 2026 deer hunting season, and once again, Cherokee Run Hunting Lodge is donating a 2-day hunt for two hunters as the Grand Prize, which will be voted on by a panel of outdoor experts. In addition to the Grand Prize, we will also give away monthly prizes, which include an Ultimate Eyes & Ears Combo from ShellShock Pro, a YETI Rambler bottle, and a Carolina Sportsman hat. Other prizes are still coming in, and this is sure to be our biggest Bag-A-Buck Contest yet. We had more than 800 entrants during the 2025 season, and we look to have even more this season.

And remember, it’s not always the biggest buck that wins, so whether you kill a spike buck or a 12-point trophy, don’t hesitate to enter your hunt in the Bag-A-Buck Contest. Our biggest hint on improving your chance to win? Our judges love to read the story of your hunt. What made it interesting to you? What made it challenging? Did you oversleep, get run out of your preferred stand by wasps, forget to load your gun before the big one stepped out, or did all go according to plan – or even better than expected? 

South Carolina’s Youth Day in Game Zones 3 and 4 takes place on Aug. 8, so that’s when the contest officially starts, and it runs through the end of the season. The contest is open to hunters in North and South Carolina who kill a buck in the Carolinas using fair chase methods.

Click here to enter the 2026 Bag-A-Buck Contest, and click here to visit the Bag-A-Buck Gallery.