Monster buck killed in Pennsylvania missed state record by a hair
An Adams County monster-sized buck, taken this fall, was less than an inch from beating a Pennsylvania record.
Anthony Faus of East Berlin shot a buck with a 228 3/8-inch rack to become the number two non-typical whitetail deer taken in archery in the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s big game records. Antlers are scored through a combination of measurements of their length, circumference and width.
He killed the deer on Oct. 15 with a crossbow.
“It’s one of the most impressive deer racks I’ve seen as part of scoring in my 15 years of being an official scorer,” said Bob D’Angelo, coordinator for the state's Big Game Scoring Program.
The 22-point deer has a greatest spread of 26 7/8 inches that was measured between its widest tines projecting outward from the rack. The inside spread is 18 4/8 inches, and 12 of the points are considered to be abnormal.
The incredible trophy deer was taken by a hunter who did not want notoriety. A friend took the antlers on behalf of Faus to a public game commission scoring session held in February in Harrisburg.
“I’m so grateful he did,” D’Angelo said.
“Some people will go to all extremes to get it scored and want their photos taken with it and the notoriety that goes with it. And then you get something like this where the guy wasn’t even going to get it scored,” he said.
The number one buck in the nontypical archery division was killed in 2016. Eric Carns of Hesston bagged a 228 6/8 inch buck in Clearfield County, and Faus’ deer almost surpassed it, with just a 3/8 inch difference.
Todd Holmes, shooting sports outreach division chief for the game commission, scored Faus’ antlers. Holmes is an official scorer for Boone and Crockett Club and Pope and Young Club trophy animal records.
“I’ve guided in the Midwest a few years, and I got to hold some impressive sets of antlers but that was the biggest one I’ve ever held in my hands,” Holmes said.
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The first point after the brow tine stands just over 14 inches tall, “which is incredible,” D’Angelo said. The bases of the antlers where they meet the skull have a circumference of more than 5 inches.
“The largest bases I’ve ever seen in my 15 years of scoring was 6 inches,” he said.
Faus’ deer is now the fourth overall largest buck ever harvested in Pennsylvania.
The largest whitetail rack in the agency’s record book dates back to 1942. Edward Dodge of Knox shot a 238 6/8-inch non-typical buck in Erie County during the firearms season. Michael D. Ambrosio has the second largest rack in the state with a 230 2/8 inch antlers taken in 2001 in Edinburg, Lawrence County. It was a non-typical rack also taken during the rifle season.
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors ,Twitter @whipkeyoutdoors and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Pennsylvania Big Game records, whitetail, archery, Boone and Crockett
