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A hunter killed 200-plus-inch whitetail deer sometime in the 1960s— and left it unscored in his garage for decades. In the fall of 2021, it became recognized by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) as the new state record typical firearms buck. According to Bob D’Angelo, the Big Game Scoring Program Coordinator for the PGC, the buck, which netted  202 7/8 inches, was killed in Montgomery County by Frederick Kyriss sometime in the 1960s.  Kyriss died in 1993, and the exact date and details of his hunt are lost to history. The antlers remained in Kyriss’ garage with dozens of other unscored racks until his widow held a garage sale several years after his death.  

“The deer rack changed hands several times over the years, finally ending up with Bass Pro Shops in Missouri,” D’Angelo told Fox News. The story of the rack’s history is somewhat tangled: It changed hands several times, passed through a Berks County antique shop, and eventually came into possession of a noted local antler collector. At some point, the rack was officially scored by Boone & Crockett. “I was sent the official score sheet last spring and after thoroughly researching it, accepted it in the state records for the printing of our 2021 Big Game Records Book that became available for the public in October of 2021,” D’Angelo says.

Bass Pro Shops is currently displaying the antlers in its store in Springfield, Missouri. The retailer also had a replica of the rack made that it donated to the PGC’s Harrisburg office. The deer absolutely shattered the longstanding Pennsylvania typical whitetail record, which was a 189-inch buck that was shot in 1943 by Fritz Janowsky in Bradford County. To understand how exceptional the Kyriss Buck is, consider this: Since Janowsky harvested his state record deer in the midst of World War II, Pennsylvania hunters have shot only five typical whitetails that scored 180 or better, and only two of those were within even six inches of the Janowsky’s buck, according to the Pennsylvania Big Game Records Book. The Kyriss Buck blows all of those bucks out of the water.

The Kyriss Buck Goes Down as One of the Top-Ten Typical Whitetails Ever Killed

large deer rack sits on dock
The exact date this deer was killed is unknown is believed to have been sometime in the 1960s. PA Game Commission

The Kyriss Buck is among only a handful of typical whitetails nationwide to score above 200 inches in the Boone & Crockett book, and at 202 ⅞, it ranks as the 8th largest typical deer. The 15-pointer has main beams over 26 inches long, as well as G2s and G3s over 13 inches long. The left side alone scores 102 3/8, which makes it one of the largest single antlers in the world.

Read Next: Dustin Huff’s Giant Typical Officially Nets 211-4/8, Just 2-1/8 Shy of Milo Hanson’s World Record


D’Angelo told GoErie.com that Kyriss likely never knew that he had a world record caliber buck—if scored in 1960, the buck would’ve likely been the top buck in the B&C ​​​​buck at the time, topping then world record holder John Breen’s buck which netted 202 0/8 inches. “Most people back then just wanted the meat,” explained D’Angelo. Perhaps unknowingly, D’Angelo got more than just meat on one of his hunts, even if it wasn’t recognized in his lifetime.