Pennsylvania’s new state record sat in obscurity for decades.
It’s official. Pennsylvania has a new state record typical whitetail deer. Hunters in the Keystone State may be a little puzzled, wondering why they had not heard the typical big buck news during the most recent deer seasons. Well, that’s because this newest record didn’t fall this year, or the year before that. According to GoErie.com, this new monster buck was dropped sometime back in the 1960s and was only recently unearthed to the deer hunting world.
This new find does not just beat the old Pennsylvania record, held by Fritz Janowsky’s 189-inch beast from 1943, it obliterates the record. The buck finds itself in extremely rare company in the world of big whitetails. That’s because Frederick Kyriss’ Montgomery County monster scores a whopping 202 7/8 inches. Only a handful of wild whitetails have ever netted over 200 inches Boone and Crockett. The Kyriss buck has now rightfully taken its place in the top spot in the Pennsylvania Big Game Record book which is published annually by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
According to North American Whitetail, the big buck’s final score is enough to slot it comfortably into the number eight position all-time for typical whitetails. That is nothing to sneeze at! The 15-pointer has main beams over 26 inches long, and G2s and G3s over 13 inches, and the left side alone scores 102 3/8.
Scorers did not know exactly when Kyriss shot the deer, so they settled on using an entry date of 1968. Sadly, Kyriss passed away many years ago and did not get the chance to see his buck climb to the top of the record books in Pennsylvania. There is also a chance the buck lost some length in its antlers drying for that long. In fact, North American Whitetail speculates the deer could have beaten the John Breen buck back when that deer was the world record. We will never know for sure.
If you’re wondering how the buck could sit in obscurity for so long, just know it’s not the first time it’s happened. As we mentioned earlier, the John Breen buck from Minnesota went for years before being officially scored. As did the famous “Hole-in-the-Horn” buck from Ohio. Sometimes deer simply do not get the recognition they deserve until many years after the fact.
The good news is the Kyriss buck is officially part of the New Legends collection of world class deer owned by noted antler collector Jay Fish. The buck is on display at Bass Pro Shops in Missouri and a replica is going to be made for the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s office in Harrisburg.
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