"It was bad!" Mike said. "I was sure no deer would come my way as there were no open trails anywhere."

Just before 2 p.m., he looked up the hill and saw a buck burst out of the brush about 80 yards away.

"My first thought was that he looked just like one of those bucks you see on those 'monster buck' videos," Mike said.

To Mike's amazement, the buck turned and started running right toward him!

"He was uphill from me," Mike said. "At 70 yards, I drew my bow, got my sight picture, and then just followed him with the 20-yard pin on his chest."

The buck had some trouble getting through the treetops. As Mike waited, he consciously made every effort not to look at the rack.

The buck kept coming. At 25 yards, he veered to Mike's left and started moving toward the ravine. He was now traveling the same escape route he had used earlier that day.

"I uttered a soft fawn bleat with my mouth and he stopped behind a tree," Mike said. "I could see the front part of his left shoulder through a Y of two branches. He was slightly quartering toward me and still a little uphill. I centered my pin and let the arrow fly."

Mike saw the arrow strike the buck's shoulder slightly to the left of where he had been aiming.

The buck took off running back up the hill headed directly toward Ron. Mike yelled for him to be ready. The buck came barreling past Ron, whose arrow cut hair but no flesh. Jim and Steve watched the buck run several more yards and stop.

"The next thing I heard was Jim yelling, 'I think he's down!' "

Mike waited a few minutes, and then he couldn't stand it any longer. He climbed down and started following a very distinct blood trail. Ron was still in the tree as Mike passed him.

"He told me where the buck had been when he shot, so I started looking for his arrow," Mike said.

Just as Mike found Ron's arrow, Dave shouted, "I found him! He's down!"

"We all started laughing in disbelief," Mike said. "None of us had ever killed a buck of that size. None of us had even seen a buck of that size!

"We were giddy," Mike remembered, "almost in shock. I jokingly said to Dave that since he jumped the buck, he had the right to name it. Dave looked down at the buck and said, 'The Freak!'

"The buck was so big, so typical, and so symmetrical, he really was like a freak of nature. So the name stuck," Mike said.

Tom and Jim kept looking at the massive 6x6 rack, trying to guess what it might score. They both felt it would score at least 170 Pope and Young points.

"I felt like it might score in the 150 range," Mike said. "You never think you'll be lucky enough to get one big enough to make the 170-point minimum."

The giant buck was taken out of the woods and driven to the house of Tom's son, Joe.

"A few hours later I got a call from Joe and my son," Mike said. "They came up with 184 inches gross and 175 inches net. They felt that I needed to take the rack to someone to have it officially scored."

At first, Mike was reluctant to have the rack scored, but he finally gave in and agreed to have it scored after the 60-day drying period.

Mike and his friend, John Enterline, took the "Pennsylvania Freak" to Dave Pasky, an official P&Y scorer.

"Your buck scores 185 1/8 inches gross and nets 178 2/8 inches." He then stuck his hand out and said, "Congratulations, you've just taken the new state-record archery typical buck for Pennsylvania!"

"The most important aspect of this entire experience was that I was able to enjoy this hunt with my family and friends," Mike said. "People that I truly respect and love. It was a team effort all the way, and I thank them all."