"But I didn't stay mad for long," Jones said. "Suddenly a doe came charging right toward me. Right behind her was a giant buck, the biggest deer I had ever seen in the woods!"

Unbeknownst to Jones, Gatlos had been watching the huge non-typical buck for several minutes. His frantic signaling was an effort to tell Jones not to shoot the smaller buck.

"The doe almost ran over me," Jones said. "When the buck saw me at about 15 yards, he slammed on the brakes and dug in with his front legs. He was coming straight on, and all I had time to do was raise my crossbow, aim and fire. It was a 10-yard shot. The arrow hit just under the throat patch and went all the way in up to the fletching. He immediately turned and disappeared. I knew I had shot a huge buck, but I didn't know it was the buck because everything had happened so fast."

Now it was a matter of what to do next. Jones had to go to work shortly. Should he try to track the deer immediately, or should he wait?

Jones does contract work with his dad. He called his dad on the phone and explained the situation. His dad told him to search for blood. When Jones got down into the wooded bottom where the buck had run, he found plenty of blood. Then, looking over to the opposite hillside, he saw the buck.

"He was standing with his head down about 80 yards away," Jones said. "I immediately backed out of the area."

Jones decided to go to work and give the buck plenty of time to die. The next few hours were full of worry and anxiety. Because the buck was in a very small wood lot, Jones was sure another hunter might easily spook him or find him. To add to the worry, a number of houses had been built adjacent to the wood lot, and Jones didn't want his buck to end up in someone's back yard. Needless to say, Jones didn't get much work done!

About 4 p.m., he called Gatlos. The two hunters went back to the hillside where the buck had last been seen.

"He was lying on the ground," Jones said. "He had only gone about 15 yards from the spot where I had last seen him."

Jones was elated. The giant whitetail that had eluded so many bowhunters finally was his. For the 23-year-old deer hunter, it was the experience of a lifetime.

"I coach football and I had practice on Monday afternoon," Jones said. "So Gatlos and I loaded the buck in my truck and I headed out to the ball field. He caused quite a sensation there. Later that night, 30 or 40 people came by my house. It was total chaos."

The next day, Jones received a call from a taxidermist near Philadelphia saying that Michael Waddell of Realtree Road Trips and Cameron Hayes, editor of Eastman's Bowhunting Journal, were in the area filming a commercial. They had heard about his buck and wanted to see it. So Jones again loaded his trophy in the truck and drove down to meet them.

PENNSYLVANIA MONARCH
Chris' buck is a main-framed 5x5 with five additional abnormal sticker points. The tip of the left antler makes an abrupt downward curve, giving it a very distinct look. The right antler contains four abnormal points measuring 16 6/8 inches in length. The left antler contains a split G-2 and a 1-inch sticker point that could not be measured because its base is wider than its length. The buck is believed to have been 5 1/2 years old.

Even with 10 inches in deductions, the great rack netted 197 non-typical Boone and Crockett points. Had several broken tines been present, it easily would have netted over 200 points.

"The entire experience was a dream come true," Jones said. "The year 2004 was definitely a good year for big bucks in our area. Thanks to the new antler restrictions in Pennsylvania, I saw more 120- and 130-class bucks than I had ever seen before. Judging from all the nice bucks we saw last year, 2005 ought to be even better!"