Jake Fife from Selah, Wash., notched his name into the record book with his 229 inch non-typical mule deer. It is now the record non-typical archery mule deer record for Washington state.

This was Fife’s first animal killed with a bow. “I’m afraid it’s all downhill from here,” he joked.

Fife, a teacher at Naches Valley High School, killed this buck during the 2017 archery season in Central Washington. It took him 10 days before he was in a position to get a shot. After spotting the buck, it bedded down in a patch of sage brush. Fife got within 40 yards of it after a one-hour stalk that included walking in his stocking feet and crawling on his belly. When the buck stood up, Fife placed his arrow behind the deer’s front shoulder. After waiting for an hour, he found the buck laying in the sagebrush. The buck had a 45 ½ inch mass, and green scored 234 7/8. After the 60-day drying period Fife’s buck officially scored 229 inches eclipsing the previous state record of 203 3/8 held by David Hollingsworth.

Officially a 14X12, the antlers have four main beams on each side with 18 kickers and drop tines. The antlers are 5 6/8 inches at the base and each brow tine splits into forks. Fife hunted with a Bowtech Carbon Knight bow, 300 Spine Black Eagle Spartan arrows, and Radical Archery Design Ti Con 125 broadheads.