Pennsylvania Game News - September 2015 - 19

RAYMOND MILLER'S STORY
Raymond Miller's account of
his historic hunt was published
in the December 1965 issue of
Game News and is included in the
book Pennsylvania Deer Hunting,
Through the Pages of Game News,
which is on sale now. The 174-page
book sells for $15.50, and is available through The Outdoor Shop at
www.theoutdoorshop.state.pa.us,
or at the Game Commission's
Harrisburg headquarters.

a one-of-a-kind stock he hand-carved
from a block of walnut, then finished
with artistic detail. Raymond built the
shelved hutch Jeff keeps in his dining
area. And that's nothing compared to the
enclosed hunting stand Raymond built
when he was getting on in years. That
came complete with windows, carpeting, cabinets - the whole works.
So it would seem only natural that
when Raymond took notice his 1957
trophy was aging, he wanted to do
something to fix it up.
Jeff said the mount really didn't look
bad, especially given its age. The ears
had started to split, though.
"When mounts get old, you do have
that problem," said taxidermist Roxie
Stultz, of Roxie's Taxidermy Studio,
near Bedford. "Way back then, they
didn't have modern technology."
Raymond made arrangements with
Stultz for the entire mount to be refurbished.
It took time. Raymond insisted the
hide come from a Pennsylvania buck, or
one from Michigan or Virginia - deer
that would be similar genetically to
his record buck. And because his buck
SEPTEMBER 2015	

was so large, it took months for Stultz
to locate a cape large enough for the
remount, Jeff said.
But when Raymond got that mount
back, it possessed life like it hadn't seen
in decades - perhaps not since the day it
exploded from a windrow in Newcomer
Hollow.
Raymond would enjoy the mount until
his death in 2003.
It now resides with Jeff in Buffalo
Mills, where it figures to remain on the
wall for years to come.
Jeff said he's not sure where the name
"Pete" came from, but it was a name
the family would use in referring to the
mount. He said he remembers multiple
occasions as a child where people showed
up at the house and offered to buy Pete,
but Raymond wouldn't entertain any
offer.
Jeff said he's much the same way.
"If you had a million dollars in a
briefcase there, I wouldn't sell it," Jeff
said. "It's not going to be for sale as long
as I'm around."
For all that, though, and as proud as
Raymond might have been about his
record buck, Jeff said his father never
bragged or boasted about it. It wasn't his
style. In the same room the buck hangs,
Jeff noted, is a framed array of Korean
War medals that were earned through
heroics of which Raymond never spoke.
He was a humble man, who cared
about others. And the fact he became a
Pennsylvania hunting legend is secondary to that.
"I was proud of my dad. Not for this;
all of this," he said, sweeping his hand to
point to the trophy and other items around
the room, "but for the way he did things
in his life."
19
http://www.theoutdoorshop.state.pa.us
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - September 2015
