Most people in this part of Rhode Island hunt big striped bass from boats with a rod and reel, not big-racked bucks from a tree stand with bow and arrow.

Had he missed? Or had the running water washed the blood off? As Ponte went to the spot where he'd last seen the deer, he cautiously checked for blood along the banks as he. Following the hoofprints in the mud, he found three big smears of blood on some oak leaves. He knelt down and checked to make sure it was the real thing, and then stood up and let out a sigh of relief. OK -- he wasn't crazy, he had hit the deer!

Just then, the woods exploded as the wounded buck blasted away from just ten yards. This was not good. Ponte walked out of the woods, apprehensive of what the morrow would bring.

A LONG NIGHT
Football practice was from 8 till 11 a.m., and then Ponte headed into the woods and went to the last spot of blood. He slowly followed the deep hoofprints in the mud, and found more blood -- lots of it. He looked up, and about 10 yards away was a massive rack.

Ponte knew the buck was a good one but he didn't know it was "the buck" until that moment.

As it turned out, the shot had been perfect. The arrow had entered the last rib near the paunch and quartered up into the deer's liver and lungs.

Ponte got the buck home and after weighing and tagging him, did a quick scoring job to come up with 163 5/8. He called his hunting buddy, who was in North Dakota hunting whitetails at the time, and left him a message about the big buck.

That evening, he called back and asked Ponte, "What the heck am I doing out here if you are shooting 160s back home in Rhode Island?"

THE FINAL SCORE
Ponte had arrowed a giant 10-pointer that scored an amazing 172 7/8 gross and 166 6/8 net Boone and Crockett points. The buck easily made the B&C typical awards entry level of 160 net, making it the first archery buck from Rhode Island to be entered into the B&C records.

The buck's main beams are 26 and 25 7/8 inches, respectively. The longest tines on each side measure 11 6/8 and 10 4/8 inches. The inside spread is just under 20 inches, and the bases are both just under 5 inches.

It is also a very symmetrical rack, with just 4 2/8 inches in side-to-side deductions, and a single 1 7/8-inch abnormal point.

Just how good is this archery buck? It beats the old Rhode Island archery record, Stephen Burchette's 165 2/8-inch 10-pointer from Providence County in 1996, by over 7 inches. It also grosses higher than Steve Tyrell's 169 2/8 non-typical from 1998.

In terms of all Ocean State bucks, this is the highest gross-scoring typical ever taken by a hunter, just ahead of James Manni's 172 1/8 muzzleloader record from 2002. It finishes just behind the 173 4/8 Washington County typical 10-pointer found dead by Donald St. Germain in 2001.

The Ponte buck is one of only six all-time bucks to gross over 170 in this state, typical or non-typical. In terms of all archery typicals from New England, Ponte's buck would rank No. 8 in that category for the entire region.

It should be noted that in the NBBC records, there are seven Rhode Island typical bucks that net over 160 inches. Ponte's was the first typical bow buck to garner that honor.

By the way, Ponte's football team went on to win the R.I. Division Four Super Bowl. I would call that a pretty good year!

For more information about big New England bucks, contact the Northeast Big Buck Club. To buy their latest record book, Northeast Trophy Whitetails V, visit the club's Web site at www.bigbuckclub.com, or e-mail jbhunts@aol.com. You can also write to NBBC, 390 Marshall Street, Paxton, MA 01612.