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WELCOME TO THE OLDEST WILDLIFE CONSERVATION ORGANIZATION IN NORTH AMERICA
Established in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell, the Boone and Crockett Club was founded by hunters who dedicated their lives to the conservation of wildlife. As the turn of the 20th century approached our nation, these men had to make a choice: stand by and watch our cherished wildlife disappear or work for the protection and propagation of our wildlife resource. Thankfully, they rose to the challenge and chose the latter.
Today, the Boone and Crockett Club continues to build upon the legacy of wildlife conservation established by Roosevelt and Grinnell. We will continue the fight for conservation so future generations can enjoy the bounty of our wildlife resource.
It is the mission of the Boone and Crockett Club to promote the conservation and management of wildlife, especially big game, and its habitat, to preserve and encourage hunting and to maintain the highest ethical standards of fair chase and sportsmanship in North America.
BOONE
AND CROCKETT CLUB AND FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CLUB
Club President – Anthony J. Caligiuri
Secretary – Richard R. Capozza
Treasurer – Benjamin A. Strickling III
General Counsel – John P. Schreiner
Executive Vice President – Administration
Mary Webster
Executive Vice President – Conservation
Steven Leath
Vice President of Administration
John P. Evans
Vice President of Big Game Records
Richard T. Hale
Vice President of Conservation Research and Education
CJ Buck
Vice President of Conservation Policy
Simon Roosevelt
Vice President of Communications
Michael L. Evans
Foundation President – R. Terrell McCombs
Class of 2025
Class of 2026
Class of 2027
B&C STAFF
Michael J. Opitz
Paul V. Phillips
John L. Hendrix
Chief Executive Officer – Tony A. Schoonen
Director of Big Game Records – Kyle M. Lehr
Director of Conservation Programs –Luke Coccoli
Director of Finance and Administration –Abra Loran
Director of Communications – Jodi Stemler
Director of Marketing and Publications –Karlie Slayer
Assistant Director of Big Game Records –Jennifer Schwab
FOUNDATION
Foundation President – R. Terrell McCombs
Secretary – Michael J. Opitz
Treasurer – Charles W. Hartford
Vice President – John P. Evans
Vice President – Paul M. Zelisko
Class of 2025 John P. Evans
Steve J. Hageman
R. Terrell McCombs
T. Garrick Steele
C. Martin Wood III
Class of 2026
Robert W. Floyd
Charles W. Hartford
Benjamin A. Strickling III
John A. Tomke
Jeffrey A. Watkins
Class of 2027
Gary W. Dietrich
B.B. Hollingsworth, Jr.
Tom L. Lewis
Michael J. Opitz
Paul M. Zelisko
Accounting Manager – Anne Labbe
Development Program Manager – Jodi Bishop
Digital Strategies Manager – Mark Mesenko
Sales and Corporate Relations Manager –Michelle Scheuermann
Office Manager – Kate Thornburg
Membership Manager – Nicole Bodzewski
Graphic Designer – Ryan Johnson
TRM Ranch Manager – Mike Briggs
Conservation Education Programs Manager –
Madison Todd
FAIR CHASE PRODUCTION STAFF
Editor-in-Chief – Karlie Slayer
Managing Editor – PJ DelHomme
Conservation and History Editor
Steven Williams
Research and Education Editors
John F. Organ
Jonathan R. Mawdsley
Hunting and Ethics Editor
Mark Streissguth
Assistant Editors
Jodi Bishop
CJ Buck
Kendall Hoxsey-Onysko
Kyle M. Lehr
Marc Mondavi
Tony A. Schoonen
Jennifer Schwab
Jodi Stemler
Julie L. Tripp
Editorial Contributors
Mat Alldredge
Chuck Anderson
Melissa Bachman
Charlie R. Booher
Tony Caligiuri
Jayar Daily
Matt Dunfee
John Fischer
Joe Halseth
PJ DelHomme
Kyle M. Lehr
Jonathan R. Mawdsley
Jon McRoberts
Josh Millspaugh
Patricia Minerich
Karlie Slayer
Gray Thornton
Wayne van Zwoll
Photographic Contributors
Ernest Douglas
Fair Chase is published quarterly by the Boone and Crockett Club and distributed to its Members and Associates. Material in this magazine may be freely quoted and/or reprinted in other publications and media, so long as proper credit is given to Fair Chase. The only exception applies to articles that are reprinted in Fair Chase from other magazines, in which case, the Club does not hold the reprint rights. The opinions expressed by the contributors of articles are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Boone and Crockett Club.
Fair Chase (ISSN 1077-3274) is published for $35 per year by the Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801. Periodical postage is paid in Missoula, Montana, and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Fair Chase, Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801 Phone: (406) 542-1888 Fax: (406) 542-0784
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ONWARD AND UPWARD
The only constant in life is change. I’d like to take credit for that phrase, but that would be a lie. Credit goes to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus. Now fast forward 2,500 years, and we’re still writing about change. I prefer the philosophy of songwriters like Bob Dylan, who wrote, “Come gather ’round people wherever you roam / And admit that the waters around you have grown.” His song, “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” was an anthem for social change in the 1960s.
Times are a-changing around the Boone and Crockett Club, too. With the 32nd Big Game Awards in the rearview, most of us are able to exhale. And if you missed being in Springfield, Missouri, for the awards, then we’ve got you covered in this issue with 32 pages of stories, pictures, and memories of the celebration we throw every three years. I love it, but I also like that it’s every three years! Don’t forget that we will be wrapping up with the 32nd Big Game Awards book, which will be ready in time for Christmas. Wink, wink.
There are other changes taking place at B&C, namely podcasts and javelinas. What a combo! Recently, we launched a podcast called Heritage of the Hunt, which lets you stay connected with episodes on Club history, Fair Chase, conservation policy, outdoor education, and much more. We’ve already produced a handful of episodes with plenty more slated for the future. And let’s not forget the latest big game animal added to Boone and Crockett, the javelina. Pecari tajacu is the first new category added to the records since 2001. These short in stature but big in attitude critters make some of the coolest European mounts ever to grace a man (or lady) cave.
Change is coming to Montana, namely, fall. Fall, of course, means hunting season. The office will come alive with hunters passing through the visitor center, and the next day it will be quiet while everyone is off trying to fill a tag. And then social media pages will come alive with both real and sometimes notso-real record-book entries from the field. It keeps us on our toes once
For for the first time in 24 years the Club has added a new category to the records book, javelina.
Karlie Slayer EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
the rumors start to fly. We’ve had a great awards period, and I am optimistic that the 33rd awards period will surpass the 32nd.
I hope you enjoy this recap of the 32nd Big Game Awards, and keep an eye out for changes in the upcoming issues of Fair Chase magazine. n
WARNING: This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.
DEFEATING THREATS AND ADVANCING A VISION FOR OUR FEDERAL LANDS
In the spring of 2025, a familiar threat to America’s public lands reemerged and this time, it came from two directions.
All eyes in the hunting and conservation community were trained on congressional efforts to sell off pieces of the federal estate. Two distinct proposals were introduced: one in the House, one in the Senate. Though differing in structure, both shared the dangerous premise that America’s public lands could be treated as a liability on the government’s balance sheet, rather than the invaluable inheritance they truly are.
The Boone and Crockett Club, in partnership with a broad coalition of conservation organizations, opposed and defeated both proposals.
The House measure would have mandated the sale of all tracts identified in prior planning documents as eligible for disposal, starting with lands in Nevada and Utah. The Senate version, championed by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Mike Lee (RUT), took things further, proposing a sweeping new program for mandatory land selection and sale. It would have directed the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture to dispose of between 1 and 2 million acres of Bureau of Land Management land and another 500,000 to 1 million acres of U.S. Forest Service land across 11 Western states.
In both cases, existing legislative procedures and public participation requirements would
have been bypassed entirely. The proposals dispensed with the checks and balances that typically govern land sales. Instead of reinvesting those funds into improving the federal estate, the measures would have sent most of the proceeds directly to the U.S. Treasury.
The Club strongly disagrees with the notion that “the federal government owns far too much land.” We reject the notion that this is a problem in need of solving. To the contrary, our public lands are among this country’s greatest treasures and one of the finest legacies ever handed down to future generations. That these proposals were ultimately discarded by Congress is a win, but it is not the end of the conversation.
As troubling as these proposals were, they are symptoms of a deeper issue: the increasing frustration with how federal lands are managed and a belief, shared by some, that the only available fix is to reduce the land base.
At the Boone and Crockett Club, we’ve long recognized that the management of federal public lands can and should be improved. There are indeed parcels of federal
CONSERVATION
POLICY COLUMN
Charlie R. Booher
BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB
POLICY CONSULTANT
PROFESSIONAL MEMBER
land that no longer serve meaningful conservation or recreational purposes. These lands could be sold or exchanged under existing laws, with proceeds reinvested into habitat restoration, public access, or improved management elsewhere. However, these transactions are currently mired in bureaucratic red tape, making them difficult to carry out even when widely supported.
This dysfunction has fueled proposals like those recently defeated. In other words, part of the reason bad ideas like mandatory mass liquidation gain traction is because good ideas—like targeted, science-based exchanges or sales— are so hard to implement.
Rather than open the floodgates to politically motivated disposals, we should focus our attention on fixing what’s broken in the system we already have. There is an opportunity, now, to modernize our approach to public land management while protecting the principles of conservation, access, and accountability.
The Boone and Crockett Club supports land transactions that are grounded in science, guided by conservation values, and carried out
Our federal lands have always been more than just lines on a map. They are the wild places where our members hunt, hike, and find solitude. And they are a national treasure, held in trust for all Americans.
with public transparency. The federal government already has some authority to identify and dispose of low-value parcels. Unfortunately, these tools are dulled by inefficiency to the extent that some argue that they are tools in name only.
We oppose proposals that discard those tools altogether. Mandating the sale of millions of acres without site-specific analysis, stakeholder engagement, or reinvestment provisions is not responsible governance. Public lands are not “surplus” just because they lack a revenue stream. They are not burdens just because they are remote. Some of the most important landscapes for wildlife, particularly for wide-ranging species like elk, mule deer, and bighorn sheep, are sparsely populated, rugged, and difficult to manage. However, they are also irreplaceable.
Our federal lands have always been more than just lines on a map. They are the wild places where our members hunt, hike, and find solitude. And they are a national treasure, held in trust for all Americans.
The Boone and Crockett Club has, since our founding by Theodore Roosevelt, upheld the belief that conservation must be guided by science and carried out in the public interest. We believe there is a better way forward—one that allows for thoughtful management and targeted improvement of the federal estate without sacrificing the integrity of the land base itself.
Now that Congress has rightly dispensed with the most recent threats, we have an opportunity to act on the root causes. We are committed to working with lawmakers, agency leaders, and conservation partners to chart a path forward that improves the federal estate rather than diminishes it.
This means addressing procedural inefficiencies, streamlining responsible exchanges, and ensuring that any revenues from land transactions are reinvested into conservation outcomes.
Ultimately, our stance is not just about resisting bad policy. It’s about advancing responsible stewardship. Stewardship means recognizing when a parcel no longer serves its purpose and acting to improve the broader public benefit. But it also means drawing a clear line when that benefit is threatened by political opportunism or budget gimmicks.
Our public lands must be protected, but they must also be managed and improved.
If we want the next generation to inherit the same opportunities we’ve had, we must do more than merely defend public lands. We must improve and advance them, just as our Club always has. n
WAYNE C. VAN ZWOLL
Gilding the Lily.
If rifles from the 1930s weren’t superlative, we’d not keep trying to reinvent them.
Winchester announced its Model 54 in 1925. It introduced many features carried over to the Model 70.
In 1892 the Krag-Jorgensen became the U.S. Army’s first smokeless rifle, its first bolt-action repeater.
Dreyse needle-gun to the Royal Prussian Military Shooting School. In 1872, this single-shot, firing an 11mm black-powder cartridge, became Prussia’s infantry arm. A series of Mauser rifles ensued.
Oddly, commercial bolt-action sporters got a slow start stateside. Winchester’s first, designed by B.B. Hotchkiss in 1878, failed at market as the .45-70 Model 1883. It died in 1900. Its successor, the Lee Straight Pull, had a shorter run: 1897 to 1903. At that time, more than half the centerfire rifles sold in the U.S. were Winchester lever-actions by John Browning.
In 1925, Winchester ended its bolt-action drought with the Model 54. Outfitter Frank Golata took his on a “roughneck holiday.” His long list of hunting clients had included L.S. Chadwick, whose Stone’s sheep drew accolades as the finest specimen of North American game ever taken. But this was Golata’s hunt. At his Dawson Creek homestead, he saddled two horses, packed “enough grub to last a month” and grabbed
the .30-06. A storm caught him on the trail, festooning boughs with snow and ice. He waited it out, then rode for days, crossing streams thick with grayling, up toward British Columbia’s sheep country.
In a meadow below the peaks, a grizzly came at a trot, perhaps mistaking the horses for caribou. Golata dismounted. But as his animals hadn’t yet seen the bear and would likely bolt at a shot, he quickly tied them to a tree. The grizzly halted, then turned. Frank’s bullet plowed from flank to off-shoulder. He caught the horses just as they tore loose. Skinning the bear, he found the fat thick. “The flesh looked good enough to eat, so I cut off a big chunk.”
Camping five miles on, he fleshed the hide, gathered firewood and “cooked bannock for the next
ing goat and began the climb. He was almost within range when several nannies bounded off. Prospects now dim, he eased ahead and peeked into a pocket. “There was my billy, [just] 25 yards away.” He aligned the bead in the Lyman 48’s aperture and on the goat’s shoulder. At the report, the animal fell dead. Two days later, Golata cut the track of a Stone’s ram. Crossing a basin, he saw a white spot wink out above. Quietly he ascended a series of benches. He’d almost reached the ridge-top when “no more than 15 yards ahead,” a ram’s head broke the skyline. Then another ram stood up. Only their tops were visible, so Golata hurried forward. When the sheep fled, he threw his Model 54 to cheek and fired. “The [nearest] ram faltered…At the second shot he tumbled and lay still.” Having two tags, Frank swung on the other animal. But he let it go, concluding “one good ram should be enough for any man.” The fallen sheep “was a fine specimen,” its heavy, broomed horns taping 39 inches.
On his return to low country, Golata met a couple of ranchers, who invited him to their caribou camp. The evening after they downed two big bulls, Frank spied one far off. In failing light, he hurried to close the range. His shot from 150 yards missed, as did a second. But the third tumbled the beast. Antler beams 47 inches on the curve gaped 45 inches wide, “the largest [rack] I’d ever seen in my area.”
Golata’s path home brought him to a village where the Indians spoke no English and had never seen an automobile. Welcomed, he bought a pair of moccasins. Back in the saddle, he figured his private hunt had blessed him with “value far greater than [that of] the trophies.”
Winchester’s Model 54 appeared early in Frank’s career. Its coned breech derived from the 1903 Springfield’s. Its receiver, bolt, safety, and extractor mirrored the ‘98 Mauser’s. It cocked on opening and bottled .30-06 pressures. A Newton-style ejector scotched the need for a slotted lug. A nickel steel barrel and a slim stock patterned on R.F. Sedgely’s brought rifle weight to 7-3/4 pounds. Introduced in .3006 and Winchester’s frisky new .270, the Model 54 chambered eight additional cartridges between 1928 to 1936, its last production year.
The ‘20s weren’t kind to Winchester. It buckled in February 1929. In December 1931, Franklin Olin’s Western Cartridge Co. bought Winchester’s assets for $3 million cash plus $4.8 million in Western stock. Franklin’s son John took charge and, sweet on the Model 54, asked T.C. Johnson to refine the rifle his shop had engineered. Beginning in 1934, Winchester modified it to offer a new model. Many riflemen were still eating in soup kitchens, so the engineers weren’t rushed. The first receivers got serial numbers in ’36, the year Frank Golata packed out the Chadwick
ram. Winchester shipped the first 2,238 Model 70 rifles in 1937.
While the 70’s receiver and barrel clearly sprang from the 54, a separate sear and bolt stop were new. The 70’s trigger adjusted for take-up, weight, and over-travel. The 54’s flag safety gave way to a low switch, soon replaced by a three-position wing, the middle detent permitting bolt cycling with the striker blocked. A hinged floorplate shut against a spring-loaded plunger.
A Model 70 receiver began life as a 7-1/2-pound billet of chrome-moly steel. After 75 machinings, it weighed 19-1/4 ounces. Spot-hardening the cam surface behind the bridge preceded a 24-hour salt bath at 1,200 degrees F that left the steel at 47C, Rockwell. Most small parts, save the 1095 spring steel extractor, were machined from drop forgings. Barrels were drop-forged, straightened with 15-pound hammers, then lathe-turned true, deep-hole drilled, and straightened again. After reaming, the bores were hook-rifled with multiple passes of a single cutter. Roughed from 2x36-inch blanks, American walnut stocks were shaped on an eight-spindle duplicator. Early wood got lacquer
finish over alcohol-based stain and filler. Carnauba wax in the lacquer yielded an oil-like sheen. When the war drained supplies of carnauba wax, Winchester used harder lacquers. Hand checkering followed.
Winchester Proof (WP) stamps on receiver and barrel showed each Model 70 had endured 70,000 psi from a “blue pill” load. Sighted for a 50-yard zero, it was then inspected, disassembled, reassembled, and inspected again. Tagged, oiled, greased, and wrapped in brown waxed paper, it found peace in a box.
The first Model 70s retailed for $61.25 in .22 Hornet, .220 Swift, .250-3000, .257 Roberts, .270 WCF, 7x57 and .30-06, and in .300 and .375 H&H Magnums. The .300 Savage was later available but not cataloged. The .35 Remington appeared briefly. During the ‘50s, Winchester added the .243, .308, and .358 (and, in 1952, a Featherweight in several chamberings). From 1956 to ‘63, Winchester plumped the roster with belted magnums: .458, .338, .264, and .300. Despite strong sales and a loyal following, the Model 70 became ever less profitable, mostly
Western Cartridge began loading the .300 and .375 H&H in 1925. Both were charter M70 chamberings.
due to rising wages. A cost-cutting overhaul threatened in 1960. Fifty changes in 1963 incensed the faithful. A blocky stock with pressed grip panels gaped wide about the barrel. A wee hook replaced the Mauser claw; the bolt stop’s coil spring acceded to music wire. Alloy bottom metal and a painted red cocking indicator completed the cheap look. The new Model 70 fared poorly against Remington’s Model 700, introduced two years earlier. “Pre-64” was soon gun-speak for “good” 70s, whose second-hand prices vaulted. Not ‘til 1980 would Winchester reverse course with a chic cut-checkered Featherweight stock. It was too late.
In 1981, Olin shed Winchester Repeating Arms, licensing the name to investors who formed U.S. Repeating Arms Co. Three years later, a tepid market and climbing labor costs sent USRAC into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In 1987, five investors bought the company, Belgium’s Fabrique Nationale (FN) netting a 44-percent share. In 1991, the French conglomerate Giat bought FN. I spoke with Giat’s Jack Mattan on his arrival to lead USRAC. “Winchester has focused too long on production,” he said. “We must market more aggressively. Our success depends on customer recruitment.”
In New Haven, Winchester’s great brick factory could not long
survive this new vision. The clomp of my heels on oil-stained hardwood echoed in catacombs that had hummed with activity through World War I, the Depression, and, with 20,000 workers, World War II. Tiny assembly cells now lay corridors apart, in a hollow husk whose upper windows were still blackened to foil the Luftwaffe.
In March 2006, the last Model 70 was boxed, 70 years after the rifle’s debut.
But a revival was on the way. Since the 1960s, Northwest Airlines pilot Don Allen had honed his considerable gun-making talents. Later, to meet demand for his custom rifles, he sought out fine walnut worldwide. Incorporating with his wife Norma, he became a walnut broker for other stockers, designing his own duplicating machine and the tooling to build it! Allen’s plans for a semi-custom rifle that reflected the best of Winchester’s Model 70 caught the ear of ace Oregon rifle-maker Pete Grisel. The men tackled this project when the Allens moved from Minnesota to firearms-friendly South Dakota in 1984 to found Dakota Arms. Two years later, they unveiled their rifle
The Dakota 76 action mirrored that of Winchester’s early 70, but it used Mauser-style breeching. Minor differences include a onepiece bottom metal and a pivoting bolt stop lever. The 76 retained the non-rotating extractor and Winchester’s trigger and safety.
Stocked in eye-popping walnut, beautifully hand-checkered, the first Dakota 76s retailed at $1750, four times the price of new Winchesters. Subsequently, as the 76 inched up in price, Don designed a less costly version with a round receiver. I used a Model 97 Outfitter in .30-06 on a mountain hunt in British Columbia, dropping a tough mountain goat far off in a snow squall. By then, Winchester had returned the Mauser extractor to its Model 70. “It costs $16 per rifle,” an engineer told me. “Accountants hate it.” But hunters welcomed it. Improvements kept coming, including a short action in 1984 and fresh chamberings.
When the .325 WSM joined its cartridge roster, I snatched a 70 for an Alaskan goat hunt. Waistdeep snow clogging alder and devil’s club slowed our ascent to icy ledges, where my guide and I
Wayne took this heavy British Columbia billy with a Model 70-inspired Dakota Model 97 in .30-06.
Don Allen, founder of Dakota Arms, insisted the Model 70’s trigger is the best ever for a hunting rifle.
clawed toward spitting clouds. Three hours and a thousand vertical feet later, we were flagging. The opaque gray sky had darkened. Snow came thick, and with it dusk. We struggled another 100 feet.
“There!” My companion pointed. Scrambling forward, I flopped against a rock. The billy was a step from gone when my 200-grain bullet struck. I ran the bolt, fired again. And again. Despite the blows, the goat inched toward oblivion at cliff’s edge. The last shot in the rifle felled him, a hoof catching in an alpine shrub to spare him the abyss.
Brian Sipe started Montana Rifle Co. (MRC) in 1999 to resurrect Winchester’s pre-’64 Model 70. “Made the old way, that action is too expensive,” he told me. “I investment-cast the receivers.” Model 1999 rifles look, feel, and function like early 70s. They’re as strong, too. Differences: The breech isn’t coned; the bolt release is a rocking tab; the floorplate closes on onepiece bottom metal.
A stainless Model 1999 in .375 followed me home. Though its synthetic stock seemed small for my big hands, this rifle had a nose for the target. With open sights, then a 1.5-5x Leupold in Talley rings, it handled nimbly, shot where I looked and tumbled a big black bear on Alaska’s coast.
In Africa on leopard spoor, I stayed abreast of trackers bent low until, with a yell, one pointed at a rosette in tall grass he’d just passed. Fast as a cat, the rifle leaped and fired. Later, a buffalo that thundered off in red dust fell to a shoulder shot, then regained its feet and galloped toward me. Cycled in a wink, the .375 barked again. The bull collapsed.
Brian Sipe left rifle-making in 2007 to produce barrels for the industry. His son Jeff added CNC tooling to build more and better actions. But MRC struggled. In 2019, it sold. A year later, it was gone.
In 2022, Grace Engineering, a third-generation company in Memphis, Michigan, bought MRC. Its aim: revive the Model 1999 and tap a market still enamored of early 70s. Matt Grace and his brother Nate retrieved tooling from Kalis pell and reviewed the blueprints and manufacturing processes. Tweaks to the 1999 followed. Ma chined from stainless steel, the Grace-built Model 2022 MRC receiv er has Pic rails on bridge and ring. An EDM-cut tool-steel trigger ad justs to two pounds. “Adaptive con trolled feed” (a mortise in the re ceiver ring) lets the extractor nose spring out to snap over the rim of cartridges fed singly.
two versions. The Junction is stocked
in walnut, the Highline in a McMillan Game Hunter. Both come in five chamberings, 6.5 Cm to .300 Winchester. Early in 2025, the company added a safari-style rifle in .375 H&H Magnum, the Tsavo. That name brings to mind the river crossing where two man-eating lions terrorized workers on the Uganda railroad for nine months in 1898.
The Tsavo’s bolt shank is heavier than on sibling 2022s, its knob bigger and easier to grasp. My sample rifle’s action slicks up cartridges and kicks hulls as smoothly as a well-worn Model 70. There’s no Pic rail; the receiver accepts scope bases. A U-notch sight pairs with a hooded gold bead on the threaded 23-inch barrel. A barrel-band swivel stud lies close to the stock’s tip for easy carry and sling use shooting. The comb aligns my eye with
BELOW: Montana Rifle Co. built its 1999 rifle (here Wayne’s .375) on investment-cast M70-style receivers. RIGHT: Montana Rifle Co.’s new Tsavo is a well-engineered safari-style .375 with clear Model 70 heritage.
Dubbed “the rifleman’s rifle,” the Winchester Model 70 has changed little since its 1937 introduction. A cost-cutting make-over in 1963 brought howls from hunters. Winchester heard them.
investment group that stripped its assets. Dakota became a Remington vassal even as that company drifted toward bankruptcy. That fate in 2020 drew contractors Tim Land and Steve Rabackoff to Sturgis. They were to supply The Roundhill Group, Dakota’s new owner, with inventories and a relocation plan. While both men were hunters, neither had owned a Dakota rifle. Ward Dobler, a 30-year Dakota employee and then shop foreman, showed them a Model 76 in progress.
“We had no idea that building a fine rifle required so much hand-work,” Land marveled, “or that tolerances would be so tight.” They watched steel being machined, and saw checkering ace Karen Dufek cut perfect diamonds in ruler-straight ranks. “We wanted to
Reporting to Roundhill, the two men found it reluctant to incur the costs of bringing Dakota rifles back into production. So, with no experience managing a gun company, they tendered an offer. “Some of our hurdles were clear,” said Land. “This was a semi-custom shop with outstanding orders and deposits to retrieve. The BATF had cancelled Dakota’s Federal Firearms License. No finished rifles were left on site or would be included in the sale. The Dakota building wouldn’t be part of the deal. Nor the Dakota name. Just tooling. Roundhill rejected the pair’s first offer. But they persevered, eventually
As it grew, Dakota had leased a shop across the road. Fortunately, it was still available. Displaced employees were too—an essential talent pool. “We wanted to rescue the craftsmanship,”
said Rabackoff, “to invest in people and their artistry, not in conveyor belts.” The dozen former employees hired included Dobler. “Parkwest” emerged as the brand. “It’s not gunny,” he conceded. “But it has an upscale ring.” The shop was soon buried in orders as the owners manned phones, untangling commitments. They insisted no compromises be made in rifle manufacture.
Model numbers of Parkwest rifles mirror those of Dakotas. Parkwest just added prefixes. The 76 is now the SD 76. The 97 is the SD 97. There are sub-models. The Legend might pass as an archetypal 76, nearest in form to a standard Winchester Model 70. The Alpine has a slim, schnabel-nose stock and a lightweight barrel, per the current 70 Featherweight. The Dark Continent is a rifle-lover’s makeover of Winchester’s African that appeared, with the .458 Magnum, in 1956. I was too young to snare an African at its debut price of $295—about what two boxes of .458 cartridges fetch now. Curiously, the SD 76 Dark Continent is among Parkwest’s most requested sub-models. The Savanna, of similar but slimmer profile, chambers lighter cartridges. The Legend-like Bushveld is the only SD 76 stocked in carbon fiber, not in walnut. The SD 97 Outfitter, Parkwest’s top-selling rifle, also wears a CF stock.
Why is Winchester’s 70, re-imagined and meddled with but in form and soul intact, still with us? Maybe it’s just that good! Or it’s as close as we’ll get to the Model 54—as near in time to the goats and grizzlies, big rams and tallracked caribou of weeks-long roughneck holidays. n
The Boone and Crockett Club asks that you please thank our Trailblazers with your patronage.
Collaboration in Action
Mule Deer and Pronghorn Research in Northeast Colorado
There is an art to net-gunning, and by the close of the project’s first year, 60 mule deer and 140 pronghorn had been captured and fitted with GPS collars.
As oil and gas development accelerates across northeastern Colorado, wildlife researchers and managers, and private industry collaborate to better understand how these changes affect the region’s mule deer and pronghorn populations. In 2023, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Chevron, and the University of Montana’s Boone and Crockett Wildlife Conservation Program launched a study to map potential migration corridors, track habitat use, and collect data to guide future conservation efforts amidst a changing landscape.
JON MCROBERTS
B&C REGULAR MEMBER
BOONE AND CROCKETT WILDLIFE
CONSERVATION PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
PATRICIA MINERICH
B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBER
CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.
JOSH MILLSPAUGH
B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBER
BOONE AND CROCKETT WILDLIFE
CONSERVATION PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
CHUCK ANDERSON, JOE HALSETH, AND MAT ALLDREDGE
COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE
HIGH STAKES IN THE HIGH PLAINS
For centuries, northeastern Colorado’s open plains, wooded draws, and river bottoms have supported healthy herds of mule deer and pronghorn, both of which depend on expansive landscapes to maintain healthy populations. As habitats change with growing human populations, a current understanding of resource needs, factors that impact population growth, and how the species interact with landscape features will keep mule deer and pronghorn a familiar sight on the Colorado plains into the future.
Weld, Logan, and Morgan counties, in northeast Colorado (roughly 30 miles northeast of Denver), serve as important habitat for thousands of mule deer and pronghorn. Historically dominated by large working ranches and intact native prairie, these counties also sit in one of the most productive oil and gas fields in the United States, the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin. The DJ basin spans eastern Colorado, southeastern Wyoming, and parts of Nebraska and Kansas.
In recent decades, Weld County has undergone significant changes. Between 2010 and 2020, the county’s population swelled by nearly 30 percent, making it among the fastest-growing areas in Colorado and reshaping the landscape. Subdivided ranches, also known as ranchettes, have fragmented the
open plains into smaller, fenced parcels. Oil, gas, wind, and solar energy development has resulted in access roads, energy infrastructure, and industrial sites across the landscape. Some of these changes were accompanied by awareness and consideration for wildlife conservation, while others were not. Little research has been conducted on mule deer and pronghorn since these changes occurred, and wildlife managers need updated information to inform their management and conservation efforts.
Chevron, one of the largest players in the region, currently holds approximately 600,000 acres in the DJ Basin, mostly within Weld County. In 2023 alone, Weld County produced over 105 million barrels of oil and nearly 800 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Chevron recognized the need to balance energy extraction to support an ever-expanding human population with wildlife conservation and management, and in 2023 began to develop its Comprehensive Wildlife Plan. The goals and objectives of this forward-looking plan include utilizing science-based data to identify focus areas for mitigation and improvement, as well as to inform enhancement measures and planning efforts. To achieve these goals and objectives, Chevron applied an “art of the possible” framework, imagining what was possible. Chevron’s Comprehensive Wildlife Plan
features a toolbox of programs including the collaring program of pronghorn and mule deer to ascertain movement, migration, and habitat interaction data; a native seed program that focuses on the identification, collection, and cultivation of seeds native to Colorado; a habitat defragmentation program that plugs existing legacy oil and gas wells reclaiming associated lands; an offset program to establish conservation easements and enhancements to existing easements; and a program of collaboration with external experts like Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and the University of Montana’s (UM) Boone and Crockett Wildlife Conservation Program. Through the Comprehensive Wildlife Plan, Chevron is employing a science-driven approach to inform the “what, where, and when” elements for applying mitigation and minimization measures to positively impact wildlife and their habitats. This rapid development is not unique to this part of Colorado. Across the western United States, the combination of energy extraction and suburban growth has fragmented critical migration corridors, potentially increasing mortality risks and reducing habitat quality for ungulates. Sound wildlife research and management must accompany this growth, and our mule deer and pronghorn research project serves as a model for this approach.
A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH
On a snowy morning in February 2024, Joe Halseth of CPW and Dr. Jon McRoberts of UM were the only customers in the Barnstormer restaurant. Housed in the Greeley-Weld County Airport, this spot was a hangout where current and former pilots could share stories and compare notes. The reason the Barnstormer was empty during what should have been the breakfast rush was because of the weather. Flying conditions were somewhere between poor and dangerous. This morning was scheduled as the start of mule deer and pronghorn capture—the kickoff moment of a project that would promote wildlife conservation in tandem with energy extraction. It was supposed to be the culmination of months of planning among scores of wildlife biologists, wildlife officers, conservation administrators, and numerous private landowners. To achieve
the ambitious sample sizes of GPS-collared animals required to draw valid conclusions, it was necessary to go airborne with capture and collaring efforts and contract with a company specializing in net-gunning large mammals from a helicopter. For now, capture efforts were grounded.
The partnership between CPW and UM’s Boone and Crockett Wildlife Conservation Program also included Chevron. Chevron proactively stepped up to fund the research as part of its Comprehensive Wildlife Plan, recognizing that effective oil and gas planning must include wildlife conservation and management based on solid scientific data.
Chevron’s sponsorship of the study also reflects a growing trend of private sector involvement in wildlife research and conservation planning. Across the West, oil and gas companies are increasingly investing in big game monitoring efforts, often in collaboration with universities, state wildlife agencies, and conservation organizations.
In northeastern Colorado, the primary objectives of this study are to delineate key movement corridors and winter range areas, evaluate how habitat features influence selection and avoidance behaviors, and assess the tolerance of mule
deer and pronghorn to various landscape disturbances. Over a three to five-year period, researchers will track the movements, habitat use, and survival of 60 collared adult female mule deer and 140 collared adult female pronghorn.
This work builds on decades of ungulate ecology research, but it is uniquely tailored to address the specific land-use challenges of this region. The project’s design also allows researchers to evaluate animal responses to existing features already present in the landscape, offering insight into how pronghorn and mule deer are adapting—or failing to adapt—to the changing environment.
EARLY PROGRESS AND EXPECTATIONS
Back at the Barnstormer, the weather started to clear, and it wasn’t long before Halseth’s and McRoberts’ cellphones buzzed in unison. The helicopter was airborne, and it was time to go to work. There is an art to net-gunning, and field crews moved efficiently. All methods had been previously approved by CPW and UM Animal Care and Use Committees to ensure the safe and humane handling of animals.
By the close of year-one’s capture season, the sample size targets of 60 mule deer and 140 pronghorn
LEFT: Joe Halseth (center) and Patricia Minerich (right) reviewing the GPS collars. BELOW: Ground support provides essential information on target animal locations and areas where capture has been authorized by landowners.
had been captured and GPS-collared. These collars collected 4-5 GPS locations daily and transmitted these coordinates back to CPW and UM researchers via satellite. Collars were also equipped with a mortality sensor that notified project personnel when the collar remained stationary for eight hours, presumably indicating that the target animal had died. With this locational and survival data, as well as supplementary habitat and landscape attribute data, the research team, led by Dr. Joshua Millspaugh, Chair of the Boone and Crockett Wildlife Conservation Program at UM, and CPW researchers will be able to draw conclusions that will benefit mule deer and pronghorn populations, stakeholders who value the species, and the human populations inhabiting the study area. The study completed its second-year capture event in January and February 2025 to replenish the sample of collared animals that had either died due to documented causes, such as hunter-harvest and vehicle collisions, or experienced a collar failure. While it is too early to draw conclusions, the study team has already seen interesting movements and potential barriers to movement. With new data rolling in daily, the strength that will certainly come from the final results is constantly improving. If research continues as planned, the sample size of locational data for mule deer and pronghorn will exceed a million coordinates, allowing researchers to robustly identify seasonal movements, understand the types of habitats preferred and avoided, and pinpoint specific locations to target for management and potential mitigation projects. By overlaying GPS data with maps of existing infrastructure and development, the team can also begin to assess thresholds, such as whether pronghorn tolerate certain types of roads, fences, or levels of development.
THE BIG PICTURE
Ultimately, these data will help managers prioritize habitat protection efforts and allow for informed energy development and wildlife conservation. While this project is focused on a specific region, its benefits extend well beyond northeast Colorado. Healthy populations of mule deer and pronghorn are a foundational element of the state’s outdoor recreation economy. According to recent reports, hunting and wildlife-related recreation contribute over $3.25 billion annually to Colorado’s economy.
Beyond economics, thriving big game herds are a marker of
landscape health. Pronghorn and mule deer serve as flagship species, meaning that protecting their habitats simultaneously protects a wide range of other wildlife, including grassland birds, raptors, small mammals, and predators.
Most importantly, by grounding management decisions in solid science, projects like this ensure that conservation efforts are proactive rather than reactive. Future generations of Coloradoans will inherit landscapes where wildlife conservation and energy development are not mutually exclusive, but can co-exist, if the right steps are taken today. n
Mule Deer Movement
Pronghorn Movement
Conservation Grants Program Tackles
CWD Through Strategic Partnerships
The Boone and Crockett Club’s collaborative approach to combating chronic wasting disease demonstrates the power of strategic conservation partnerships.
The Boone and Crockett Club’s commitment to wildlife conservation runs deep, with few disputing that their first mission pillar, “to promote the conservation and management of wildlife, especially big game, and its habitat,” represents where the organization’s most enduring contributions to North America’s wildlife heritage have been forged. The Club’s conservation victories span crucial policy battles at state and national levels to conservation education programs at the Elmer E. Rasmuson Wildlife Conservation Center at the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch. Yet perhaps lesser known, but equally significant, are the achievements of the Club’s Conservation Grants Program (CGP).
For more than three-quarters of a century, the CGP has supported pivotal wildlife management research, graduate students, and conservation projects that have significantly impacted the recovery and sustainable management of large mammals across North America. Thanks to generous endowments from legendary conservationists William I. Spencer and past B&C Club president Tim Hixon, the CGP has contributed to numerous iconic wildlife research projects, including David Mech’s early wolf and moose studies on Isle Royale, Lynn Rogers’
landmark work on black bears in Minnesota, and Maurice Hornocker’s pioneering research on mountain lions in Idaho.
FROM SMALL GRANTS TO STRATEGIC IMPACT
Today, the Club continues its tradition of addressing the most pressing needs in North American wildlife conservation through new funding partnerships that have tripled annual CGP funds since 2019. While undeniably impactful, past CGP funds were typically dispersed in relatively small grants of $15,000 or less, requiring the CGP subcommittee to seek out meaningful projects that had already secured most of their needed funding. These modest grants provided little opportunity for committee members to direct wildlife management research on subjects of high importance to both regular and professional Club members.
This changed during a pivotal meeting of the CGP subcommittee at the Wildlife Management Institute’s 2018 North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Norfolk, Virginia. Attendees recognized that the impact of CGP funds had diminished over
time due to the steady rise in costs required to implement meaningful wildlife research and conservation projects. From this discussion, a solution was proposed to better leverage the CGP funds by focusing on an issue that had become a growing priority for Club members. That issue was and still is applied research on chronic wasting disease (CWD) management.
Wolves holding a moose at bay. The pack harassed the animal for 5 minutes, then left. From The Wolves of Isle Royale by L. David Mech, Ph.d.
For decades, Club members and other cervid-focused conservation groups had shared mounting concerns about CWD’s threat to North America’s wildlife resources, hunting, wildlife-associated recreation, and their associated economies. CGP subcommittee members recognized that focusing on CWD would not only elevate one of the Club’s top conservation priorities but also provide a nexus to leverage funds from other organizations equally passionate about finding management tools to control CWD’s relentless expansion within the continent’s cervid populations.
Wildlife professionals within and outside the Club had long recognized the need for critical CWD management research to assess the effectiveness of existing disease management strategies, refine them to enhance efficacy, and develop new tools. These professionals also recognized that this type of research is challenging, expensive, and time-intensive.
BUILDING THE CWD APPLIED RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM
With help from many CGP subcommittee members, then-subcommittee chair Dr. Joshua Millspaugh and Club professional member Matt Dunfee (Director of Special Programs for the Wildlife Management
JOHN
FISCHER AND MATT DUNFEE
B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBERS
B&C CONSERVATION GRANT
SUB-COMMITTEE CHAIR AND CO-CHAIR
“This program represents another example of the Club leaning into a wicked problem,” noted Joshua Millspaugh, past-CGP subcommittee chair and current Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation. “I applaud the Club, Matt Dunfee and John Fischer, and partnering organizations for their leadership and creativity to fund critical management questions surrounding CWD that might not be otherwise addressed.”
Institute and coordinator of the CWD Alliance) created the Chronic Wasting Disease Applied Research Grant Program. This initiative amplifies both the influence of each CGP dollar and its impact on effective CWD management in wild cervid populations.
Leveraging the Club’s conservation grant funds with dollars from two primary partners—the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) and the Mule Deer Foundation (MDF)—has generated significantly more annual funding for the difficult, multi-year research critical for improving CWD management. The Club’s total contribution of $300,000 since 2019 has generated more than $1.25 million in direct and in-kind support for CWD management research through the program.
The program operates through annual or biannual funding cycles, depending on established goals, with funding solicited from the Club and other organizations concerned with wild cervid management. Each cycle aims to support at least two projects with grants of up to $100,000. A small group of North America’s most renowned CWD experts, selected by
PARTNERSHIP IMPACT
n Leveraged funding with Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Mule Deer Foundation.
n Club’s investment: $300,000 (since 2019).
n Total program value generated: $1.25+ million.
CGP subcommittee leadership and members, determines research priorities and assists in developing requests for proposals (RFPs).
Current CWD research priorities include assessing disease management actions, prion detection, CWD epidemiology, human dimension impacts, and carcass disposal options. The program’s RFPs are widely distributed among state and federal conservation agencies, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, Tribal authorities, and others. Proposals are evaluated by the expert group, plus qualified Boone and Crockett Club professional members and representatives from other funding organizations. RFPs are scored on criteria including technical merit, investigator qualifications, external funding leverage, adherence to research priorities, and cross-species applicability.
MEASURABLE RESULTS AND FUTURE IMPACT
To date, eight multi-year research projects have been funded, despite initial difficulties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying research lab shutdowns, as well as the diminished capacity of state fish and wildlife agency partners. Recipients represent academic institutions, state fish and wildlife agencies, and cooperative research units. Funded projects have resulted in two scientific publications (with five more in press or draft) and two practitioner models that help managers better model CWD prevalence and predict the impacts of management strategies.
These projects address diverse CWD management issues, including the development of new methods to detect CWD in live animals, CWD prevalence in high-use areas of the Black Hills for elk, CWD-infectious prion uptake in plants, and the monitoring of CWD using deer fecal samples. These
initiatives tackle the practical, desperately needed management questions that wildlife biologists have struggled to answer for decades regarding how to combat the disease in natural systems.
“This program represents another example of the Club leaning into a wicked problem,” noted Joshua Millspaugh, past-CGP subcommittee chair and current Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation. “I applaud the Club, Matt Dunfee and John Fischer, and partnering organizations for their leadership and creativity to fund critical management questions surrounding CWD that might not be otherwise addressed.”
Thanks to continued support from the Club and valued colleagues at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the CWD Applied Research Grant Program has received an additional $200,000 for the 2025 funding cycle, with awarded projects set to begin in 2026.
The CGP subcommittee’s solution of combined funding to address shared wildlife management priorities between partners has fundamentally changed not only how the Club fulfills its mission to conserve big game in North America but also the magnitude of its impact. Many of the most pressing issues threatening wildlife and habitat are worryingly complex, and short, cheap, or easy solutions can no longer be expected or incentivized by traditional funding models. We encourage all Club members, both regular and professional, to consider adopting similar strategies by exploring common ground with partners who are willing to share mutual successes. The CGP invites you to help in this work by reaching out to friends and colleagues who may be interested in partnering on the Club’s efforts to combat CWD. The future of our wildlife heritage depends on it. n
RESEARCH IMPACT
n 8 multi-year projects funded
n 2 scientific publications completed
n 5 more publications in press/draft
n 2 practitioner models developed
n Projects span academic institutions, state agencies, and research units
DISEASE MANAGEMENT ACTIONS ASSESSMENT
n Prion detection methods
n CWD epidemiology studies
n Human dimension impacts
n Carcass disposal options
Former B&C Fellow Noelle Thompson assisting with the capture and GPS-collaring of whitetail deer in mid-Michigan.
BOONE AND CROCKETT
CLUB
George GrinnellBirdSociety
The Boone and Crockett Club George Bird Grinnell Society welcomes those individuals who wish to support our conservation programs through purely philanthropic, tax deductible gifts of $2,500 or more.
Funds raised from the George Bird Grinnell Society are placed in the Boone and Crockett Club Foundation endowment where the principal remains intact. The annual interest income generated is then dedicated to vital conservation programs.
Special recognition is given via Club publications and with a custom plaque. After your initial gift of $2,500; gifts of $500 or more to the Boone and Crockett Club Foundation endowment will accumulate toward new contribution levels. Please join us by becoming a Member of the George Bird Grinnell Society Today!
LEVELS OF GIVING:
Copper - $2,500 - $4,999
Bronze - $5,000 - $9,999
WILDERNESS WARRIOR SOCIETY
Anthony J. Caligiuri
Gary W. Dietrich
Michael L. Evans
Robert H. Hanson*
Charles W. Hartford
Remo R. Pizzagalli
Richard D. Reeve*
Marion S. Searle
Gordon J. Whiting
DIAMOND LEVEL
Butch Marita
GOLD LEVEL
Timothy C. Brady*
Keith I. Ward
SILVER LEVEL
Michael J. Borel
Hanspeter Giger
Steven Leath
Timothy C. Shinabarger
Wilson S. Stout
BRONZE LEVEL
Scott A. Cooper
Alice B. Flowers
Fritz R. Mason
D. Michael Steuert
Bret A. Triplett
Brian Wilson
COPPER LEVEL
Patrick R. Bernhardt
McLean Bowman
Lonnie Dale
Evelyn H. Merrill
Joshua J. Millspaugh
Mychal Murray
Greg Sheaffer
*Deceased
IN MEMORIAM: DANIEL A. PEDROTTI, SR.
HONORARY LIFE MEMBER SINCE 2007, REGULAR MEMBER FROM 1989-2006, BOONE AND CROCKETT PRESIDENT 1998-2000
Fortunate is the first word that comes to mind when reflecting on my friend Dan Pedrotti now that he has entered eternal life. He inspired us by how he led his life as he focused on his faith, family, friends, and the importance of acknowledging and supporting the true treasure of America, our bountiful natural resources.
We became friends as the Boone and Crockett Club was preparing to celebrate its centennial and recommitted to influencing hunting and conservation policy as it had during its formative years led by Theodore Roosevelt. Dan was instrumental and part of the leadership team who were committed to making it happen so future generations would be able to appreciate and enjoy and learn to
sustainably manage the ultimate treasure of natural resources that is unique to America.
Not only did Dan do an excellent job of leading the Boone and Crockett Club as its president, but he was also the leading force behind the creation and formation of the American Wildlife Conservation Partners in 2000. He clearly saw the need to establish a coalition of all the various species-specific organizations to improve the impact conservation and hunting organizations had on the national dialogue concerning the importance of managing land, water, and wildlife. It was quite an accomplishment to get such an array of interests to agree on a common goal. Dan had the vision and made it happen in his usual way of
Attendees of the 2000 planning summit at the B&C Headquarters in Missoula, Montana. This summit brought together representatives from 35 organizations invested in creating a unified group of likeminded members of the numerous wildlife conservation and shooting groups, which ultimately resulted in the formation of the AWCP. Read Dan’s full account of the formation of AWCP in Fair Chase Summer 2019.
finding common ground for all who participated in the formation of the American Wildlife Conservation Partners. It is no wonder that Dan received the most prestigious honor of the Boone and Crockett Club, the Sagamore Hill Award for all his efforts and accomplishments in hunting and conservation.
Dan was a man of faith. It was evident by how he treated everyone with respect and how he lived his faith and inspired others by his acts of kindness. He and Carolyn have
always been all about family and the need to nurture everyone to acknowledge their blessings and be a family of character. Both Dan and Carolyn inspired all who have had the privilege of crossing their path.
We are going to miss Dan. The inspiration of his memory and all that he taught us through the example he set in his kind and understated way of encouraging each of us to be part of the solution to lead and inspire others. n
Dan Pedrotti with his family and B&C Past Presidents Jim Arnold (far left) and Ben Wallace (center) at the Club’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans in 2021 where he received his Sagamore Hill Award.
CHARTING A FUTURE FOR WILDLIFE SCIENCE
SCIENCE BLASTS
Jonathan R. Mawdsley
B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBER
PHOTOS COURTESY OF USGS.GOV
Times are certainly a-changing in the world of science. In the few months following the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January 2025, we have witnessed a wholesale rethinking, re-evaluation, and reconsideration of the entire American scientific establishment. Major changes have been proposed for our premier scientific institutions, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Smithsonian Institution.
Questions are being raised about the role and future of scientific research in federal agencies. And the entire system by which our major research universities fund their basic operations using overhead on grant awards is now in question. Hundreds of millions of dollars in existing grant awards have been canceled, and massive cuts have been proposed in the staffing of federal scientific agencies. The future of many scientific programs and agencies is currently in doubt.
The wildlife science establishment is by no means exempt from these changes. At the time of this writing (June 2025), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has already “depopulated” its Science Applications Program, with the program’s scientific staff either retired or transferred to other jobs within the USFWS. Major cuts have been proposed to wildlife science programs within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including
positions within the Agricultural Research Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. The entire Ecosystems Mission Area at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)—the largest single division within the USGS—has been targeted for elimination, with its staff proposed for a significant reduction and/or elimination through a formal “reduction in force.” Specific programs at USGS that may be affected by these actions include the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Program (the brainchild of Boone and Crockett Club Regular Member Jay “Ding” Darling), the Climate Adaptation Science Centers, and the USGS fish and wildlife science centers, including the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
These programs at USGS are responsible for conducting hundreds of research studies every year, which directly benefit the work of the state and federal fish and wildlife management agencies. These collaborative research projects, in turn, yield direct benefits to hunters, anglers, trappers, and wildlife enthusiasts. In particular, the 43 Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units work closely with state fish and wildlife agencies on a wide range of applied research projects, helping states manage big game species, waterfowl, upland birds, small game species, and nongame species, such as songbirds, snakes, and salamanders.
Specific research efforts that may be affected by these changes
include the Western Big Game Migration Initiative, based at the USGS Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, which works with the 11 western states to map migratory pathways for large ungulates, providing data that can be used to help conserve essential landscape features for these species. Two other USGS programs, the Breeding Bird Survey and the Bird Banding Lab, provide important research and technical support for continental-scale efforts to conserve migratory songbirds and waterfowl. Data from the Bird Banding Lab are used annually by states and the USFWS to assess the effectiveness of conservation efforts for migratory waterfowl and to set sustainable harvest limits for individual waterfowl species. America’s waterfowl hunters, and the whole multimillion-dollar industry that supports waterfowl hunting nationwide, are thus critically dependent on the activities of this small lab at USGS. The National Wildlife Health Center is equally important to deer hunters; the staff of this small but dedicated lab have provided critical support for national efforts to track and slow the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in wild and captive cervid herds, and also provide the general public with the most up-todate and authoritative maps of CWD presence and spread.
USGS also provides essential scientific support for the study, mapping, and conservation of many non-game wildlife species,
USGS researchers at the Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (Idaho CRU) and graduate students at the University of Idaho are working with the Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) on projects focused on better understanding the dynamics of steelhead fisheries in Idaho. These projects are highly collaborative, with IDFG identifying the most relevant research questions and providing support for public outreach about the projects and the Idaho CRU taking lead in development of the research tools needed to effectively manage the steelhead fisheries in the state.
including providing technical and scientific support to the 50 state fish and wildlife agencies in the development of their state wildlife action plans, developing techniques for using acoustic (sound) monitoring to track populations of frogs and toads and bats, and maintaining the only lab in the Department of the Interior which is capable of identifying the 4,000 native bee species that pollinate wildlife forage plants in the United States.
A HISTORY OF LEADERSHIP
The possible wholesale disappearance of this wildlife science infrastructure is of grave concern to wildlife managers and to the broader conservation community. The Boone and Crockett Club will undoubtedly have a critical role to play moving forward, as our membership has been at the forefront of supporting wildlife science and articulating the important role of science in sound wildlife management since the Club’s earliest days. Our founder, Theodore Roosevelt, was a highly accomplished wildlife scientist, with a list of scientific publications that would be the envy of any graduate student today. In addition, he had a distinguished record of expeditions to various parts of the world (Panama, the Amazon, East Africa), which in turn
resulted in robust collections of scientific specimens of all sorts, which are deposited in major research institutions such as the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian. Some of the Club’s earliest and most prominent members were also key figures in the development of scientific wildlife and natural resource management, including George Bird Grinnell, Gifford Pinchot, Jay “Ding” Darling, and Aldo Leopold. As with so many other aspects of wildlife conservation in North America, our current system of wildlife research and scientific conservation is a legacy of the farsighted leadership of the Boone and Crockett Club.
At the same time that we acknowledge the critical role of the Boone and Crockett Club in the establishment of our modern fish and wildlife scientific research institutions, we must also remember that federally funded wildlife science has a long and distinguished history that predates the Club’s establishment. Wildlife science is not just some mere “Johnny-come-lately” to the federal budget. The first president to invest in what we now call wildlife science was Thomas Jefferson, who sent three expeditions to explore the lands acquired through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The most
famous of these was the Corps of Discovery, under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark. However, President Jefferson also sent Lieutenant Zebulon Pike to explore the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, as well as a third expedition under Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis to locate the source of the Red River. All three expeditions were tasked with collecting and reporting on the plant and animal life of the areas they explored, and their collections led to important discoveries in wildlife biology and taxonomy.
These Jeffersonian expeditions were followed by numerous federally funded scientific explorations, including Major Long’s Expedition of 1820 and the great United States Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842, both of which were accompanied by naturalists. Long’s expedition led to the discovery and naming of many wildlife species of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, including the coyote, which was named Canis latrans by the expedition’s naturalist, the brilliant Thomas Say. The U.S. Exploring Expedition collected many rare birds from Hawaii (many of which have since become extinct) and mapped significant portions of the Antarctic coast, among numerous other accomplishments. Many
other federally funded expeditions crisscrossed the American continent in the nineteenth century, mapping trails and canyons, identifying possible routes for new railroads, and sending boxcars of specimens east, back to research centers for study.
Federal support for wildlife science continued unabated through the twentieth century, with the establishment of the U.S. National Museum of Natural History in 1910 under the aegis of the Smithsonian Institution, the formation of the Bureau of Biological Survey in 1934, the creation of the network of Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units in 1935, and the establishment of the National Science Foundation in 1950. Attempts to defund the Cooperative Research Unit Program in the 1980s were successfully rebuffed by the dedicated efforts of the conservation community.
WE STILL NEED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
We now find ourselves again in a time where we must articulate the importance of wildlife science, if we are to anticipate a continuation of wildlife research and funding within the federal government. Over the past 90 years, since the
Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Program was established, we have gained valuable insights into wildlife science.
First, scientific research studies and the resulting scientific data are essential foundations for the successful management of wildlife species. Wildlife science “is good to think with” and to answer questions about the natural world. Science can help us understand the current status of a wildlife population, identify its threats and stressors, and characterize the essential habitat factors that support it. Scientific field studies can help us understand how wildlife populations respond to environmental changes, and also inform managers in designing effective conservation measures. Scientific studies can help us evaluate the effectiveness of conservation measures once these are implemented, including hunting and harvest management. Scientific methods are available that can help us better understand changing attitudes toward wildlife management, both within the conservation community and in broader society. If we, as a society, are going to practice any form of wildlife management beyond benign neglect, we will need scientific investigations and data
Part of a US Geological Survey outfit northwest of Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma Territory, 1901. Man in photo is C.N. Gould, father of Oklahoma Geology.
to inform our decisions. Otherwise, we are simply operating blind.
Second, science provides us with an increasingly sophisticated set of tools for addressing important questions in wildlife management. The earliest generations of wildlife biologists used field notebooks, pencils, and slide rules; modern wildlife biologists use GPS collars and laptop computers to map an animal’s location to within a few meters. Likewise, modern genomics methods give us unprecedented access to the history of entire wildlife populations, including past bottlenecks and population sizes, from just a few field samples. Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods help us locate rare and cryptic aquatic species (e.g., hellbender salamanders) without causing substantial environmental disturbance (e.g., rolling all the large boulders in a stream to find the hellbenders). We require ongoing funding and scientific and technical support to apply these new scientific tools to addressing significant problems in wildlife management.
Third, many of the greatest problems in wildlife management can only be addressed through long-term, longitudinal studies, rather than “one-off” short-term research contracts. Wildlife managers are committed to the long haul, with many of them devoting their entire careers to working with a single species or ecological community. Why shouldn’t they have scientific research collaborators who share an equally deep knowledge of the species and the habitats that they are managing? Replacing the ranks of federal wildlife
scientists with a series of “one-off” research contracts with universities may seem like an initial cost savings, but what is lost in such measures is the in-depth, detailed knowledge of a species or habitat that can only be gained by a researcher through years of study. I have personally witnessed biologists make shocking elementary mistakes when attempting to conduct a “one-off” study in an area of wildlife science where they lack expertise. The kind of expertise needed for effective, long-term wildlife management can only be developed over years working with a particular species, group of species, or habitat. Such expertise requires long-term investment in the researcher and their research portfolio. Historically, only the federal government and a very few non-profit institutions, such as the largest natural history museums, have had the stability and continued funding necessary to support the development of such expertise.
Fourth, public sector funding is critical for sustained wildlife conservation and wildlife science. Only public sector institutions possess the longevity, the history of sustained large-scale funding for scientific research endeavors, and the ability to rise above petty conflicts of interest, enabling them to conduct science that is truly in the best interest of managers and the broader public.
Ultimately, early and frequent engagement between wildlife managers and researchers is crucial for effective science-informed wildlife conservation. Applying a cooperative and collaborative approach to research design, implementation, and data
interpretation greatly helps clarify the intent and needs of wildlife managers, identify appropriate research methods for the questions at hand, and determine the relevance of scientific research findings to the actual real-world problems confronting managers.
Wildlife science is essential for effective wildlife management, and our greatest conservation success stories in North America derive directly from the application of research findings and scientific principles to wildlife management problems. The restoration of whitetail deer, elk, turkey, black bear, and numerous species of waterfowl has depended directly on scientific research conducted at Coop Units, our state universities, and our federal wildlife management agencies. If we wish to continue enjoying the benefits of wildlife conservation, including a continent teeming with wildlife, we must also find ways to support the scientific research and institutions that make these conservation successes possible. n
Over the past 90 years, since the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Program was established, we have gained valuable insights into wildlife science. Here’s how:
1. Scientific research studies and the resulting scientific data are essential foundations for the successful management of wildlife species.
2. Science provides us with an increasingly sophisticated set of tools for addressing important questions in wildlife management.
3. Many of the greatest problems in wildlife management can only be addressed through long-term, longitudinal studies, rather than “one-off” short-term research contracts.
4. Public sector funding is critical for sustained wildlife conservation and wildlife science.
An image of elk standing behind a groundwater monitoring site at Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming.
“The Peak of Pursuit” is this year’s theme, and it couldn’t be more fitting.
To me, it’s the pursuit that keeps us coming back. Not every hunt ends with a record-book animal—but when it does, everyone in this room knows… the feeling is incredible but the work, the preparation, and the commitment leading up to that moment… that’s what defines success.
The real trophy is chasing the highest standard in Fair Chase hunting—where skill, respect, and integrity meet.
And once we understand that, it becomes our responsibility to pass it on.
- MELISSA BACHMAN
HOST OF WINCHESTER DEADLY PASSION
32ND BIG GAME AWARDS KEYNOTE
MORE THAN NUMBERS: THE STORIES BEHIND THE RECORDS
The Boone and Crockett Club’s Big Game Awards, held only once every three years, is among the most respected in the world of North American big game hunting. It is not simply about the size of antlers or numbers on a score sheet. It’s about the stories behind those animals—stories of perseverance, patience, and respect. The Boone and Crockett record book stands as a historical record of conservation success, a ledger of what’s possible when we steward our resources the right way.
Being entered into this record book is no small thing. It is not given; it is earned. Earned through dedication to Fair Chase, through countless hours spent in the field, and through the respect shown to the game, the land, and the laws that govern both.
If your name is attached to any record-book entry, you are part of a legacy that dates back to Theodore Roosevelt himself. You are helping preserve something greater than any one of us alone— you are a living testament to the North American Model of Conservation, a wildlife conservation model that’s been admired around the world but only exists in North America.
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Tony Caligiuri PRESIDENT
For me, the Big Game Awards celebration is personal for a lot of reasons. I got to experience what it is like to walk across the awards stage three years ago as a trophy owner. I share the excitement and anticipation of those receiving awards. It is also more personal because my family was with me. I would not be where I am today without the support of my wife, Ginny. The rest of my family also joined me at the awards. My son, Taaffe, is an Official Measurer and an avid do-ityourself whitetail, elk, and pronghorn hunter who has taken B&C deer three years in a row, all self-guided with both his bow and rifle. I have lost count, but I think he is up to about 10, 170-class and above whitetails. We are fortunate that he married a girl who also grew up hunting. We are very happy that our two grandbabies are growing up in that same hunting tradition, and they both love eating the wild game that their mom and dad bring home.
In Iowa, where I grew up, Boone and Crockett is a household name because of the records program. In fact, way more high school kids in Iowa would rather try and put a buck in the record book each fall than play high school football, much to the chagrin of the state’s high school
LEFT TO RIGHT: Zachary Rippeto, Professional Member Tim Shinabarger, Honorary Life Member and Past President Steve Adams, Regular Member Tom Teague, B&C President Tony Caligiuri, and Ginny Caligiuri.
This excerpt is from Tony’s address given at the 32nd Buck Buckner Awards banquet July 26, 2025, pictured below.
coaches. As a kid, I dreamed about being in those record book pages as well.
I grew up looking at those old Boone and Crockett record books like they were sacred texts. They weren’t just lists—they were legends. As I grew older, I realized that the animals, and the people who hunted them ethically, represented something deeper—a relationship with the land, a code of conduct, and a responsibility to protect something fragile.
As president of the Boone and Crockett Club, I don’t take this moment lightly. I know what these awards represent. And I know how rare it is for someone’s name to be etched into this history. Every hunter at the Big Game Awards contributes to that legacy. Every hunter at the Big Game Awards is part of the Boone and Crockett story.
I’d like to share my own little story about one of the honorees at the 32nd Big Game Awards. Tom Teague is a Boone and Crockett regular member and one of my most admired friends. We have shared campfires from the Yukon to Mexico and many more in between. He is an avid hunter and has taken several B&C record-class game animals, including a 700 sheep slam. Much to his remiss, he had never hunted Alaska-Yukon moose. So, he called me last year and asked if I knew of any decent moose hunts. I said I did, but the good outfitters are all booked out three or four years right now. In typical Tommy
Teague fashion, he said, “Buddy, at this stage in life, I don’t buy green bananas much less book hunts out four years. I’m not looking for a giant moose, just a good representative bull.”
I said, “Okay, let me make a few calls.” I spoke with Logan Young at Midnight Sun to try and call in a favor, but I didn’t need to because Logan, being a big rodeo fan, immediately knew who Tom Teague was and said, “If he can come during the September rut and ride a horse 12 hours a day, I’ll take him this fall.” I relayed that to Tom, and he said that I needed to go with him. As someone who does not need much encouragement when it comes to going hunting, I said, “That’s a great idea. Maybe I can hunt caribou while you hunt moose.”
When September finally came around, we headed to the Yukon. We got to base camp, and Tom went one way, I went the other. The weather was perfect, the stars aligned, and the Northern Lights were bright and colorful. A few days later, Tom and Logan found a big bull, called him in, and just as Tom was getting ready to shoot, Logan reached over and pulled his safety lever back. “Don’t shoot, Tom. We can do better than this bull,” Logan said. “Logan, just let me shoot this bull,” Tom replied. Logan said no, and then actually stood up and waved the bull off to live another day. Tom got back on his horse and
made a four-hour ride back to camp in the dark, with a few choice words for Logan along the way.
Later that week, the beautiful fall weather changed to nearly winter, as it often does in the northern Yukon. I was sitting on a mountainside in an ice-cold downpour, waiting on a herd of caribou to get up, when I got an In-Reach text from Logan that said Tom just killed a giant moose! Well, it is more than a giant. It’s a wonderful testament to the friendships made through the common thread of hunting.
The Big Game Awards honors the animals, while celebrating stories like Tom’s, and the sportsmen and women who understand that hunting is not just about the pursuit—it’s about purpose.
Thank you to all those who joined us this past July in Springfield. Thank you for carrying the torch of conservation forward. And thank you for making sure the legacy of the Boone and Crockett Club remains strong for future generations. n
Tom with his Alaska-Yukon moose.
Tom received second award for his moose.
LEFT TO RIGHT: B&C
President Tony Caligiuri, Tom Teague, and Big Game Records Committee Chairman Mike Opitz.
Our Boone and Crockett Club holds its Big Game Awards once every three years. We strive to do it right. And for sure, we are in the right place. In recent cycles, we have been fortunate to be hosted by Johnny Morris and his team at the Wonders of Wildlife Museum and National Aquarium at Bass Pro Shops headquarters in
Springfield, Missouri.
Between the museums and the aquarium, there is so much to see. We are a part of that, with the best of the best North American animals from the last three years on display. For the recently concluded 32nd Awards, the exhibit was open to the public from May 1 until the awards banquet on July 26.
Although the logistics of pulling off such an event require Herculean efforts, the concept is simple. During the event, many people asked me how and why the animals on display got there. So, in brief, here’s how it works. Boone and Crockett publishes an “All-Time” book, Records of North American Big Game , every six years. Every three years, we publish an “Awards” book, coinciding, now for decades, with the three-year awards period. So, this 32nd Big Game Awards honors animals entered into the B&C scoring system between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2024, with our 32nd Big Game Awards book
CRAIG BODDINGTON
PROFESSIONAL MEMBER
The Peak of Pursuit
due out this fall. Appropriately, the Awards book has slightly lower minimums than the All-Time book.
The criteria for invitation to display (and for panel judging) require either placement in the alltime top ten or the awards period top five. As a 43-year Professional Member, I can confidently say that Springfield is an outstanding venue for this event. I also wholeheartedly agree with the Club’s philosophy: first and foremost, honoring the animals; then recognizing young hunters who took awards-qualifying animals at our Jack Steele Parker Generation Next Banquet; and finally, celebrating one of B&C’s long-standing stalwarts at the Buck Buckner 32nd Big Game Awards Banquet, which served as this year’s grand finale. I am incredibly proud of B&C’s leadership—President Tony Caligiuri, CEO Tony Schoonen—and their dedicated, exceptional staff.
You can’t have our awards presentation without the animals. North American big game wasn’t quite at its nadir when Theodore Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell, and some of their friends established the Boone and Crockett Club back in 1887. The downhill slide continued for a couple more decades, then the long uphill road to recovery began. Hunter-conservationists
B&C
Craig Boddington emceed the Buck Buckner 32nd Big Game Awards Banquet.
THANK YOU TO OUR 32ND BIG GAME AWARDS SPONSORS
wrought a miracle on this continent, bringing so many—almost all—biggame species back from the brink. That work will never be done, and we all know that wildlife populations fluctuate.
The last three years are no different. We know there have been droughts, severe winters, and disease here and there. Old curmudgeons like me might have expected, even predicted, that our 32nd Awards would be sort of pedestrian in results. If I thought that, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Our network of 1,500 hard-working and unpaid Official Measurers has been busy. The 32nd Awards records book will include more than 3,900 animals entered during the awards period, across the entire spectrum of North American big game.
GENERATION NEXT
The animals invited to Springfield were the best of those 3,900. But let’s put beauty before age. Anyone who took an awards-qualifying animal before reaching their 17th birthday—and entered it during the 32nd Awards period—was invited to be recognized at the Jack Steele Parker Generation Next Banquet on Friday, July 25. This was our sixth Generation Next banquet, an awesome event that continues to grow.
At the event, around 50 young hunters filed across the stage. Yes, I can hear the green-eyed monster of jealousy now. “Beginner’s luck. Didn’t deserve that animal.” Sure, luck is a factor any time a great animal is taken. You can make your best plan, work as long and hard as it takes, but there’s still the element of luck when a Boone and Crockett animal presents itself at the right time and place. And young hunters, thankfully, often have family, friends, and mentors trying to steer Lady Luck their way. It doesn’t matter if you’re old or young, male or female—when an exceptional animal presents itself, the hunter must do a bunch of things right. Otherwise, that (likely) once-in-a-lifetime walk across the stage is a story about the one that got away.
Of the young hunters there, I was struck by two things. First, the breadth of species was nearly a dozen. There were deer, pronghorn, black bear, elk, Dall’s sheep, bighorn, and Rocky Mountain goat. And second, there was the full range of methods of take, from conventional centerfires to straightwall cartridges to bows, crossbows, and muzzleloaders.
One of the hunters, Allan Buckman, was a tad older than the rest of the Friday night attendees. He was 14 when he took his
Jack Steele Parker Generation Next Youth Awards Judges Panel and Media Summit Hunt Fair Chase Award Sponsor
and Cougar Display
Bags Auction Beverages
Whitetail and Coues’ Deer Display Mule Deer, Columbia Blacktail and Sitka Blacktail Deer Display
Youth Travel Stipend Glenn St. Charles Memorial Award
Welcome Reception Big Game Merchandise
Buck Buckner 32nd Big Game Awards Banquet Event Host
monstrous and long-standing North Dakota state record pronghorn in 1954. It graced his father’s store for 20 years and is now part of the North Dakota Game and Fish collection. Remember the rules: “Taken before the 17th birthday and entered during the Awards period.” The buck was never officially measured until this awards period. No longer exactly a teenager, Buckman properly and proudly took his place on the stage with the group.
Hunter’s luck being as it is, several of our Generation Next awardees take a second walk across the stage and earn recognition at the awards presentation. This year, there was only one. Then 16, Carson Putnam and his family spent the fall of 2021 pursuing a monstrous non-typical whitetail near their Ohio home. In a wonderful show of how families that hunt together stay together, his sister’s boyfriend gave crucial intel, and Carson got the shot. The result was a legendary Ohio whitetail scoring 227-1/8 points.
Carson Putnam’s non-typical whitetail was recognized on Friday and Saturday night. He was the only youth hunter with an awards trophy in the 32nd Big Game Awards.
Allan Buckman (center) received his award during the Generation Next Youth Banquet. Even though his impressive pronghorn was taken in 1954 when Allan was 14, it wasn’t entered until 2023, making it eligible as a Generation Next youth entry.
A SOLID SHOW
Allan with his pronghorn in 1954.
Boone and Crockett Club records keep track of 38 species and subspecies categories of North American big game. As I mentioned earlier, it’s important to remember that B&C honors the animal first because we believe the continuous and escalating presence of mature animals is a key indicator of herd health and vitality. Our system has changed over time, with minimums reduced when entries decrease and raised when indicated. As knowledge grows, categories have been added. I go back long enough to remember when separate categories for Sitka blacktail, Central Canada barren ground caribou, Roosevelt’s elk, and tule elk were created, as well as several new non-typical categories.
As science and wildlife management advance, our system and our records will change. The 33rd Awards will include collared peccary (javelina) for the first time. And after 30 years of my pleas, there is interest in exploring brocket deer and other isolated North American animals. Sadly but properly, we exclude only the jaguar. The last jaguar (certified legal and fair chase) entered into B&C’s records was taken in Tamaulipas in 1983. Mexico’s jaguar population is increasing and spreading, but our world must change much before jaguars will again be a viable North
American big game animal. That reduces us to 37 viable big game categories. Amazingly, in the 32nd Awards, we had entries from all of them, a total of 93 awesome animals on display. We all know and lament that caribou are in trouble across much of the North. And yet, unlike the 31st Awards, we had caribou from all subspecies on display. True, Quebec-Labrador caribou are now closed. Dallas Eltz’s awesome bull was taken in 1969 and just measured. However, there were four Central Canada barren ground caribou—two from Manitoba, two from Nunavut. Barren ground, mountain, and woodland caribou also received awards.
Dallas Eltz’s Quebec-Labrador caribou taken in 1969 was on display
For years, we’ve lamented the decline of mule deer. The golden years of the 1960s are unlikely to return, but big bucks are still out there. There were no world records, but there were three awesome typical bucks, two from Colorado (of course), and a surprise from Saskatchewan. There were two awesome non-typical bucks
Beau J. Grauf’s typical Columbia blacktail deer received honorable mention scoring 149-5/8 points. It was taken in Douglas County, Oregon in 2023.
Read the story of Kevin Neil’s bighorn hunt in the Summer 2023 issue of Fair Chase.
in an unusual First Award tie at 252-4/8 points—one from Oregon and another surprise from western Kansas. To be sure, there were not many mule deer, few tags, but some giants, as Travis Reitmayer’s buck proves.
All the other deer were also well-represented. There were four awesome Columbia blacktail typical bucks, plus two non-typical Columbia blacktails. In addition, we saw two typical Sitka blacktails, two typical Coues’ whitetails, and, unusually, three amazing non-typical Coues’ whitetails. There were three gorgeous typical whitetail bucks and three exceptional non-typicals.
Unusually, perhaps representing drought and tough winters, only one pronghorn was recognized, Brett Hamilton’s Honorable Mention for his giant 85-6/8 New Mexico buck. That’s much bigger than any pronghorn I’ve ever seen!
After decades of increasingly huge Rocky Mountain rams, bighorns were also down. The First (and only) Award went to Kevin Neil for his fantastic 200-point Colorado ram, taken in 2022. On sheep, the
rest is good news. Perhaps the best news is the great work being done in Mexico on desert sheep. We saw four awards for desert sheep, two from Arizona, one from Coahuila, and another from Sonora.
There were three awards for Dall’s sheep—one for a Yukon ram and two from Alaska. In these days, more surprising were three great Stone’s rams, all from northern British Columbia. A highlight for me was the legacy ram taken by Gordon Eastman in 1966, owned by his son Mike, and only now officially measured.
It was also an awesome event for big bears, with four black bears, four grizzlies, and three Alaskan brown bears honored. It wasn’t as good for big American elk—just two typical and one non-typical recognized. However, I was shocked to see that both the typical and non-typical First Award recipients came from Pennsylvania, both taken in 2022. This was a better awards period for both Roosevelt’s and tule elk, with four great bulls recognized in each category.
In any awards period, there are always surprises. Other than
new world records (be patient), I was surprised by the number of caribou, excited by the big mule deer and sheep, blown away by the big bison…and the walrus. We had four bison to celebrate, two from Montana and two from Custer County, South Dakota.
Most interesting to me were the Pacific walrus, entered for the first time in years. Atlantic walrus in Nunavut are open to outsiders, but the hunting of the larger (and larger-tusked) Pacific walrus is only open to Alaskan natives. Jesse Rogers qualifies and hunts Pacific walrus from a small boat in frigid waters. Jesse accepted First and Second Awards for hunter-taken Pacific walrus.
There were also three Certificates of Merit for huge Pacific walrus tusks recovered along Alaska’s beaches. This is important. In honoring animals for their exceptional size, B&C recognizes animals that died of natural, accidental, or unknown causes. Throughout our records books, one finds numerous animals noted as “picked up,” collectively an important part of the database and sometimes the biggest of the big.
NEW WORLD RECORDS
Our current world record grizzly bear is a pickup, a massive 27-13/16inch skull recovered in 1976. Brian van Lanen’s First Award grizzly, taken in Norton Sound, Alaska, in 2024, is just a quarter-inch smaller. Regardless, that bear is the largest hunter-taken grizzly to be entered into B&C’s records. With British Columbia closed to grizzly bear hunting, opportunities to hunt grizzly have shrunk, so van Lanen’s bear is as amazing to me as our three new world records, including musk ox, Roosevelt’s elk, and Rocky Mountain goat.
Hunting near Contwoyto Lake in Nunavut in 2023, Aron Wark took the new world record musk ox. At 131-4/8 points, this massive bull exceeds a bull recognized at the 31st Big Game Awards by one inch.
Our records committee established the category for Roosevelt’s elk in 1980. The largest-bodied elk subspecies is found and hunted in northwest California,
Brian van Lanen’s grizzly bear is the largest huntertaken grizzly ever entered, scoring 27-9/16 points.
For the first time in many years Pacific and Atlantic walrus tusks were on display.
Aron Wark and the new World’s Record musk ox, scoring 131-4/8 points.
western Oregon and Washington, southwest British Columbia (including Vancouver Island), and Alaska’s Afognak and Raspberry Islands. Since 1980, the world record has traded back and forth several times, mostly between B.C. and Oregon.
In the 32nd Awards period, something entirely unprecedented happened. All four Roosevelt’s elk awards, first through fourth, came from Humboldt County, California. There’s more, much more. The Second and Fourth Award Roosevelt’s elk were guided by wildlife biologist and outfitter Tim Carpenter. In 2020, Tim took the Third Award bull. And in 2023, on a rare day off from guiding, he killed the new world record Roosevelt’s. At 455-2/8 points, his amazing bull exceeds the previous record by more than 25 points.
With world records, it’s fun to speculate whether they can ever be beaten. Clearly, it depends on habitat, herd dynamics, management, hunting opportunity, and by
Tim Carpenter (center) with Saturday night’s keynote speaker Melissa Bachman and Kyle Lehr, Director of Big Game Records. Tim had two Roosevelt’s elk on display at the 32nd Big Game Awards, one of which (left) is the current World’s Record scoring 455-2/8 points.
how much an animal exceeds the next few in our records. Our woodland caribou world record was taken in 1910, the Quebec-Labrador world record in 1931. Today, it seems unlikely either can be beat en. Despite the huge margin, with an increasing Roosevelt’s elk herd in ideal habitat with obviously awe some genetics, Carpenter himself doesn’t expect his new world record to last forever.
Time will tell. Likewise, with the third world record in our 32nd Awards. However, Justin Kallusky’s world re cord Rocky Mountain goat is so spectacular that many of us who admired it likened it to the Chadwick ram or the Burris typical mule deer—all records that are likely to stand. A res ident of British Colum bia, Justin took his goat on a tough DIY hunt with
a buddy in 2022, above the famous Stikine River, cutting through the Cassiar Mountains in northern B.C.
The hunt itself was a saga, fighting through blowdown, glassing for goats on and above precipitous canyon walls. This goat was spotted at long range, lost and relocated, then stalked. Although clearly a billy, Justin wasn’t certain of it because the almost 13-inch horns were out of proportion; he worried that it might be an unusually small-bodied animal. The goat was in a bad spot, perched above precarious cliffs. Although he anchored it well, it still rolled and skidded 500 feet, all without breaking a horn. When he reached it, it was obviously no mistake. Officially scored at 60-4/8, it’s the only goat known to exceed the 60-inch mark. It bests the previous record by three points. That may not sound like much, but keep in mind, there isn’t much to measure on a goat; it’s one of the most amazing animals I have ever seen.
In addition to his First Award and new world record, Justin also received Boone and Crockett’s highest recognition, the Sagamore Hill Award. The Sagamore Hill is given by the Roosevelt family in memory of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., and Kermit Roosevelt. It’s awarded not just for a special animal, but a special animal taken under special circumstances that embody the Boone and Crockett Club’s principles of fair chase. Originating on a goose hunt in 1947, the Sagamore Hill award has been presented just 18 times. It’s worth noting that a Rocky Mountain goat is the only animal that has earned the Sagamore three times, attesting to the difficulty and danger of goat hunting. n
As the last award of the Buck Buckner 32nd Big Game Awards Banquet, Justin received his Sagamore Hill plaque and medallion. LEFT TO RIGHT: Tony Caligiuri, Boone and Crockett Club President, Craig Boddington, Professional Member and emcee, Justin Kallusky, and Mike Opitz, Records of North American Big Game Committee Chairman.
WHILE ON HIS HUNT, JUSTIN PENNED THIS POEM:
AS I WRITE THESE WORDS UPON THIS PAGE SMELLING SCENTS OF ASPEN AND WILD SAGE THE RIVER CARVES THE ROCKS BELOW BORN FROM ICE AND MELTING SNOW.
THROUGH A LAND UNCHANGED SINCE TIME BEGAN AND NOT YET SPOILED BY THE HANDS OF MAN WITH WHITE ACROBATS DEFYING DEATH THE HUNTERS WAIT WITH SHALLOW BREATH.
I PINCH MYSELF, IT’S NOT A DREAM I’M HUNTING GOATS ON THE MIGHTY STIKINE.
—JUSTIN L. KALLUSKY
Read the story of Justin’s World’s Record Rocky Mountain goat hunt in the Summer 2023 issue of Fair Chase.
BX-4 PRO GUIDE HD
EDGE-TO-EDGE CLARITY FOR ALL-DAY GLASSING
GEN 2
BUCK BUCKNER 32ND BIG GAME AWARDS BANQUET
TRIBUTE TO BUCK BUCKNER
The Big Game Awards is more than a gathering of hunters and conservationists—it is a celebration of tradition, ethics, and a shared commitment to the future of our wildlife and wild places. Saturday night’s main event in Springfield, Missouri, this past July was dedicated to a person very special to many Boone and Crockett Club members, Mr. Buck Buckner.
Buck is one of our legends at Boone and Crockett, first appointed as an official measurer in 1968 while he was serving as a U.S. Forest Service range consultant in Arizona. He is an Honorary Life Member of the club, having been elected as a regular member 35 years ago in 1990. He has served as chairman of the records committee, as a past
Tony Caligiuri B&C PRESIDENT
chairman of the Judges Panel, as a records consultant, and has served many times as a judge for these awards over the past five decades. He most recently served the club as vice president of big game records before deciding a few years ago to step back and spend more time with his wife, Hope, on their ranch in Baker City, Oregon. On a personal note, Buck is very special to me as he was my sponsor in the club when I first became a member. He is the consummate modern-day authority on the history of our big game records as well as all things Jack O’Connor, big bore rifles, mountain hunting, and flying airplanes from tailwheel bush planes to water bombers. Here’s to you, Buck. n
Boone and Crockett President Tony Caligiuri presented Buck with a plaque recognizing his 35 years of dedication to the Club and naming the banquet in his honor.
Buck at the 20th Big Game Awards Judges Panel in 1989.
The Wilderness Warrior Society, the Club’s premier major gifts society, was launched in 2011 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Boone and Crockett Club.
In 1887 Theodore Roosevelt formed a coalition of hunters to establish the foundation for the world’s greatest wildlife conservation system. Knowing that he could not accomplish this daunting task alone, he invited men of influence to join him in forming the Boone and Crockett Club.
We still cannot do it alone. We need your help. Please join the Wilderness Warrior Society!
With your gift of $125,000 or more, you will be presented with a limitededition bronze of Theodore Roosevelt on horseback by Bob Scriver, a custom blazer, and an exclusive event at our annual meeting each year to recognize and honor your special generosity toward wildlife conservation.
The $125,000 donation can be paid with a $25,000 current contribution and the balance payable over a maximum of four years. Please consider pledging to become a member of the Wilderness Warrior Society today!
R. Terrell McCombs President, Boone and Crockett Club Foundation
Wilderness Warrior Reception, 2024 Annual Meeting–Charlotte, North Carolina.
Trevor L. Ahlberg
Lee R. Anderson Sr. Anonymous
James F. Arnold F. Weldon Baird
Rene R. Barrientos
Marc A. Brinkmeyer
Pete R. Brownell
Anthony J. Caligiuri
Richard Childress
Marshall J. Collins Jr.
Samuel J. Cunningham
William A. Demmer
Gary W. Dietrich
John P. Evans
Michael L. Evans
Robert W. Floyd
Steve J. Hageman
Arlene P. Hanson
Robert H. Hanson*
Charles W. Hartford
John L. Hendrix
George C. "Tim" Hixon*
B.B. Hollingsworth Jr.
Ned S. Holmes
John L. Hopkins
Andrew L. Hoxsey
N. Eric Johanson*
A. William Jones
Anne Brockinton Lee
Tom L. Lewis
Jimmy John Liautaud T. Nyle Maxwell
R. Terrell McCombs
Marc C. Mondavi
David L. Moore
John L. Morris
Rick C. Oncken
Michael J. Opitz
Jack S. Parker*
Paul V. Phillips
Remo R. Pizzagalli
Thomas D. Price
Edward B. Rasmuson*
Richard D. Reeve*
Louis A. Rupp Jr.
Marion "Scotty" Searle
James J. "Jake" Shinners
T. Garrick Steele
Morrison Stevens Sr.*
Benjamin A. Strickling III
Thomas L. Teague
George C. Thornton
Ben B. Wallace
Mary L. Webster
M. Craig West*
Gordon J. Whiting
C. Martin Wood III
Leonard H. Wurman M.D.
Paul M. Zelisko * Deceased
FIELD GENERALS LUNCHEON
For the last six Big Game Awards, the Boone and Crockett Club has honored our Official Measurers (OM) with a Field Generals luncheon. The luncheon is a small token of appreciation for the countless hours our OM team spends measuring skulls, antlers, and horns—not to mention being invaluable ambassadors for the Boone and Crockett Club.
Attendees of the 32nd Big Game Awards Field Generals luncheon were treated to a speech by B&C President Tony Caligiuri. Official Measurers Fred King, Dave Boland, Mark Bara, Richard Bishop and Buck Buckner were recognized for having over 40 years of measuring experience. Buck had the most years served in attendance at 57 years. And finally, all Official Measurers at the luncheon received a one-of-a-kind gift to commemorate the 32nd Big Game Awards.
32ND BIG GAME AWARDS JUDGES PANEL
In April 2025, the 32nd Big Game Awards Judges Panel convened in Springfield, Missouri, at the Bass Pro Shops flagship store to verify the scores on the invited big game entries. Teams of two are paired up each day to verify the trophy scores. Bucky Ihlenfeldt and Charlie Rehor are pictured left.
Members of the 32nd Awards Judges Panel chaired by Pat McKenzie (left to right): Front Row: Stan Zirbel, Mike Opitz, Ricky Krueger, Pat McKenzie, Jennifer Schwab, Bucky Ihlenfeldt, Charlie Rehor, Gil Hernandez. Second Row: Mark Carroll, Brett Ross, Bruce Capes, Roy Grace, Tim Rozewski, Fred King, Kyle Lehr, Curtis Siegfried, Max Crocker, Dave Rippeto, Steve Homyack, Ricky Pflanz. Back Row: Jon McRoberts, Ed Fanchin, Blake McPhaul, Heath Dreger, Justin Spring, Rick Pflanz, HP Giger
OUR FIELD GENERALS
You are the ones who meet the hunters. Who see the trophies firsthand. Who uphold our values face-to-face, in the field, in your home on the kitchen table, in your garage, even on the tailgate of a truck. I want to break down what that title— FIELD GENERAL—really means. Because it’s more than just a clever acronym. It’s a responsibility. It’s a standard. And it’s an honor.
F is for Family. Because that’s what we are. Not a club of strangers— but a community, bound by shared values and purpose.
I is for Irreproachable. Your integrity must be unquestioned. Your word matters. And the way you carry yourself reflects on all of us.
E is for Ethics.
Our foundation. Fair Chase. The measuring process isn’t just about inches—it’s about honesty, fairness, and consistency. You are the guardians of those principles.
L is for Leaders. Whether you realize it or not, people look up to you. New hunters. Seasoned ones. Landowners. Guides. You lead by example— through knowledge, through humility, through service.
D is for Dedication.
No one becomes a OM by accident. You’ve trained. You’ve studied. And you’ve committed to getting it right—every time.
G is for Gold Standard. Our scoring system is the benchmark—and so are you. It is the only household name in scoring systems, it always has been and always will be.
E is for Enjoyable.
This work should bring joy. Joy in the stories, joy in the connections, joy in preserving moments that matter. It is not always easy to find time to measure a hunter’s trophy and not always easy to smile when the hunter walks through the door with that buck that he said was “180” easy turns out to be “140” at best. But remember, make it fun for yourself and that hunter. Let him down gently, to him it is still the greatest trophy in the world.
N is for No Comparison.
Because there is no other organization like Boone and Crockett— and no group of measurers more respected. You set the tone. You set the bar. No other measuring program in North America carries the mark of respect like Boone and Crockett’s Records of Big Game
E is for Exclusivity.
Not everyone gets to do what you do. We get far more inquiries from people who want to be measurers than are accepted for the program. You’ve earned your place. And it means something.
Each Official Measurer in attendance was called on stage to receive a custom gift presented by Assistant Director of Big Game Records Jennifer Schwab and Records of North American Big Game Committee Chairman Mike Opitz. Phil Herrnberger is pictured here (center).
Tony Caligiuri B&C PRESIDENT
R is for Representation. You are the face of the Club—often the first and only contact a hunter will ever see. How you represent us shapes the way the world sees us.
A is for Attitude.
Approach this role with humility, enthusiasm, and respect—and you’ll inspire others to do the same.
L is for Longevity.
Our scoring system has been around in one way or another for a century. In fact, the Club has just acquired a record book from the 1920s, one of only two known to exist. And thanks to you, Boone and Crockett will be part of the next century as well. You’re part of something that lasts.
Lastly, S is for Symmetry. Not just in a set of antlers—but in how we balance legacy and progress. Tradition and innovation. Measuring and meaning.
JACK RENEAU OFFICIAL MEASURER AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
We are excited to announce the first Jack Reneau Official Measurer Award of Excellence. The records committee created this award to honor past Director of Big Game Records, Jack Reneau.
Jack began working for the Club in January 1976. Back in those days the records department was co-sponsored by both B&C and the NRA with the NRA responsible for staffing. After three years of working for the NRA and Club he left to pursue a career with the Forest Service. When the Club’s co-sponsorship dissolved in 1980, his former boss, Harold Nesbitt, remembered Jack and asked if he would be interested in coming back to the Club as Director of Big Game Records. He remained in that role until his retirement in 2017.
Jack was instrumental in developing the Official Measurer workshop curriculum and structure. His tireless and dedicated work processing entries, proofing publications, teaching workshops, and assisting with Awards programs is what this award is meant to embody.
The Jack Reneau Official Measurer Award of Excellence is presented to an OM who has demonstrated dedicated service to the Boone and Crockett Club Big Game Records program. This Official Measurer has consistently represented the Club as a true ambassador, promoted our Fair Chase ethic, lived by our code of
B&C Sign-Up Incentive Program Leader Board
the complete
conduct and provided exceptional customer service to our trophy owners. The Measurer chosen for this award certainly fits the bill and we are lucky to have him within our ranks. The 32nd Big Game Awards recipient of the inaugural Jack Reneau Official Measurer Award of Excellence is Brett C. Ross.
LEFT TO RIGHT: Director of Big Game Records Kyle Lehr, Records of North American Big Game Committee Chairman Mike Opitz, Official Measurer Brett Ross, and Boone and Crockett President Tony Caligiuri.
B&C OFFICIAL MEASURERS IN ATTENDANCE - 2025
APPOINTED HOMETOWN
Jose Salmeron 2025 College Station, TX
Kris Lundell 2024 New Hope, MN
Brenton Taft 2023 Sandia Park, NM
Cheyne Matzenbacher 2023 Blue Eye, MO
Emilio Rangel Espino Barros 2023 San Pedro, MX
Richard Pflanz, Jr. 2023 Huntingburg, IN
Timothy Shinabarger 2023 Billings, MT
Wesley Ledbetter 2022 Eufaula, OK
Jennifer Schwab 2022 Missoula, MT
Leonard Grimes 2021 Pella, IA
Rob Miller 2021 Convoy, OH
Taaffe Caligiuri 2021 Osceola, IA
Cameron Coble 2019 Lucas, IA
Charles Wilcox 2019 Leonardtown, MD
Jon McRoberts 2018 Missoula, MT
Mark Haynes 2018 Homer, LA
Philip Herrnberger 2018 Irvine, PA
Arlen Lipper 2017 Kimberling City, MO
Brett Ross 2017 Commerce City, CO
Jeff Blystone 2017 Independence, MO
Ken Rimer 2017 Hammond, WI
Mark Carroll 2017 Union, SC
John Gardner 2015 Durango, CO
Gary Howard 2015 Kingman, IN
Kyle Lehr 2015 Missoula, MT
Jayson Arnold 2015 Austin, TX
Carl Frey 2014 Wall, SD
Jeffrey Olson 2014 Willernie, MN
Tom Kalsbeck 2014 Miltona, MN
John Legnard 2014 Conifer, CO
Linda Demmer 2014 Lansing, MI
Richard Pflanz 2014 Huntingburg, IN
William Demmer 2014 Lansing, MI
Jake Hindman 2013 Kirkwood, MO
Luke Coccoli 2012 Choteau, MT
Terrell McCombs 2012 San Antonio, TX
Bucky Ihlenfeldt 2011 Kewaunee, WI
Michael Opitz 2011 Lacey, WA
Ronnie Harrison 2010 Lucedale, MS
Kyle Krause 2009 Rosenberg, TX
Tony Schoonen 2009 Missoula, MT
Max Crocker 2008 Guymon, OK
David Rippeto 2008 Anchorage, AK
Robert Graber 2008 Peru, IN
Roger Kingsley 2008 Columbia Cross Roads, PA
Clint Walker 2006 Whitehorse, YT
Eric Stanosheck 2006 Springtown, TX
James Arnold 2006 Austin, TX
Raynald Groleau 2006 Plessisville, QC
Billy Lambert 2005 Hearne, TX
Hanspeter Giger 2005 Charlotte, NC
Rick Dillard 2005 Madison, MS
Brad Harriman 2003 Pilot Grove, MO
Grant Adkisson 2003 Cannon City, CO
Ricky Krueger 2002 Fremont, NE
Corey Neill 1997 McCarley, MS
William Walters 1997 Clarksdale, MS
Stanley Zirbel 1996 Greenleaf, WI
Stephen Adams 1994 Tulsa, OK
Timothy Walmsley 1994 Oakly, IL
Randy McPherren 1993 Unionville, IA
Mickey Hellickson 1991 Corpus Christi, TX
George Bettas 1990 Stevensville, MT
Emilio Rangel Woodyard 1988 Monterrey, MX
Steven Homyack 1988 Galena, MD
Frederick King 1984 Gallatin Gateway, MT
David Boland 1979 Chatfield, MN
Mark Bara 1976 Hemingway, SC
Richard Bishop 1970 Indianola, IA
Buck Buckner 1968 Baker City, OR
LIFETIME ASSOCIATE LUNCHEON
The Boone and Crockett Club hosted a luncheon to honor our Lifetime Associates. Our Lifetimes have been championing this cause over the years. We couldn’t have done it without their support.
As Lifetime Associates of this organization, you aren’t just hunters, you’re stewards. You’re practitioners of a rich tradition that says how we pursue is just as important as what we pursue.
This means honoring the principles of Fair Chase. Honoring the spirit of the hunt by employing skill, patience, and perseverance instead of unfair advantage. It means understanding that true accomplishment comes from matching ourselves against nature on its own terms, not by cutting corners or ignoring ethics.
When we talk about the peak of pursuit, we’re not referring to the size of the trophy on the wall. We’re referring to a moment—a feeling—when all the years of knowledge, discipline, and respect come together in a single, pure experience. It’s when we become more than simply a person with a license; we become a guardian of a legacy. A legacy that we pass forward to future generations.
This legacy isn’t defined by accolades or record books, but by the fairness of our chase, the compassion we show for wildlife, and the maturity we bring to the field.
We celebrate more than just the hunt; we celebrate the ethics, the traditions, and the character that make us who we are. We celebrate a community bound by a shared code that says we pursue not just for ourselves, but for something greater. That we care for the land, the wildlife, and the future of this tradition. n TAKE YOUR
B&C LIFETIME ASSOCIATES IN ATTENDANCE - 2025
Mark Carroll 2024 Union, SC
Rick Pflanz 2023 Huntingburg, IN
Sutton Arnold 2022 Braunfels, TX
Scott Hopkins 2022 Burnet, TX
Emilio Rangel Espino-Barros 2022 San Pedro, NL MX
Danny Spindler 2022 Evansville, IN
Ronnie Harrison 2010 Lucedale, MS
Bucky Ihlenfeldt 2008 Kewaunee, WI
Max Crocker 2008 Guymon, OK
Paul Greene 2007 Aurora, CO
Eric Stanosheck 2006 Springtown, TX
Mark Haynes 2005 Homer, LA
Timothy Shinabarger 2005 Billings, MT
Grant Adkisson 2003 Canon City, CO
John Hendrix 1997 Anchorage, AK
Hanspeter Giger 1996 Charlotte, NC
Patrick Sheldon 1993 Iowa City, IA
Richard Bishop 1988 Indianola, IA
The Boone and Crockett Club celebrates young hunters who embrace the outdoor way of life and embody the spirit of Fair Chase hunting. All of the hunters that were recognized at this event have trophies that were taken when they were 16 years old or younger.
This event was created when a resolution passed by the Boone and Crockett Club board of directors in 2013 renamed the Club’s triennial youth awards event in honor of former Club president Jack Steele Parker. Jack Parker was an active member in Boone and Crockett for 44 years and was honored with Boone and Crockett Club’s cherished Sagamore Hill Award in 2007. At the 27th Big Game Awards in 2010, the Club launched its Generation Next Awards to honor youths who recently entered a trophy into Boone and Crockett Club’s Awards Programs.
The keynote speaker was Jason Matzinger, an award-winning film and television producer and host of the popular television show “Into High Country” on the Sportsman Channel, featuring hunts from across the western United States and Canada. Born and raised in Montana, Jason Matzinger has established himself as one of the most respected voices in outdoor media and hunting conservation.
After Jason spoke B&C Regular Member and Executive Vice President of Conservation Research and Education Steve Leath emceed for the evening. Each youth in attendance was brought on stage where they recieved a custom plaque and Buck knife.
JASON CLOSED HIS SPEECH WITH THIS MESSAGE TO THE YOUTH IN ATTENDANCE.
“YOU ARE NOW PART OF THAT LEGACY. WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT, YOU’RE SHAPING THE WAY OTHERS SEE HUNTING. SO REPRESENT IT WITH PRIDE, WITH HUMILITY, AND WITH PURPOSE.
THE CHOICES YOU MAKE IN THE FIELD DON’T JUST AFFECT YOUR HUNT—THEY RIPPLE OUTWARD. THEY HELP MANAGE WILDLIFE. THEY INFLUENCE PUBLIC OPINION. THEY PRESERVE ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE COMING UP BEHIND US.
SO KEEP DOING IT RIGHT. KEEP LEARNING. KEEP GIVING BACK.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER—WE’RE NOT JUST OUT HERE TO TAKE. WE’RE OUT HERE TO PROTECT, PRESERVE, AND PASS IT ON.”
- JASON MATZINGER
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE YOUTH HUNTERS PRESENT AT THE JACK STEELE PARKER GENERATION NEXT YOUTH BANQUET.
SPONSORED BY
Sawyer Chester receiving his plaque from Director of Big Game Records Kyle Lehr (left) and Records of North American Big Game Committee Deputy Kyle Krause.
The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) is pleased and honored to support the Boone and Crockett Club, the first and finest conservation organization in our community, and the one that sets the standard for all of us to follow. I am proud to be a Professional member of this grand Club.
The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, the agencies, and especially the organizations that exist under its umbrella, organizations like the Boone and Crockett Club and the Wild Sheep Foundation, continue to lead with policy, research, advocacy, and on-the-ground projects at the state, provincial, Tribal, federal, and international level to restore wild sheep.
And we’ve had great successes. 17 years ago, bighorn sheep in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon were struggling, hampered by disease, and low lamb recruitment. Today, after extensive work, millions of dollars directed to research and subsequent management actions, Rocky Mountain bighorn and California bighorn in the Northwest are thriving, and new state records are recognized on this very stage. In fact, WSF is leading an effort to return California bighorns translocated to Oregon in the 1950s back to southern British Columbia where they were sourced. We call this project “Coming Home” and it is a shining example of wild sheep restoration.
Twenty years ago, desert sheep were the hardest, and most expensive of our North American four to obtain. Today, Stone’s sheep hunts sell for $100,000 and more, desert sheep in Mexico about half that. Why? Supply and demand.
Desert sheep in Mexico have thrived. Leaders like B&C Regular Member Emilio Rangel and his son Emilio Espino have repatriated desert bighorns to historical habitats in Coahuila, and others like them to Chihuahua, and Sonora. These visionary conservationists are using market forces, to restore this Mexican heritage by releasing desert sheep from source herds in intensively managed properties to free range ranches where
Gray Thornton B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBER
these sheep thrive and can be pursued under the principles of Fair Chase.
This same supply and demand principle has fostered record prices for wild sheep conservation permits on WSF auctions—$500,000 for desert sheep in Arizona, $600,000 for bighorn in Colorado, and just this year, an incredible $1.3 million for a Rocky Mountain bighorn in New Mexico.
While these dollars are no doubt beneficial to the resource, social pressures and the public perception these mind-numbing prices create, also threaten the very fundraising model used to fund wild sheep conservation. Challenges to the conservation permit funding model, the one that provides up to 83% of the wild sheep conservation funding agencies depend on, are being questioned and challenged, not by outsiders, but those in our own community, and some of the very wildlife commissions charged with their stewardship.
One thing is for certain however, you can rest assured that the Wild Sheep Foundation, and our esteemed father, the Boone and Crockett Club will remain the tip of the spear, and we will maintain a razor-like cutting edge of leadership, like Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinell exhibited nearly 140 years ago, to ensure that wild sheep remain on the landscape, not only for hunters like those in this room, but for all to marvel at and enjoy. n
Gray Thornton, Wild Sheep Foundation President and CEO
At the 32nd Big Game Awards Benefit Auction, the sheep hunt donated by Emilio Rangel and his son Emilio Jr. of LaPalmosa Outfitters, raised an incredible $134,000 that will be used to further the Club’s mission of conservation.
SPONSORED
BUCK BUCKNER 32ND BIG GAME AWARDS BANQUET
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Growing up, my parents taught us the value of hard work and pride in our hunting heritage. It’s in our DNA. They taught us that hunting and conservation go hand in hand and that where ever responsible hunting takes place— conservation naturally follows.
But today, our kids are bombarded by messages on social media, YouTube, and in movies that don’t always line up with our values. The real impact still starts with us—with our kids, our neighbors, nieces, nephews, or that new hunter at camp.
Once they feel that pride for themselves, they’re the best messengers we could ever ask for. I believe setting goals is important, especially in hunting. Our son Jax pours over the Boone and Crockett record books, dreaming of seeing his name in there one day.
It’s not just about numbers. It’s about showing our kids how far we’ve come. These records are proof— that conservation and proper management work. And they challenge the next generation to aim high—and do it right.
My show’s mission is to showcase what hunting really means— to families, couples, and individuals. It builds bonds and memories that last generations. What started as a personal mission to hunt every single day—and hopefully not go broke doing it— has grown into something far bigger.
It’s about inspiring others, welcoming new faces, and preserving this incredible lifestyle. Over the years, my focus has shifted. Sure, the drive to take a trophy animal is and always will be there… but the “why” behind the hunt has grown deeper.
Now, it’s about the process— the scouting, the preparation, and those hard-earned moments when it all comes together. That feeling of true accomplishment— it doesn’t come easy. But that’s exactly what makes it so powerful.
And that’s a feeling meant to be shared. I come from a long line of hunters— parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents. And I’ve seen firsthand how a shared passion can unite couples, families, and generations. The adrenaline, the trust, the teamwork— It’s a moment we’ll never forget.
That hope…that future—is already starting to take shape. The biggest shift in my journey has been watching that same spark grow in my kids. I would be proud to see every one of my records broken by them—or anyone in the next generation. When your children—and hopefully their children—carry on the tradition...exploring even more beautiful landscapes, and chasing after even bigger trophies… that’s when you know conservation isn’t just working, it’s thriving. n
Melissa Bachman WINCHESTER DEADLY PASSION
Melissa with her son Jax (below).
LEFT TO RIGHT: Keynote speaker Melissa Bachman, Jeremy August, his son Eli, and Director of Big Game Records Kyle Lehr. Jeremy received the first award for his Alaska-Yukon moose.
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This story begins in the summer of 1979, in the small community of Anderson, Alaska. I was there for a couple of days, hanging out and fishing for arctic grayling with my friends, the Carters— their teenage sons, Dave and Darrel, along with their father, Doyle. The fishing was better than any I had experienced in my 16-yearold life. Before heading back home to Fairbanks, I expressed my gratitude for such a great couple of days. Doyle then asked if I might enjoy going sheep hunting with his boys and himself in the Alaska Range that fall. The season was set to open on August 10. I eagerly accepted his offer, and the dreaming began.
That hunt turned out to be a real Alaskan-style adventure, with each of us teenagers taking our first Dall’s rams, and Doyle fending off a grizzly by campfire light. The bear was intent on having some sheep steaks of his own.
I was hooked! That first sheep hunt kindled a passion deep within me for the Alaska wilderness. The cycle of dreaming about big rams, researching, planning, hunting, and learning was set into motion. Dreams of trophy rams found in vast, untouched wilderness atop mountains that few had ever climbed were constantly in my mind. My lifelong quest for sheep was inevitable.
Fast forward to the summer of 2022. At 59 years old, this was to
be my 43rd consecutive year of Dall’s sheep hunting. Family responsibilities had postponed my usual sheep scouting trips to later in the summer than I would have preferred, and the weather was not cooperating. Game surveys had found that sheep numbers throughout Alaska were poor, if not at alltime lows.
When I finally got out scouting, I discovered that sheep numbers had declined in the areas I traditionally hunt. Lamb survival was low, and the bands of rams I saw had few, if any, legal rams and almost no old rams in their groups. Despite this gloomy assessment, I remained highly motivated. I had worked hard on my physical conditioning all year; this ritual has become necessary as I’ve aged. I didn’t want that effort to go to waste.
I spent many days hunting early in the season in my regular “go-to” sheep spots. Although I found some legal rams, none were
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old enough for my standards. I resigned myself to the thought that this might be a year that just didn’t work out for me.
A good friend and avid sheep hunter, Allan Mortensen, and I began planning a weeklong fishing trip. We wanted to explore more of Alaska, check out some rivers he had wanted to see, and perhaps catch a fish or two. We planned a route and loaded up my trusty Super Cub with our gear. As we got ready to go, we checked the weather. It was fine if you were a duck, but not so good for flying along our intended route. We decided to alter our plan, which would allow us to check out an area a retired sheep hunter friend had told me was worth a look. One final weather check, and we were off on another grand adventure.
Just a few miles from this new-to-us area, old man Murphy played his game. The weather deteriorated, so again we changed
Jerry learned to fly bush planes years ago so he could, you guessed it, hunt more areas for sheep.
course. The diversion took us to a lower mountain system with some inviting terrain. We decided to land and spend a few days checking out the area. After landing in a rough spot, I thought to myself that the rocks sure were bigger than they looked from the air. Thankfully, we arrived safely, and all was well.
We found a place to secure the airplane and tie it down. Once secured, we quickly set up camp as the weather closed in and it began to rain. Allan and I were excited to be exploring a new potential area to hunt sheep. Once inside the warm tent, we enjoyed an evening meal of ribeye steaks, stuffing, and gravy. Conversations about previous sheep hunts and adventures occupied the rest of our evening, and we discussed our strategy for the next day’s hunt.
The following morning, the fog had enveloped us, and it continued to rain. Allan and I were anxious to get out and find some sheep, but experience had taught us it was better to stay in camp until the weather cleared. We didn’t want to bump into any sheep in the fog. It seemed an eternity to wait, but by early afternoon, the weather finally lifted. We loaded our packs. Allan took his rifle, and I carried my bow. We set off up the mountain in search of rams.
The hiking was easy on mostly open ridges. The air was fresh and the scenery spectacular. Our enthusiasm fueled our way up the
mountain. It was great to be in sheep country. During the climb, we paid close attention to wind direction and kept the terrain between us and spots that might hold sheep. As we neared the ridgetops, we crept very slowly, one step at a time, looking around at every vantage point. We continued with this approach until there was no more terrain to hide behind and we had a complete view of the area below. Then we moved onto the next ridge, systematically searching each canyon, ridge, and hiding spot. The fog obstructed our view many times, requiring patience as we peered into each nook and cranny of the mountain. We did our best to remain concealed, being careful not to be skylined, and always aware of the ever-changing wind.
Later in the day, we found a canyon with great escape terrain— steep, with many rocky outcroppings and scattered feed. We found plenty of fresh sheep sign and numerous places where sheep could hide and avoid predators like us. I was sure we would find sheep holed up here somewhere. We checked this canyon from the ridgeline above, and then from the opposite ridge, which afforded us a good look at the terrain. Still no sheep. It was late in the day, light was fading, and we decided to head back to our base camp, now more than six miles away.
Allan, being 25 years younger than I, graciously paced himself
ONE RAM WAS EXCEPTIONALLY LONG-HORNED WITH GOOD MASS; HIS COMPANION WAS A HEAVILY BROOMED OLD WARRIOR. WE WERE EXTREMELY EXCITED TO SEE RAMS OF THIS QUALITY. ONLY A COUPLE OF TIMES IN MY LIFE HAVE I SEEN SUCH OUTSTANDING RAMS, AND AS I AGE, I THOUGHT IT MIGHT NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.
to allow me to keep up. At 59, I had to work hard not to slow him down. Arriving at camp exhausted, both of us felt a bit disappointed in the day’s outcome. We hadn’t been able to put eyes on even a single sheep, never mind a ram. We discussed where sheep might hide. The only portion of the mountain that hadn’t been covered was a ridge that emptied out into the lower timbered country. We would search there tomorrow. Morning dawned to much better weather—partly cloudy, with light winds and no rain. From my sleeping bag, I started the Jetboil heating water. The aroma of coffee and cocoa soon provided the inspiration to start the day. After cooking a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, and English muffins, Allan commented that he really
Allan takes a breather in perfect light and plenty of open space brought to you by our public lands.
enjoyed real food on the mountain. His customary meal plan on sheep hunts is heavy on freeze-dried food. I had abandoned freeze-dried food 30-plus years ago in favor of “real food.”
We headed up the mountain with caution, destined for the only ridge we hadn’t hunted the previous day. Carefully covering the ground, it was essential to spot any sheep before they spotted us. For a second time, we checked out the canyon with the escape terrain— again, no sheep. We arrived at the last ridge and hunted it from the top, working our way down its entire length to where it tapered off into the timbered valley. This ridge was mostly open, with few terrain features that might hide a sheep. The results were the same—exactly zero sheep spotted. I suggested to Allan that since we were already low on the ridge, I would head down to the timberline and sidehill my way back up the canyon. If he
wanted, he could stay a couple of hundred yards above me and work his way up as well. The wind was perfect for this approach. In past years, we had both found sheep hidden from above in the terrain of steep mountain ridges.
About 30 minutes into this sidehill, I spotted what I thought were two sheep. At that same moment, I heard Allan whistle. We were both looking at the same two rams, more than 800 yards away. I moved up to Allan’s vantage point. He had already dug out his spotting scope. The scope removed all doubt—both rams were exceptional and met our criteria for old-aged, high-quality sheep. One ram was exceptionally long-horned with good mass; his companion was a heavily broomed old warrior. We were extremely excited to see rams of this quality. Only a couple of times in my life have I seen such outstanding rams, and as I age, I thought it might never happen
again. We discussed the best way to get closer and decided to get behind some terrain and go straight at them. The wind was blowing directly from them to us, making this direct approach possible.
We closed the gap to a couple of hundred yards before the cover ran out. Lying there on the hillside, I suggested that I might be able to get within bow range if I dropped back a few hundred yards and used the terrain to get down into the timber. Allan reminded me that we had only one gun; if the rams got up and started to move away, he would be inclined to shoot the long-horned ram that I really wanted. I conceded, and we decided to just wait them out and see if they came to us.
After about 10 minutes, Allan convinced me that we dared not let these two rams get away. It was already 3:30 p.m., and we should shoot them with the rifle. Allan’s gun is a right-handed Barrett
You better believe Jerry (front) and Allan are all smiles with those magnificent rams. The men hunted “Zipper Lip” mountain and covered plenty of ground.
Fieldcraft rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor; I am a left-handed shooter. His gun is a fine rifle and sighted in for zero at 200 yards. With the way I was lying on the hill and the rams now getting out of their beds, I was in a challenging position. Unable to reposition for a left-handed shot, and fearful of spooking the sheep, I decided to shoot the long-horned ram right-handed. It felt quite awkward, but holding the crosshairs steady on the right shoulder of the ram, I squeezed off the shot.
I heard the report of the bullet hitting the sheep but saw no reaction from the animal. Allan teased that I missed, but I insisted it was a good shot. I put another round in the same spot, and the ram showed a little reaction. The next round, I placed lower and farther back as the ram was now quartering away. The ram went down, and I handed off the rifle to Allan. He made an excellent shot on the heavy broomed ram, and it went down with his single shot.
Making our way down to the rams took just a couple of minutes. We were both taken aback by their magnificent beauty. After soaking
Even after long days on the mountain, sheep hunters always seem to be smiling. With that backdrop, can you blame them?
up the experience for quite some time, taking pictures, and notching our tags, the rams were skinned and field butchered. My longhorned ram had indeed been struck in the vitals by all three shots.
It was now 8:30 p.m. With the rams loaded in our packs, we started the ascent up the steep ridge. It quickly became apparent that, at over 100 pounds, I had too much weight to carry this late in the day. I suggested we drop the sheep here, come back in the morning, and pack them out in multiple loads. The sixmile hike back to camp with empty packs was backdropped by a spectacular sunset. Arriving well after dark, both of us were tired yet satisfied. After another good, hot meal, we quickly fell asleep.
The next day, Allan and I packed the rams out of that steep canyon. It took us a couple of trips
each to move them to a location where I could land the Cub, about three miles closer than our campsite. The following day, we loaded up and flew off the mountain. I find it a little strange that I am always so happy to get on the mountain to hunt sheep, and equally relieved to get off the mountain safely at the end of a hunt.
I have been fortunate enough to take many exceptional rams in my 43 years of hunting Alaska’s Dall’s sheep. These two rams were the first in more than a decade that I had not been watching for multiple years before harvesting. This is also the first hunt ever where we saw only two sheep in total. We were extremely fortunate to find these old rams. Both were 12 years old and had certainly spread their genetics to many sheep in the area. The dreams I had as a 16-year-old have again come to fruition through persistence, a fair bit of luck, and a lot of arduous work. I only hope that future generations of Alaskans will have the same opportunities. n
LEFT TO RIGHT: Tony Caligiuri, Boone and Crockett Club President, Christian Hogg, Director of Marketing for Fiocchi, Jerry Lees, and Mike Opitz, Records of North American Big Game Committee Chairman. Jerry’s Hunt Fair Chase Award plaque was inscribed with, “This certificate is in recognition of a hunt that best represents the determination, self-reliance, and respect for the game that embodies the tenets of fair chase set forth by Boone and Crockett Club founder Theodore Roosevelt.”
GLENN ST. CHARLES MEMORIAL AWARD
SHIRAS MOOSE - THIRD AWARD
DAVID J. MORGAN
178-2/8 POINTS - CHAFFEE COUNTY, CO - 2024
THE POPE AND YOUNG CLUB CREATED THE GLENN ST. CHARLES MEMORIAL AWARD IN HONOR OF THE FOUNDER OF THE POPE AND YOUNG CLUB. THIS AWARD RECOGNIZES THE MOST OUTSTANDING ARCHERY TROPHY KILLED DURING AN AWARDS PERIOD. THE BOARD CAREFULLY SELECTS FROM ALL THE ARCHERY-TAKEN TROPHIES INVITED TO THE BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB.
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After years of applying for a once-in-a-lifetime moose tag in my home state of Colorado, my opportunity had finally arrived. Months of scouting led me to the moment I had dreamed of—harvesting a trophy DIY bull moose in the high country. As we packed out my hard-earned trophy, I was filled with gratitude for the incredible animal, the unforgettable experience, and the friends whose support made it all possible.
David was presented with a plaque at the Buck Buckner 32nd Big Game Awards Banquet. LEFT TO RIGHT: Pope and Young Board Member Ken Rimer, keynote speaker Melissa Bachman, David and Carrie Morgan, Director of Big Game Records Kyle Lehr, and Pope and Young Board Member Ricky Kruger.
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A
BLACK BEAR
1ST AWARD
SCORE: 23 5 /16
HUNTER: Paul Skanderson
SKULL LENGTH: 14 12 / 16
SKULL WIDTH: 8 9/ 16
LOCATION: Armstrong County, PA – 2021
2ND AWARD
SCORE: 23 2 /16
HUNTER: Erich F. Mischke
SKULL LENGTH: 14 6 / 16
SKULL WIDTH: 8 12 / 16
LOCATION: Wise County, VA - 2023
3RD AWARD
SCORE: 22 12 /16
GRIZZLY BEAR
1ST AWARD
HUNTER: Mackensey A. Hanson
SKULL LENGTH: 14 2 / 16
SKULL WIDTH: 8 10/ 16
LOCATION: Barron County, WI - 2024
4TH AWARD
SCORE: 22 11 /16
HUNTER: Dean R. Sliva
SKULL LENGTH: 14 6 / 16
SKULL WIDTH: 8 5/ 16
LOCATION: Soda Lake, SK - 2021
COUGAR
1ST AWARD
SCORE: 15 8 /16
HUNTER: Keith S. Hardy
SKULL LENGTH: 9 4 / 16
SKULL WIDTH: 6 4 / 16
LOCATION: Bonner County, ID - 2024
SCORE: 27 9/16
HUNTER: Brian A. Van Lanen
SKULL LENGTH: 17 7/ 16
SKULL WIDTH: 10 2 / 16
LOCATION: Norton Sound, AK - 2024
2ND AWARD
SCORE: 27 2 /16
HUNTER: Christopher C. McAllister
SKULL LENGTH: 16 15 / 16
SKULL WIDTH: 10 3/ 16
LOCATION: Toklat River, AK - 2022
3RD AWARD
SCORE: 26 8 /16
HUNTER: Allan L. Chizek
SKULL LENGTH: 16 3/ 16
SKULL WIDTH: 10 5/ 16
LOCATION: Klikitarik River, AK - 2021
4TH AWARD
SCORE: 26 6 /16
HUNTER: Ted R. Carlson
SKULL LENGTH: 16 10/ 16
SKULL WIDTH: 9 12 / 16
LOCATION: Unalakleet River, AK - 2023
32ND NORTH AMERICAN BIG GAME AWARDS RECIPIENTS
ALASKA BROWN BEAR
1ST AWARD
SCORE: 30 6 /16
HUNTER: Jay L. LaFleur
SKULL LENGTH: 18 14 / 16
SKULL WIDTH: 11 8/ 16
LOCATION: Wide Bay, AK - 2022
2ND AWARD
SCORE: 29 7/16
HUNTER: Blake A. Johnnie
SKULL LENGTH: 18 5/ 16
SKULL WIDTH: 11 2 / 16
LOCATION: Cold Bay, AK - 2024
HONORABLE
MENTION
SCORE: 28 10/16
HUNTER: Patrick J. Hagens
SKULL LENGTH: 17
SKULL WIDTH: 11 10/ 16
LOCATION: Cold Bay, AK - 2022
ATLANTIC WALRUS
1ST AWARD
SCORE: 96 2 /8
HUNTER: Danny M. Spindler
LENGTH: (R) 22 4 /8 (L) 23 6 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 7 (L) 7 2 /8
CIRC. AT THIRD: (R) 4 5/8 (L) 5
LOCATION: Hall Beach, NU - 2022
PACIFIC WALRUS
1ST AWARD
SCORE: 145
HUNTER: Jesse C. Rogers
LENGTH: (R) 34 (L) 33 6 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 10 2 /8 (L) 10 1
CIRC. AT THIRD: (R) 8 2 /8 (L) 8
LOCATION: Cape Newenham, AK - 2023
2ND AWARD
SCORE: 136 2 /8
HUNTER: Jesse C. Rogers
LENGTH: (R) 37 4 /8 (L) 38 1 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 8 3/8 (L) 8
CIRC. AT THIRD: (R) 6 2 /8 (L) 5 7/8 LOCATION: Kuskokwim Bay, AK - 2022
CERTIFICATE OF MERIT
SCORE: 145 2 /8
HUNTER: Picked Up
OWNER: James L. Kedrowski
LENGTH: (R) 41 4 /8 (L) 38 5 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 8 5/8 (L) 9 CIRC. AT THIRD: (R) 7 (L) 7 LOCATION: Ilnik Lake, AK - 2024
WIDTH OF BROW: (R) 1 /8 (L) 14 6 /8 (R) 14 (L) 15 Beechey Lake, NU - 2024
4TH AWARD
SCORE: 367 1 /8
HUNTER: Joel R. Frost
INSIDE SPREAD: 32 2 /8
LENGTH: (R) 44 2 /8 (L) 44 2 /8
WIDTH OF BROW: (R) 14 3/8 (L) 5 /8
POINTS: (R) 16 (L) 14
LOCATION: Farnie Lake, MB - 2023
PRONGHORN
HONORABLE MENTION
SCORE: 85 6 /8
BISON
1ST AWARD
SCORE: 134 2 /8
HUNTER: Joshua O. Michnal
LENGTH: (R) 20 (L) 19 7/8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 17 2 /8 (L) 17
GREATEST SPREAD: 33 4 /8
LOCATION: Park County, MT - 2023
2ND AWARD
SCORE: 126 2 /8
HUNTER: Jonathan E. Rhodes
LENGTH: (R) 19 (L) 20
BASE CIRC.: (R) 13 3/8 (L) 12 5/8
GREATEST SPREAD: 32 2 /8
LOCATION: Park County, MT - 2019
3RD AWARD
SCORE: 125 2 /8
HUNTER: Scott R. Grasse
LENGTH: (R) 21 1 /8 (L) 20 2 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 15 (L) 15
GREATEST SPREAD: 30
LOCATION: Custer County, SD - 2023
HONORABLE MENTION
SCORE: 122 6 /8
HUNTER: Terrance L. Dosch
LENGTH: (R) 20 6 /8 (L) 21 6 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 13 7/8 (L) 14 1 /8
MUSK OX
NEW WORLD’S RECORD
1ST AWARD
SCORE: 131 4 /8
HUNTER: Aron F. Wark
LENGTH: (R) 29 4 /8 (L) 29 4 /8
BOSS WIDTH: (R) 10 6 /8 (L) 11
GREATEST SPREAD: 32 4 /8
LOCATION: Contwoyto Lake, NU - 2023
2ND AWARD
SCORE: 123
HUNTER: Julie L. Vachal-Okeson
LENGTH: (R) 28 2 /8 (L) 28 4 /8
BOSS WIDTH: (R) 10 3/8 (L) 10 5/8
GREATEST SPREAD: 30 6 /8
LOCATION: Aylmer Lake, NT - 2022
HONORABLE
MENTION
SCORE: 120 6 /8
HUNTER: Adam J. Cramer
LENGTH: (R) 28 6 /8 (L) 29 /8
BOSS WIDTH: (R) 10 3/8 (L) 10 2 /8
GREATEST SPREAD: 30
LOCATION: Kugluktuk River, NU - 2023
ROCKY MOUNTAIN
NEW WORLD’S RECORD
1ST AWARD
SCORE: 60 4 /8
HUNTER: Justin L. Kallusky
LENGTH: (R) 12 7/8 (L) 12 7/8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 6 4 /8 (L) 6 4
GREATEST SPREAD: 9 3/8
LOCATION: Stikine River, BC - 2022
2ND AWARD
SCORE: 57 4 /8
HUNTER: Judd D. Manuel
LENGTH: (R) 12 (L) 12
BASE CIRC.: (R) 6 (L) 6 1 /8
GREATEST SPREAD: 7 2 /8
LOCATION: Cleveland Pen., AK - 2024
3RD AWARD
SCORE: 57
HUNTER: Steven J. Mashl
LENGTH: (R) 11 3/8 (L) 11 3/8
GREATEST SPREAD: 9 2 /8
DESERT SHEEP
1ST AWARD
SCORE: 191 1 /8
HUNTER: Louis W. Breland
LENGTH: (R) 40 4 /8 (L) 40 5/8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 15 4 /8 (L) 15 4 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 6 2 /8 (L) 6 2 /8
LOCATION: Stikine River, BC - 2022
4TH AWARD
SCORE: 54 6 /8
HUNTER: Mitchell R. Martin
LENGTH: (R) 11 6 /8 (L) 11 4 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 5 6 /8 (L) 5 6 /8
GREATEST SPREAD: 20 1 /8
LOCATION: Coahuila, MX - 2022
2ND AWARD
SCORE: 190 2 /8
HUNTER: Glenn M. Smith
LENGTH: (R) 43 1 /8 (L) 41 5/8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 16 1 /8 (L) 16 2 /8
GREATEST SPREAD: 20 2 /8
1ST AWARD
SCORE: 200
HUNTER: Kevin J. Neil
LENGTH: (R) 43 2 /8 (L) 41 2 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 16 (L) 16
GREATEST SPREAD: 23 2 /8
LOCATION: Hinsdale County, CO - 2022
SCORE: 173 /8
HUNTER: Paul B. Cooke
LENGTH: (R) 40 6 /8 (L) 40 4 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 14 3/8 (L) 15
GREATEST SPREAD: 23 2 /8
LOCATION: Watson Lake, YT - 2022
2ND AWARD
SCORE: 172 3 /8
HUNTER: Jerry D. Lees
LENGTH: (R) 46 5/8 (L) 42 2 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 13 4 /8 (L) 13 4 /8
GREATEST SPREAD: 27 5/8
LOCATION: Spike Mountain, AK - 2022
3RD AWARD
SCORE: 171 1 /8
HUNTER: Anton J. Stewart
LOCATION: Sonora, MX - 2022
3RD AWARD
SCORE: 186
HUNTER: Kevin P. Bagley
LENGTH: (R) 41 3/8 (L) 40
BASE CIRC.: (R) 15 (L) 15
GREATEST SPREAD: 22
LOCATION: Cochise County, AZ - 2023
4TH AWARD
SCORE: 185 2 /8
HUNTER: Shelly D. Sayer
LENGTH: (R) 38 1 /8 (L) 38
BASE CIRC.: (R) 15 (L) 15
GREATEST SPREAD: 21
SHEEP
SCORE: 175 4 /8
HUNTER: Paul T. Gann
LENGTH: (R) 41 3/8 (L) 41 5/8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 15 1 /8 (L) 15
GREATEST SPREAD: 24 7/8
LOCATION: Swede Creek, BC - 2022
1ST AWARD - TIE
SCORE: 175 4 /8
HUNTER: Ulric T. Sullivan
LENGTH: (R) 43 (L) 38 6 /8
BASE CIRC.: (R) 15 (L) 15
GREATEST SPREAD: 22 3/8
LOCATION: Besa River, BC - 2023
2ND AWARD
SCORE: 174 7/8
HUNTER: Gordon Eastman Mike H. Eastman 8 Cassiar Mts., BC - 1966
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TRUETIMBER VSX FLINT
KODIAK
JACK STEELE PARKER GENERATION NEXT
BLACK BEAR
20 12/16 Waterhen River, SK Jeremiah S. Ritter 2024 R. Karczewski
NON-TYPICAL MULE DEER
*215 3/8 220 1/8 Souris River, SK Ryder D. Mutrie 2024 D. Holinaty
TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER
165 173 1/8 Monroe Co., WI Adella J. Bauman 2024 B. Tilberg
NON-TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER
211 5/8 216 6/8 Adair Co., KY Ryan T. Doss 2024 D. Weddle
The Boone and Crockett Club celebrates young hunters who embrace the outdoor way of life and embody the spirit of fair chase hunting. The following is a list of the most recent big game trophies accepted into Boone and Crockett Club’s 33rd Big Game Awards Program (20252027), that have been taken by a youth hunter (16 years or younger). Entries marked with an * were accepted in the 32nd Awards Program. All of the field photos in this section are from entries that are listed in this issue and are shown in bold orange text .
This listing represents only those trophies accepted since the Summer 2025 issue of Fair Chasewas published.
All youth hunters 16 years old or younger, who have a trophy accepted in our 33rd Awards (2025-2027) will receive an invitation to our Generation Next banquet, which will be held in the summer of 2028.
Adella J. Bauman
Jeremiah S. Ritter
33RD BIG GAME AWARDS LISTING
AND
PHOTO GALLERY
The following pages list the most recent big game trophies accepted into Boone and Crockett Club’s 33rd Big Game Awards Program, 20252027, which includes entries received between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2027. Entries marked with an * were accepted in the 32nd Awards Program. All of the field photos in this section are from entries that are listed in this issue and are shown in bold green text .
This listing represents only those trophies accepted since the Summer 2025 issue of Fair Chase was published.
NON-TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER
Hunter: Brandon J. Rainey
Score: 210-5/8 points
Year Taken: 2024
Location: Vermilion River, Alberta
1. BLACK BEAR
Hunter: Noah J. Ritter
Score: 20-1/16 points
Year Taken: 2024
Location: Waterhen River, SK
2. GRIZZLY BEAR
Hunter: Forrest S. Moore
Score: 23-6/16 points
Year Taken: 2018
Location: Anaktuvuk River, Alaska
3. TULE ELK
Hunter: Spencer J. Christensen
Score: 288-2/8 points
Year Taken: 2024
Location: Monterey County, California
BLACK BEAR - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 23-10/16 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 20
22 1/16 Passaic Co., NJ Christopher D. 2023 R. Martinez O’Donnell
*21 15/16 Monroe Co., PA John W. Schmauch, Jr. 2023 R. Conner
21 14/16 North Saskatchewan Dustin Hollingshead 2024 D. Quesnel River, SK
21 10/16 Polk Co., WI Daniel J. Munson 2023 K. Rimer
21 7/16 Beaufort Co., NC Charles B. Jones 2023 J. Turner
*21 6/16 Cours d’eau Serge Pagé 2023 A. Beaudry Demers, QC
*21 4/16 Yavapai Co., AZ T.C. Buntin 2021 D. Curtis
21 4/16 Ashley Co., AR H. Blaine Kilcrease 2022 C. Gray
*21 Assiniboine River, MB Dustin J. DesRoches 2024 J. Splett
*21 Lake Manitoba, MB Eric J.V. Bossuyt 2024 E. Parker
20 14/16 Woodridge, MB Bob Hoaglin 2024 C. Cordes
20 14/16 Sidney Lake, SK Bradley M. Rieland 2024 I. Peters
20 13/16 Clark Co., WI Wayne D. Fleischmann 2024 P. Jensen
20 9/16 Langlade Co., WI Jason G. Rueckl 2024 B. Ihlenfeldt
*20 9/16 Acoma Indian Kevin L. Thom 2024 G. English Reservation, NM
*20 8/16 Buncombe Co., NC Joshua D. Gardin 2023 M. Parks
20 6/16 Kittitas Co., WA Chris O. Hallberg 2023 E. Johnson
*20 6/16 Prince of Wales James W. England 2024 J. Baichtal Island, AK
*20 5/16 Wyoming Co., PA John J. Pacyna IV 2023 D. Ambosie
*20 4/16 Boone Co., WV Freddie D. Frye 2023 E. Richmond
*20 3/16 Sullivan Co., PA Gail M. Brown 2017 D. Ambosie
20 1/16 Chemung Co., NY Kelly J. Devine 2023 C. Route
20 1/16 Waterhen River, SK Noah J. Ritter 2024 R. Karczewski
20 Iron Co., UT Justin S. Miltenberger 2021 C. Sheley
*20 St. Genevieve, MB Cass S. Christiuk 2024 E. Parker
*227 233 6/8 Tikchik Lake, AK Jason T. Kern 2024 T. Spraker
*226 6/8 231 3/8 Innoko River, AK William C. Stapleton 2024 P. Barwick
226 5/8 232 2/8 Golsovia River, AK Daryl L. Frevert 2024 B. Dalzell
*224 1/8 229 Mackenzie Mts., NT Philippe P. St Pierre 2024 R. Groleau
*223 4/8 229 1/8 Kichatna River, AK M. Boyd Bischoff 2023 T. Knebel
220 224 2/8 Meshik River, AK Robert L. Zuzula II 2024 R. Banaszak
*216 4/8 222 1/8 Moody Creek, AK Gary P. Goodfried 2024 D. Widby
*211 7/8 222 Innoko River, AK Boaz D. Ridenour 2024 K. Farmer
211 2/8 219 4/8 Papa Willie Creek, AK Cooper R. Fredrickson 2024 M. Miller
211 215 Harvey Lake, AK James P. Poole 2024 D. Poole
SHIRAS’ MOOSE - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 205-4/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 140 159 2/8 164 5/8 Flathead Co., MT Jason D. Beatty 2023 O. Opre 50 1/8 154 4/8 Jefferson Co., MT Mark E. Reardon 2024 J. Pallister
164 3/8 165 3/8 West Toad River, BC Justin D. Ward 2024 T. Peterson
*162 1/8 162 5/8 Tuchodi Lakes, BC Peter Krause 2024 R. Berreth
10. MOUNTAIN CARIBOU
Hunter: Jim Shockey
Score: 415 points
Year Taken: 2024
Location: Rogue River, Yukon Territory
11. TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER
Hunter: Clifton E. Kotrla
Score: 180 points
Year Taken: 2024
Location: McMullen County, Texas
12. TYPICAL COLUMBIA
Hunter: Aaron W. Barsamian
Score: 159-5/8 points
Year Taken: 2024
Location:Douglas County, Oregon
13. ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT
Hunter: Scott A. Bennett
Score: 49 points
Year Taken: 2024
Location: Utah County, Utah
14. MUSK OX
Hunter: Scott M. Sumrall
Score: 107-2/8 points
Year Taken: 2022
Location: Baker Lake, Nunavut
15. DESERT SHEEP
Hunter: Taylor D. Paul
Score: 177 points
Year Taken: 2024
Location: Sonora, Mexico
16. STONE’S SHEEP
Hunter: Justin D. Ward
Score: 164-3/8 points
Year Taken: 2024
Location: West Toad River, British Columbia
BLACKTAIL DEER
CAUGHT ON CAMERA
TRAIL CAMERA PHOTOS FROM THE BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB’S THEODORE ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL RANCH
Dupuyer, Montana
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