Fair Chase Fall 2022

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DSC’s mission is to ensure the conservation of wildlife through public engagement, education and advocacy for well-regulated hunting and sustainable use. JOIN US! info@biggame.org I www.biggame.org I Dallas Safari Club I (972) 980-9800 DSC Convention January 5-8, 2023

3FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022 Volume 38 n Number 3 n Fall 2022 THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB ® @BooneAndCrockettClub#BooneAndCrockettClub PAGE 20 TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 FROM THE EDITOR | First-Ever B&C Media Summit Doug Painter 8 FROM THE PRESIDENT Our Youth are the Future of All Wild Places and Wild Things James F. Arnold 10 CONSERVATION POLICY COLUMN The Pittman-Robertson Act: A System We Can Depend On Charlie R. Booher and James L. Cummins 12 RIFLES FOR HEAD HUNTERS Wayne van Zwoll 18 IN TRIBUTE TO MY FRIEND DON YOUNG Timothy C. Brady 20 CELEBRATING THE 31ST BIG GAME AWARDS PROGRAM 31st Big Game Awards Overview Welcome Reception Official Measurers Open Meeting Field Generals Luncheon Jack Steele Parker Generation Next Banquet Lifetime Luncheon National Collection of Heads and Horns Hunt Fair Chase Award Winner Glenn St. Charles Memorial Award Winner 31st Big Game Awards Results 54 IN THE FIELD B&C Newsletter 56 SCIENCE BLASTS In Science, All Models are Wrong but Some Models are Useful Jonathan R. Mawdsley 58 B&C UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS 2022 Retreat at the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch 60 50 YEARS OF DESERT BIGHORN RESTORATION Eric M. Rominger 64 B&C VINTAGE HUNTING GALLERY Presented by Leupold 66 DIY | ALBERTA PRAIRIE BUCKS Alexander Sharif 70 GENERATION NEXT | 31st and 32nd Awards Youth Trophy List 72 RECENTLY ACCEPTED TROPHIES AND TROPHY PHOTO GALLERY 31st and 32nd Awards Program Entries 78 CAUGHT ON CAMERA Photos from the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch 60. 50 YEARS OF DESERT BIGHORN RESTORATION 12. RIFLES FOR HEAD HUNTERS learn more online Scan the QR codes throughout this issue with the camera on your smartphone or a QR reader app to read additional articles found at www.Boone-Crockett.org 66. DIY 54. IN THE FIELD

Danny Noonan - Danny@Boone-Crockett.org Phone: (406)542-1888 ext. 205

Mark Streissguth Assistant

Vice President ofStevenConservationLeath

John A. Tomke

Secretary – John P. Schreiner

Class of 2024 Gary W. Dietrich B.B. Hollingsworth, Jr. Tom L. PaulMichaelLewisJ.OpitzM.Zelisko

OBJECTIVES OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN

Maintain and strengthen the Club’s world-class records system

Assistant Director of Finance –Debbie Kochel

STRATEGIC GOAL #3: BIG GAME RECORDS AND HUNTER ETHICS

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Vice President of Big Game Records Richard T. Hale

Vice President ofJohnAdministrationP.Evans

Digital Strategies Manager –Mark Mesenko

This Strategic Plan will help the Club chart its future course, not only for the next 5 years, but lay the ground work for the Club for the rest of this century, taking into consideration these changes, as well as the momentum the Club has gained since it was formed in 1887.

Editorial

Class of 2022 John P. Evans Steve J. Hageman R. Terrell McCombs T. Garrick Steele C. Martin Wood III

Director of Conservation Programs –Luke Coccoli

Creative Services Manager – Karlie Slayer

Class of 2023 Remo R. BenjaminPizzagalliA.Strickling III

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.

Increase organizational effectiveness and efficiency

B&C STAFF

Foundation President – R. Terrell McCombs

If the Club is to continue as an effective and influential orga nization, we must continue to not only evaluate, adjust and fine tune our program of work, but adapt it to the political, economic, social, technological and environmental changes facing North America.

Executive Vice President – Conservation Anthony J. Caligiuri

Club President – James F. Arnold

Class of 2022 Michael L. Evans Class of 2023 Simon C. Roosevelt Class of 2024 Mary Webster

Foundation President – R. Terrell McCombs

n Create an atmosphere where conservation and hunting can thrive;

Steven Williams Research and Education Editors

Vice President – John P. Evans

Treasurer – Marshall J. Collins, Jr.

John F. JonathanOrganMawdsley

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 necessar ily reflect the opinions of the Boone and Crockett Club.

Director of Big Game Records –Justin Spring

EditorsJodiBishopCJBuckPJDelHommeKendallHoxsey-OnyskoKyleM.LehrMarcMondaviTonyA.SchoonenJustinSpringJulieL.Tripp

STRATEGIC GOAL #4: ADMINISTRATION, DEVELOPMENT AND MEMBERSHIP

Assistant Director of Big Game Records–Kyle M. Lehr

PhotographicContributorsJamesF.ArnoldCharlieR.BooherTimothyC.BradyJamesCumminsPJDelHommeJonathanR.MawdsleyDougPainterEricM.RomingerAlexanderSharifWaynevanZwollContributorsJaredCullisonClaytonDodwellNateStroup

General Counsel – John P. Schreiner

Treasurer – C. Martin Wood III

ABOUT THE BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB

Jeffrey A. Watkins

STRATEGIC GOAL #1: CONSERVATION AND POLICY

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Fair Chase, Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801

The Club proposes to address these challenges by developing a strategy that en joys broad support from the Club’s members, sponsors, donors, other conservation organizations, government agencies and other stakehold ers throughout North America.

Create a communications climate where conservation and hunting can thrive

Executive Vice President – Administration James L. Cummins

FAIR PRODUCTIONCHASE STAFF

Office Manager – Sandy Poston Sales Manager – Danny Noonan

NATIONAL ADVERTISING

TRM Ranch Manager – Mike Briggs

CLUB

Secretary – Michael J. Opitz

BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2022 FOUNDED IN 1887 BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Editor-in-Chief – Doug Painter Managing Editor – Karlie Slayer Conservation and History Editor

Shipping and Administrative Support Specialist – Amy Hutchison Records Data Support - Jennifer Staten

n Improve the system of conservation throughout North America;

n Increase organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

Chief Executive Officer – Tony A. Schoonen

Director of Publications – Julie L. Tripp

Development Program Manager –Jodi Bishop

Vice President – Paul M. Zelisko

STEWARDSHIP. LEADERSHIP. EDUCATION.

This Strategic Plan proposes that the Club simplify its mission and visions and set four major strategic goals, which are:

n Maintain and strengthen the Club’s world-class record system; and

Hunting and Ethics Editor

Improve the system of conservation throughout North America

Phone: (406) 542-1888 Fax: (406) 542-0784

Director of Finance and Administration–Abra Loran

FOUNDATION

STRATEGIC PLAN 2020 - 2025 THE PIONEERS OF CONSERVATION…OURLEGACYFOR GENERATIONS

STRATEGIC GOAL #2: COMMUNICATIONS

Vice President ofCJCommunicationsBuck

shout it out and inspire others, or whisper it to us and remain anonymous, we’d love to know so we can welcome you to the Roughriders Society.

- Paul M. Zelisko (Regular Member since 2010)

The Roughriders Society recognizes those who have shown their support for the Boone and Crockett Club Foundation with a planned gift. By joining, you'll serve as an inspiration for others to do the same. Sharing your designation with us also ensures your gift will be used as you intend.

For more information about the Roughriders Society, or a planned gift to the Boone and Crockett Club Foundation, please contact: Jodi (406)542-1888Bishop

Are You a Secret Admirer?

Have you included The Boone and Crockett Club Foundation in your will, designated B&C as an insurance beneficiary, or provided for us through other deferred giving Whetherarrangements?you’dliketo

If you’ve been keeping it a secret – share it!

The Boone and Crockett Club

Pledging a portion of my estate when I pass will help ensure the Boone and Crockett Club will continue to keep lands open and accessible for ethical hunting and be a leader in the conservation community.”

Represents the Apex of Conservation Efforts

“From funding university programs, our Fair Chase philosophy, our efforts to improve hunter access, and advocating to ensure that lands remain open for hunting, the Boone and Crockett Club represents the epitome of conservation efforts.

LEFT: CJ Buck, B&C VP of Communications and Buck Knives CEO gave a presentation about the history of the Club's accomplishments. ABOVE: Outdoor writers and content creators were given a behind-the-scenes look at the Judges Panel. Here Mike Opitz, Records Committee Chairman, and Richard Hale, VP of Big Game Records score a bighorn sheep that was donated to the Club's National Collection of Heads and Horns.

That’s understandable, but in today’s hyper-connect ed world, “good press” is no longer just an added bonus— it’s an integral part of the mission itself. It is often said in public affairs that if you are not making your own case, someone else will make it for you. And when that hap pens, it’s likely you won’t be thrilled with the outcome.

For the summit, the committee created a media list that encompassed both long-time, top-tier consumer publications along with some newer publications and on line outlets. The result was a sold-out crowd of 12 writers and editors representing 10 distinct media outlets.

The immediate out reach goal was to build awareness and drive atten dance to the National Collec tion of Heads and Horns, which is celebrating its cen tennial anniversary and is on permanent display, and 31st Big Game Awards event

To help fill these gaps, the summit opened with a presentation of the Club’s founding and highlighted more than a century of its accomplishments with a spe cial focus on the centennial anniversary of the National Collection of Heads and

in July. Because the media event was held in April, there would be enough time to get stories written and published prior to the 31st Big Game Awards in July while the ex hibit is still open to the public.

I note the above in ref erence to the first-ever Boone and Crockett Media Summit, which was held in Spring field, Missouri, this past April in conjunction with the 31st Big Game Awards Judges Pan el. The Media Summit was a great success achieved through collaboration be tween members and staff. The event transformed the Records Division Judges Pan el into an interactive media education event, which pro vided an inside look at scor ing and the work that goes into the Awards display.

In a broad context, it’s also good to see that the Club

READ MORE ABOUT ALL THE 31ST BIG GAME AWARDS EVENTS ON PAGE 22. FROMEDITORTHE

At the event, these out door writers received a spe cial insider’s view of the meticulous scoring process, and they learned how the records program works. For most, it was a real eye-open ing experience.Thesummit also con firmed that many from this hunting-specific group of writers had little under standing of the far-ranging conservation efforts the Boone and Crockett Club has been involved with in the past as well as those we con tinue to work on.

FAIR CHASE | FALL 20226

recognizes its communica tions “sweet spot,” which is its long history of accomplish ment that makes it a respect ed voice for conservation and the Fair Chase ethic. At the same time, it also underscores the importance for the Club to continue to evolve its mes saging and develop platforms that will deliver those mes sages in ways that resonate with multiple audiences.

Doug Painter EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

I guess you could say that there’s a lot more to the “tale of the tape” than meets the eye.Hope to see you down the trail.

FIRST-EVER B&C MEDIA SUMMIT

Horns. The talk focused on the contrast between popu lations becoming almost ex tinct in the early 1900s and the robust wildlife popula tions of the Attendeesday. were also briefed on the Club’s conser vation policy initiatives, pro viding a sense of what goes on in Washington, D.C., which highlighted both the federal challenges as well as bi-par tisan successes.Writersalso were pre sented with an overview of the Club’s Poach and Pay Proj ect, which explained how a thorough understanding of the poaching issue will drive enforcement efforts and re sult in stiffer penalties. The program wrapped up with a review of the educational events at the Club’s Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch.

Any successful organization recognizes that it needs to stay focused on advancing its mission every year. All too often, however, even successful outfits place scant emphasis on effective ly communicating the value of their mission to their constituents. In short, the emphasis is typically on the “doing of it” rather than the “talking about it.”

OUR YOUTH IS THE FUTURE OF ALL WILD PLACES AND WILD THINGS PRESIDENTTHE

The summer has come upon us quickly, and the Club has been working at a fast pace to progress our work.

James F. Arnold B&C PRESIDENT

Regarding our Univer sity Programs, we currently have 22 active students and 93 graduates. These graduates have entered a variety of fields and non-governmentalprofessions—agencies, consulting firms, big busi ness, state and federal re source management agencies, universities, and private in dustries. I’m proud to say they have (and will continue to have) a meaningful impact on wildlife management and conservation. Our Club’s

The ranch also pro vides a first-rate training ground for tomorrow’s con servation leaders and profes sionals. As we worked with University Partners at our

and this is where it has to be gin. Our youth are the future of all, and we must do our part to help bring them along and make them understand what their role is in the future.

I am proud of the Club’s efforts at all levels to bring together America’s youth in helping them find their place—just like all of us did in protecting and pre serving all wild places and wild things. We need to iden tify and recruit the next gen eration of young leaders. Then we have to support them throughout their growth and help foster their passions for nature and the outdoors.

READ MORE ABOUT THE CLUB'S UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS RETREAT ON PAGE 58. READ MORE ARTICLES FROM THE CLUB ON PAGE 54.

Next, we participated in the University Programs Retreat held at the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch in northwest Montana. There, we had representation from most of our eight University Programs. We spent three days working through a stra tegic plan, which will help our great programs continue to expand and have an even greater impact on the future of youth and the conservation of wildlife. The Club takes enormous pride in the fact that, with all the great orga nizations with like-minded goals out there, we are the only organization that has embarked on the path toward developing and including universities as part of our strategic plan. We feel we must work on the next round of leadership in this country to sustain wildlife manage ment and hunting opportu nities. And that is our youth.

FAIR CHASE | FALL 20228

First, we traveled to Washington, D.C., to partici pate in the summer meeting of the Congressional Sports men’s Foundation. There, we spent time with many of our politicians on the Hill dis cussing major wildlife man agement issues, including future funding of wildlife health and disease research, as well as policy initiatives like the Great American Out doors Act. I was proud to witness the positive effects of the Club as we traveled from office to office to meet with many of the staff who are graduates of our Club’s University Programs. We, as a Club, take great pride in seeing so many of our folks who have passed through our universities as Boone and Crockett Fellows, scholars, and educators. Seeing them at work making a difference for conservation helps me see clearly that our past leaders had great vision. And, that we have more work to do.

network is scattered through out wildlife-centric agencies, groups, and organizations around the country and be yond. In addition, we have many students and educators in universities who are train ing and teaching the next generation of conservation leaders. We also have many conservation allies who ad vocate for us in Washington, D.C., and they work to help inform the current political leadership to make the best decisions for all of us.

ranch, conservation educa tion staff gave us an over view of how they are reach ing more and more kids, young adults, and educators through camps and outreach programs held there during the summer. We are planning to host approximately 1,200 kids at the ranch this sum mer. With the help of our staff, these programs will continue to grow and instill values of fair chase hunting and ethical wildlife manage ment into young folks.

And finally, I certainly cannot leave out our 31st Big Game Awards Banquet. Every three years, the Club cele brates successful conserva tion by recognizing hunters and their harvests. The event was held at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri. There, we recognized all youth who were 16 years old or younger when they harvested their record-book trophies at the Jack Steele Parker Generation Next Youth Awards and Ban quet. There were smiles, laughter, and maybe even a few tears as these young hunters shared their stories.

Whenever I sit at the Club’s ranch and listen to our leaders and members, I real ize that, again, the kids—our youth—are where it starts. We have to help protect our legacy of hunting and fishing,

FROM

I am proud of the Club’s efforts at all levels to bring together America’s youth in helping them find their place—just like all of us did in protecting and preserving all wild places and wild things.

I believe the Club’s ef forts in developing award programs, creating educa tional and outreach pro grams, supporting our uni versity program educators and students, and networking with decision- and poli cy-makers are making a sig nificant difference in advanc ing conservation. I hope we can do even more in the years to come. We hope you feel that way, too.

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THE PITTMAN-ROBERTSON ACT: A SYSTEM WE CAN DEPEND ON

In the mid-1930s, Pres ident Franklin D. Roosevelt convened a blue-ribbon pan el on wildlife conservation to address the massive

As members and supporters of organizations like the Boone and Crockett Club, we know that wildlife con servation in this country is largely funded by hunters. However, based on recent efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives to dismantle these policies, it has become clear that some folks outside of our commu nity aren’t familiar with the importance of the Pitt man-Robertson Act.

robust investments in wild life habitat, research, and active restoration activities. These funds make up a signif icant amount of dedicated revenue for state fish and wildlife agencies every year—61% in FY 2019 alone.

However, it is worth revisiting why we needed these resources to restore wildlife populations in the first place. Not so long ago, many of our wildlife popula tions were close to extinction.

The Pittman-Robert son Act levies an 11% federal excise tax on sporting arms, archery equipment, and am munition and a 10% tax on handguns. Collected from the manufacturers by the Depart ment of the Treasury, these funds are apportioned each

Pittman-Robertson has generated over $15 billion alone to conserve wildlife, enhance public recreational shooting opportunities, acquire state wildlife management areas for hunting, fund hunter education programs, provide technical assistance to private landowners, and recruit America’s next generation of hunter-conservationists.

To ensure that reve nues from hunting licenses wouldn’t be used for non-con servation purposes at the state level, the authors of the Pittman-Robertson Act smartly included a require ment that states must dedi cate these funds to state wildlife agencies to be eligi ble for the federal grant pro gram. To be eligible for fed eral funds, a state must also have in place laws governing the conservation of wildlife. All projects aided under the act must be agreed upon by the Secretary of the Interior and the fish and wildlife de partment of the state where the project is located.

declines in some of our coun try’s most charismatic wild life species. Hunters, some of whom were members of the Boone and Crockett Club, were named members of this panel and were tasked with developing a solution to this problem. One recommenda tion of this group led to the writing and passage of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Res toration Act, commonly re ferred to as the Pittman-Rob ertson Act, which was named after its sponsors Senator Key Pittman of Nevada and Congressman A. Willis Rob ertson of Virginia. It was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 2, 1937, and it in tended to provide funding to states for the restoration, rehabilitation, and improve ment of wildlife habitat, the distribution of educational information and wildlife management research.

Charlie R. Booher FORMER B&C FELLOW, CURRENT POLICY CONSULTANT

POLICYCONSERVATIONCOLUMN

Overzealous early settlers nearly wiped out some spe cies and left only pitiful rem nants of other species. It may be hard to believe, but in the 1930s it was a rare event to see even one whitetail deer on a hunting trip in much of the U.S. In Mississippi, for example, the population had dwindled to about 1,500 ani mals in the larger swamps; today, the population in the state is nearly two million. The loss of habitat and over-hunting without regu lation caused severe declines in many species of game.

©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ALEKSANDRPOTASHEV

James L. Cummins B&C REGULAR MEMBER CO-CHAIRPOLICYCONSERVATIONCOMMITTEE

Members of the Boone and Crockett Club across the country built a system of wildlife conservation fund ing for states that has stood, largely intact, for approxi mately 85 years. Driven by the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration program, this system works by levying a federal excise tax on firearms, ammunition, and archery tackle. Those funds are then matched with mon ies generated from the sale of hunting licenses at the state level. Together, these funds, and those derived from the Dingell-Johnson Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act, make up most of the Ameri can system of conservation funding and are used to make

year to the states and territo ries by the Department of the Interior based on formulas set forth in the Act. Each state’s apportionment is de termined by considering the total area of the state and the number of licensed hunters in that state. Tribal wildlife agencies are not eligible for Pittman-Robertson grants.

Advancing the legacy of the Boone and Crockett Club means that we must pro tect our uniquely American system of conservation fund ing, while always seeking to improve the ways in which we pay for wildlife conserva tion in this country. n

PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS $1.7 billion (27%)

ARCHERY EQUIPMENT $0.5 billion (8%)

TOTAL $6.2 BILLION

*According to a 2019 Congressional Research Service report.

A PITTMAN-ROBERTSON ACT SUCCESS STORY ON PAGE 60.

As a cost-reimburse ment program, the state cov ers the full amount of an approved project and then applies for reimbursement from Federal Aid for up to 75% of its expenses. So, 25% of the cost must come from a non-federal source such as license fees paid by hunters and other such sources.

wild turkey, wood duck, pronghorn antelope, black bear, bobcat, mountain lion, and several others.

AMMUNITION — $2.1 billion (34%)

to non-gamePittman-Robertsonprograms. has generated over $15 billion alone to conserve wildlife, enhance public recreational shooting opportunities, ac quire state wildlife manage ment areas for hunting, fund hunter education programs, provide technical assistance to private landowners, and recruit America’s next gener ation of hunter-conservation ists. In 2021 alone, over $1.1 billion was raised and distrib uted for on-the-ground fund ing for state wildlife agencies.

Without the funding, advocacy, and input from sportsmen, wild places and wild things would not exist in the health and abundance they do today. This bill has re-committed serious conser vation organizations like the Boone and Crockett Club, the Wild Sheep Foundation, and others to explain and remind elected officials of this fact and what makes wildlife and habitat conservation work throughout our great nation.

The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act is a pivotal part of paying for wildlife management in this country. As a hunter, many of your equipment purchases help fund wildlife conserva tion, providing countless opportunities for outdoor recreation and promoting the health of our nation’s diverse wildlife

Along with land acqui sition, improved scientific wildlife management tech niques have proved vital as well. Some examples include planting trees and shrubs in the Great Plains as cover to shelter quail, pheasants, and other wildlife during winter storms; creating watering holes in the Southwest; con trolling burns and restoring waterfowl habitat in the South; and creating variable habitats in the Northeast for rabbits, deer, woodcock, and other wildlife.Although funded wholly by firearm users and archery enthusiasts, the Pit tman-Robertson Act also benefits those who never

FIREARMS $1.9 billion (32%)

Of the funds available to the states, more than 60% is used to buy, develop, and maintain wildlife manage ment areas. Over four million acres have been purchased outright since the program began, and nearly 40 million acres are managed for wildlife under agreements with other landowners. That is an area almost the size of Mississippi and Alabama combined.

Although funded wholly by firearm users and archery enthusiasts, the PittmanRobertson Act also benefits those who never hunt but enjoy such recreational hobbies as bird-watching, painting, sketching, and nature photography as well as other outdoor pursuits.

hunt but enjoy such recre ational hobbies as bird-watching, painting, sketching, and nature pho tography as well as other outdoor pursuits. Almost all lands purchased with money from this Act are managed for wildlife as well as other public uses such as hiking, fishing, and camping. Amendments have since been made to the program to fund the development and man agement of public target ranges as well as hunter ed ucationAccordingprograms.to a 2019 Congressional Research Ser vice report, from FY 2007 through FY 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report ed a total of $6.2 billion (in 2018 dollars) of revenue from Pittman-Robertson sources. Ammunition accounted for $2.1 billion (34%), firearms for $1.9 billion (32%), pistols and revolvers for $1.7 billion (27%), and archery equip ment for $0.5 billion (8%) of the total. Another report suggests that recreational shooters contribute more than 77.5% of revenues gen erated by this tax (excluding archeryThanksequipment).tothese ef forts, the nationwide white tail deer population is over 20 million strong and several other species’ populations have recovered and extended their ranges well beyond what they were in the 1930s. Among them are the

11FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE REPORTED REVENUE FROM FY 2007 THROUGH FY 2016 FROM PITTMAN-ROBERTSON SOURCES *

However,habitat.as conserva tion leaders, we must remain vigilant to attacks on this system. Earlier this year, the Boone and Crockett Club worked with the American Wildlife Conservation Part ners to crush a misguided proposal that would elimi nate the wouldlongerdeerprograms,more,non-coastallandsandalreadyfundingments.ingwouldcalledprogram.Pittman-RobertsonH.R.8167,theso-RETURNActof2022essentially“gut”fundforstatewildlifedepartItwouldchangethemechanismtoanunpopulartaxonoilgasleasesfrompublicandwaters,evenforstates.Furthergameconservationsuchasthoseforandturkey,wouldnobefunded;fundingbeshiftedexclusively

READ

Hforead Hunters

WAYNE C. VAN ZWOLL

R ifles

B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBER PHOTOS COURTESY OF AUTHOR

Record-book game falls to people of varied means and itAndmotives.sometimesjustdies.

Animals old enough to grow big antlers avoid people. Reaching them can be a physical challenge.

Fitz evidently used factory loads. In 1935, after

Fifty years on, the Fitz bruin would share 108th spot in the listings. The animal Bel la Twin took down would tie for 28th.Ifyou don’t count their similar ages (Fitz was four years younger), grizzly kills in ’53 were about all Grancel Fitz had in common with Bel la Twin. In fact the two could hardly have been more dif ferent. A successful New York illustrator and photographer, Fitz had set out to collect rep resentative specimens of all 25 animals then recognized as North American big game. That tally has changed, de pending on who’s taking it, and on hunting regulations; but he accomplished his task.

Early on, from books or black-andwhite films, I’d thought of head hunt ers as painted primitives prowling dark jungles. New Guinea and Africa came to mind. Had such savages been a problem in India, they’d have drawn more attention from Kipling. When old enough to mow lawns, I read more widely and discovered hunting. “Good heads” gave me pause. But the notion of comparing human skulls on stakes ‘round a fire ring was dispelled by photos of hunters with big game who looked like pharmacists, grocers, electricians and gas station attendants.

Bella Twin had grown up in the northern bush, de nied almost every privilege and opportunity Fitz enjoyed. By all accounts, she was an experienced trapper and a fine shot. But “head hunting” was surely foreign to her. Travel spanning the continent to hunt would have seemed outlandish to Bella Twin.

fallen just four months earli er than Fitz’s. On May 10, 1953, about seven miles south of Alberta’s Slave Lake, a diminutive 63-year-old Cree woman name Bella Twin was hunting small game with her partner, Dave Auger. They were easing along an oil cutline when they spied a big grizzly ambling their way. Quickly they ducked into the bush. Strong wind that morn ing may have kept their scent from the animal and rattled the trees enough that their dodge went undetected. But the bear walked ever closer. As the story goes, it stopped very near the hidden hunters. Woods-wise, Bella weighed the risk of firing. If the grizzly discovered them, it might run off. OrCarefullynot. she aimed her iron-sighted rifle at a spot halfway between eye and ear. The beast fell heavily to the shot and didn’t move. Reload ing methodically, Bella sent her six or seven remaining bullets after the first. Later, that massive, perforated skull would measure 26-5/16, set ting a new world’s record.

In his 1957 book, North American Head Hunting , Grancel Fitz explained that activity well. He gave little text to rifle and loads. In fact, you must read most of that book and study its few photos to learn he used a Griffin & Howe-built Remington Mod el 30. Besides iron sights, this .30-06 wore a G&H mount clutching a 2-3/4x Hensoldt with “picket” or post reticle. The lenses had been coated— with what he did not say. Magnesium fluoride wasn’t widely used to brighten im ages in rifle scopes until after WWII, but Zeiss (at Hensoldt) had discovered that magic in the early ‘30s. And anyone who packed a G&H sporter had the pockets to get lenses coated on special order.

13FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

A glance at their rifles would have told you much about the backgrounds of these hunters, and their sta tion in life. Fitz’s .30-06 fea tured an action of ordinary design, a barrel bored for the most popular bolt-rifle

scrambling among pinnacles and along precipices of So noran mountains “nobody ever climbs,” he toppled a desert ram with a 180-grain bullet. On Arctic ice a 220-grain bullet failed to anchor a polar bear, which he and his guide trailed by airplane and finished with another approach on foot. Eighteen years later on Brit ish Columbia’s Klina Klini River, from about 270 yards, he sent another 220 into a fine grizzly. It “knocked him flat.” But again Fitz was com pelled to fire more shots to claim his bear. Its skull taped 25-9/16 inches, same as that of the world’s record grizzly, shot by E.S. Cameron in Mon tana’s Missouri breaks in April, Oddly1890. enough, an even more impressive bear had

While Bella Twin’s bear out-scored Grancel Fitz’s by only 3/4 inch, the two would drift apart in the records as years passed and more grizzlies were shot.

A 320-inch elk rack delights most hunters, few of whom will see a bull meeting B&C’s 360 minimum.

cartridge of its day. Still, it showed tionscope—anworkmanshipabove-averageandworeaunusualsightopthen.Itwasaworking

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rifle, but finely built and nicely “Fromappointed.allthese expe ditions and trophies,” he was later quoted as saying, “I feel that I’ve learned something about what the .30-06 can do. One of the most important things it has taught me is that there is too much theorizing about calibers and ballistics, and too little appreciation of big-game shooting and its practicalBellaproblems.”Twinwould not have theorized much. Her rifle was a Cooey Ace 1, a sim ple single-shot .22 produced from 1929 to ’34. Hers was not new when she shot the bear. Its action and barrel were corroded, the stock cracked and missing a chunk of wood. Hockey tape held the barrel to its channel, in lieu of the absent forend screw. Report edly, Bella carried .22 Long cartridges. The Long had the bullet of a .22 Short in a .22 Long Rifle case. An odd choice, in my view. In 1954 Remington, Peters, Win chester and Western listed high-speed Shorts at 44 cents a box, Longs at 61 cents, Long Rifles at 67 cents—all down slightly from ‘52 prices. Hunt ers saved money with Shorts. Even high-speed Short hol lowpoints cost 10 cents less than Long solids. For a small premium, Long Rifle loads, with their heavier bullets, were noticeably more effec tive on game than Longs, which had little, ballistically, on Shorts.Perhaps CIL, the am munition brand most com mon in Canada, priced the Long closer to the Short than did U.S. firms. Or in that re mote area, suppliers had no Short or Long Rifle ammo to sell Bella Twin. Then too, people unfamiliar with op tions in rimfire loads have said and written “Long” when they meant “Long Rifle”—an

TOP: In Fitz’s day and later, accessing game (here caribou, in the Arctic) could take considerable resolve! INSET: Bella Twin and partner Dave Auger saw the bear come. It paused at 30 feet and fell to Bella’s .22 rifle.

The next three deer on that list are inspirational— partly because they’re recent, also because they were killed by hunters willing to invest the effort for a chance at top-tier antlers. In 2018 Luke Brewster, who lived in Vir ginia, arrowed what’s cur rently ranked as the high est-scoring free-range

error compounded by the fading fortunes of the .22 Long. It’s about dead now. Whatever Bella Twin had up the spout May 10, 1953, it wasn’t a grizzly load. The .22 Long’s 29-grain bullet left at 1,240 fps, with 99 ft-lbs of energy. In compar ison, a factory load from Grancel Fitz’s .30-06 sent 220-grain bullets at 2,410 fps. At 270 yards, Fitz’s bullet still packed half its muzzle energy of 2,830Oneft-lbs.bullet of Bella Twin’s volley exited her bear’s skull. Enough theorizing about calibers and ballistics. Grancel Fitz cast a long shadow. Seventy years on, head hunting, or trophy hunt ing, has brought hordes of the well-heeled afield to put ani mals “in the book.” The sums they’ve paid for hunting ser vices and permits have fund ed wildlife conservation and habitat restoration, also an ti-poaching work. So wrote Fitz, noting that during the fiscal year ending in 1954, more than 32,654,000 U.S. hunters and anglers had po nied up $84,975,516 in license fees alone.Head hunters pay more to be afield than do hunters out only for meat. Even an elk shot on a DIY hunt and butch ered at home is expensive, given time and travel costs and a non-resident license— to say nothing of rifle, optics and camp gear, and the pick up to bring camp in, the elk out. Sharpen your pencil, and beef is a Boonebargain.and Crockett records show that despite ever-steeper costs and more competition in license lotter ies, ordinary hunters keep taking extraordinary ani mals. How Well,come?luckdoes play a hand. Some hunters prowl a family farm where deer are genetically gifted. Others, against odds of 1 to 5,692, draw the bighorn tag for a unit rife with huge rams.

odds of taking a record-book animal are dismal indeed. Some places where whitetail deer abound have yet to pro duce antlers that qualify. On the other hand, anyone can choose to be a selective hunt er. “You can’t shoot big ones if you shoot little ones,” goes the logic. It’s unassailable. Holding out for an old or even a mature animal where they’re scarce, or where the environment gives the game an overwhelming advantage, you’ll collect fat wads of unpunched tags. You get a part in the drama only when good fortune brings you within the orbit of a record-book beast. Until then, hunting and shooting skills don’t apply. Seldom, where many of us hunt, will you be anywhere near such an animal. I’ve seen three record-class elk drop, because I was favored to guide hunters where big bulls abounded. For reasons that had nothing to do with their eye-popping bone, I’ve let two “book” mule deer leave without a shot. I’ve not yet crossed paths with a whitetail deer that met the minimum score.

High standards and persistence, not line-item mention, define a head hunt er. I take comfort, after sea sons notable for their dearth of big antlers, remembering that we value most what is most rare. Failure to find an exceedingly rare beast is no smudge on hunting creden tials. In fact, time spent searching is time honing field skills. Another cheerful thought: Some record-book game was not shot at all. The top non-typical whitetails at this writing were found dead. In 1981, along a St. Louis County, Missouri road inside a fence, someone spotted the carcass of a buck whose 11-pound rack would tape 333-7/8 inches. It beat by 5-5/8 inches a Portage County, Ohio deer hit by a train in 1940.

But these blessed are few. For the rest of us, the

The outfitter couldn’t pass up this outstanding Alaska moose, which appeared days before a client!

set of tall, thick, non-typical mule deer antlers from a buck reportedly arrowed by a na tive in the Okanogan Valley. Intrigued by its size and un usual conformation, he sent the rack off for display at the 1910 International Hunting Exposition in Vienna. The family peddled it in 1993. Two years later, the Boone and Crockett Club x-rayed the cracked skull, concluded it was sound and came up with an antler score of 339-2/8. Today it’s still second in the rankings, trumped only by Edwin Broder’s mule deer, a 355-2/8 non-typical Alberta buck taken in 1926.

pack to ready his Springfield. When a pack-strap caught his belt knife, Doc’s fortunes changed. The pack hit the earth as he was mid-way through a back-flip. Noisily, he landed in a patch of devil’s club. The moose left.

Most of a week and several moose later, Doc hadn’t fired a shot. He was bent on bagging what they’d come to call the “marceled” bull. Then, one windy day, they hunted into a gaggle of moose hunkered from the blow in heavy timber. “For 200 yards you could see antler blades gleaming among the gray tree trunks.” A great, crenulated palm jutted from tall grass. It was him! Doc stepped up on a windfall to get a better view. The tree creaked as it settled. A moose

whitetail shot by any hunter. Taken in Edgar County, Illi nois, and scoring 327-7/8, it has 6-1/2 inches on another bow kill, this in 2019 by Brian Butcher, hunting in Chase County, Kansas. In 2016, Ste phen Tucker’s whopping Sumner County, Tennessee buck fell to his muzzle-load er—after he’d muffed a chance at the same buck from 30 yards when his rifle mis fired. At 315-1/8, this buck topped the roster of hunt er-killed whitetails for two years—until Brewster’s un seated Scoringit. is relatively recent, but selective hunting dates back centuries in Eu rope. During the late 1800s in our frontier West, meat got due priority on pack-saddles. (In 1899 John Plute was ap parently urged by towns-peo ple to ride back for the antlers of a Colorado bull elk he’d shot for meat—to prove they were as big as he claimed. Measured later, they became the new world’s record). But hunters who craved more than meat from their time afield were already taking note of exceptional heads. Sir Edgar Dewdney, lieutenant governor of British Columbia in the mid 1890s, came into a

Most record-book whitetails are now killed from stands. Still-hunting is graduate-level head hunting!

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Doc would have shared Dewdney’s interest in strange antlers. Our country had yet to drop off the cliff into De pression when he decided to hunt a big moose in Alaska’s Susitna drainage. Russell Annabel joined him, and wrote up the trip in Hunting and Fishing in Alaska . As the Alaska Railroad pushed through that area in 1920, fires had leveled vast blocks of timber. In the six years following, nurse crops of birch and aspen had risen in their wake. When this forage grew above snow-line, moose came and multiplied.

“Antler spread was considerably greater than half the length of its body,” wrote Annabel. Given an av erage torso of 110 inches, spread exceeded 60 inches, with broad palms and long, thick points. But a distin guishing feature was a wave in the bone, high on each palm. A stunning bull, if not record-book.“That’s for me!” said Doc, slipping off his 90-pound

Read the Stories Behind the Biggest Whitetail Deer Ever!

The Butcher Buck was honored at the 31st Big Game Awards. See all the details on page 44.

“Gosh, how long has this been going on?” Doc had his nose pressed to the win dow. The charter pilot had kept the plane low. An hour’s flight had turned up moose almost without pause. Min utes after set-down, slogging toward a camp-site between gravel bar and thicket, the two hunters spotted a moose.

For more on the best whitetails ever taken check out the sixth edition of Records of North American Whitetail Deer. This hard-cover tome has 300 full-color field photos in its nearly 700 pages. A must-have for anyone who can’t get enough of big whitetails, past and present! RECORDS OF NORTH AMERICAN WHITETAIL DEER,SIXTH EDITION – Over 300 color field photographs. – Portraits of all the current state/provincial whitetail deer, including 17 new records accepted since the last edition. – State maps showing county distribution of whitetail deer entries. – Full-size wall poster of the U.S. showing county distribution of whitetail deer entries, measures 36 x 24 inches. BRDR6 | $60 ASSOCIATES PAY ONLY $48 ORDER ONLINE TODAY! Just after he was spotted at dawn, this buck bedded in a pocket of sage. He became instantly invisible.

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A finish any head-hunt er would understand. n

It was the bull’s hind leg. Lung-shot, the animal had fallen into a hole and lay on its back.“I have seen some hap py hunters,” recalled Anna bel, “but I think Doc was the happiest. He had a right to be. He was a pioneer trophy hunter in a new game range, and he had accomplished the thing that sets the head-hunt er apart—he had held his fire and waited, withstanding the temptation of lesser

stared. We moved not a mus cle. My license wouldn’t cover so grand a beast.

heads, undismayed by diffi culties, until he got the ani mal heThewanted.”valueof exception al heads has led outfitters to charge by the inch of horn and antler, and to market “management” animals that dilute the genetic pool and compete for resources with “trophy” game. Such restric tions would have seemed constraining, if defensible, to Grancel Fitz, who died in 1979. Bella Twin would have found them Paddingodd.after trackers on the trail of Cape buffalo in Namibia not long ago, my PH and I pulled up short when the scabrous black boss of a bull rose above the thorn just eight steps away. Still as a stone, he

That day, I had hunted, had tracked buffalo, had chanced upon what may be the most magnificent bull I’ll ever see. A shot would have sealed that moment no better than the silence hanging in the dust.

Then he struggled from the deadfall and hurried through hoof-lashed grass marking the herd’s exit. There was no blood. Then, short yards away, movement!

stampede ensued. The bull was quartering off as Doc fired and cycled—then, tak ing another step forward, crashed through the windfall as his next bullet sped into the treetops. Sprawled in jackstraw trash, Doc wailed, “Oh no! I’ve lost him again!”

The breeze looped. The immense neck stiffened; rag ged ears cocked our way. The 9.3 felt small in my palms. With no sound, no gathering of muscles, the bull whirled and cannoned off into the thickets. Hooves drummed, limbs splintered. Then, slow ly, the bush and I exhaled.

What comes out of that mist may be a six-point. Odds that he’ll score above 375 are extremely low!

Lee R. Anderson Sr. James F. Arnold

Marc A. Brinkmeyer

Michael L. Evans

Benjamin A. Strickling III George C. Thornton

George C. "Tim" Hixon* B.B. Hollingsworth Jr. Ned S. Holmes

R. Terrell McCombsPresident Boone and Crockett Club Foundation Terrell McCombs at 210/818-8363 for more details.

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.

John P. Evans

N. Eric Johanson* Anne Brockinton Lee Tom L. Lewis

JamesEdwardRemoMichaelOnckenJ.OpitzJackS.Parker*PaulV.PhillipsR.PizzagalliThomasD.PriceB.Rasmuson*J."Jake"ShinnersT.GarrickSteeleMorrisonStevensSr.

We still cannot do it alone. We need your help. Please join the Wilderness Warrior Society!

Robert W. Floyd

Pete R. Brownell

M. Craig West

John L. Morris Rick C.

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 Hickey Freeman blazer, and an exclusive event at our annual meeting each year to recognize and honor your special generosity toward wildlife conservation.

Jimmy John Liautaud R. Terrell McCombs

* Deceased

William A. Demmer

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!

Mary L. Webster

C. Martin Wood III Leonard H. Wurman M.D. Paul M. Zelisko

Ben B. Wallace

Anthony J. Caligiuri

Charles W. Hartford

Andrew L. Hoxsey

Trevor L. Ahlberg

46 CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE WILDERNESS WARRIOR SOCIETY

Marc C. Mondavi David L. Moore

Steve J. Hageman

Marshall J. Collins Jr. Samuel J. Cunningham

Rene R. Barrientos

Gary W. Dietrich

Contact

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.

in TribuTe To my Friend don young

Congressman Don Young, Senator Ted Stevens, and Governor Jay Hammond discussing the 200mile U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in October of 1975. (Photo Credit: Anchorage Daily News)

HALLSTRUEMARCH.AWAYMEMBER,CROCKETTBOONECONGRESSMANLONGTIMEYOUNG,ALASKAANDANDCLUBPASSEDTHISPASTHEWASAFORCEINTHEOFCONGRESS.

Known as the Dean of the House and Congressman for all Alaska, he passed away suddenly this past March while traveling home. His wife Ann was by his side. I first met Don when I was a child. The year was 1968. He was serving in the State House with my father, past Boone and Crockett reg ular member Ken Brady. Those were heady and excit ing times for our young state. The legislature broke new ground as they planned and developed the framework and infrastructure necessary to build our government and communities.Iwaslucky enough to hunt and fish with Don many times, particularly whitetail

hunting in South Texas. No one was more fun in camp or around the campfire than Don. He had more tall tales than anyone, including a couple that might even have been true.His public service be gan in Fort Yukon, Alaska, a remote village located above the Arctic Circle in Alaska’s interior. He was elected may or there in 1964. Two years later, he was elected to the state legislature in Juneau where he served in the state House from 1966 to 1970, and later in the state Senate from 1970 toFirst1973.sworn in as a freshman to the 93rd Con gress after winning a special election in March 1973, Don was serving his 25th term, and he was the longest serv ing member of the current Congress when he passed away. He became Dean of the House in 2017. For the vast

the House Transportation and Infrastructure Commit tee from 2001 to 2007. In the 110th Congress, Representa tive Young returned to the helm of the Resources Com mittee to lead his fellow Re publicans as the Ranking Member. In the 112th Con gress, he was chosen to serve as the Chairman of the Sub committee on Indian, Insu lar and Alaska Native Affairs (IIANA)—a position he held until January 2017. After fulfilling a successful sixyear term as Chairman of the IIANA Subcommittee, Con gressman Young was named Chairman Emeritus of the full House Committee on Natural Resources—a role that allowed him to bring his years of experience and knowledge to all five of the

majority of Alaska’s citi zens, he was the only gressmanConthey ever knew.

My friend Don Young was irascible, at times less than eloquent, opinionated though generally correct, and demonstrated his love for his fellow Alaskans by dedicating almost his entire adult life to public service to create opportunities that would improve the daily lives of his state’s citizens.

Just hours after being first sworn in to the United States House of Representa tives, he found himself lead ing the historic battle for approval of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Often citing this as the single most important achievement in his career, Congressman Young stated, “Next to statehood itself, the most historical legislation passed that affected every Alaskan then, now, and in the future, was the passage of the pipeline legislation.” That same year, his colleagues honored him as the Freshman Congressman of the andCommitteeHouseservedCongressmanYear.YoungasChairmanoftheNaturalResourcesfrom1995to2001thenastheChairmanof

DON

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202218

TIMOTHY C. BRADY B&C PAST PRESIDENT

n

When he first moved to Alaska, Don made a living

Outdoors Act in 2020, and America’s Conservation En hancement Act also in 2020. These bills support enhanced opportunities for hunters, fisherman, and recreational shooters, as well as address the deferred maintenance backlog on federal public lands and waters, and reau thorizing vital programs in cluding the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the National Fish and WildlifeBornFoundation.in1933in

Merid ian, California, Don earned his associate degree at Yuba Junior College in 1952, and his bachelor’s degree in teaching at Chico State Col lege in 1958. Between earning his degrees, he served in the U.S. Army’s 41st Tank Battal ion from 1955 to 1957.

The Boone and Crockett Club asks that you please thank our Trailblazers with your patronage.

A Boone and Crockett Club professional member since 1990, Don believed in the mission and vision of the Club and was instrumental in helping us shape conserva tion policy over the last five decades. He understood that hunters were the champions of wildlife and habitat con servation and fought diligent ly to increase funding for state wildlife agencies via the Pittman-Robertson Act. He worked hard for increased access to public lands so Americans could enjoy the wonderful wild places we have in this country. In 1997, he passed (by a 419-1 vote) the National Wildlife Refuge Sys tem Improvement Act, which set guidelines and priority uses within our nation’s 550plus wildlife refuges. Over the last five years, the Boone and Crockett Club and our conservation community partners realized some of the greatest policy achievements we have seen over the last 50 years, and Congressman Young helped lead our efforts. Some of the legislation passed includes: The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Manage ment, and Recreation Act in 2019, The Great American

in construction and tried his hand at commercial fishing, trapping, and gold mining. In Fort Yukon he taught a 25-student, fifth grade ele mentary class in the Bureau of Indian Affairs school. During late spring and sum mers, he captained his own tug and barge to deliver es sential products and supplies to villages along the Yukon River. He was the only li censed mariner in receivedtomorrownotopportunitytoalwaysyearsCongress.AlaskanlovedgressmanproudlyCongressmanCongress.Youngservedasthe“ConforAllAlaska”andhisroleastheonlyRepresentativeinInhisalmost50ofservice,hisvisionremainedthesame—providecitizenswiththeforabetterlifejustfortoday,butalsoforandthefuture.CongressmanYoungtherarehonoroflyinginstateinStatuaryHallattheUnitedStatesCapitol.MemorialserviceswereheldinGreatFalls,Virginia,andinAnchorage,Alaska.ThehistoryofAlaskaisrepletewithlarger-than-lifecharacters—menandwomenwhoaccomplishedtheseeminglyimpossiblewhoroutinelytookonchallengesthatmostwouldshrinkfrom.Donwasoneofthosewonderfulpersonalitiesthatbelievedanythingwaspossibleandquiteoftenprovedthattohimselfandothers.Iwillmisshim.

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panel’s subcommittees. Most recently, Congressman Young served as the most senior Republican on both the House Transportation and Infrastructure Commit tee and House Natural Re sources Committee.

LEFT: Tim Brady awarding Don with the Associated General Contractors of Alaska “Hard Hat” award for significant contributions to the Alaska construction industry in 2017. MIDDLE: (Left to right) Don Young and Regular Member John Hendrix along with Ed Gohr chasing king salmon in Alaska. RIGHT: (Left to right) Tim Brady and Don with former Alaska Governor and Secretary of the Interior Wally Hickel in South Texas in 1999.

It was in Fort Yukon that Representative Young met and married a young bookkeeper named Lu. Lu was always at the Congress man’s side and supported him throughout his public service career. Lu and Don were mar ried for 46 years. They were blessed with two daughters and 14 grandchildren. Lu passed away in 2009. Al though Congressman Young never imagined he would find love again, in 2015 he mar ried Anne Garland Walton, a Fairbanks-area flight nurse and proud mother of two chil dren and six grandchildren

DODWELLCLAYTON© July 21-23, WildlifeJohnnyBassSpringfield,2022MissouriProShopsMorris’WondersofMuseumandAquarium

-TONY SCHOONEN BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB CEO

"Every three years, we celebrate hunting and conservation with the Big Game Awards Banquet. When we last met in 2019, COVID was not on anyone's mind.

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Over the last three years, there have been challenges and setbacks for all of us, but I want to take this evening to celebrate what we’ve achieved in spite of all that. Tonight we celebrate the hunt and honor the past achievements of our founding members from over a century ago."

Rob Keck, GameShops,ambassadorconservationforBassProemceedtheBigAwardsbanquet.

- JON ZINNEL SENIOR MANAGER OF CONSERVATION PROGRAMS FOR FEDERAL AMMUNITION

CENTENNIAL SPONSOR

With the 31st Big Game Awards display situated adja cent to the National Collection of Heads and Horns, visitors to this year’s event were able to see the transition that Boone and Crockett Club members helped usher in over the last century. The original building housing the National Collection was dedicated in May 1922. At the time, Boone and Crockett Club member and the collection’s original curator William T. Hornaday noted that, “As wild animal extermination now is proceeding all over the world, it is saddening to think that

We appreciate everything the Boone and Crockett Club does to pioneer conservation and pass along our great heritage across the country.

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The Boone and Crockett Club’s 31st Big Game Awards was certainly one for the record books! The event, held July 21-23, at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri, honored 70 of the top trophies in 32 categories from 26 distinct species or subspecies that were taken through fair chase hunting or were picked up and entered into the B&C record book over the last three years. In addition, 25 youth hunt ers whose animals were added to the record book were recognized during the Jack Steele Parker Generation Next event. It was a gala celebration but the overall theme “Honoring where we’ve been, celebrating where we are going” served as a reminder of the critical importance of conservation to build the healthy, sustainable wildlife populations that support our hunting heritage.

In the 1900s, there were few whitetail deer, just 5,000 pronghorn and only 41,000 elk. The age of extermination had nearly wiped out bison. So, imagine this sales pitch to the American public: wildlife is being decimated by overharvest, and the new plan to save what’s left and recover these pop ulations is to… continue to hunt them! This might be the very definition of counterintuitive. And it certainly begs the ques tion: why not just stop all hunting and all use? The genius of Theodore Roosevelt and Boone and Crockett Club members is that they knew that taking hunters out of the equation would cut off the only lifeline game populations had. No access, no advocates, no funding for conservation programs.

From our founder Charles Horn’s support of the 4H Club Conservation program in 1934, the company’s backing of the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act in 1937 to our support of multiple conservation programs still today, we feel great pride in our company’s longstanding commitment to conservation. Not only do we fund tens of millions of dollars into PR annually, we support the missions of virtually all of our country’s conservation organizations.

“Federal is proud to be celebrating 100 years of continuous operation this year. As we’ve gone through our archives to prepare for our official birthday which was on April 27th, 2022, we’ve been reminded again of how important conservation is to the history of Federal and our entire industry.

As the Boone and Crockett Club celebrates 100 years of the National Collection of Heads and Horns it is a continues reminder of how conservation matters to all species and we as hunters are true Thankconservationists.youforyour continued support and partnership with Federal—we look forward to another 100 years of improving habitat and growing the sport we all love.”

Honoring where we’ve WhereCelebratingbeen.we’regoing.

James Arnold, B&C President

100 years hence many of the species now shown in our collection will have become totally extinct.”

We were honored to host these hunters and celebrate their success in the field, and we welcomed the future of our hunting heritage—the youth of our country. Yes, the 31st Big Game Awards truly honored where we’ve been and celebrated where we are going. n

During the 31st Big Game Awards attendees were entertained by hunting stories, inspiring conservation messages, videos and field photos.

The 31st Big Game Awards Display was open to the public in Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium. Everyone who attended the banquet received a complimentary ticket to the museum.

Some of the sheep on display during the 31st Big Game Awards. Thank you to the trophy owners who shipped their trophies to Bass Pro Shops to participate in the Judges Panel and Awards events.

Tony Schoonen, B&C CEO

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The Boone and Crockett Club’s records program and the National Collection were truly an effort to memorialize these vanishing species—to “record” them for history. But conservation programs began to take hold and wildlife managers and others in the scientific community soon recognized that the system designed to record what was thought to be the last of certain big game species was also an effective means of tracking the success of new conser vation efforts. Because the measuring techniques have remained constant since 1950, the Club’s records program has established a baseline and allows standardized com parisons of big game animals through time, which re searchers can use to study wildlife management. These trends are used as an indicator of herd and habitat health, and generally, these trends show that our big game wildlife is thriving.Infact, the Big Game Awards program started in 1947 as a way to celebrate these conservation victories and our healthy wildlife populations. This year’s 31st Big Game Awards was a continuation of 75 years of recogniz ing some of the most remarkable specimens of big game. Today we continue to see record-book class animals entered every scoring period in each of the categories in the Club’s record book—and this is what the Big Game Awards was meant to celebrate. Each mount is a symbol of the hard work of conservationists to rebuild our wildlife popula tions and sustain our hunting heritage. Each hunter em braced the challenge of fair chase and ethical hunting. Each animal in the Awards program is a magnificent representative of its species.

Welcome reception Sponsored by

WILD SHEEP FOUNDATION PRESIDENT AND CEO

31ST TROPHIES THAT WERE ON DISPLAY

Sponsored by

Speaking for all of us who lace 'em up and go to work for wild sheep every day, we're certainly pleased that documentation like this represents that our wild sheep are doing quite well, at least in most places.”-GRAY THORNTON

Gray Thornton spoke at the 31st Big Game Awards banquet .

It is not just this Big Game Awards display, everywhere you look in this museum it is a celebration to sportsmen-led conservation. There is a trophy to help tell a story, to raise public awareness of the need for a new relationship between man and nature—a new model we call conservation.

The 31st Big game awards events kicked off with a welcome reception in the display area Thursday evening, July 21. Attend ees enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and drinks while they swapped hunting stories and toured the display. John Paul Morris, Chief Customer Officer with Bass Pro Shops and B&C President James Arnold welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending.

31ST BIG GAME AWARDS BANQUET

CENTER PHOTO LEFT TO RIGHT: B&C President James Arnold, John Paul Morris, and B&C CEO Tony reception.duringMorrisBELOW:Schoonen.JohnPaulspokethewelcome

I'm hoping you all have had a chance to see the Fair Chase 2021 Yearbook. One can take away many things from leafing through page after page of impressive big game animals from across this continent. It's truly amazing that such highquality animals still live among us today, which is yet another proof point that we're doing right by the game species we cherish. As for wild sheep, the last ten pages highlight just a snapshot of rams taken in just the past few years, entered, and accepted into these historical records. Again, I say, wow!

HISTORY OF THE 31ST LOGO BISON

NATIONAL COLLECTION OF HEADS AND HORNS

“This is Wild Sheep Foundation's fifth time sponsoring these Triennial Awards, and I'm amazed every time I see this tribute to big game conservation and fair chase sportsmen and women.

Learn more online

“The 31st Big Game Awards Banquet, luncheons, and events were off the charts! It's truly a great experience where individuals from all walks of life come together and share exciting conversation, through both the amazing trophies on display and through the common bond of supporting conservation. The strength of the Club and its leadership was on full display at this event, and I can say I’m beyond proud to be associated on so many different levels with the Club.“ ERIC

THANK

JACK STEELE PARKER GENERATION NEXT YOUTH AWARDS DISPLAY AND BANQUET

Jeff Hubbard (second from right) and his family pose in front of his woodland caribou with Records Committee Chairman Mike Opitz and his family during the welcome reception.

-

PRESENTING

SPONSORS HOSTED BY

CENTENNIAL SPONSOR SPONSORS BIG GAME AWARDS BANQUET Wild Sheep display

MuledisplayDeer displayElk

WELCOMESPONSORRECEPTION OMSPONSORLUNCHEON

25FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

“The 31st awards was the first I have attended. Everyone, from the B&C staff to the guests, were good, down-to-earth people who made me feel as if I were home. I will be a lifetime member for sure now. It is so hard these days to find genuine people or people who care about what they do, and the B&C staff are both.“

CommitteeMikeBuckner,LEFTTROPHYSTANOCHECKOWNER-PRONGHORNTORIGHT:Eldon”Buck“EricStanocheck,andOpitz,BigGameRecordsChariman.Trophyownerswererecognizedonstagewithacustomplaqueandmedallion.HereAaronLangsletreceivedhisawardfromBigGameRecordsVicePresidentRichardHale,andDirectorofBigGameRecordsJustinSpring.

and North American

- JEFFREY T. HUBBARD TROPHY OWNER - WOODLAND CARIBOU

JUDGES PANEL MEDIA SUMMIT Hunt Fair Chase Award Sponsor and Whitetail Deer display YOU TO ALL OUR

31ST

Bear/Catdisplay C O N T IO N E T M O U LO O RA O N U A T North CaribouAmericandisplay

Mike Opitz, Records Committee Chairman

In April 2022, the 31st 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.

Front Row: Jennifer Staten, Richard Hale, Stan Zirbel, Fred King, Mike Opitz, Bucky Ihlenfeldt, Jack Reneau, Mike Golightly, Rick Berreth. Second Row: Brett Ross, Charlie Rehor, Gil Hernandez, Dave Rippeto, Kyle Lehr, Roy Grace, Larry Streiff, Tim Rozewski. Back Row: Jon McRoberts, Justin Spring, Glenn Hisey, Heath Dreger. Not Pictured: Jayson Arnold and Ed Fanchin.

Read more about the history of B&C Judges Panels in the Summer 2022 Trophy Talk column in Fair Chase. If you are an Official Measurer interested in participating as panel judge please notify Justin Spring at B&C headquarters.

31ST BIG GAME AWARDS JUDGES PANEL

Official measurers open meeting

Justin

Thank you to all the Official Measurers who were able to attend the Open Meeting during the 31st Awards Program. We heard from our Vice President of Records Rich ard Hale, Records Committee Chairman Mike Opitz, Associates Committee Chairman Jayson Arnold, Director of Big Game Records Justin Spring, and Assistant Director of Big Game Records Kyle Lehr. Topics ranged anywhere from the health of the Club, to entry requirements and material needs issues, to our new online entry system. It was great to have such a live ly discussion between our Offi cial Measurers and the leader ship of the committee and Club.

RecordsJenniferGameDirectorSpring,ofBigRecordsStaten,DataSupport

Even though the meeting was geared for Official Measurers anyone was welcome to sit in. It was a behind-the-scenes look at scoring procedures and questions commonly received by both staff and Records committee members.

Richard Hale, Vice President of Records

27FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022 Would you like to give an Official Measurer credit for your renewal? Let them know when it is your time to renew and they will provide their OMID number to include with your renewal so they will receive credit. Want to Become an Official Measurer? Fill out the Official Measurer Application at Boone-Crockett.org! *As of August 9, 2022 CONGRATS TO OUR TOP 10 PRIZE WINNERS! 1. Philip A. Herrnberger – 202 2. Stanley Zirbel – 152 3. Bucky Ihlenfeldt – 143 4. Ken Witt – 113 5. Dale Weddle – 65 6. John Bogucki – 46 7. Jerry E. Lunde – 41 8. Robert Wood – 33 9. Eric Stanosheck– 25 10. Charlie Adams – 23 SEE THE COMPLETE LISTING IN THE COMMUNITIES SECTION ON OUR WEBSITE Each time an OM gets someone to join B&C we put a credit by their name! HERE’S THE BREAKDOWN 3 Associates – $25 off any item in the B&C store 5 Associates – Buck Knife 10 Associates – B&C Boyt sling 25 Associates – OM Wool Vest 50 Associates – SITKA Gear (value up to $350) 75 Associates – YETI package (value up to $500) 100 Associates – KIMBER RIFLE 150 Associates – $800 Gift card to BASS PRO SHOPS/CABELAS! 200 Associates – VORTEX OPTICS GEAR! (value up to $1400) B&C Sign-Up Incentive Program Leader Board

The Club is launching a new public growth campaign to en courage people to join. As an Official Measurer you are en couraged to ask every trophy owner you meet, or anyone with a passion for hunting and conservation, to join the Boone and Crockett Club. It doesn’t take much to start the conversation.

In fact, many of you are already asking the question, “Are you a Boone and Crockett Club member?” when scoring a trophy.

NEW MATERIALS ARE COMING

The Boone and Crockett Club would like to thank all the Official Measurers that helped bring 1,847 members into the Club since we started this sign-up program in August 2017!

The more members you recruit, the more support you’re providing to key programs like Poach and Pay, Fair Chase ethics, research on chronic wasting disease, and other pro grams vital to conserving the beauty and bounty of our wild places for generations to come.

In order to help you be as successful as possible we are putting together new kits with talking points and giveaway items, such as decals and flyers, for you to share with anyone you may come in contact with. We must make sure those who really want to be a part of the Boone and Crockett Club have the information they need to join and receive all the bene fits.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Associates Committee Chairman Jayson Arnold, Official Measurer Bucky Ihlenfeldt, and Assistant Director of Big Game Records Kyle M. Lehr. At the open meeting held during the 31st Awards events this past July, Jayson recognized the OMs on the leaderboard and thanked them for encouraging people to join the Club.

For the last five Big Game Awards, the Boone and Crockett Club has honored our Official Measurers (OM) with a Field Generals luncheon. Typically hosted by the records committee, it was graciously hosted by Boyt Harness this year. 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 31st Big Game Awards Field Generals luncheon were treated to a passionate speech by Professional Member Mark Bara, who reflected on his 46 years of service as an OM. In addition, OMs Richard Bishop and Eldon “Buck” Buckner each received a plaque in recognition of more than 50 years of service to the Boone and Crockett Club’s Records Program. Dave Boland, Mark Bara, and Jack Reneau all received bags from the event’s sponsor Boyt Harness for their service. And finally, all Official Measurers at the luncheon received a one-of-a-kind belt buckle to commemorate the 31st Big Game Awards.

Mark Bara, ProfessionalB&CMember and Official Measurer, was the keynote speaker for the luncheon.

Tony Caligiuri, B&C Regular Member and Boyt President and CEO, addressed the crowd as sponsor of the luncheon.

All Measurers in attendance were called up on stage to be recognized for their years of service. Each Measurer received a 31st Big Game Awards Official Measurer belt buckle (above). If you are an Official Measurer and would like to purchase one, please call headquarters to order.

All of the Official Measurers in attendance that were part of the 31st Big Game Awards Judges panel were recognized on stage during the luncheon. LEFT TO RIGHT: Mike Opitz, Justin Spring, Jennifer Staten, Brett Ross, Jon McRoberts, Stan Zirbel, Kyle Lehr (at podium) Dave Rippeto, Jayson Arnold, and Jack Reneau.

2022 Field Generals Luncheon

Boyt recognized Richard Bishop (top) and Eldon ”Buck“ Buckner (above) for their outstanding commitment and dedicated service of more than 50 years to the Boone and Crockett Club’s Records Program with a custom plaque and Boyt duffel bag.

Eric Stanosheck 2006 Haslet, TX

Taaffe Caligiuri 2021 Osceola, IA

Gary English 2017 Rapid City, SD

Mike Opitz 2011 Lacey, WA

Corey Neill 1997 McCarley, MS

Larry Lueckenhoff 2003 St. Thomas, MO

Garry Brandenburg 2021 Albion, IA

Kenny Morphew 2013 Beaver Dam, KY

Nate Watson 2021 Dallas, TX

Rick Pflanz 2014 Huntingburg, IN

Brett Ross 2017 Commerce City, CO

Mark Bara 1976 Hemingway, SC

Jack Reneau 1976 Missoula, MT

Mark Carroll 2017 Union, SC

Erbie Earls 2006 London, AR

Ken Rimer 2017 Hammond, WI

HP Giger 2005 Charlotte, NC

Stan Zirbel 1996 Greenleaf, WI

Gary Howard 2015 Kingman, IN

Jim Arnold 2006 Austin, TX

Ronnie Harrison 2010 Lucedale, MS

Jeff Blystone 2017 Independence, MO

Curtis Gray 2014 Lonoke, AR

Ronald Willmore 2005 Canton, IL

Jerry Gander 2019 Richland Center, WI

Kyle Krause 2009 Rosenberg, TX

Butch Marita 1999 High Bridge, WI

Dave Rippeto 2008 Anchorage, AK

Emilio Rangel-Woodyard 1988 Monterrey, MX Wayne van Zwoll 1984 Bridgeport, WA

Conrad Sheley 2022 Sierra Vista, AZ

Chad Collins 2017 Lake City, MN

Mark Haynes 2018 Homer, LA

Dane Eider 2000 Bismarck, ND

Richard Hale 1995 Ottawa, KS

Scott Corley 2013 O’Fallon, MO

Justin Spring 2008 Missoula, MT

Sponsored by Thank you to all the official measurers present at the Field generals luncheon, July 22, 2022.

Wes Ledbetter 2022 Eufaula, OK

Randy McPherren 1993 Unionville, IA

Bucky Ihlenfeldt 2011 Kewaunee, WI

Danny Noonan 2019 Missoula, MT

Philip Herrnberger 2018 Irvine, PA

Tom Kalsbeck 2014 Miltona, MN

Chris Cordes 2011 Kenyon, MN

NAME YEAR APPOINTED HOMETOWN

Jennifer Staten 2022 Missoula, MT

Richard Bishop 1970 Indianola, IA Eldon “ Buck” Buckner 1967 Baker, OR

Blake McPhaul 2017 Kingsville, TX

Dave Boland 1979 Chatfield, MN

Charles Wilcox 2019 Leonardtown, MD

Jon McRoberts 2018 Missoula, MT

Pelahatchie, MS

Terry Fricks 2011 Ft. Worth, TX

Luke Coccoli 2012 Dupuyer, MT

Richard Spring 2021 North Bend, OR

Becca Spring 2009 Alberton, MT

Jayson Arnold 2015 Austin, TX

OFFICIAL MEASURERS IN ATTENDANCE

David Bastow 2008 Edinboro, PA

Jim Mraz 2003 Fenton, MO

Tony Schoonen 2009 Missoula, MT

Reg Soyka 2000 Yarbo, SK

Triston Derrick 2022

NAME YEAR APPOINTED HOMETOWN

Bill Demmer 2014 Lansing, MI

Arlen Lipper 2017 Kimberling City, MO

Jeff Olson 2014 Willernie, MN

Bill Walters 1997 Clarksdale, MS

Jimmy Opitz 2021 Lacey, WA

Kyle Lehr 2015 Missoula, MT

Clay Newcomb 2014 West Fork, AR

Mark Verble 2000 W. Baden Springs, IN

Steve Adams 1994 Tulsa, OK

Charles Hartford 2019 La Jolla, CA

B&C

2. To be a hunter in 2022 is honorable and a noble calling.

1. There is no limit to what you can do if you steward what you have with an authentic passion.

In 1969 Jack Steele Parker became a member of the Boone and Crockett Club. One of Jack’s first assignments was as chairman of the Club’s Records of North American Big Game Committee, a position he held from 1971 until 1977. He then served as President of the Club from 1980 through 1982. One of his passions was youth being active in the outdoors. With his support, the Club created this event in 2013 to recognize these young sportsmen and sportswomen. The keynote speaker for the evening was Clay Newcomb—a 7th-genera tion Arkansan, hunter, mule skinner, curious naturalist, writer, filmmaker, host of the Bear Grease podcast and content creator with Meateater. Most im portantly, he is the proud father of four kids. And he, along with his wife Misty, are raising those kids to be curious about nature and to simply be happy with being outside. That last one might seem strange to some who are obviously perfectly at ease with being outdoors, but that isn’t the case with many kids today. He told those in attendance, “We are all truly blessed to have had people take us outdoors into the wild and help us find our place in it.”

The attendees of the Jack Steele Parker Generation Next Banquet were welcomed by the chairman of the Big Game Records committee Mike Opitz and given a brief history on the life of Jack Steele Parker.

Keynote speaker, Clay Newcomb.

3. Where wildlife has cultural value, that wildlife will be protected.

Alex Engelken got his photo taken with Clay to thecommemorateevening.

“For those of you who will be honored up here on stage tonight, you have done something special. But it comes with a certain responsibility to pass down that same opportunity to the next generation of hunters. It’s on you to be a steward of the resource, to be a leader and speak up for our wildlife and our hunting heritage. You owe it to those who came before you, and you owe it to those who will come after you. That is your legacy.”

After Clay spoke Mike introduced his best friend, B&C regular member, and emcee for the night, Charles Hartford. Charles called each youth hunter to the stage individually where they received a custom plaque and Buck knife. Once off stage everyone got their pho to taken with Clay. At the end of the event when all the youth were brought on stage for a group photo you could feel the energy from all the proud parents and family members.

Clay Newcomb gave the youth hunters, as well as everyone in the room, these three pieces of advice during his speech.

JACK STEELE PARKER GENERATION NEXT YOUTH BANQUET

Jenna Smith shook Mike Opitz's hand on stage while receiving her plaque.

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202230

- CHARLES HARTFORD B&C REGULAR MEMBER, GENERATION NEXT BANQUET EMCEE

LEFT TO RIGHT: Charles Hartford, Mike Opitz and Assistant Director of Big Game Records Kyle Lehr welcomed all the hunters on stage to be recognized.

Chase A. Higdon

Alexander L. Rowein

Pronghorn – 83-4/8 Points

Non-Typical Whitetail Deer – 201-7/8 Points

Non-Whitetail Deer – 222-3/8 Points

Typical Whitetail Deer – 162 Points

Game

Non-Typical Whitetail Deer – 195-5/8 Points

Ryleigh Campbell

Emily J. Curry

Jerrod J. Gander

Dominique P. Girard

Typical Whitetail Deer – 161 Points

Black Bear – 20-7/16 Points

Typical Whitetail Deer – 161 Points

Typical Whitetail Deer – 186-4/8 Points

Black Bear – 21-6/16 Points

Sponsored by

Ross R. Potter

Claire M. Flood

William H. Wade

Landon T. Hayne

Isaiah E. Stayton

Non-Typical Whitetail Deer – 208-1/8 Points

31st

The thatallYouthGenerationJackhonoredhuntersattheSteeleParkerNextBanquethavetrophieshavebeenaccepted into Boone and Crockett

Joshua L. Swartzentruber

Black Bear – 20-13/16 Points

Non-Typical Whitetail Deer – 200-2/8 Points

Gabrielle Hovak

Program and were taken when they were 16 years or younger at the time of the hunt. Congratulations to all the youth hunters present at the Jack Steele parker generation next youth BANQUET, july 22, 2022

Typical Whitetail Deer – 171-5/8 Points

Logan W. Kobus

Cole T. Howlett

Black Bear – 21-8/16 Points

Black Bear – 20-8/16 Points

Chrisily B. Furia

Fischer S. Schluessler

Nathan T. Kaiser

Youth hunters IN ATTENDANCE

Rocky Mountain Goat – 51-2/8 Points

Pronghorn – 80-2/8 Points

Ella A. Perkins

Joseph W. Joiner

Typical Mule Deer – 193-3/8 Points

Morgan J. Burns

Hunter H. Milanowski

Non-Typical Whitetail Deer – 212-7/8 Points

Typical Whitetail Deer – 175-6/8 Points

Typical Whitetail Deer – 177-6/8 Points

Cougar – 14-10/16 Points

Pronghorn – 82 Points

Alex J. Engelken

Samuel T. Gronewold

Black Bear – 21-10/16 Points Club’s Big Awards

Non-Typical Whitetail Deer – 205-1/8 Points

Josey A. Norris

Jenna H. Smith

Typical Whitetail Deer – 161 Points

Noah J. Detloff

Typical Whitetail Deer – 170-5/8 Points

My family has always shown respect to the animals we harvest by honoring them by consuming and capturing their beauty in taxidermy. My dad is a taxidermist, and I enjoy helping him on mounts. This one was extra special because I was involved in putting the shoul der mount together.

I was hunting with my father on September 16, 2018, on the edge of a corn field about nine miles from my home. It was shortly after shooting hours had begun, and I was carrying my late uncle Jared’s Remington .270 semi-automatic. When the boar came out of a cornfield about 70 yards away from me, it turned broadside.Iknew

big as it was, we had to call a few friends to come help get him out of the corn and haul the bear in for processing. While my father field dressed it, I was looking at the scars on its snout. You could tell that they were old scars from years prior. It took four men to roll my bear onto a stretcher, back a Gator into the cornfield to haul it out and then roll it into the back of the truck. My bear weighed 473 pounds dressed and provided 350 pounds of meat that we turned into hamburger. I was also lucky enough to be able to use the same taxidermist that my uncle had used for his mount and had a similar one done, as well as having the record book skull cleaned.

JACK STEELE PARKER GENERATION NEXT YOUTH BANQUET

MORGAN J. BURNS

My late Uncle Jared got his first bear when I was three years old, and I fell in love with black bear hunting at that moment. While this isn’t about the first big game I have harvested, it is about the first black bear I have taken.

Landon T. Hayne Pronghorn – 80-2/8 Points El Paso Co., Colorado – 2018

I had one shot, so when the bear turned his head away from me, I took it. The double-lung shot caused him to jump and turn back into the cornfield. My father and I waited about 40 min utes before we went in after it. We found the bear about 100 yards into the corn.As

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202232

We live in Peyton, Colorado. In the fall of 2018, I waited in anticipation of my first big game hunt. I had the opportunity to hunt a piece of property owned by a family friend. My dad applied for tags earlier in the year, but we drew a single pronghorn doe tag. The day before my hunt, we talked to our friend Randy, the owner of the ranch. He told us he’d received a pronghorn buck land owner voucher that day and asked if we wanted it. Of course, we took him up on his kind offer.Theday before the opener we scouted and saw lots of bucks running around in full rut. There were plenty of nice bucks I hoped to see the next day. In the morning, right at shooting light we saw a nice buck with a cou ple of does with him. I hopped out of the truck shaking with anticipation. When I shot at the buck at about 300 yards, I missed and then watched the trio run off into the distance. We took off across the field to peek over the knob to try and get another shot. Instead, we saw about 15 other does and bucks. Dad and I laid down for a little while to see if a buck would present us with a clear shot. Before we could make another move, a doe came running up on our left and stared at us. Knowing we had no other choice, Dad told me to shoot the doe. As soon as I pulled my gun up, he grabbed my shoulder and whispered, “Wait.”

As a young kid I didn’t know my buck was all that big. I didn’t know size, I just knew I was blessed to be in the out doors and could harvest such an animal.

Morgan J. Burns Black Bear – 20-13/16 Points Marshall Co., Minnesota – 2018

LANDON T. HAYNE

As I looked over, I saw the buck come over the top of the knob we were sitting on. “Shoot that buck,” he said. I took the shot; the pronghorn ran about 100 yards over the next hill and tipped over. Big buck down!

DOMINIQUE P. GIRARD

Non-Typical Whitetail Deer – 212-7/8 Points Lincoln Co., Kansas – 2018

ALEXANDER L. ROWEIN

During his second year of hunting in November of 2019, Alex Rowein headed into the field with his fa ther, uncle, and brother. It was the first day of the hunt, and it didn't take long for them to find mule deer bucks. The first pair were only 50 yards away when they were spotted, but the deer spooked and quickly crossed over the top of a hill. As excited as he was, they were gone before Alex could position himself for a shot.

I was 12 years old, and it was my second year of hunting. My dad and I had driven up the night before with his friend to hunt the opening morning of the Kansas youth rifle season. Dad was going to sit with me. His buddy was going to dove hunt until we needed him, if we needed him.

33FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

Typical Mule Deer – 193-3/8 Points Raft Lake, Alberta – 2019

This is just a sample of the inspiring stories read by Charles Hartford during the banquet. While each youth was presented their plaque and Buck knife on stage, the audience enjoyed each hunter's account of their adventure. All of the Generation Next stories will be featured in the Boone and Crockett Club's 31st Big Game Awards Book coming this fall.

Still, the combination of excitement and a bit of buck fever got the best of him ini tially. Adding momentary insult to injury, the bucks became skittish and entered some heavy brush. The good news was that a cow moose, with calf in tow, ran the deer back out in the open almost as quickly.

We got up at about 5:30 a.m. and arrived at our stand an hour later. Still so new to hunting, all I knew was that we were hunting from a stand that my dad talked about con stantly. A huge deer often passed our trail cam there, during the day. All I could tell from the pictures was that he had nice antlers.Atabout 7:45, Dad pointed out a red rack sticking high above the milo. As I got ready, we watched the deer slowly work its way through the field and then drift off into the tree line. About five minutes later, a spike popped out. We could still hear the big buck off in the woods, rubbing on a tree. He was scraping the velvet off.

When a really nice, 160-inch, 10-point came out, I wanted to shoot. Thankfully, my dad was able to convince me that a bigger buck was close by. Almost immediately after he said that, out stepped the giant. I brought the gun up and rested it on the opening of the make-shift blind we’d made out of an old grain bin. BOOM!! My .243 going off was loud inside the metal blind, but I didn’t hear it; my adrenaline was through the roof.

As we followed the blood trail through the milo, Dad told me to peek over the edge of a 50-foot ravine while he stayed in the field. I looked down and immediately saw a white belly down in the bottom. The buck’s antlers were under his head after rolling down into the creek. As we rolled the deer over, Dad shouted, “THAT’S HIM!! THAT’S THE BIG ONE!!!” After we soaked in the moment, we called my dad’s friend.

A prayer to his departed grandfather helped him regain focus at that crucial moment. The hunter's nerves settled after he got the buck in his sights at the base of the hill. It was a big one indeed. His typical mule deer ranks as the 26th largest to ever come out of the province of Alberta.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Alexander L. Rowein

Soon, four more bucks were spotted on the other side of a large pasture roughly 300 yards away. Alex knew he need ed to get closer and do so with out running the deer off. As he and his dad shortened the dis tance and prepared to shoot, Alex questioned his effective range. Although he’d practiced with his rifle out to 200 yards, the bucks were still beyond that mark. His father then coached him through shot preparation as he readied his flat-shooting 7mm-08 rifle.

For my first deer with antlers, that’s not too shabby. Sometimes I wish I could have shot this deer when I was more experienced, but had I not shot the buck when I did I might not have fallen in love with hunting.

Dominique P. Girard

Sponsored by

BENEFIT AUCTION

Sportsmen and women fund conservation, more so than any other group. From the donors to the buyers, auctions like these help fund conservation at the highest level. That’s the nature of conservation at the Boone and Crockett Club

The Boone and Crockett Club is the world’s first and foremost champion of conservation. Founded by avid sports men, we have been establishing national parks and deliv ering big game populations from the brink of extinction since 1887. Looking to the future, the Club is very strong and active, and it’s time more hunters, conservationists and anyone who enjoys the outdoors knows just how im pactful the Club has been and continues to Thankbe.you to our Lifetimes who have already been championing this cause over the years. We couldn’t have done it with out your support.

Thank you to all the Lifetimes present at the luncheon, July 23, 2022.

Immediately following the Lifetime Luncheon, the Club hosted a benefit auction open to everyone in attendance.

B&C Regular Member and Associates Committee Chairman, Jayson Arnold announced the new campaign at the luncheon.

Thanks to Browning, Kolpin, and Stone Glacier for their generous donations to the luncheon. All Lifetimes in attendance were entered to win a gift package worth over $1,700. LEFT: Jayson Arnold (left) congratulates Emilio Rangel Espino (right) for winning the drawing.

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202234

The Club announced we are launching a new pub lic growth campaign to educate people on the rich histo ry and current initiatives of the Club.

The theme of the Lifetime Luncheon was Rising to the Challenge of Those that Rose Before Us. Like Roosevelt and the founding members in 1887, they saw a need for necessary changes to protect the heritage of hunting. At times these changes meant taking bold risks to do what they thought was right. The Club is now taking some of those bold steps to ensure our legacy for future generations.

The voice of this new campaign will be bold. We speak from experience. We know who we are, why we’re here, and what we’re called to protect. We follow in the footsteps of our founding fathers with honor, pride, and determination. The voice and tone of the Boone and Crock ett Club are deeply rooted in a rich heritage of conservation and the ethical standards we uphold.

Lifetime luncheon

35FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022 $35 MEMBER BENEFITS n Four issues Of Fair Chase magazine n Exclusive access to the Fair Chase Community of the Club’s website. This includes searchable field photos, archive of past Fair Chase articles, and your own personal scoring database. n A 20% discount on select Boone and Crockett Club books and merchandise. n Boone and Crockett window decals n NEW! The 2021 Fair Chase Yearbook $100 SPONSOR MEMBER All the benefits of a B&C member, plus n Significant tax deduction n NEW! YETI Rambler (10 oz mug, black) $250 SPORTSMAN MEMBER All the benefits of a B&C member, plus n One-year subscription to Big Game Records – LIVE with unlimited searching capabilities ($50 value) n Significant tax deduction n NEW! YETI Rambler (18 oz bottle with Chug Cap, red) $1500 LIFETIME n Access to Big Game Records Live (one year) n Lifetime subscription to Fair Chase magazine n Lifetime shirt with B&C logo n Custom B&C logo hat n Lifetime plaque n Significant tax deduction n NEW! YETI Rambler (30 oz travel mug, alpine yellow) n NEW! One pound Elkhorn Coffee Roasters B&C Coffee FALL 2021 $9.95

Prior to lambing sea son, FWP officials counted roughly 48 sheep on the is land. Current population objectives hover at about 100 animals, and until the island starts to see current numbers increase, transplants are at a standstill. With proper management coupled with quality habitat, there is hope that the sheep numbers on Wild Horse Island will re bound and continue to pro duce bighorn sheep for both struggling populations as well as the record book.

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202236

as a ranger on Wild Horse Is land. He says the state park is a great place to see sheep in their habitat and a good op portunity to learn about sheep management and partner ships. “This particular herd has seen great cooperative efforts with Boone and Crock ett, the Wild Sheep Founda tion and other groups,” he says. “It’s just a really cool resource and setting.”

ANOTHER WILD HORSE RAM FOR THE RECORDS

In western Montana, there is a 2,200-acre island in Flat head Lake that is, quite sim ply, a bighorn sheep factory. Since 2016, the island has produced three of the top 10 bighorn rams currently in the Boone and Crockett re cords, including the current World’s Record. The latest entry, a ram that scores 2063/8, now ranks as the ninth largest ram of all time, and it was estimated to be 8-10 years old. All three of these rams are labeled as “pick ups” be cause there is no hunting on Wild Horse Island State Park.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) donated the horns to the Boone and Crock ett Club’s National Collection of Heads and Horns, which is housed at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri.

ductions to the island took place in 1917 without success. In 1939, more sheep were introduced, and they sur vived. More sheep were un loaded by landowners in 1947. By 1954, the herd was up to 90. At a time when sheep populations around the West were declining, the island’s sheep population was doing so well that 54 sheep were relocated off the island to rebuild and restore Mon tana’s bighorn populations.

New to the national collection of Heads and horns

“You can’t understate the value that the herd has across Montana and even outside of Montana,” says Landstrom. “More than 500 sheep have come off the is land to augment and start herds elsewhere.” Today, the island is managed as a prim itive recreation area where

the public can visit to see (and hear) the rams. In the fall, Landstom says, you can find the herd simply by listening for the clash of their horns.

The ram was donated to the National Collection so more people would have the opportunity to see it, says Dave Landstrom, the parks and recreation manager for FWP’s Region 1. Landstrom started his career 25 years ago

Official Measurers Charlie Rehor (left) and Ed Fanchin (right) were one of the teams to panel verify the score of this bighorn sheep.

In the previous three issues of Fair Chase , we celebrated the National Collection of Heads and Horns (NCHH) by highlighting six "nucleus" trophies from the original display created a century ago. The NCHH is dynamic and always growing with new trophies, which are either loaned or donated to the Club. Just this year we added three new trophies including a jaguar, cougar, and bighorn sheep that was awarded a certificate of merit at the 31st Big Game Awards.

Even though these rams were not killed by hunt ers, but instead “picked up,” they are still eligible for the Boone and Crockett records. The Club maintains that all trophies, both harvested by hunters and those that are found, add to a data set that helps game managers adopt successful poli cies to benefit big game populations of North America.

This is the third ram entered from Wild Horse Island in Flathead Lake, Montana. The final score is 206-3/8 and has been donated to the Club's NCHH by Montana FWP.

While this new ram is impressive, it isn’t the largest ever found on Wild Horse Island. The current World’s Record bighorn sheep scoring 216-4/8 was found there in 2016, and another ram that scored 209 was found the same year. Sometimes FWP officials will find the massive deadheads. Other times, members of the public will report the location of a dead ram to FWP. Because Wild Horse Island is a state park, it is illegal for the general public to walk off with a prized ram’s head.

In the early 1960s, a group of hunters heard rumors that jaguars had been sighted on a ranch in the Big Bend country of southwest Texas. Ranchers there had grown concerned the jaguars might develop a taste for beef. In recounting this particular hunt for Sports Afield magazine, writer Pete Brown described in detail the chaos of the ensuing hunts. “When he [the jaguar] suddenly releases all his fury on the dogs, it is only a matter of seconds before you may see unat tached ears, hide and teeth emerging from the noisy fray and occa sionally a whole dog tossed into mid-air,” wrote Brown.

Bird’s jaguar had, in fact, backed into some brush and positioned itself between the hunters and a steep embankment before being killed. In 1972, the jaguar (Panthera onca) was placed on the endan gered species list. If they exist in the United States, the big cats roam parts of southern Arizona and New Mexico, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While not common in North America, jaguars are found in the jungles of Central and South America.

For two weeks in 2005 B&C Regular Member John Schreiner hunted the Bighorn Mountains by truck, snow machine, and boot leather. He began his cougar quest on December 20 and ended it on January 6, 2005, at 11:30 a.m. The day he killed this seven-year-old lion, he had driven his truck to a new area. Then he hopped on a snow machine. Once he cut fresh lion tracks, he set off on foot to find this big cat. At 20 yards, he shot it with his .30-06. Schreiner generously loaned his lion mount to be displayed as part of the National Collection of Heads and Horns.

John had his cougar aged by Fish and Game. It was seven years old.

COUGAR

This isn't the largest jaguar to ever enter the records, but Ben Bird (with rifle) hardly cares.

Brown was a member of the hunting party that took this gi gantic jaguar, which is on loan to the National Collection of Heads and Horns. Ben Bird was the hunter who killed this cat “in the rough country back from the road between Marfa and Ruidosa.” Brown went on to describe a jaguar’s traits in more detail. “A jaguar will back into a big rock, cliff, bluff or any obstruction which prevents the dogs from getting to him from the rear,” he wrote. “With light ning-fast paws and jaws he is then in full command of the situation and seems only too anxious to prove it.”

HUNT FAIR CHASE AWARD MEGA BULL

Mega was a nomadic bull. Apart from a distant sight ing in 2019, I knew of this bull mainly because of my brother, Evan. He’s a hunt ing and fishing guide and the owner of Coast Land Outfit ters. Evan had a few encounters with Mega over the years and had shared photos of him with me. I’d also heard rumors from others of a giant bull being seen in some far-reaching places and, from the descriptions, I assumed it was him.

September 26, 2021, was the last day to fill my general season Oregon ar chery elk tag. Hunting had been tough that season. De spite numerous interactions and a couple close calls, my girlfriend and I were both clutching to unfilled tags. Being her first season chasing Roosevelt’s elk through the thick brushed-in timbers of the Oregon coast with a bow,

I headed for different ground—an area close to home where I’d had past suc cess. I got an early start. After hiking about a mile, I had ascended 650 feet and could see the valley floor behind me. It was still dark when I looked back and could see headlights at another access point. Annoyed and not want ing to deal with competition, I pushed deeper. The closest logged units, where I gener ally like to be at first daylight when spotting and stalking Roosevelt’s elk, were another two miles. After hiking a mile or so more, I got to the first spot where clearcuts could be seen through an opening in the large sur rounding timber. The sun had risen just enough to illu minate an elk. Despite low light and the elk being almost a mile away still, I knew in stantly I was looking at a good bull.Ispent the next two hours methodically sneaking in relatively open country with at least a dozen set of eyes watching in all direc tions. I’d somehow managed

“What an incredible bull!” I repeated multiple times. After doting for a few moments, we agreed it was likely the herd was looking for new country. My new goal for the day was

to place myself in the middle of the herd. As I anticipated, Mega was coming up a small brushy draw in my direction, following his cows as they were slowly exiting the clear cut into the adjacent big tim ber patch. Initially I was only able to clearly see the white tips of his massive antlers over the brush. I expected he would eventually turn and head uphill toward the tim ber and his cows, passing a relatively open window of shooting lanes. I was still too far away, though. I needed to close a gap of at least 20 more yards—and quickly. I made a dash through an opening where I could set up for a shot. One cow caught the movement and made a sprint for the timber. Mega fol lowed. I let out a cow call to stop them. Quartering away, they both froze at the edge of

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202238

Hearing loud crashing and one final bugle, I figured Mega was pushing his herd to safer country. With the general rifle season ap proaching, I realized that might be the last time I would see Mega.Crushed by defeat and still dumbfounded by it all, I called my brother to break the news of my failed stalk.

In September alone, he had been observed traveling seven miles between herds of cows in a single day. He came and went quickly and was difficult to pattern. Challeng ing topography, nearly im penetrable brush, and a checkerboard of land owner ship made him tough to hunt. The fact that he lived long enough to become such a monster still surprises me. Bulls close to his caliber are extremely rare in the country he called home. His instinct to keep moving along with his seemingly unusual intel ligence (and probably a little luck), all must have contrib uted to my good fortune on that late September day.

the timber for a better look. My rangefinder displayed 86 yards—too far. After a frus trating moment of regal still ness, Mega and the cow turned and hit the timber, leaving me mesmerized and heartbroken. I’d never seen such an impressive bull!

ROOSEVELT'S ELK 391-6/8 2ND AWARD MATTHEW S. COLLVER

Matt with his Roosevelt's elk scoring 391-6/8 points.

Jessica was humbled by the difficulty of the challenge. We had spent multiple weekends tracking and pursuing elk that didn’t want to play. It had been a physically and emo tionally draining season. The previous day, after hiking six miles chasing bugles and ending up in a claustrophobic thicket, tensions ran high. I broke the camel’s back when I turned back to search for my quiver and arrows that had been ripped off my bow— lost somewhere in the thick brush behind us. To better our odds (and for the sake of our relationship), we decided to hunt solo the last day.

39FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

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After walking roughly a mile of gravel, uphill, and parallel from where the herd entered the timber, I knew the herd had not crossed the road. Eventually, curiosity pulled me downhill off the gravel. Each time I thought I’d found a decent path to follow, I’d inevitably hit thickets of brush and downed trees that would push me in another direction. I wasn’t having fun. Beating through eye-high ferns and crawling under and over downed trees of all sizes, I occasionally let out soft cow and calf calls. If there was any chance of in tercepting the herd, my best move was to convince them that I was an elk—not a clum sy, frustrated hunter. If they ever responded, I never heard Ithem.came to an open bench in the timber where I could finally see ahead. I was so relieved to be out of the brush that I took a short break for a moment. After taking a break for five min utes, I continued in the direc tion I had last seen the herd leave the clearcut. At this point, I figured I was 300 yards from where they en tered the timber. I was really surprised I hadn’t cut any new elk tracks. I was moving

to hike an adjacent road and get ahead of them. Pursuing spooked elk from the rear with a bow had never worked out well for me in the past. I was going to try anyway.

slowly, scanning the ground in all directions and zigzag ging up and downhill as I went. The timber was fairly open at this point, and I began thinking that it was likely the herd had fanned out, making them much more difficult to track. I moved another 100 yards and still couldn’t locate new tracks. I was expecting to be able to see the clearcut through the timber and was scanning to find my best route out. As I squinted and looked around, I suddenly saw the slightest movement 120 yards away through the dark timber. I eventually made out the silhouette of at least two elk and realized I had seen the twitch of an ear. It had been about four hours since my morning stalk, and the elk were nearly right where I left them!

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They were standing on high alert at this point. I was convinced they had heard or smelled me. Regardless, they didn’t see me. They settled, turned uphill, and began moving slowly to my right in single file. After seeing a few of them begin to feed, I felt confident I would have a chance, but I needed to move.

The ground was loud, but fortunately I found a downed log running in his

THE 31ST

This is the most up-todate big game records book available with a complete listing of trophies accepted in the 31st Awards Program. Each listing includes the B&C gross score along with the B&C final score, selected measurements, location and date of kill, hunter and owner, as well as the rank based on the B&C final score in the 31st Awards Program.

direction. The log provided me with a quiet path to walk, though it had me perched an uncomfortable four feet off the ground. The next 30 yards took me 15 minutes to travel. I would freeze each time his head turned my direction. I hit a dead end when I came across a much larger downed tree crossing mine. At this point he was facing slightly in my direction, but there was a perfectly placed fir tree between us, blocking his view. I could see most of his body and one antler on each side of the tree. I ranged him at 60 yards and vividly re member thinking to myself, Oh my god, I’m actually going to get a shot! That’s when my heart really started racing! I took 30 seconds to calm

LEFT TO RIGHT: Richard Hale, Big Game Records Vice President, Matthew S. Collver, Christian Hogg, Director of Marketing for Fiocchi, and Justin Spring, Director of Big Game Records. Matthew'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."

Mega was toward the back, but his size and superiority made him easy to see among his cows. His movement en veloped my full attention as I began to strategize. Instead of going straight at them, I

followed a line where I thought we might intersect. The majority of the cows moved slowly out of sight, providing fewer eyes to con tend with. One cow was in clear view beside an old growth stump, and I watched her bed. Mega was behind her but hidden by trees and brush. As I continued sneak ing in her direction, Mega stepped into the picture and pushed her out of her bed as if he was claiming his throne. He was still about 90 yards out and most of him was con cealed by trees and brush. He was facing slightly away and preoccupied with raking some small vine maple.

selfmy then drew my bow. My eyes focused on two small branches about halfway between Mega and my ar row, which left an opening of about a foot. By partial ly doing the splits, I was able to set my 60-yard pin right at the bottom of the opening. He was quarter ing slightly toward me so I carefully settled right at the crease of his front shoulder and squeezed. Despite hearing my arrow make an odd noise (prob ably touching a leaf in its path), the arrow appeared to hit where I was aiming. Mega exploded out of sight and then silence. I heard a few quiet rustlings in the

brush but never heard the familiar sounds of a spooked elk herd or a fall ing bull. I stood there in shock for a few moments before cow calling and slowly moved forward to assess the scene. There was blood and lots of it. I sat down, made a phone call, and began the long, rest less wait.Two hours later, my brother Evan and a friend helped me take up the bloodtrail, which turned out to be a short one. Mega had fallen only 60 yards from where I hit him. The experience of walking up on him, especially with my brother and friend who had taught me so much

ABOVE: Matt's brother, Evan, helped pack out the huge antlers. BELOW: Left to right: Eldon ”Buck“ Buckner, Matthew Collver, Jessica Herborn, and Mike Opitz, Big Game Records Committee Chairman.

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202240

RIGHT: Boone and Crockett Official Measurer David Heffner (left) and Pope and Young Official Measurer Joshua Knoebel (right) scored Matt's bull.

“My fiancé and I had a wonderful experience at the 31st Big Game Awards. Not only were we blown away by the venue and events, but the people we had the opportunity to meet there were incredible. We are glad we chose to attend the event, and very grateful for the recognition provided by Boone and Crockett Club.”

over the years about hunting, was amazing. We hugged, high fived and did the usual celebration. We all knew that this one was something special. Everything about this bull had us shaking our heads in disbelief. His body was huge—as are most bull elk—but his antlers were like nothing I had ever seen. Being in the woods with those two great guys and Mega was a dream come true.Mega has since been officially measured at 391-6/8 B&C points, mak ing him the new Oregon state archery record for Roosevelt’s elk. n

- MATT COLLVER

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41FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

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The landowner joined us after noon, and we went

COLUMBIANON-TYPICALBLACKTAIL 1ST AWARD D. ROGERS

Blizzards, icy roads, COVID restrictions, and canceled flights were all part of the initial adventure just to get from my home in Colorado to southwestern Oregon for a Columbia blacktail deer hunt. I questioned my sani ty to go all that way with just an over-the-counter deer tag—especially when I stepped out of the airport into a downpour. These con ditions were not good for my traditional wooden bow and arrows, either. Regard less, I was determined to make the most of it!

The rain forced me to sit in a cold, soggy ground blind for my hunt. Each morning, I crawled into the blind an hour before daylight and dumped out several inch es of water from the chair inside. I was glad to have good rain gear over my wool be cause the old blind leaked like a sieve. I waited patient ly and enjoyed the steady drip of rain from the trees, the smells of the wet, mossy woods, and the rustling of unseen things moving around my ambush.

My thoughts drifted to the big 3x3 buck I had already stalked while on this hunt. I had managed to get well with in my effective range. When the buck stood up, the shot sequence was solid and arrow flight perfect until the arrow took a hard dive and buried in the mud beneath its feet. An unseen branch had foiled that chance at a solid Pope and Young buck. I was upset about missing but anticipa tion was high that I would redeem myself the next day.

the shot I landed could result in a lost deer. My heart sank, and I was hit with waves of nausea. The chances of find ing a poorly hit deer in the rain are slim. I also knew that a razor-sharp broadhead might find a sweet spot that leads to a quick death. Hunt ing with a traditional bow and arrows, I’ve learned to be the eternal optimist.

When the nausea sub sided, I called my hunting partner and told him I had just shot a deer. He asked what kind of deer, and I told him, “A giant, an absolute giant.” I told him it might even score 180. After a long pause he replied. “Come on. Blacktails don’t get that big. I’m on my way!”

We waited a few gut-wrenching hours and returned to take up the trail. We found nothing as hours rolled by. Every place we checked was one less place for him to be, and my heart continued to sink.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a slight move ment in the thick underbrush. I slowly raised my binoculars and picked out a flickering ear below dark branches. The apparition was real. I was hit with a wave of nausea.

My heart felt like it was going to blow right out of my chest. I forgot how to breathe—again. Although always excited to see game, I have never been prone to buck fever. I had a double dose now. If I couldn’t get my self under control and make a good shot, no one would ever believe that I had seen a blacktail buck like this.

early morning light finally revealed two groups of does feeding under nearby oaks along with one very amorous spike buck. The yearlings would run from its advances, but the older does viciously lashed at it with their front hooves. The young buck was persistent. Love was in the air, and maybe a mature buck would show.

Something caught the deer’s attention up the hill side. I glanced in the direc tion they were looking, and a dark shape materialized from the forest, slipping through a small opening in the big Douglas firs and thick under growth. I took a quick look with the binoculars, and I was stunned. I immediately had trouble breathing. Sure ly that was not real! The ap parition only showed itself for an instant. It soon van ished back into the mist and poison oak-infested forest from whence it had come.

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202242

My mind and the mist must be playing tricks on me, I thought. There was absolute ly no way a blacktail buck could be that big! After shak ing it off, I relaxed and settled in to wait for a real buck, not some fog-induced fantasy.

The phantom slowly materialized, and it moved into an opening in the trees. The buck’s attention was on the other deer flitting around, and I got a good look. This was a giant beyond my wild est dreams.Myentire body started shaking. I started hyperven tilating. I had to look away. I stared at the moss-covered tree trunk on the other side of the blind in hopes of calm ing down. My body was still trembling when I stole anoth er glance toward the buck out of the other side of the blind.

My next glance re vealed only the tips of dark antlers above the understory moving along the trail toward my shooting lane. It was trot ting after a doe with its neck stretched and upper lip curled. All opportunities to settle my nerves were gone. Whatever was going to hap pen was going to happen in the next few seconds. I was a total wreck.Asitentered my shoot ing lane, I came to full draw and anchored. The big buck stopped broadside at 25 yards, posing for his doe. I picked a spot low on his chest, pulled through my release, and the arrow was away. The fletching vanished into its ribs—but high.

I eased out of the blind as my partner slogged his way toward me. The arrow had passed completely through. Close inspection of the arrow provided positive reinforce ment that it was a lethal hit. We decided to follow the sign a short distance to get a line on his escape route before the rain washed any sign away. The buck left deep imprints in the mud that led to the bot tom of a draw and then dis appeared in tall grass. I stuck the arrow in the ground where we lost tracks, and we eased out to give it some time to expire. The thick cover and rainy conditions combined to make for an almost impossi ble tracking job.

GLENN ST. CHARLES MEMORIAL AWARD GHOST IN THE MIST

TAVIS

My years of bowhunt ing experience told me that

175

A gray dawn slowly unfolded beneath the clouds and persistent rain. Mist and fog swirled silently through the moss-draped trees, bring ing thoughts of ancient spirits of the hunt. I thanked the Lord just to be able to witness a new Theday.

back to the last sign from the morning. We found nothing past where I had planted the arrow. We worked together and worked a grid on a large area. We found nothing. With no additional sign, I sank deeper into depression, thinking that there was a high probability of losing this buck. Even so, I was deter mined to stick with it.

Sponsored by

LEFT TO RIGHT: Eldon ”Buck“ Buckner, Tavis Rogers, Jason Rounsaville, Pope and Young Club Executive Director, and Mike Opitz, Big Game Records Committee Chariman.

I am proud to present the second Pope and Young Glenn St. Charles Award to Mr. Tavis D. Rogers and his outstanding non-typical Columbia blacktail.”

welled in my eyes. I thanked the Lord and the spirits of the hunt. I had found my buck—a huge 4x4 mainframe with double brow tines on both sides. The aColumbiabeaboutlearnBooneandhunt.anloinsnercapedantlersfromTherehadchocolate-coloredbeautifulantlersunbelievablemass.werestickerpointsbothbackforks.Thejustkeptgrowing.Backatthehotel,Iitout.MyhuntingpartandIcookedthetenderonthegrill,celebratingamazingdeerandtheIsentinteethforagingDNAsamplestotheandCrockettClubtoeverythingpossiblethebuck.Iwantedtosurethathewasatrueblacktailandnotmuledeerorcrossbreed.

43FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

The reality of the ex perience has been slow to sink in. This Columbia black tail was my last North Amer ican deer species. Having chased mule deer, whitetails, Coues’ deer, and Sitka black tails, I certainly had no ex pectation that I would kill a buck of this magnitude. And now, even months later, I am still having trouble wrapping my head around it. n

Tavis with his non-typical Columbia blacktail deer that received a First

Award.“Pope and Young Club created an award to recognize the most outstanding archery trophy killed during an awards period. It’s called the Pope and Young Glenn St. Charles Award in honor of the founder of the Pope and Young Club. Our board of directors looks carefully at all the archery-killed trophies invited to the Boone and Crockett awards, and then we choose what we think is the most outstanding specimen from that award period.

- JASON ROUNSAVILLE POPE AND YOUNG CLUB EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

As I slowly eased up the hill toward the downed trees, the strong musky scent of wet deer hit me. Another step and I looked down on the tips of chocolate antlers poking up through the boughs at my feet. There it was! From my lungs burst a primal roar, fired by an emo tional Shaking,rollercoaster.Idropped to my knees in awe. Gratitude and relief washed over me. I was trembling and tears

Late in the evening, we had spread out in hopes of finding anything in any di rection. I was drawn back to an area that had held tracks earlier. There were several downed fir trees and a small pond surrounded by manza nita brush about 200 yards from the blind. I had walked by the area twice already. I decided to give the area one more good look before calling it for the evening.

The DNA confirmed that he was, in fact, a Columbia blacktail, and the tooth placed him at 6 ½ years old.

SKULL LENGTH: 16 10 /16

SKULL WIDTH: 10 6 /16 LOCATION: Ikpek Lagoon, AK – 2021

LOCATION: Peace River, BC – 2019

Boone and Crockett Club's 31st North American Big Game Awards Recipients

HUNTER: William C. Jenkins

GRIZZLY BEAR

HUNTER: Matthew N. Murphy III

SCORE: 26

2nd Award

Lincoln County, NV – 2019

SCORE: 27 1/16

SKULL LENGTH: 17 12 /16 SKULL WIDTH: 11 9/16

OWNER: Clint R. Marshall

SKULL LENGTH: 9 5 /16 SKULL WIDTH: 6 3 /16 LOCATION:

4th Award

1st Award

SKULL LENGTH: 15 10 /16 SKULL WIDTH: 10 14 /16 LOCATION: Shaktoolik River, AK – 2019

HUNTER: Timothy I. Lenig, Jr.

HUNTER: Elmer V. Marshall

1st Award

OWNER: Rick G. Butler

HUNTER: Brian D. Tallerico

BLACK BEAR

ALASKA BROWN BEAR

SCORE: 26 9 /16

LOCATION:SKULLSKULLHUNTER:SCORE:LENGTH:WIDTH:

AMERICAN ELK NON-TYPICAL ANTLERS

LOCATION: Unalakleet, AK – 2019

HUNTER: Robert D. Griego

HUNTER: Thomas D. Holznagel

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202244

SKULL LENGTH: 16 3 /16

SKULL LENGTH: 17 14 /16

SKULL LENGTH: 9 4 /16

SCORE: 26 8 /16

SCORE: 29 5 /16

2nd Award

3rd Award

POINTS: (R) 11 (L) 10 INSIDE SPREAD: 51 6 /8 LOCATION: Elk County, PA – 2020

SKULL WIDTH: 6 8 /16

LOCATION: Sturgeon River, AK – 1989

2nd Award SCORE: 28 14 /16

HUNTER: Wesley PootoogoolukA.

SKULL WIDTH: 9 13 /16

AMERICAN ELK TYPICAL ANTLERS

SKULL LENGTH: 16 3 /16

SCORE: 404 2 /8 HUNTER: Benjie J. Loomis LENGTH: (R) 55 3 /8 (L) 56 3 /8 CIRC.: (R) 9 1/8 (L) 9 2 /8 POINTS: (R) 7 (L) 7 INSIDE SPREAD: 35 4 /8 LOCATION: Hayes County, NE – 2020

2nd Award (tie) SCORE: 15 8 /16

SKULL LENGTH: 14 2 /16 SKULL WIDTH: 8 10 /16 LOCATION:County,NorthumberlandPA–2017

2nd Award SCORE: 402 4 /8 HUNTER: Wade W. Wagoner LENGTH: (R) 55 1/8 (L) 54 CIRC.: (R) 10 7/8 (L) 10 POINTS: (R) 8 (L) 7 INSIDE SPREAD: 42 2 /8 LOCATION: Judith Basin County, MT – 2021

1st Award

HUNTER: Shelly D. Sayer

1st Award

SKULL WIDTH: 11 LOCATION: Belkofski Bay, AK – 2021

SCORE: 22 12 /16

SKULL WIDTH: 10 7/16 LOCATION: Unalakleet River, AK – 2020

1st Award SCORE: 455 HUNTER: Duane R. Kramer/ 8

POINTS: (R) 8 (L) 8

45FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

SCORE: 208 1/8

1st Award

2nd Award

SCORE: 322 3 /8 HUNTER: Frederick J. Sweisthal, Jr.

MULE

SCORE: 391 6 /8

SCORE: 401 3 /8

INSIDE SPREAD: 47 2 /8 LOCATION: Lane County, OR – 2021

1stTYPICALDEERANTLERSAward

SCORE: 414 6 /8

CIRC.: (R) 7 2 /8 (L) 6 6 /8

TULE ELK

ROOSEVELT’S ELK

Honorable Mention

SCORE: 369 1/8

HUNTER: Michael J. Huish

1st Award

LENGTH: (R) 26 5 /8 (L) 26 6 /8 CIRC.: (R) 5 1/8 (L) 5 1/8 POINTS: (R) 9 (L) 12

SCORE: 387 3 /8

INSIDE SPREAD: 22 3 /8 LOCATION: Navajo Nation, AZ – 2020

HUNTER: Lawrence G. Ward, Jr.

LENGTH:HUNTER:SCORE:(R) 27 4 /8 (L) 26 2 /8 CIRC.: (R) 6 (L) 6 POINTS: (R) 13 (L) 14 INSIDE SPREAD: 32 6 /8 LOCATION: Culberson County, TX – 2019

LENGTH: (R) 56 4 /8 (L) 57 5 /8 CIRC.: (R) 9 2 /8 (L) 9 4 /8 POINTS: (R) 10 (L) 9

LENGTH: (R) 51 4 /8 (L) 50 6 /8 CIRC.: (R) 10 6 /8 (L) 10 2 /8 POINTS: (R) 8 (L) 9

LENGTH: (R) 54 1/8 (L) 55 6 /8 CIRC.: (R) 10 (L) 9 1/8 POINTS: (R) 9 (L) 7

SCORE: 263 4 /8

INSIDE SPREAD: 39 5 /8 LOCATION: Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, ND – 2020

INSIDE SPREAD: 50 LOCATION: White Mountain Apache Reservation, AZ – 2020

2nd Award

LENGTH: (R) 50 1/8 (L) 52 2 /8 CIRC.: (R) 9 7/8 (L) 10

HUNTER: Jared S. Canty

HUNTER: William E. Heinselman

HUNTER: Cory J. Smith

POINTS: (R) 12 (L) 12

HUNTER: Aaron J. Langslet

INSIDE SPREAD: 26 3 /8 LOCATION: Mendocino County, CA – 2021

2nd Award

POINTS: (R) 8 (L) 7

SCORE: 448 5 /8

HUNTER: Tavis D. Rogers

INSIDE SPREAD: 17 6 /8 LOCATION: Jackson County, OR – 2020

LENGTH: (R) 48 1/8 (L) 48 4 /8 CIRC.: (R) 9 3 /8 (L) 9 1/8 POINTS: (R) 8 (L) 9 INSIDE SPREAD: 35 4 /8 LOCATION: Inyo County, CA – 2018

INSIDE SPREAD: 34 2 /8 LOCATION: Del Norte County, CA – 2018

HUNTER: Matthew S. Collver

LENGTH: (R) 53 5 /8 (L) 53 2 /8

1stANTLERSNON-TYPICALMULE

LENGTH: (R) 25 4 /8 (L) 23 CIRC.: (R) 4 5 /8 (L) 4 7/8 POINTS: (R) 7 (L) 6 INSIDE SPREAD: 23 6 /8 LOCATION: Sublette County, WY – 2020

1st Award

LENGTH: (R) 40 3 /8 (L) 42 5 /8 CIRC.: (R) 12 2 /8 (L) 12 1/8

3rd Award

NON-TYPICAL ANTLERS

3rd Award

Non-typical American elk continued

INSIDE SPREAD: 44 5 /8 LOCATION: Humboldt County, CA – 2021

LENGTH: (R) 22 7/8 (L) 22 6 /8 CIRC.: (R) 4 2 /8 (L) 6 6 /8 POINTS: (R) 7 (L) 11

2nd Award SCORE: 323 5 /8 HUNTER: Kevin T. Klumper

HUNTER: Jason S. Burtness

LENGTH: (R) 51 2 /8 (L) 51 4 /8 CIRC.: (R) 8 3 /8 (L) 7 4 /8 POINTS: (R) 8 (L) 7 INSIDE SPREAD: 39 LOCATION: Mendocino County, CA – 2020

SCORE: 175

1st Award SCORE: 193 2 /8

2nd Award SCORE: 275 5 /8 HUNTER: Brennan T. Morris

LENGTH: (R) 17 4 /8 (L) 18 2 /8 CIRC.: (R) 3 4 /8 (L) 3 5 /8 POINTS: (R) 6 (L) 6 INSIDE SPREAD: 14 3 /8 LOCATION: Kosciusko Island, AK – 1983

SCORE: 108 4 /8

SCORE: 123 4 /8

Honorable Mention SCORE: 231 6 /8

SCORE: 132 4 /8

LENGTH: (R) 28 4 /8 (L) 28 2 /8 CIRC.: (R) 4 3 /8 (L) 4 3 /8 POINTS: (R) 6 (L) 6 INSIDE SPREAD: 21 LOCATION: Columbia County, WI – 2018

HUNTER: Brian W. Christensen

1stNON-TYPICALBLACKTAILSITKAANTLERSAward

WHITETAIL DEER TYPICAL ANTLERS

2nd Award

HUNTER: Erick W. Organ

2nd Award SCORE: 192 6 /8 HUNTER: Charles R. Bocook

WHITETAIL DEER NON-TYPICAL ANTLERS

LENGTH: (R) 15 5 /8 (L) 15 4 /8 CIRC.: (R) 3 5 /8 (L) 3 6 /8 POINTS: (R) 5 (L) 6 INSIDE SPREAD: 13 3 /8 LOCATION: Prince of Wales Island, AK – 2020

1st Award

LENGTH: (R) 20 (L) 16 6 CIRC.: (R) 4 5 /8 (L) 3 4 /8 POINTS: (R) 3 (L) 64 INSIDE SPREAD: 20 LOCATION: Chase County, KS – 2019

Honorable Mention SCORE: 115 4 /8 HUNTER: Kevin J. Railsback

HUNTER: Mark D. Farnam

HUNTER:

LENGTH: (R) 20 1/8 (L) 19 3 /8 CIRC.: (R) 4 4 /8 (L) 4 4 /8 POINTS: (R) 7 (L) 6 INSIDE SPREAD: 15 4 /8 LOCATION: Prince of Wales Island, AK – 1988

COUES’ WHITETAIL TYPICAL ANTLERS

ALASKA-YUKON MOOSE Award

HUNTER: Edward R. Dunsing

Certificate of Merit SCORE: 204 6 /8 HUNTER: Frederick Kyress OWNER: Bass Pro Shops

COUES’ ofCertificateNON-TYPICALWHITETAILANTLERSMerit

LENGTH: (R) 17 7/8 (L) 18 1/8 CIRC.: (R) 4 (L) 4 1/8 POINTS: (R) 4 (L) 7 INSIDE SPREAD: 12 7/8 LOCATION: Sonora, MX – 2020

SCORE: 248 4 /8

LENGTH: (R) 21 (L) 21 2 /8 CIRC.: (R) 4 6 /8 (L) 4 7/8 POINTS: (R) 18 (L) 24 INSIDE SPREAD: 19 LOCATION: Richland Parish, LA – 2020

SCORE: 155 7/8 HUNTER: Picked Up OWNER: Devin U. Beck

LENGTH: (R) 18 7/8 (L) 19 2 /8 CIRC.: (R) 4 6 /8 (L) 4 6 /8 POINTS: (R) 8 (L) 10 INSIDE SPREAD: 13 4 /8 LOCATION: Sonora, MX – 2018

Michael C. Fezatte

SITKA BLACKTAIL TYPICAL ANTLERS

1st Award SCORE: 321 3 /8 HUNTER: Brian R. Butcher

LENGTH: (R) 27 4 /8 (L) 28 2 /8 CIRC.: (R) 5 1/8 (L) 5 2 /8 POINTS: (R) 7 (L) 6 INSIDE SPREAD: 19 LOCATION: Dodge County, MN – 2019

GREATEST SPREAD: 71 4 /8 LENGTH: (R) 45 5 /8 (L) 46 2 /8 WIDTH: (R) 23 (L) 17 1/8 NORMAL POINTS: (R) 14 (L) 10 LOCATION: Ogilvie Mountains, YT – 2019

1st Award SCORE: 124 1/8 HUNTER: Michael A. Umek

HUNTER: John M. Lobner

Typical whitetail deer continued

LENGTH: (R) 19 2 CIRC.: (R) 4 (L) 4 POINTS: (R) 5 (L) 6 INSIDE SPREAD: 15 LOCATION: Pima County, AZ – 2018

LENGTH: (R) 19 4 /8 (L) 19 CIRC.: (R) 4 3 /8 (L) 4 1/8 POINTS: (R) 5 (L) 5 INSIDE SPREAD: 14 1/8 LOCATION: Cochise County, AZ – 2019

2nd Award SCORE: 116 4 HUNTER: Jason D. Palmertree

LENGTH: (R) 27 7/8 (L) 26 6 /8 CIRC.: (R) 4 6 /8 (L) 4 7/8 POINTS: (R) 7 (L) 8 INSIDE SPREAD: 20 7/8 LOCATION: Montgomery County, PA Prior to 1962

HUNTER: Allen Bolen

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202246

GREATEST SPREAD: 70 2 /8 LENGTH: (R) 51 1/8 (L) 49 5 /8 WIDTH: (R) 18 2 /8 (L) 14 5 /8 NORMAL POINTS: (R) 19 (L) 14 LOCATION: East Twin Lake, AK – 2019

GREATEST SPREAD: 74 4 /8 LENGTH: (R) 51 6 /8 (L) 50 6 /8 WIDTH: (R) 21 (L) 16 7/8 NORMAL POINTS: (R) 12 (L) 13 LOCATION: Chuilnak River, AK – 2019

2nd Award SCORE: 238 4 /8

INSIDE SPREAD: 41 6 /8

HUNTER: Justin T. Burt

3rd Award SCORE: 329 2 /8 HUNTER: Daniel B. Reaser, Sr.

INSIDE SPREAD: 33 4 /8

INSIDE SPREAD: 36 5 /8 LENGTH: (R) 38 (L) 41 3 /8 NORMAL POINTS: (R) 14 (L) 11 LOCATION: Great Northern Peninsula, NL – 2019

NORMAL POINTS: (R) 19 (L) 20 LOCATION: Sam’s Pond, NL – 2018

WIDTH: (R) 15 2 /8 (L) 13 2 /8

INSIDE SPREAD: 27 4 /8 LENGTH: (R) 36 4 /8 (L) 36 4 /8 NORMAL POINTS: (R) 19 (L) 18 LOCATION: Belby Pond, NL – 2016

NORMAL POINTS: (R) 11 (L) 22

373 4 /8

LENGTH: (R) 51 3 /8 (L) 53 3 /8

47FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

2nd Award

LOCATION: Clear Creek County, CO – 2020

INSIDE SPREAD: 32 1/8 LENGTH: (R) 51 (L) 53 2 /8 NORMAL POINTS: (R) 18 (L) 16 LOCATION: Kenai Mountains, AK – 2019

SCORE: 186 5 /8

HUNTER: Gerard E. O’Hare

HUNTER: Mike H. Eastman

NORMALLENGTH: LOCATION:POINTS:

SCORE: 412 3 /8

GREATEST SPREAD: 54 5 /8

INSIDE SPREAD: 50 4 /8 LENGTH: (R) 49 3 /8 (L) 52 4 /8 NORMAL POINTS: (R) 25 (L) 22 LOCATION: May Lake, QC – 2006

Woodland CARIBOU

LOCATION: Level Mountain, BC – 2018

LENGTH: (R) 42 5 /8 (L) 39 1/8

4th Award SCORE: 323 5 /8

2nd Award

Mark A. Litzelman

SCORE: 423 3 /8

SCORE: 399 5 /8

NORMAL POINTS: (R) 14 (L) 15

LENGTH: (R) 40 2 /8 (L) 38 1/8

GREATEST SPREAD: 53 4 /8

NORMAL POINTS: (R) 13 (L) 12

INSIDE SPREAD: 42 1/8

HUNTER: Bruce G. Lamo

WIDTH: (R) 14 2 /8 (L) 13

2nd Award

INSIDE SPREAD: 24 3 /8 LENGTH: (R) 39 (L) 39 3 /8 NORMAL POINTS: (R) 16 (L) 17 LOCATION: Sam’s Pond, NL – 2021

HUNTER: Kurt Bennet

1stCARIBOUQUEBEC-LABRADORAward

2nd Award SCORE: 338 7/8

AwardCARIBOUBARRENCANADACENTRALGROUND

LENGTH: (R) 53 5 /8 (L) 53 6 /8

SCORE: 410 7/8

1st Award

Mountain CARIBOU

HUNTER: Greg B. Buck

SCORE: 351 4 /8 HUNTER: Doug W. Wendel

LOCATION: Arctic Red River, NT – 2019

HUNTER: Jeffrey T. Hubbard

SCORE: 344 4 /8

INSIDE SPREAD: 26 6 /8 LENGTH: (R) 39 7/8 (L) 38 1/8

HUNTER: Derek M. Gentile

LOCATION: Flathead County, MT – 2019

1stCARIBOUAward

NORMAL POINTS: (R) 13 (L) 13 LOCATION: Bekere Lake, NT – 2004

1st Award

NORMAL POINTS: (R) 9 (L) 10

INSIDE SPREAD: 25 4 /8 (R) 50 (L) 48 7/8

HUNTER: Dan E. Schilling OWNER: Dan E. Schilling

LENGTH: (R) 27 2 /8 (L) 27 3 /8

BASE CIRC.: (R) 7 2 /8 (L) 7 1/8

HUNTER: James M. Burkhart

HUNTER: Kyle C. Krause

Honorable Mention SCORE: 87 4 /8

Bison continued 2nd Award SCORE: 123 4 /8 HUNTER: Jeffery B. Palmer

BIGHORN SHEEP

LENGTH: (R) 39 6 / BASE CIRC.: (R) 15 GREATEST LOCATION:SPREAD: Socorro County, NM – 2020

LENGTH: (R) 16 7/8 (L) 16 6 /8

LENGTH: (R) 18 1/8 (L) 17 7/8

2nd Award SCORE: 121 4 /8 HUNTER: Chris J. Thayse

1st Award SCORE: 54 6 /8

LENGTH: (R) 46 (L) 45 7/8 BASE CIRC.: (R) 16 2 /8 (L) 16 GREATEST SPREAD: 25 1/8 LOCATION: Flathead County, MT – 2021

SCORE: 206 3 /8 HUNTER: Picked Up OWNER: B&C National Collection

BASE CIRC.: (R) 5 6 /8 (L) 5 6 /8

BASE CIRC.: (R) 7 1/8 (L) 7

INSIDE SPREAD: 36 2 /8 LENGTH: (R) 49 4 /8 (L) 50 2 /8

LENGTH: (R) 15 4 /8 (L) 16

2nd Award SCORE: 54

LENGTH: (R) 16 5 /8 (L) 16 6 /8

BASE CIRC.: (R) 7 5 /8 (L) 7 4 /8

DESERT SHEEP

1st Award SCORE: 200 1/8 HUNTER: Douglas A. Sayer LENGTH: (R) 42 3 /8 BASE CIRC.: (R) 16 1/8 (L) 16 GREATEST LOCATION:SPREAD: Nez Perce County, ID – 2019

BASE CIRC.: (R) 15 3 /8 (L) 15 2 /8 GREATEST SPREAD: 28 7/8 LOCATION: Davis County, UT – 2019

GREATEST SPREAD: 28 4 /8 LOCATION: Custer County, SD – 2018

LENGTH: (R) 39 2 / BASE CIRC.: (R) 16 5 /8 (L) 16 GREATEST LOCATION:SPREAD: Tiburon Island, MX – 2019

PRONG LENGTH: (R) 6 (L) 6 1/8 LOCATION: Mora County, NM – 2020

PRONG LENGTH: (R) 6 7/8 (L) 5 7/8 LOCATION: Coconino County, AZ – 2019

NORMAL POINTS: (R) 16 (L) 22 LOCATION: Koksoak River, QC – 2017

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202248

1stPRONGHORNAward

3rd Award SCORE: 120 HUNTER: J. Douglas Giffin

2nd Award

BASE CIRC.: (R) 15 4 /8 (L) 15

BOSS WIDTH: (R) 10 6 /8 (L) 10 7/8 GREATEST SPREAD: 28 7/8 LOCATION: Contwoyto Lake, NU – 2019

PRONG LENGTH: (R) 6 1/8 (L) 5 6 /8 LOCATION: Lincoln County, NM – 2019

1stBISONAward

HUNTER: Randall C. Urlaub

1st Award SCORE: 185 4 / HUNTER: Mike A. Carpinito

GREATEST SPREAD: 8 5 /8 LOCATION: Sikanni Peak, BC – 2019

BOSS WIDTH: (R) 10 2 /8 (L) 10 2 /8 GREATEST SPREAD: 30 1/8 LOCATION: Aylmer Lake, NT – 2020

SCORE: 91 6 /8

quebec-labrador caribou continued

2nd Award SCORE: 195 7/8 HUNTER: Michael CarpinitoJ.

LENGTH: (R) 40 3 /8 BASE CIRC.: (R) 16 GREATEST LOCATION:SPREAD: Fergus County, MT – 2019

SCORE: 390 6 /8

LENGTH: (R) 17 4 /8 (L) 18 2 /8

LENGTH: (R) 11 3 /8 (L) 11 2 /8

HUNTER: James K. Lines

1st Award SCORE: 130 4 /8 HUNTER: Alex M. Therrien

LENGTH: (R) 11 2 /8 (L) 11 1/8 BASE CIRC.: (R) 6 1/8 (L) 6 1/8 GREATEST SPREAD: 8 1/8 LOCATION: Wallowa County, OR – 2021

Certificate

2nd Award SCORE: 185 3 / HUNTER: Douglas A. Sayer

NEW WORLD'S RECORD

Honorable Mention SCORE: 88 4 /8

LENGTH: (R) 29 4 /8 (L) 29 7/8

HUNTER: Eric D. Stanosheck

HUNTER: Lucas D. Martin

LENGTH: (R) 28 5 /8 (L) 28 4 /8 BOSS WIDTH: (R) 9 5 /8 (L) 9 6 /8 GREATEST SPREAD: 29 LOCATION: Coppermine River, NU – 2019

SCORE: 124 2 /8

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT

HUNTER: Brent R. Glidden

1st Award

STONE’S SHEEP

GREATEST SPREAD: 28 2 /8

NON-TYPICAL COLUMBIA

SCORE: 175 3 /8

1STBLACKTAILAWARDSCORE:175

- TAVIS ROGERS

GREATEST SPREAD: 25 7/8

1st Award

LENGTH: (R) 38 5 /8 (L) 42

HUNTER: Anthony J. Caligiuri

BASE CIRC.: (R) 15 3 /8 (L) 15 4 /8

This was my first Boone and Crockett Big Game Awards, and it was so impressive to see all of the incredible animals on display. It was great to get to spend time with other people who are passionate about the amazing big game species we have been blessed with and to honor the outstanding representatives of the species taken over the recording period. This will certainly not be the last Big Game Awards Banquet that I attend!

HUNTER: Louis W. Breland

DALL’S SHEEP

LOCATION: Chugach Mountains, AK – 2020

LENGTH: (R) 42 6 /8 (L) 42 7/8

HUNTER: Tavis D. Rogers

BASE CIRC.: (R) 15 5 /8 (L) 15 2 /8

LOCATION: Richards Creek, BC – 2018

POPE & YOUNG GLENN ST. CHARLES AWARD

49FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022 31ST AWARDS PROGRAM PHOTO BROCHURE This booklet includes important statistical data (who, where, when, score, measurements, etc.) for each trophy featured in the 31st Awards trophy display open during the summer of 2022. Also included is the award each trophy received at the banquet, and a quality, portrait photograph of the top trophy in each category. - 5.5 x 8.5 inches - 56 pages - Full color 31PB | $10 ASSOCIATES PAY ONLY $8

SCORE: 184 1/8

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202250

BACK OF WOMEN'S HOODIE

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BUCK Selkirk Folding Pocket Knife

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The Selkirk is a classic folder for less demanding outdoor situations. Great for general use. Named after the rugged Selkirk Mountain Range, this knife features a stylish brown/ black CNC contoured Micarta handle with 420HC steel blade and pocket clip for easy carry. Measures just over 4 inches when closed. Blade length is 3.25 inches. Imported.

Short Sleeve Plaid Shirt

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This super soft sustainable fleece features the full 31st Big Game Awards logo on the back with the Boone and Crockett logo on the front. Available in navy with natural drawcords. Sizes Small through XXX-Large.

This ultra-breathable, stay-cool wicking hoodie is a poly/ spandex blend. The fit is a soft boxy cut with cowl collar, drop shoulder, thumbholes for warm, and a three-panel hood. Features the artistic 31st Big Game Awards logo silkscreened on the back. Available in Small through XX-Large.

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Stylish unstructured easy fit profile with washed cotton twill. Pro-stitched with unstructured front panels, curved PE visor with six rows of stitching, self material undervisor, and self material cotton sweatband. Self material cotton backstrap with antique buckle and tuckaway strap. Includes the bison embroidered on the front and BOONE AND CROCKETT 31ST BIG GAME AWARDS on the side.

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- JAMES F. ARNOLD BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB PRESIDENT

“Thank you to everyone who made these events possible. Some of us never have the opportunity to have this caliber of animal on their wall, but it really is the experience that is important. This is the accumulation of a lot of work by a lot of people over a lot of years.”

Visit the NEWS section of the website to get the full stories for these articles.

Indiana’s Big Whitetail Buck boone-crockett.org/indianas-big-whitetail-buck-revivalRevival

In the near future, we will be hearing more about re cord-book whitetails coming out of Indiana. Have hunters and wildlife managers there found a sweet spot for the state’s herd?

More than a century ago, members of the Boone and Crockett Club spearhead ed efforts to set aside areas of land and water where conservation of our fish and wildlife is the number one priority. This is how it all began.

Funding a System of Conservation Members of the Boone and Crockett Club were key players in laying the ground work for both restoration of game spe cies and generating the funds to pay for it—a system that we still use today.

Origins of a National Wildlife Refuge System

boone-crockett.org/news

B&C Welcomes CWD Legislation | The CWD Research and Management Act will authorize funds to states to help manage existing CWD outbreaks and to provide rapid response funding for detections in new populations.

New Bighorn Ram Entered into National Collection | To help celebrate the centen nial anniversary of the National Collection of Heads and Horns, the state of Montana generously donated the latest pick up from Wild Horse Island in western Montana. And it’s a doozy.

FEATURE STORIES

IN THE FIELD

B&C IMPACT boone-crockett.org/tags/bc-impact-seriesSERIES

MAY - JUNE - JULY 2022

FROM AROUND THE CAMPFIRE

House Passes Recovering America’s Wildlife Act | Legislation that would provide dedicated funding for state fish and wildlife agencies and tribal nations to proac tively address the needs of the species of greatest conservation need within their state passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Huff Buck: The Inside Story of the Second Biggest Typical boone-crockett.org/huff-buck-inside-story-second-biggest-typical-whitetailWhitetail

Three Steps to Pronghorn Restoration Members of the Boone and Crockett Club worked relentlessly not just to save pronghorn from extinction, but also to preserve the land on which they roam where they still flourish to this day.

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202254

This past November, Dustin Huff shot a massive Indiana whitetail with a crossbow. All he really wanted was a buck over 135.

B&C Wins Grant for Program Work | The Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund recently provided a $70,000 grant to the Boone and Crockett Club to support policy development and outreach efforts, the Club’s Poach & Pay project to address wildlife crime, and for expanding conservation education programs.

The Club’s Newest Partnership | Elkhorn Coffee Roasters is the offi cial coffee and beverage sponsor of the Boone and Crockett Club’s 31st Big Game Awards and will also be supporting the Club’s hunting con servation efforts through sales of a special Boone and Crockett blend. Fill your mug today.

B&C Hosts Scouts who Backpack (and Packraft) the “Bob” | Every year, Scouts travel to the Montana Council’s Montana Outdoor High Adventure Base (MOHAB) to backpack in and packraft out of Mon tana’s wildest wilderness. Check out their adventure in this article from Scout Life.

PRESENTED BY boone-crockett.org/vintage-hunting-gallery-July-2022-editionLEUPOLD

Biggest bighorns-bookboone-crockett.org/biggest-Bighorns

What this subspecies of whitetail deer lacks in size, it more than makes up for in sheer toughness and adapt ability. And their racks can range from dainty to down right devilish.

Native to California, tule elk are the beach bums of the elk world. In 2021, one North Da kota hunter was able to break a nearly 20-year old record and fill his tag with the larg est hunter-killed tule ever recorded.

Their diversity of ideas and activities during their careers have made B&C rich in its fellowship and achievements.

From Bierstadt to boone-crockett.org/tags/bc-member-spotlightPearson

Biggest Tule bookboone-crockett.org/biggest-tule-elk-Elk

The only thing better than sharing the spoils of the hunt with your kids is having them hunt themselves. Passing down the fun of the hunt is a time-honored tra dition for quitebeenthisyoufamilies—andmanyascanseefromslideshow,it’sgoingonforawhile.

14 Unreal B&C boone-crockett.org/more-score-14-unreal-bc-entriesEntries

Cute and Fuzzy Bunnies and the Animals That Eat Them boone-crockett.org/wildlife-caught-camera-summer-2022-edition With a mix of apex predators, big game, migratory songbirds, and a wide variety of small

Anyone who has ever hunted pronghorn understands the magic that surrounds hunt ing them, and we’re currently living in the golden age of pronghorn hunting.

As two bighorn rams battle for dominance, the crack of their horns will echo through the canyons in which they live. If you’re lucky enough to have a tag for one, maybe you’ll see one of these brutes featured in these stories of the top five biggest rams ever.

nucopia.aMemorialTheodorecreatures,woodlandtheB&C’sRooseveltRanchistruewildlifecor

55FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

MEMBER SPOTLIGHTS

Visit www.boone-crockett.org and click on COMMUNITIES, then look for the card pictured at right to find the archive page. Or, scan this QR code to be taken directly there. If you're not receiving the e-newsletter, access SETTINGS under MY ACCOUNT, and make sure the SUBSCRIBE button in the bottom left is checked.

Biggest Coues' Deer deer-everboone-crockett.org/biggest-coues-Ever!

South Texas, grizzlies from Alaska, and a number of stops in between.

VINTAGE HUNTING ALBUM

B&C Presents the Biggest Pronghorn bc-presents-biggest-pronghorn-everboone-crockett.org/Ever

If you don't receive the Boone and Crockett Club's In the Field e-newsletter, you're missing out on some excellent articles that are published exclusively on our web site. You can access an online archive of the most recent In the Field e-newsletters on the Club’s website.

MORE TO THE SCORE

Seeing so many con servation success stories at one time is electric. Here is a sample of some of the great trophies B&C whitetailsAwards—plusduringcelebratedthe31stfrom

From Toddlers to Tines

WILDLIFE CAUGHT ON CAMERA

TOP TROPHIES

I emphasize the word “may” in the previous para graph for good reason. One of Dr. Edwards’ favorite say ings is that “all models are wrong, but some models are useful.” Just because a model makes a prediction or sug gests that a species may occur at a particular point on the landscape, does not necessar ily make it so! In the effort to simplify complex relation ships among biotic and abi otic factors, models inevita bly leave out some factor or another, which inevitably makes the model’s output less than precise. We see this eas ily with weather forecasts,

insights into the workings of the modeled system.

IN SCIENCE, ALL MODELS ARE WRONG BUT SOME MODELS ARE USEFUL

Wildlife scientists often use models to study various as pects of animal species and their biology, and to predict how species and habitats might respond to changing conditions over time. In this regard, scientists are no dif ferent than those of us in our society who use scientific or science-based models, wheth er those models help to inform daily weather forecasts, give insights into the performance of the financial markets, or provide investors with infor mation on the best place to open a new business location.

Wildlife managers also use models to understand the demographics and population trends of harvested species. Species-habitat models give managers a set of tools to

SCIENCE

I recently had the plea sure and privilege of speak ing with Dr. Thomas Edwards, one of the nation’s leading ecological modelers, who re cently retired from my pro gram, the USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Program. Dr. Edwards has spent many decades re fining the practice of ecolog ical modeling and has trained literally hundreds of students and wildlife professionals in the methods used by wildlife scientists to model natural systems. His specialty is species distribution model ing, a scientific discipline that uses information about the places we find species—the habitat features, vegetation, underlying geology, soils, el evation, slope, aspect, and so forth—to help predict where else the species might occur on the landscape. The models produced by Dr. Edwards are geospatially explicit, mean ing that a key output is a geo graphic map with areas of suitability for a species

WILDLIFE MODELS

The word “model” means many different things in our modern society. We speak of a new model of car, model the latest clothing or fashions, and build model railroads or rockets in our basements and backyards. Many of us are also familiar with the North American Model of Wildlife Conserva tion—a set of foundational principles that describes the highly successful form of wildlife management originally developed by con servation pioneers affiliat ed with the Boone and Crockett Club, which has been now successfully im plemented in the United States and Canada for near ly a century. One of the foundational principles of the North American Model, as articulated in a 2012 review published by The Wildlife Society, is that “science is the proper tool for dis charge of public policy.”

B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBER CHIEF OF THE COOPERATIVE FISH AND RESEARCHWILDLIFEUNITS

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202256

Jonathan R. Mawdsley

indicated by markers or by some sort of shading, which indicates greater or lesser habitat suitability for the spe cies in question. Dr. Edwards’ models are often used by con servation agencies to help identify occurrences of rare species on larger landscapes, so that mitigation and conser vation measures can be di rected more effectively to wards these species. But the same approaches can also be used by wildlife managers when planning species translocation or habitat res toration efforts. If we can identify the key habitat fea tures and environmental factors that support a species in one place, then it stands to reason that the species may thrive at a different locality, which also has those same habitat features and environ mental factors.

According to this model, then, understanding sci ence and the information that science can provide is a critically important step toward the development of sound wildlife management and policy.

In science, we find that the word “model” has a fairly specific meaning. It refers to a physical, mathematical, or conceptual representation of a system, often using dia grams or mathematical for mulas, which attempts to represent some aspect of the world and provide insights into the workings of certain processes. A scientific model may be as simple as a flow chart or diagram on a piece of paper, or it may be so math ematically complex as to re quire the vast computational powers of a supercomputer to provide meaningful

BLASTS

In the field of wildlife management, models are widely used to help managers understand what is happen ing with wildlife populations and to examine how various management interventions might affect a species or its habitats. One of the most fa mous wildlife models is the coupled predator-prey model, which is taught to students in introductory biology class es and advanced mathemat ics classes in colleges and universities around the world. In this quantitative model, fluctuations in one species (the prey) trigger fluctuations in the other spe cies (the predator) resulting in a series of repetitive cy clings, which closely resem ble the boom-bust population dynamics that can be ob served in many real-world predator-prey interactions. Take, for instance, Canada lynx and snowshoe hare.

estimate the population ca pacity of an area and to ex amine how habitat improve ments might increase populations of desired spe cies. Demographic models provide managers with an understanding of population age structure and sex ratios, enabling the development of detailed harvest and manage ment recommendations for particular populations. Cli matological models help man agers understand how fluctu ations in weather and climate can affect populations of a particular species. And mod els of population structure and gene flow, derived from newly available genetic and genomic data, can help in form refinements to the con servation and management prescriptions for a species.

where short-term predictions (on the order of hours to days) are usually reasonably accurate, but the accuracy of predictions de clines the further out you go into the future. Wildlife population dynamics and species-habitat relations are likewise highly complex, and thus our abilities to accurately predict population behavior or changes over time are also going to be limited. But this does not mean that the entire modeling enter prise is a waste of time! In the case of Dr. Edwards’ species dis tribution models, the models are genuinely useful in that they suggest areas where researchers can search and potentially find rare species or where species translocation efforts could po tentially be successful. Narrow ing down the field of possible study sites is undoubtedly an important first step. But this is only a first step. What is needed is to couple the modeling effort with good old-fashioned bootson-the-ground fieldwork where wildlife biologists actually get outdoors and look for the rare species, or conduct a habitat as sessment for translocation at the sites recommended by the model. The maps provided by the species distribution models are a good place to start, but at the end of the day there is really no substi tute for biologists getting into the field and seeing the locations for themselves. This process, called “ground truthing,” is a critical step in validating the output of scientific models and ensuring that scarce conservation resourc es are in fact being directed toward the best available sites on the ground. It is also expen sive to send biologists into the field, which is why we often see modeling efforts being published or reported with little or no groundWithtruthing.allthis in mind, it is absolutely appropriate for wild life managers, conservation

leaders, and members of the general public to ask some ques tions of the scientists who are developing models. Some of the more relevant questions include: What data sources are you using, and how do you know that you are using the most relevant and complete data sets available? Which agency/ies provided data for your effort and which did not? Are your modeling methods open, replicable, and transpar ent to outside scientists and the interested public? Have your models and modeling outputs been peer-reviewed by knowl edgeable experts on the species or ecosystems you are modeling? Have your modeling studies been published in a reputable peer-reviewed scientific jour nal? What ground truthing ef forts or other validation studies have been conducted to date, and what did those efforts find?

An example of "ground truthing"—Dan Morina, a University of Montana B&C fellow conducting fieldwork on the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch.

Models can be useful tools for wildlife management, but there are important caveats and accompanyingconsiderationstheiruse.

Models can be useful tools for wildlife management, but as we have seen here, there are important caveats and consider ations accompanying their use. Programs such as the one that I administer, the USGS Coopera tive Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Program, have a long histo ry of bringing scientists togeth er with wildlife managers at state and federal agencies to develop models that will actual ly be useful in real-world man agement of species and their habitats. Working together, sci entists and managers can help ensure that these complex and easily misunderstood tools will help to provide us with the in formation that will be necessary to continue the long and highly successful tradition of wildlife conservation and management in North America. n

B&C UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS

The group included University Program professors, Club members, representedstaff.administrators,universityandB&CSevenuniversitieswereattheretreat.

n

wewillscientists,turepreparingorganizationthosefuleadersandthosewhoadvocateforallholddear.

There was general agreement that the mission of the University Programs needed to be redefined and updated. A small working group developed a new mis sion statement that the group as well as the Club agreed on and approved. We were also introduced to Dr. Jerry Belant, our new Boone and Crockett Club Professor at Michigan State University.Itisclear our Univer sity Programs are attracting bright young people and the nation’s top wildlife univer sities to our cause. Still, we need to keep our eye on the ultimate goal—placing effec tive advocates at the deci sion-making table in the next generation. We all know that 20 years from now the chal lenges facing wildlife conser vation and our hunting heri tage will be enormous. The Boone and Crockett Club stands as the major conser vation

Josh Millspaugh watches as B&C Fellow Dan Morina sights in his rifle.

During this two-day retreat specific goals were discussed:

n Align the Programs'Universitypriorities with the Club’s strategic plan.

n Increase the Program values around diversity, equity and inclusion.

After being postponed for two years, the third Boone and Crockett Club Univer sity Programs Retreat was held June 2-5, 2022, at the Boone and Crockett Club Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch, in Dupuyer, Montana. The intent of the retreat was to bring togeth er University Program (UP) leaders, Club members and university administrators to participate in a strategic planning process.

Between planning sessions people were able to enjoy all that the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch has to offer with hiking, fishing, and shooting.

SPONSORED BY

UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS NEW MISSION STATEMENT

The Boone and Crockett Club University Programs is designed to provide science-based knowledge from seasoned graduateseducatorsprofessionalswildlifeandtocollegeinthewildlife

field to better prepare them for the responsible and wise management of wildlife in the future.

n Increase collaboration amongst all the programs.

ABOVE - LEFT TO RIGHT: MSU Professor Jerry Belant, B&C Regular Members William Demmer and Morrie Stevens.

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2022 RETREAT AT THE THEODORE ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL RANCH

n Increase public outreach and visibility.

THE MISSION OF THE BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DIVERSE COMMUNITY OF HIGH IMPACT WILDLIFE CONSERVATION LEADERS

B&C WELCOMES DR. JERRY BELANT AS THE NEW BOONE AND CROCKETT PROFESSOR AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Jerry was the first Camp Fire Professor of Wild life Conservation and Director of the program at SUNY Col lege of Environmental Science and Forestry. He has served as a member of Council for the International Association for Bear Research and Manage ment and Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commis sion’s Small Carnivore Spe cialist Group. Jerry is current ly Deputy Editor-in-Chief for

ABOVE: Fellow Christopher Hansen downloaded photos from the trail cameras placed around the ranch. B&C President James Arnold looks on as he reviews the latest videos. See more photos on page 76 and online in the Wildlife Caught On Camera series.

KENETREK

are built for unyielding traction, support and comfort in the most rugged terrain and weather. Thick leather uppers wrap around supportive nylon midsoles, on top of high traction outsoles. Bottom line: They make it possible to get anywhere you need to go in total comfort.

the journal Ursus. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Wiscon sin-Stevens Point and his Ph.D. from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His research inter ests include wildlife resource use, monitoring and popula tion estimation, human-wild life interactions, and interna tional conservation."Wearethrilled that Dr. Belant is joining us as the Boone and Crockett Professor at Michigan State University. Jerry brings a wealth of ex perience in translating sci ence to policy and research relevant to the Club’s mis sion. His collaborative ap proach to science and educa tion will complement and enhance our programs," said Josh Millspaugh, Boone and Crockett Professor of Wild life Conservation at the Uni versity of Montana.

59FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022 2022LLC©KENETREK,

The Michigan State Uni versity (MSU) selection team with significant Club member participation worked the se lection process hard to bring Dr. Jerrold L. Belant on board. Our MSU Boone and Crockett Partners are looking forward to working with Dr. Belant to continue the great work of our program. We are excited to have someone of his back ground and reputation.

Boots VISIT US ON SOCIAL

mountain

LEFT: Welcome Dr. Jerry Belant to the Boone and Crockett Club University Programs.

fairchase-fall-22.indd 1 2/7/2022 11:45:19 AM

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Throughout the long history of this facility, the hunt er-conservationists, backed by Pittman-Robertson funds derived from the self-imposed tax on sportsmen and women, have paid for the annual operation costs of this success story. Although there have been 11 directors of NMDGF during these 50 years, there have only been four caretakers at RRWA, each averaging more than 12 years working at this unique facility.

ENDANGERED SPECIES FUNDED BY THE HUNTER-CONSERVATIONIST

ERIC M. ROMINGER, PH.D.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the completion of the desert bighorn sheep enclosure at the Red Rock Wildlife Area (RRWA) along the Gila River, north of Lordsburg, New Mexico. This facility was completed in 1972, and it has been operated continuously by New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) to propagate desert bighorn sheep for translocation into historic ranges.

The foresight of the conservationists involved in the de cision to construct the Red Rock Wildlife Area resulted in the cornerstone of the recovery and eventual delisting of state-endangered desert bighorn sheep in New Mexico.

The RRWA is nestled in southwest New Mexico close to the Arizona-New Mexico border. It was originally designed as a 667-acre enclosure with four internal pastures. In 1989 the RRWA enclosure more than doubled in size when a fifth pasture of 790 acres was added, which included a long, deep canyon where most ewes currently lamb. bighorn resToraTion

RECOVERY

PROFESSIONAL MEMBER NMDGF BIGHORN

SHEEP BIOLOGIST READ MORE ABOUT THE PITTMAN-ROBERTSON ACT ON PAGE 10.

50 years oF deserT

translocations of desert big horn from Mexico. These 21 bighorn were then allowed to reproduce until 1979 when the first 12 bighorn were cap tured to augment the Big Hatchet herd that had de clined to a minimum known population of just 13.

PREDATOR CONTROL

Mountain lion predation has been the primary cause of mortality for radio-marked desert bighorn sheep in New Mexico, and the mortality at RRWA is no exception. Moun tain lions are thought to pri marily enter the enclosure via holes created by javelina when they burrow under neath the fencing. NMDGF expends considerable effort to keep these lions out, and for the last 20 years the con tractors hired to manage the

The original 16 desert bighorn sheep released into Red Rock were captured by NMDGF from the San An dres herd located on the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) and the San Andres National Wildlife Refuge (SANWR). In addition, five pregnant ewes were cap tured by NMDGF in Sonora, Mexico. These were the first desert bighorn to come from Mexico into the United States, and 50 years later, they re main one of just three known

CONSTRUCTIONCOLLECTIVE

When this enclosure was built using bulldozers, handcrews, and dynamite at alter nating postholes, there were just two herds of desert big horn sheep remaining in the entire state of New Mexico. The first was a small remnant herd in the Big Hatchet Moun tains, located in the bootheel of New Mexico and thought to number fewer than 20 an imals. The second herd in the San Andres Mountains was thought to number about 200 animals but was destined for extinction by the mid-1990s.

Captive breeding popula tions, with small numbers of founders, are at risk of lower genetic diversity. Red Rock has been fortunate to have founders from two disparate populations in New Mexico and Mexico and subsequent ly genetic ingress from two additional sources. In 2008 three rams were observed walking the perimeter of the Red Rock enclosure shortly after a capture operation. The assumption was that these rams had somehow managed to escape during the capture. However, there was also the possibility these were Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep from a herd in Arizona or New Mexico. One of these rams was darted and a genet ics sample sent for testing. This ram was determined to be a desert bighorn not of Red Rock origin, i.e., likely from the Peloncillo Mountains in Arizona, and therefore these rams were allowed to enter the enclosure. In 2011 NMDGF traded Mexico 300 pronghorn for 10 desert bighorn rams from the captive facility at the CEMEX-Pilares enclosure in Coahuila, Mexico.

cooperator was a mining in dustry group that had a min ing claim inside the proposed facility. BLM provided the land, NMDGF provided the construction crew and wild sheep capture in New Mexico and Mexico, the NGOs provid ed funding for the materials to build the enclosure and to relinquish the mining claim, and the state of Sonora, Mex ico, provided a portion of the founding desert bighorn sheep herd.Theoriginal design was a 667-acre enclosure with four internal pastures. Two pastures housed desert big horn sheep with the other two pastures housing Siberian ibex and Persian ibex. The ibex populations grew quick ly and were released into the wild. Siberian ibex were re leased into the Canadian Riv er drainage in northern New Mexico in a translocation effort that ultimately was unsuccessful, and Persian ibex were released into the Florida Mountains near Dem ing, New Mexico, where a successfully established herd has been hunted since 1974. Following the removal of the ibex, desert bighorn sheep were allowed to disperse into all four pastures. In 1989 the RRWA enclosure more than doubled in size when a fifth pasture of 790 acres was added, which included a long, deep canyon where most ewes currently lamb.

To state that the future of desert bighorn sheep was on desperate ground would not have been hyperbole.

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In 1972 there were a half dozen desert bighorn sheep harvested in the San Andres herd, and the money generated from all the hunts for desert bighorn sheep in

FOUNDING SHEEP

GENETICS

New Mexico amounted to just a fraction of what would be needed to build a captive breeding facility at Red Rock. The state and provincial auc tions for wild sheep hunting licenses, which have in creased funding for manage ment of North American wild sheep today, were still a pipedream. There was little doubt that an attempt to recover desert bighorn sheep in New Mexico would require a cap tive breeding facility. How ever, it would take the com bined resources of NMDGF, the federal government (Bu reau of Land Management— BLM), the government of Mexico (State of Sonora), and several tionalGamenizations:internationalfundinghadicintroductioninterestedathisthematerialsmitorganizationsnon-governmental(NGOs)tocomtofundingthecostofneededtoconstructenclosure.ThedecisiontobuildfacilityoccurredduringperiodwhenNMDGFwasinthepotentialofseveralexotspecies,andweassumethissomebearingontheNGOreceivedfromtwohuntingorgaShikarSafariandConservationInterna(Game-COIN).Athird

The rugged terrain within the enclosure makes the helicopter net-gun the capture technique of choice.

ANNUAL SURVEY

NMDGF uses hounds to protect the bighorn sheep within the enclosure. Mountain lions are thought to primarily enter the enclosure via holes created by javelina when they burrow underneath the fencing.

Red Rock Wildlife Area have used lion hounds to protect the bighorn sheep within the enclosure. There have been a number of documented lion kills inside the enclosure and the hypothesis that these cap tive animals are not suited for release into the wild is unsub stantiated by analyses of mor tality data. It seems logical that being hunted inside an enclosure would make one very wary; and relative to humans, these bighorn dis play all the behaviors of wild desert bighorn sheep.

CAPTURES

captures at Red Rock. Follow ing the capture of 46 desert bighorn sheep in November 2021, the total number of desert bighorn sheep re leased from RRWA has been 537. Desert bighorn sheep from Red Rock Wildlife Area have been used to establish or augment herds in eight desert bighorn sheep ranges in NewAfterMexico.shooting the big horn sheep with a net fired from the helicopter, they are placed into a sling-bag and transported via a short flight from the enclosure to the headquarters where an ex perienced processing crew

capture and translocation. Generally, the population is allowed to increase to 100plus animals and then all ewes in excess of 25 and a similar number of rams are captured and translocated.

The rugged terrain within the enclosure makes the he licopter net-gun the capture technique of choice. Captures generally occur on a bienni al schedule with all surplus ewes and rams removed. This usually results in 30-45 avail able for translocation. Since the initial capture in 1979, there have been 23 different

prepares the animals for translocation. This includes sampling for disease profiles and fitting all adult desert bighorn sheep with radio collars (recent captures have used GPS collars exclu sively). Processed bighorn sheep are then loaded into a “Sheep-Shipper” and driven to the release site. Using GPS collars allows NMDGF biolo gists to track movements and allows for early detection of mortality events. Cause of mortality is then ascertained by visiting the mortality site.

After capture, all sheep are tested for disease profiles and all adult desert bighorn sheep are fitted with GPS collars. Processed bighorn sheep are then loaded into a “Sheep-Shipper” and driven to the release site.

Beginning in 1997, an annu al survey of the enclosure has been conducted using NMDGF employees and vol unteers from universities, New Mexico Chapter of Wild Sheep Foundation (NMWSF), and other interested conser vationists. Hikers push the bighorn sheep in the two largest pastures allowing observers at high-points to count the moving bighorn. The three smaller pastures are surveyed via roads with in the enclosure. The count derived from this annual census is what determines the number of bighorn sheep that can be removed via

The conservation management at RRWA has made many of the desert mountain ranges in New Mexico far more interesting by re-establishing this important faunal component to be enjoyed by the hunting and non-hunting community alike.

Although RRWA was not de veloped as a research facility, there have been multiple re search projects that have

filled with desert bighorn sheep, and NMDGF envisions this facility will be used to produce desert bighorn sheep for many years to come. n

HUNTING IN NEW MEXICO

FUTURE

The all-time records overflow with pronghorn entries from New Mexico, and Mike Gallo’s buck from 2013 is the current World’s Record at 96-4/8. Not to be outdone, Coues’ deer have a number of high-scoring entries, plus bighorn and desert sheep are scattered through the top 50. A handful of non-typical elk, cougar, and mule deer round out the state. While there are no Boone and Crockett categories for them, oryx, Barbary sheep, and javelina should catch your eye the next time you travel there.

RESEARCH

During the first 23 years, an average of about five desert bighorn sheep were removed from the RRWA enclosure annually; however, since 1995 this av erage has tripled to more than 15 bighorn sheep removed annually. During the resto ration effort of desert bighorn sheep, NMDGF has also part nered with Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGDF) to trade 50 Rocky Mountain big horn sheep for 50 desert big horn sheep. These desert bighorn sheep, captured on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge (KNWR), were intro duced into the San Andres Mountains in 2002 and 2005. AZGFD also provided desert bighorn sheep from KNWR during the initial transloca tion of bighorn sheep to the Peloncillo Mountains in 1981 and 1982.These translocation efforts, combined with re moval of mountain lions in desert bighorn sheep ranges, have resulted in the state wide population increasing from less than 170 in 2001 to more than 1,200 in 2021. This increase allowed NMDGF to remove desert bighorn sheep from the New Mexico endan gered species list in 2012 and the restoration of hunting for this iconic much sought-after subspecies. Since the first statewide hunting season in 2012, there have been more than 250 desert rams har vested in New Mexico—near ly all have been progeny of desert bighorn sheep re leased from Red Rock. There have been more than twice as many desert bighorn sheep rams harvested in New Mex ico during the last decade than there were licenses is sued for desert bighorn sheep in the first 100 years of New Mexico statehood.

utilized the enclosure. Re search has been conducted on habitat and food habits, be havior and sexual segrega tion, population estimation using camera traps and dis tance sampling, as well as long term data sets related to desert bighorn sheep popula tion growth rates, lamb and yearling survival, variation in body weights, sex-ratios, etc. Interestingly, the RRWA enclosure is con sidered to have one of the highest densities of Gila monsters in the world, and re search on this rarely seen ven omous lizard has been conducted at RRWA for many years.

We don’t know if the people with the vision to cre ate the enclosure at the Red Rock Wildlife Area imagined the facility would still be in operation 50 years after being built. We do know that this conservation man agement action has made many of the desert mountain ranges in New Mexico far more interesting by re-estab lishing this important faunal component to be enjoyed by the hunting and non-hunting community alike. Funding from auction, raffle, and li cense sales to hunt desert bighorn sheep have generat ed more than $2.6 million since the delisting of desert bighorn sheep in 2012—with the Newalsheeptorationcontinuinghunter-conservationisttopayfortheresofdesertbighorninNewMexico.SevermoremountainrangesinMexicoremaintobe

Read more about Boone and Crockett State Big Game Records online and find out more about our premium online content on page 54.

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With the largest cougar ever to come out of California, Warren C. Johnston killed this tom in Ventura County—and he looks quite stylish in his “camo” plaid shirt.

When you’re from the United Kingdom and you come to Alaska to hunt moose, it’s only proper to bring your best tweed jacket, tie, and pipe. Because once you kill an Alaska-Yukon moose with a spread of nearly 68 inches, you have to look presentable for the photo.

b &C

There was a time when hunters would don a tie and tuck in their shirt to chase big game—and they would look darn good doing it. For that reason, we sifted through the archives to find some of the best-dressed hunters from the good old days.

Old hunting photos are a special window into a bygone era. Take a peek into B&C’s vast archive of historic images.

LEFT - ALASKA 1903

PRESENTED BY

BELOW - NORTH DAKOTA 1955 Pictured here is William F. Cruff who looks like he could have either just stepped off the North Dakota prairie or the set of Toy Story 4—thanks to that great hat. Either way, the hat, jacket, and fine non-typical buck are hard to beat.

sTylish sTalkers

CALIFORNIA 1953

VinTage hunT ing gallery

LEFT - QUEBEC 1947 Mrs. O.L. Steidel and a friend pose with O.L. Steidel’s black bear, which is frozen solid. Mr. Steidel shot the bear while hunting deer, but the bear nearly won the encounter as Steidel’s final (and fatal) head shot was made at a modest

ChancesNOVARecorddeclaredCoquat’sHendersonbuckwastheWorld’stypicalwhitetailatthetime.Today,itsitsfardowntherankingsat450.SCOTIA1949areM.T.Parkerdidn’tshoot

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES 1970 Lewis W. Lindemer wasn’t wearing tweed when he killed this fine Dall’s sheep that measures 173-7/8, but thanks to that hat, shirt and smile combo, we’d say that looks like a pretty good outfit for hunting sheep.

RIGHT - TEXAS 1953 In 1953, this whitetail while wearing his Sunday suit. Regardless, the deer scoring 154-5/8 points is as stylish as the peak lapels on his suit.

see more online See all our Vintage Hunting Galleries

Hunting mule deer in open country is one of the best kept secrets of the American West, but un til you participate in one of these hunts, you can’t quite relate. Walking the everlasting prairies with deep coulees where the bucks hide, spotting them in their beds, formulating a stalk to dope the wind and getting within bow or rifle range is a joy that I cannot begin to articulate. To me, it beats perching in a tree stand or sitting on a cutline. You find the game and go to it versus waiting for it to come to you. Big difference!

ALEXANDER SHARIF

PhotosofCourtesyAuthor

ALBERTA PRAIRIE BUCKS  find yo ur path adventu r e awaits DIY

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202266

In this type of terrain, a 30x spotter is a must and will save you many hours of futile foot travel.

Early in the fall, we made a couple of scouting trips, spoke to some landown ers, and went for a couple of hikes. By the time the opener rolled around, we knew ex actly where we needed to be. Because I had shot several bucks before, I gave Mikel the first shot at a good buck. After hiking up some steep hills (for prairie country), we sat, glassed, and spotted several bucks. However, I wanted Mikel to shoot a four-pointer at a minimum.Wehiked and walked some more. As we crested a rise, we spotted a patch of forested hillside with spruce trees, which is an anomaly on the prairie. We watched a moose, a few cow elk, a group

These deep coulees all hold deer. You just must know when and where to look.

Alberta’s prairies are a combination of private and leased land. In general, get ting permission to hunt is not as difficult as in the lower 48. Part of the reason is that the wildlife belongs to the public and landowners are not al lowed to sell the hunting rights to outfitters. There are, of course, exceptions, but there is plenty of elbow room and opportunities if you are willing to put some miles on your rubber soles.

Alberta’s Mule deer country—as good as it gets!

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Unfortunately, as a species, and despite all the efforts by western states and provinces, the population of mule deer is slowly declining. Possible reasons could be hybridization with whitetail deer, loss of habitat, and sus ceptibility to chronic wasting disease (CWD). This also means that the number of available tags for hunters will decrease accordingly and prolong the wait time to draw aHowever,tag. in my home province of Alberta the esti mated mule deer population stands at roughly 130,000 animals. With 120,000 hunt ers applying and buying li censes every year, the odds of drawing a tag are fairly high. Obviously, for wildlife management units that have the genetics to produce high scoring bucks, the wait time is also high—perhaps as long as seven years.

A couple of years ago, I cashed in my four priority points and drew a tag in one of the average prairie zones. I had asked my friend Mikel to apply as well, and he drew, too. Mikel was a new hunter who I had mentored and recruited.

of whitetail deer, and mule deer emerge from the thick et. It was at that moment when I told Mikel we were sitting at the edge of Atilla’s huntingLaterparadise.that day, we spotted a group of deer and amongst them was a good buck. A perfect stalk led to a perfect shot from Mikel’s .270. With my spicy 130-grain handloads, the buck col lapsed in its tracks. Mikel told me that was the high light of his short but fruitful hunting career, and I was glad to be a part of it. The pack out was not easy, but we got it done in about four hours. A warm shower, a schnitzel, fermented hydra tion, and a good night’s sleep dreaming of big bucks was

canyon four kilometers away, I noticed a bunch of deer. We quickly closed the distance to about two kilometers. I could see a couple of bucks that might be shooters. The wind was strong and in our favor, but the herd was on the shady side of a deep and wide canyon. The only way to ap proach them downwind was via an adjoining ridge, which would only offer a long shot.

Two full Mystery Ranch packs, gear, and clothing ready for the packout.

next on our agenda. I had set a goal for myself to only shoot a buck with something spe cial on top. That would mean extra-large and heavy ant lers, complete with drop tines or a buck that hit the 30-inch-wide mark.

Alexander with his buck. These are the moments we will always cherish and share with our grandchildren.

The next morning, we went to a different area alto gether, parked the truck, climbed to a vantage point, and started glassing. We spot ted several bucks in the early morning hours, but none of them fit the criteria. Through out the day, we hiked and glassed continuously. Just as we were thinking we had covered enough ground in this area, something caught my attention in the distance. We threw up the spotter again. In the shade of a deep

Mikel was elated and Alexander was there to not only help him but also share his glory.

We grabbed our gear and soldiered there without hesitation. Light was fading. For the last 100 yards, I asked Mikel to stay behind. With my rifle strung across my back, I belly-crawled through some nasty cactus that con stantly poked my knees, bel ly, and elbows. Once I got to the rim, I motioned to Mikel to stay low and come along. We now counted at least five bucks. One caught my

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202268

attention. At first sight, I thought it was an elk because it was so wide. It was hard to judge length and mass with the sun in my eyes, but the extra wide rack and white muzzle, which typically iden tifies an older specimen, was enough for Unfortunately,me. we had left the packs behind, which would have provided an ide al shooting rest. The Leica rangefinder displayed 460 yards. I was carrying my custom Lilja-barreled .280 Remington which launches a 150-grain Swift Scirocco handload at 3,100 fps into a small cloverleaf. I knew the trajectory of my load well. The only rest I had were my binos and elbows. I went prone, asked Mikel to look through the spotting scope, and dug my heels into the prairie dirt. I settled the

crosshairs on top of the buck’s back. The sun was in my eyes, and it was hard to dodge. I took my cap off and put it over the scope to shield the sun, which helped.

The dry rolling country of Alberta’s prairies is A landscape that fancies my soul especially after a successful hunt.

The five-hour drive home was no big deal as we relived our three-day stint on the prairie, making life time memories in the pro cess. We stopped at the game check station on our way home to drop the heads for CWD testing.Thiswas a great DIY hunt for one of North Ameri ca’s most handsome members of the deer family. I was thankful to the good Lord for several blessings. First for having found and helped Mikel get his first buck, and second, for finding an old specimen for myself—one that I am proud to hang on my wall despite its 174-inch net typical score. In all hunt ing, whether you shoot a book buck or a doe, it is always the memories that count, and there was certainly no short age of that on this hunt! n

69FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

We grabbed our packs and made our way to the buck. It was an extremely wide (over 30 inches) buck with 16inch G-2s and it had no G-3s. After seeing the antlers a few weeks later, my good friend and mentor Dr. Valerius Geist, who is now in the happy hunt ing grounds, described him as: An old, regressed buck, probably over 10 years of age and one that would never grow the fourth tine. It would have remained a breeding male feared by other bucks. Basically the perfect speci men toWeshoot.dragged it out into the open for a picture session

If you have any DIY hunts you would like to see featured in the column, please email Karlie Karlie@Boone-Crockett.orgSlayer, for details.

ABOVE: Alexander and Mikel's mule deer on display. BELOW: Alexander's handsome, wide, mature buck laid there for keeps.

and used the gutless method to field dress it. The buck had a monstrous body, and I esti mated that it weighed well over 300 pounds. With both packs filled to the brim, we loaded our quarry on our backs and started the six ki lometer trek up and down several coulees back to the truck. We arrived at the truck exhausted but with a big smile in our hearts.

With calm nerves and a deep breath, I gathered my self. The .280 barked, and I could not see the impact be cause of the distance and the sun in my eye, neither could I hear that loud thump that tells a seasoned hunter all he wants to hear. But Mikel saw the buck buckle at the report of the rifle. He tapped my back with a loud “hip hip hurray.” The rest of the deer fled at once.

This listing represents only those trophies accepted since the Summer 2022 issue of Fair Chasewas published.

DID KNOW?YOU

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

WETHERE!TOHOPESEEYOU

Corbin Latham

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202270

NEXTGENERATIONPARKERSTEELEJACK

All youth hunters 16 years old or younger, who have a trophy accepted in our 32nd Awards (2022-2024) will receive an invitation to our Generation Next banquet, which will be held in the summer of 2025.

The Boone and Crockett Club celebrates young hunters who have embraced 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 32nd Big Game Awards Program, (20222024), that have been taken by a youth hunter (16 years or younger). All of the field photos in this section are from entries that are listed in this issue and are shown in bold orange text .

FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE HUNTER LOCATION DATE MEASURER TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER 171 1/8 176 7/8 Corbin Latham Nemaha Co., KS 2021 R. Garver SHIRAS’ MOOSE 162 5/8 172 5/8 Walt C. Christiansen Beaverhead Co., MT 2021 K. Lehr Share your field photos with us! @BooneAndCrockettClub #BooneAndCrockettClub

We are proud to share support for wildlife management and conservation efforts with the Boone and Crockett Club and its University Programs shown above.

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For over 40 years, ATS has designed and manufactured wildlife radio telemetry equipment used by wildlife conservation managers and researchers throughout the world.

Learn more about what we do at atstrack.com.

71FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

The following pages list the most recent big game trophies accepted into Boone and Crockett Club’s 32nd Big Game Awards Program, 2022-2024, which includes entries received between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2024. Entries marked with an * were accepted in the 31st Awards Pro gram. All of the field pho tos 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 2022 issue of Fair Chase was published.

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202272

TROPHIESACCEPTEDRECENTLY 32ND BIG GAME AWARDS LISTING AND PHOTO GALLERY

Sydney S. Van Loon was on a hunt near Klusha Creek, Yukon Territory, when she harvested this bison scoring 124-2/8 points. She was shooting a .300 WinchesterShortMag.

20

MT Brett

NON-TYPICAL MULE DEER - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 355-2/8 - MINIMUM

FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION HUNTER DATE MEASURER

335

- WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 16-4/16 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 14-8/16 15

This Roosevelt's elk, scoring 340 points, was taken by Tony W. Quick while hunting in Del Norte County, California, in 2020. He was shooting a 6.5-284 Norma.

21

275 340 345

TULE ELK - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 270

20 *22

* 1/8 7/8 Lincoln Co., OR Gregory D. Fischer T. Rozewski

20

*290 7/8 321 7/8 Glenn Co., CA Troy D. Felder 2020 H. Wilson

20

FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION HUNTER DATE MEASURER

& MULE DEER

COUGAR Park Co., D.

2017

GRIZZLY BEAR - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 27-13/16 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 23 13/16 Takotna River, AK Tim Trefren D. Boland

21

TYPICAL MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 6/8 380 2/8 Huerfano Co., CO Crystal M. Watts D. Brimager 4/8 382 1/8 Mesa Co., CO Ryan J. Rewa 2021 S. Pitsch

2020

Member Robert C. Pape harvested this 185-7/8-point typical mule deer while on a hunt in Lincoln County, Nevada. He was shooting a .300 Winchester Mag.

ELK

AMERICAN ELK - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 442-5/8 -

This non-typical Coues' whitetail deer, scoring 113-7/8 points, was taken by Gary A. Roebling while hunting in Sonora, Mexico, in 2021.

*180 5/8 208 2/8 Lincoln Co., WY Blake M. Gipson 2020 F. King ENTRY SCORE 2021 L. Gatlin Montana Wayne E. Cashman 1980 K. Lehr 1980 D. Boland

*20 5/16 Routt Co., CO John W. Banks 2018 B. Smith 4/16 Norman Co., MN Christopher R. Lee 2021 J. Zins 3/16 Broadwater Co., MT Forrest D. Bernier 2021 R. Burtis 3/16 Tulliby Lake, AB Daniel M. Rowe 2021 A. England

Berg 2021 F. King

341

20

363

ROOSEVELT’S ELK - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 5/8 Del Norte Co., CA Tony W. Quick T. Henson

215 *241 3/8 248 6/8 Colorado Unknown

230 1/8 236 5/8 Idaho Unknown

21

2019

* 1/8 1/8 Clallam Co., WA William M. Davis 2020 D. Sanford

73FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

BOTTOM LEFT:

419-6/8

365

1977

360 *369

*363 4/8 373 1/8 Garfield Co., UT KayCee Wall 2021 W. Phifer 4/8 390 2/8 North Kasandra C. Donohue 2021 D. Pezderic Saskatchewan River, SK

*232 7/8 247 6/8

BEAR & COUGAR

24

326

TYPICAL MULE DEER - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 226-4/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 180 197 3/8 205 3/8 Eagle Co., CO Picked Up 2017 D. Boland 185 7/8 197 5/8 Lincoln Co., NV Robert C. Pape 2021 S. Sanborn 181 196 1/8 Sonora, MX Frank L. Fackovec 2020 G. Slade

* 339 5/8 Humboldt Co., CA Scott T. Hulse 2020 J. Capurro

TOP TO BOTTOM

379

B&C Member Donald J. Reboul, Jr. took this black bear, scoring 22-2/16 points, in 2020 while on an archery hunt in Garfield County, InColorado.2021,B&C

299

291

BLACK BEAR - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 23-10/16 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 2/16 Garfield Co., CO Donald J. Reboul, Jr. 2020 G. Hisey 8/16 Mesa Co., CO Daniel J. Tonello 2021 T. Hawkins 2/16 Jones Co., NC Hunter L. Whitman 2020 R. Norville 1/16 Polk Co., MN Kenneth E. Clark 2021 J. Zins 7/16 Washburn Co., WI Jeremy D. Hoecherl 2021 K. Zimmerman

162

WHITETAIL DEER

*185 4/8 193 4/8

*217 4/8 228 7/8 Burlington Co., NJ Norman Taylor 1946 J. Pierson

192

TYPICAL COUES' WHITETAIL DEER WORLD'S RECORD SCORE 144 1/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 100 102 3/8 111 1/8 Gila Co., AZ Glenn E. Tullius 2021 N. Thesing NON-TYPICAL COUES' WHITETAIL DEER WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 196-2/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 105 *123 129 4/8 Sonora, MX Picked Up 2019 D. Nielsen *113 7/8 129 4/8 Sonora, MX Gary A. Roebling 2021 G. Mefford CANADA MOOSE - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 242 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 185 211 2/8 223 5/8 Atlin Lake, BC Richard P. Price 2021 R. Pawluski ALASKA-YUKON MOOSE - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 266-4/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 210 *232 5/8 235 2/8 Innoko River, AK Craig K. Whittington 2015 R. Turk *232 4/8 238 3/8 Buckland River, AK Picked Up 1980 D. Klein *232 2/8 242 5/8 Revelation Kurt L. Schuster 2021 D. Rippeto Mountains, AK 222 7/8 227 3/8 Whitefish Lake, AK Royden L. Sperr 2020 F. King

Randy W. Hopp took this typical Columbia blacktail deer, scoring 125-3/8 points, in 2020 while hunting in Jackson County, Oregon. He was shooting a .50 Cal. Muzzleloader.

*199 6/8 202 4/8 Estevan, SK Brent D. Olfert 2021 M. Halirewich 196 5/8 201 7/8 Davis Co., IA Maynard F. Mast 2020 R. Bergloff 196 5/8 207 Platte Co., MO Patrick C. Ray, Jr. 2020 S. Grabow 2/8 205 6/8 Furnas Co., NE James R. Johnston 2021 P. Malone 194 7/8 205 7/8 Harrison Co., MO Edward W. Absher 2020 J. Knevel 1/8 196 5/8 Houston Co., MN Kraig S. Garmaker 2021 P. Carlson 206 4/8 Cuyahoga Co., OH James L. Manzo, Jr. 2021 E. Feron 6/8 Payne Co., OK Michael C. Hooper 2017 G. Moore 7/8 Maverick Co., TX Jeremy R. Kennedy 2021 J. Stein Vermilion Co., IL Broc C. Atwood 2019 G. Wilford

160

170

187 4/8 196

TOP TO BOTTOM:

*

*191 194

*

160

NON-TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 333-7/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 185

FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION HUNTER DATE MEASURER

165

FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION HUNTER DATE MEASURER

*

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202274 TYPICAL COLUMBIA BLACKTAIL DEERWORLD'S RECORD SCORE 182-2/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 125 *141 7/8 151 4/8 Pierce Co., WA Kenneth H. Tobias 2019 D. Sanford 135 2/8 138 1/8 Glenn Co., CA Barney M. Cook, Jr. 2007 S. Boero *125 3/8 132 6/8 Jackson Co., OR Randy W. Hopp 2020 T. Rozewski *125 131 4/8 Humboldt Co., CA Cynthia D. Skavdal 1976 G. Hooper TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 213-5/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 160 211 4/8 217 2/8 Decatur Co., IN Dustin Huff 2021 D. Wellman *190 3/8 194 3/8 Adams Co., OH Lear C. McCoy 2020 T. Schlater *185 3/8 198 3/8 Gasconade Co., MO Travis J. Schulte 2017 D. Hollingsworth 182 6/8 190 1/8 Clark Co., OH Mark R. Cessna 2020 W. Ogden *179 1/8 182 Whitesand Lake, SK Floyd L. Hendrickson 2020 K. Kozij 179 191 1/8 Muskingum Co., OH Valerie N. Lashley 2021 A. Cramer 178 3/8 181 4/8 Chariton Co., MO Jearmy S. McCubbins 2021 J. Gordon 174 5/8 179 7/8 Gove Co., KS Christopher J. Stirn 2021 L. Hansen 172 3/8 176 Warren Co., OH Matthew J. Belcik 2021 T. Schlater 172 3/8 189 6/8 Sedgwick Co., KS Michael A. Atkins 2021 A. Austin 172 1/8 174 1/8 Maverick Co., TX Harold T. duPerier IV 2021 J. Stein 171 2/8 173 3/8 Montague Lake, SK Maurice N. O’Reilly 2020 C. Fink 171 180 5/8 Crawford Co., PA Bryan F. Farrell 2021 D. Bastow 170 6/8 199 1/8 Christian Co., IL Keith L. Barlow 2021 T. Walmsley

164

In 2021, B&C Member Matthew J. Belcik harvested this 172-3/8-point typical whitetail deer while on an archery hunt in Warren County, Ohio.

MOOSE AND CARIBOU

165

191 6/8

*170 2/8 179 2/8 Shelby Co., KY Christopher O. Rogers 2020 K. Morphew 2/8 181 2/8 Isanti Co., MN Matthew S. Kufahl 2021 J. Lunde 4/8 168 3/8 Franklin Co., NE Dustin D. Simpson 2021 J. Helmer 2/8 174 4/8 Washington Co., MN Susan D. Mondloch 2021 J. Lunde 3/8 181 1/8 Shelby Co., TN Christopher S. Triplett 2020 J. Dennison 6/8 179 3/8 Chippewa Co., WI Derek J. Shakal 2021 B. Laufenberg 5/8 166 1/8 Antelope Co., NE Grant R. Knutson 2021 R. Krueger 2/8 171 3/8 Jackson Co., MO Jeffrey A. Reynolds 2021 P. Lowry 1/8 164 3/8 Adair Co., MO Nathan S. Kelsey 2021 R. Garver 160 1/8 166 2/8 Lenawee Co., MI Mark D. Lahnala 2021 G. Tori

195

Kraig S. Garmaker was bowhunting in Houston County, Minnesota, in 2021, when he harvested this non-typical whitetail deer, scoring 192-1/8 points.

160

*207 213 1/8 Van Scoy Lake, SK Greg R. Hunter 2019 D. Pezderic 203 210 4/8 Big Gully Lakes, SK Tyson L. Mohrbutter 2021 A. England

See All MORE TO THE SCORE Online

Peter Gallo took this pronghorn, scoring 91-6/8 points, in 2018 while on a hunt in San Juan County, New Mexico. He was shooting a 7mm Long Range Magnum.

LEFT TOP TO BOTTOM:

YEAR TAKEN: 2021

MORE TO THE SCORE

B&C SCORE: 54 Points

This Shiras' moose, scoring 169-7/8 points, was taken by B&C Associate Christopher P. Morton while hunting in Stevens County, Washington, in 2021. He was shooting a .270 Winchester.

In 2019, B&C Lifetime Associate Crystal M. Watts harvested this 369-6/8-point typical American elk while on a hunt in Huerfano County, Colorado. She was shooting a .300 Weatherby.

Field photos rarely get better than this. As for Rocky Mountain goats, well, they don’t get much bigger for Oregon either. Glidden was hunting the Eagle Cap Wilderness with Sheep Mountain Outfitters when he shot this goat in early October. Wallowa and Baker County are a hotbed for record-book entries for goats in Oregon, according to Big Game Records LIVE.

BELOW: This Alaska-Yukon moose, scoring 232-2/8 points, was taken by Kurt L. Schuster while on a hunt in the Revelation Mountains in Alaska, in 2021. He was shooting a .375 H&H.

LOCATION: Wallowa Co., Oregon

75FAIR CHASE | FALL 2022

HUNTER: Brent R. Glidden

This Dall's sheep, scoring 163-6/8 points, was taken by Brent Acorn while on a hunt near Kusawa Lake, Yukon Territory, in 2021.

FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION HUNTER DATE MEASURER

HORNED GAME

M. Joseph Brough took this bighorn sheep, scoring 176 points, in 2021 while hunting in Clatsop County, Oregon.

RIGHT:

FAIR CHASE | FALL 202276 SHIRAS’ MOOSE - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 205-4/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 140 *169 7/8 175 5/8 Stevens Co., WA Christopher P. 2021 D. Cook Morton *158 3/8 166 3/8 Lincoln Co., MT James E. Mitchell 2021 J. Spring 156 1/8 160 7/8 Lewis and Kent C. Robinson 2021 J. Kolbe Clark Co., MT *147 4/8 156 Madison Co., MT Michael J. King 2021 F. King PRONGHORN - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 96-4/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 80 91 6/8 92 5/8 San Juan Co., NM Peter Gallo 2018 R. Stayner *84 6/8 85 1/8 Sweetwater Co., WY Robert B. Nadler 2021 R. Stayner *84 87 Mora Co., NM Tucker S. Knight 2021 O. Carpenter *83 2/8 84 3/8 Yavapai Co., AZ John D. McClintic 2020 R. Stayner *83 2/8 84 2/8 Sweetwater Co., WY Benjamin P. Gates 2021 R. Stayner *83 2/8 84 5/8 Huerfano Co., CO Joel C. Biltz 2021 R. Stayner *83 83 6/8 Otero Co., NM Randy B. Morrison 2020 R. Bonander BISON - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 136-4/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 115 124 2/8 125 Klusha Creek, YT Sydney S. Van Loon 2020 C. Walker ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 57-4/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE *48 4/8 48 6/8 Adams Co., ID Kristie M. Ryals 2020 T. Boudreau 48 48 3/8 Racine Lake, BC Keith Rodriguez 2019 C. Bishop MUSK OX - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 130-4/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 105 107 109 6/8 Mekoryuk River, AK Michael U. Dickinson 2021 L. Lewis BIGHORN SHEEP - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 216 -4/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 175 *206 3/8 207 7/8 Flathead Co., MT Picked Up 2021 K. Lehr *185 1/8 187 Blaine Co., MT Matthew W. Kashur 2019 F. King *182 1/8 182 5/8 Fergus Co., MT Jacob C. Williams 2021 N. Larsen 177 7/8 178 7/8 Chouteau Co., MT Todd M. Burton 2021 K. Lehr 176 176 3/8 Clatsop Co., OR M. Joseph Brough 2021 W. Norton *175 6/8 176 Phillips Co., MT Sharon L. Read 2020 J. Williams DESERT SHEEP - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 205-1/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 165 168 3/8 168 7/8 Baja California Nicholas D.C. Saner 2020 K. Zimmerman Sur, MX 168 1/8 168 5/8 Sonora, MX Frank L. Fackovec 2020 G. Slade DALL’S SHEEP - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 189 6/8 - MINIMUM ENTRY SCORE 160 *163 6/8 163 6/8 Kusawa Lake, YT Brent Acorn 2021 A. Berreth 163 1/8 164 3/8 Brooks Range, AK Justin J. Solmonsen 2021 R. Spaulding

TOP TO BOTTOM:

In 2021, Michael U. Dickinson harvested this 107-point musk ox while on a hunt near the Mekoryuk River in Alaska. He was shooting a .300 Ultra.

Kristie M. Ryals took this Rocky Mountain goat, scoring 48-4/8 points, in 2020 while hunting in Adams County, Idaho. She was shooting a .270 Winchester.

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FAIR CHASE | FALL 202278

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TERMINAL ASCENT S i mpl y t he b e s t r ifl e bull e t m ad e . P eri od . Any hunt Any r ange Go beyond w h at you eve r t h oug h t possible wit h ne w F ede r a l Pre miu m ® Ter min a l Asc e n t ™ . Bonded construction penet r ate s deep on clos e ta r get s , w h ile t h e patented Slipst r ea m ™ poly m e r ti p initiates expansion at ve l ocities 200 fps lowe r t h an s tandar d tips . Unp r ecedented te rm ina l pe r fo r mance at any range . BU Y N O W AT FEDE R A L P R EMI U M . C O M © 2 0 2 1 F ede r a l ® Ammun i t i o n B u ll et u ps et s c a ptu re d f ro m 2 0 0 g ra i n 3 0 0 W i n M a g n u m l o a d , P3 0 0W TA1 5 0 Ya rd s/275 0 f p s 4 0 0 Ya rd s/2 3 5 0 f p s 1 0 5 0 Ya rd s/ 1 6 6 0 f p s 1 2 5 0 Ya rd s/ 1 4 8 0 f p s