B&C: Record Elk Taken With Bow
Record elk largest in 48 years
Boone and Crockett Club and Pope and Young Club announce a potential new archery World’s Record typical American elk taken on public land during the 2016 archery season. After the mandatory 60-day drying period, officials confirmed the elk’s official entry score at 430 inches. Montana resident hunter Steve Felix took the bull on a solo hunt early in the archery season. He brought the bull to the attention of the Boone and Crockett Club, headquartered in Missoula, Montana.
“History was made right here in Montana,” said Justin Spring, Boone and Crockett Club’s director of Big Game Records. “This is the fourth-largest bull in our records, which date back to before 1900, the largest since 1968 and the largest from the state of Montana.” The current B&C World’s Record taken with a rifle scores 442 5/8. Hunters took the second and third largest typical elk before 1900.
Milestone for B&C’s work
“It’s a milestone in the success of our commitment to this iconic species,” Spring continued. “Animals of this size do not happen by chance. It takes the combined commitment of wildlife managers and biologists, landowners, sportsmen and, above all else, it takes the best habitats we can set aside for elk in elk country.”
The last step in the process, in order to obtain an official score for Pope and Young Club World’s Record status, is to have the antlers panel scored by a group of highly qualified P&Y and B&C Measurers. This will happen before Pope and Young Club’s Biennial Convention and Big Game Awards Ceremony April 5-8, 2017, in St. Louis, Missouri, where the animal will be displayed and honored. Using the B&C scoring system for big game, the Pope and Young Club maintains records for archery taken trophies. B&C records animals taken by all legal hunting methods.
“We’re excited, not only for the health of our elk populations and bowhunting, but to be able to share this outstanding specimen with the public for the first time at our biennial convention,” said Joe Bell, executive director for the Pope and Young Club. The current archery World’s Record typical elk, taken in 2005 in Arizona, scores 412 1/8. photo courtesy Boone and Crockett.
