Fair Chase Winter 2012

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Desert sheep on Meiklejohn Peak, part of the Bare Mountain Range, in South West Nevada in August 2012. © Chris Lacey

Volume 27

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Number 4

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Winter 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

From the Editor | In this Issue..................................................................................... Kyle C. Krause

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From the President | The Accomplishments and Progress of The Club............Ben B. Wallace

HUNTING, ETHICS & RECORDS

10 The .338 Magnum........................................................................................Craig Boddington 12 Peter Paul Mauser and his rifles.......................................Wayne van Zwoll 25 preview to great Rams III .................................................... Robert M. Anderson 30 beyond the score ..................................................................................... Justin E. Spring 32 Generation Next | Youth Essay, Trophy List, and Field Photos 38 The Ethics of Fair Chase | Too Much Technology, Not Enough Hunting

........................................................................................................... Daniel A. Pedrotti, Jr. 42 Trophy Talk | Boone and Crockett Club’s 28th Awards Program .......................... Jack Reneau 44 Recently Accepted Trophies | 28th Awards Program Entries.

52 Trophy Photo Gallery | Sponsored by Realtree Xtra Green

P. 10 P. 12

P. 25

CONSERVATION & RESEARCH 58 Capitol Comments | It’s Time to Deliver on Promises ................................. Steven Williams 60 Member Library | Clarence King - A Tale of Two Lives .................................... Theodore J. Holsten 62 Knowledge Base | Frankendeer: The Fear is Real..................................... Winifred B. Kessler 64 AWCP Spotlight | Wild Sheep Foundation .............................................................. Gray Thornton 66 Keep Trophy Records Honest | Identifying Whitetail/Mule Deer Hybrids

...........................................................................................................................Jim Heffelfinger et al.

71 Dallas Safari Club Update | Records for Big Game Trophies, Hunters’ Conventions in Texas............................................................................. Ben Carter 72 Moose Survey App | Hunters as Citizen Scientists................................ Mark S. Boyce

Celebrating the Boone and Crockett Club’s

125th Anniversary P. 66

P. 72

P. 76

FROM THE EDITOR In this Issue We have another great slate of articles in this issue of Fair Chase.

But first, make it your New Year’s resolution Kyle C. Krause to attend the 28th Awards Program July Editor-in-Chief 16-20, 2013, at the Chairman B&C Publications Committee Reno Ballroom in downtown Reno. You won’t regret it! On display will be more than 100 of the finest big game trophies ever taken, and you can visit with the owners of many of those fine animals— we know these proud hunters are always happy to share stories of their great hunts and fabulous memories. If you still have a trophy to be entered, the deadline for the 28th Awards Program is (or was, depending on when you receive this issue of Fair Chase) December 31, 2012. See Jack Reneau’s “Trophy Talk” column for full details.

Speaking of technology, Jim Heffelfinger begins a series of articles on advances in DNA analysis technology with his article, “Unraveling the DNA of Whitetail/Mule Deer Hybrids.”

Two young ladies share their trophy hunting stories—one about a father-daughter lion hunt by Doug and Chrissy Pope, and a youth essay from Melissa Noel who harvested the largest whitetail deer killed by a female in Ohio in 2010-2011.

In her research and education column, Wini Kessler writes about the expansion of deer breeding facilities, some of the legislation that is being introduced, and she discusses her first actions as president of The Wildlife Society (TWS).

A great supporter of the Boone and Crockett Club, Professional Member Gray Thornton, highlights the growth of the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) from its humble beginnings in 1977, then known as the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, to its phenomenal success today in bringing wild sheep populations back Save the Date! from the brink. One great example is in Oregon, where sheep populations BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB’S 28TH NORTH AMERICAN were revived from a population of 25 to BIG GAME AWARDS well over 4,000—nothing short of a Silver Legacy Resort Casino conservation miracle, thanks to state Reno Nevada game agency professionals, the WSF July 16-20, 2013 and its supporters.

28th Awards Program Seminars For you rifle buffs, Craig Youth Recognition Banquet Auction Awards Banquet Other activities Boddington goes into the history and making of the .338 Magnum and Wayne I think we’d all agree that advances van Zwoll gives us an in-depth look at Mauser in technology have made our lives much rifles and their history. Ted Holsten shares easier. When you think about it, technology with us the interesting story of Clarence has been a part of our hunting heritage from King—a tale of two men? the time the first flint-knapped arrow was Looking forward, Steve Williams fashioned to the fine-grained bullets and updates us about the important issues facing high-powered rifles in the industry today. But Congress in 2013. He cautions us to pay close how much is too much? We touch on the attention to the nominees and their agendas issue from both ends of the spectrum—how for the critical natural resource agencies in technology is helping, and perhaps, how it the Interior and Agriculture departments. is tilting the scales in the other direction In closing, I would like to thank when it comes to fair chase hunting. If you each of you for reading Fair Chase and for have a smart phone, and you hunt moose in all the feedback and help we receive each Alberta, Dr. Mark Boyce shares a great new issue. It is time for me to move on, and I smart phone app he helped set up in Alberta will miss trying to find new topics to create to survey moose hunters on their daily moose more interest in Fair Chase and the Boone sightings. On the other side of the technology and Crockett Club, but the new editor will issue, you’ll want to check out Dan Pedrotti’s have some great things to share with all of ethics column, “Too Much Technology, Not us. Merry Christmas! n Enough Hunting,” in which he discusses the balance of technology versus fair chase—how much technology is too much? n

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Fair Chase PRODUCTION STAFF Editor-in-Chief & Publications Chairman

Kyle C. Krause Managing Editor/Design

Julie L. Tripp Conservation and History Editor

Steven Williams Research and Education Editor

Winifred B. Kessler Hunting and Ethics Editor

Mark Streissguth Assistant Editors

Keith Balfourd

Craig Boddington

Jack Reneau

Tony A. Schoonen Graphic Designer

Karlie Slayer Editorial Contributors

Craig Boddington

Mark S. Boyce

Ben Carter

Jim Heffelfinger

Theodore J. Holsten

Winifred B. Kessler

Kyle C. Krause

Daniel A. Pedrotti, Jr.

Jack Reneau

Justin E. Spring

Gray Thornton

Wayne van Zwoll

Ben B. Wallace

Steven Williams Photographic Contributors

Denver Bryan

Chris Lacey Fair Chase is published quarterly by the Boone and Crockett Club and distributed to its Members and Associates. Material in this magazine may be freely quoted and/or reprinted in other publications and media, so long as proper credit is given to Fair Chase. The only exception applies to articles that are reprinted in Fair Chase from other magazines, in which case, the Club does not hold the reprint rights. The opinions expressed by the contributors of articles are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Boone and Crockett Club.

Fair Chase (ISSN 1077-4627) is published for $35 per year by the Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801. Periodical postage is paid in Missoula, Montana, and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Fair Chase, Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801 Phone: (406) 542-1888 Fax: (406) 542-0784

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Bernard + Associates, 767 Mill St. Reno, NV 89502 jeff@bernardandassociates.com Phone: (775) 323-6828

B&C STAFF Chief of Staff – Tony A. Schoonen Director of Big Game Records – Jack Reneau Director of Publications – Julie L. Tripp Director of Marketing – Keith Balfourd Office Manager – Sandy Poston Controller – Jan Krueger TRM Ranch Manager – Mike Briggs Assistant Director of Big Game Records – Justin Spring Development Program Manager – Jodi Bishop Assistant Controller – Abra Loran Graphic Designer – Karlie Slayer Customer Service – Amy Hutchison Records Dept. Assistant – Wendy Nickelson Luke Coccoli – RWCC Facilities Manager

FROM THE PRESIDENT The Accomplishments and Progress of The Club In this, my last president’s column in Fair Chase magazine, I would like to take a glance back a few years Ben B. Wallace on the accomplishments and progress of the PRESIDENT Boone and Crockett Club Club and take a quick look forward as to what may lie ahead for our Club, our wildlife, and habitat conservation.

During my three years as executive vice president of administration under thenPresident Lowell Baier and my next two years as president, one area of focus has been on the internal organization and operations of the Club. The Board of Directors endorsed a modified version of a policy governance model, which was also embraced by B&C Club members. This has given the Club clearly defined operational parameters, greater input from the members into the direction and operations of the Club, and greater consistency in accomplishing the Club’s objectives under its mission and vision statements. While Lowell and I may have started this ball rolling, it took the organizational skills and hard work of Regular Member Morrie Stevens and Professional Member Mary Webster to bring it to fruition.

Two years in the making, and with input from members, staff, conservation partners, sponsors, and many others, our strategic plan and implementation plan were completed and took effect on July 1, 2012— thanks to the tireless efforts and prodding of Regular Members James Cummins and Jayar Daily. Both plans place emphasis on the desire of our stakeholders that the Club, its members, and its partners have an even greater focus on the area of conservation policy, which, with the hard work by our Conservation Policy Committee under the leadership of past President Bob Model and honorary Life Member Steve Mealey, has brought the name Boone and Crockett Club

to the forefront of conservation conversations across North America.

In my previous column, I discussed attending the Canadian National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Congress and opportunities for our Club and members to assist in Canada’s conservation efforts. While this movement is just beginning, I believe that if the conservation community in the United States gets behind the Canadian efforts, we can have a substantial impact for wildlife and habitat in all of North America.

The Boone and Crockett Club Foundation began a planned giving campaign under Past President Gary Dietrich and it continues to be strong under current President Ben Hollingsworth. Ben began another program to enhance the Foundation’s endowment, the Wilderness Warrior Society, which currently has 19 members who have contributed or pledged more than $2.3 million to the foundation.

I could go on and on about the Club’s successes these past few years—from the numerous awards achieved by the Club’s books and television show “Boone and Crockett Country,” to the incredible increase in our Big Game Records entries, to the significant effects that our Conservation Grants, Conservation Leadership, Conservation Education, and Boone and Crockett University Programs are having. But that is why we publish Fair Chase magazine—to inform you about what we are doing and accomplishing for wildlife conservation. It has been an incredible honor to work with our members, staff, partners, sponsors, and others dedicated to conservation during these last nine years as a director and officer of a truly great conservation organization.

Looking forward in today’s political and economic environment is like being on a flats boat when you can’t see your running lights due to the heavy fog. You simply can’t see far enough to know where you are going.

There are many challenges ahead for our

BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB BOARD OF DIRECTORS Club Club President Ben B. Wallace Secretary Robert H. Hanson Treasurer Timothy C. Brady Executive Vice President – Administration

Morrison Stevens, Sr. Executive Vice President – Conservation

William A. Demmer Vice President of Administration

James F. Arnold

6 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

conservation community, but none greater than the economic uncertainty that prevails in the United States today. Uncertainty to a business person is his or her greatest fear.

Being in the banking industry, I see the unbelievable amounts of cash being held in the system earning next to nothing, just waiting to see what will happen. As a businessman, I’ve read, listened to and met with many economists, investment advisors and industry leaders and none of them really know which direction the United States is headed. Will taxes go up? Will our deficit continue at its yearly trillion dollar-plus pace? Will we have draconian cuts to our conservation program?

Will we fall off the “fiscal cliff” as the media pounds into our brains every day? I have no idea, but I do know our conservation community stepped up last year and fought a great fight to keep wildlife conservation funding where it is today, and that we’ll have an even greater fight over the next several years to maintain it at acceptable levels.

December 8, 2012, marks the 125th anniversary of the inaugural meeting of the Boone and Crockett Club held in New York City. Over those 125 years, the Club and its members have a history and legacy rich in wildlife and habitat conservation achievements. On December 1, 2012, the Club, at its annual meeting in New York City, will begin its year-long celebration of its 125th anniversary. I’m proud to say that the Club has the leadership, membership, staff, partners, and sponsors who are dedicated and able to continue that legacy for the next 125 years. Most of all, let’s continue our camaraderie and have fun celebrating our past achievements while planning and achieving our future successes in wildlife and habitat conservation. n Yours in Conservation,

FOUNDED IN 1887 BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Vice President of Big Game Records

Eldon L. “Buck” Buckner Vice President of Conservation

Stephen P. Mealey Vice President of Communications

Marc C. Mondavi Foundation President B.B. Hollingsworth, Jr. Class of 2012 Howard P. Monsour, Jr. Class of 2013 James J. Shinners Class of 2014 James Cummins

Foundation Foundation President B.B. Hollingsworth, Jr. Secretary Robert H. Hanson Treasurer Timothy C. Brady Vice President Tom L. Lewis Vice President James J. Shinners Class of 2012 Gary W. Dietrich

Robert H. Hanson

B.B. Hollingsworth, Jr.

Tom L. Lewis

Morrison Stevens, Sr.

Class of 2013 Timothy C. Brady

John J. Gisi

Jeffrey A. Gronauer

Earl L. Sherron, Jr.

C. Martin Wood III Class of 2014 Remo R. Pizzagalli

Edward B. Rasmuson

James J. Shinners

John A. Tomke

Leonard J. Vallender

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HUNTING, ETHICS, AND BIG GAME RECORDS

Š Chris Lacey

BODDINGTON: The .338 Magnum | 10 VAN ZWOLL: Peter Paul Mauser and his Rifles | 12 Great Rams III | 25 Beyond the Score | 30 Generation Next | 32 The Ethics of Fair Chase | 38 Trophy Talk | Page 42 Recently Accepted Trophies | 44 B&C Field Photos | Page 52

8 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

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n Boddington’s third cartridge review, he talks about the .338 Magnum and how it is perfect for larger, tougher game, such as elk, moose, and bear. Van Zwoll continues his series on various rifles with a history of Peter Paul Mauser and his rifles. Mauser understood the value of fine machining, but his rifles boasted an economy of design that made them both reliable and, at the time, easy to manufacture in quantity. Get a sneak peek of our up-coming release of Great Rams III by Robert M. Anderson. Beyond the score features a cougar story of a lifetime, and read about a thirteen-year old girl’s whitetail hunt in Generation Next. Our Ethics of Fair Chase column discusses finding the right balance of technology in hunting.

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 9

B o d di n g t o n’s Ca r t r i d g e

Review

t s e B s ’ d The Worl ? e g d i r t The r El k Ca

.338 Magnum

By Craig Boddington B&C Professional Member Photos courtesy of Author

th e n r em ember of u s ca ds? a How m a n y lo chester w-box Wi n lo el y d nol nd .264 Wi he .338 a n In 1958 t com pa nio u m s w er e n g a M er e .264 chest f i rst t h ions. At s i ntroduct a h but it popu la r, e or m s e th e a w it y whil o obscu r nt i ed p to slip conti nu es llow i n g .338’s fo g row.

10 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

Among North American rifle and ammunition manu-

facturers, it’s an article of faith that sales drop precipitously above .30-caliber. This makes perfect sense because, after all, the vast majority of American hunters are deer hunters, with absolutely no need for larger cartridges. Even so, the .338 Winchester Magnum has persevered to become our most popular medium bore, an American standard respected throughout the world.

It took some time for it earn this position. The .338 Winchester Magnum was introduced in 1958 in a version of the beloved Winchester Model 70 called the “Alaskan.” Its companion introduction, the .264 Winchester Magnum, was introduced in the Model 70 “Westerner,” an equally appropriate moniker. The .264 provided fuel to velocity-craving riflemen, and it took off like a rocket. Despite equal initial hype the .338 was a slow starter, quickly gaining a reputation as a hard kicker. The .264’s rising star was soon eclipsed by the more versatile 7mm Remington Magnum and, although still loaded, the .264 has teetered on the edge of obsolescence for decades. The .338 gained ground very slowly. It is a hard-kicking cartridge, producing nearly double the recoil of a .308 Winchester in rifles of equal weight.

It is not for everyone, and certainly not for all purposes, but for larger, tougher game—on this continent elk, moose, and bear—it seems that enough hunters find its performance worth the price in recoil.

The .33 caliber wasn’t new in 1958, and is not altogether an American development.

The .33 Winchester was the last and most popular chambering for the John Browningdesigned Winchester Model 1886, but at the beginning of the 20th century, the British also developed several .33s. Interestingly, the Brits used several different bullet diameters: The .318 Westley Richards used a .330-inch bullet; the .333 Jeffery was literal at .333-inch; and the .33 BSA used a .338-inch bullet. In the 1940s American gunwriter Elmer Keith emerged as the greatest champion of the .33-caliber, believing that heavy slugs in that caliber provided the ideal in penetration and power for all North American game, not just the big stuff.

Using Jeffery’s .333-inch bullets, the team of O’Neill, Keith, and Hopkins developed a succession of .33 “OKH” wildcats, and of course Keith wrote lovingly of them. These developments—and Keith’s writing—contributed heavily to the development of the .338 Winchester Magnum, but with some differences. The Winchester engineers used the .338inch bullet of the .33 Winchester, and used the .375 H&H case shortened to .30-06 length (2.5 inches) with much of the body taper removed. Keith had never developed a .33 wildcat quite like that, but he grumpily accepted it.

Component bullets range from 180 to 300 grains, and factory loads have ranged from 200 to 300 grains. The loads with the heaviest bullets, 275 and 300 grains, ran pretty slow, and in spite of Elmer Keith’s enthusiasm weren’t popular—and are long gone. Standard today, and most popular in component bullets, are 200-, 225-, and 250-grain bullets. Velocities vary among brands, but figure something on the order of 2,900, 2,800, and 2,650

feet-per-second, respectively, with these bullet weights. At these velocities, muzzle energy runs about 3,900 foot-pounds, which makes the .338 a real thumper of a cartridge.

I’ve used the .338 a great deal over the years. I think of it as one of our very best cartridges for elk and moose, and it is easily adequate for the largest bears. I guess I lean toward Elmer Keith’s heavy bullet school, because I have generally preferred the 250grain bullet. Its penetration is awesome, and why not? The 250-grain .338 actually has higher sectional density (SD) than the 300grain .375, so with similar velocity and equal bullet construction, the .338 will always penetrate better than the .375, which is saying quite a lot. The drawback is that the 250-grain bullet starts out slower and produces more recoil than lighter bullets. Realistically, with the great bullets available today, the 250-grain bullet is at its best for big bears, 200-grain bullets are perfectly adequate for elk, and 225-grain bullets offer a fine compromise.

In 1958 the .338 Winchester Magnum was only the second American .33-caliber.

Since then, trading on the success of the .338, there have been several more. The .340 Weatherby Magnum and .338 Remington Ultra Mag are quite a bit faster. The .338 Lapua Magnum is faster still, as is John Lazzeroni’s 8.59 (.338) Titan. I’ve used them all and admire them immensely. They stretch out the trajectory quite a bit, and increase energy to as much as 5,000 foot-pounds. Their primary drawback is recoil. If you think the .338 is a hard kicker, try one of these! I have, and although the performance is awesome, they are difficult to shoot well on a sustained basis.

There are also some milder .33s, including the .338 Federal, .338 Marlin Express, and the popular .338-06 wildcat. At closer ranges they will do everything the .338 Winchester Magnum will do, and with less recoil—but they don’t have as much reach, and with smaller case capacities are ill-suited for heavier bullets. Also in the running for larger game are our two 8mm (.323-inch) magnums, the .325 WSM and 8mm Remington Magnum. I personally like them both.

They’re great choices for elk, but for big bears they are not equal to the .338. I also like the .35s. At shorter ranges .35s up to the .35 Whelen will do anything the .338 will do, but they lack its velocity and range, and thus its versatility. A really fast .35, like the .358 Norma Magnum or the wildcat .358 Shooting Times Alaskan, would definitely equal or exceed the .338—but no fast .35 has ever been popular, and with the .338 we really don’t need one.

To me the .338 has two great attributes, both at an acceptable price in

.325 WSM

8mm Remington Magnum

.338 Winchester Magnum

recoil: Tremendous versatility; and power when you need it. I’ve used the .338 for a lot of deer, wild boar, and black bear hunting, and I have a few friends who use it for everything. One of them, Jack Atcheson, Jr., even uses it for the wild sheep he loves to hunt. It is fast enough to handle most situations in North America, and on lighter game, as Jack loves to say, “it numbs them”—without undue meat damage. The difference between a .308inch bullet and a .338-inch bullet is just thirty thousandths of an inch, but over the years I have observed that the .338 hits noticeably harder than any .30-caliber, even if bullet weight is the same. However, the .338 is not a particularly good choice for longer ranges in open country, and without question it’s needlessly powerful for deer-sized game. For me it really comes into its own for elk, moose, and the big bears, and it makes a fine choice for the full run of African plains game. In these arenas it’s a champion, and perhaps unsurpassed in its ability to get the job done without loosening your fillings. n

.338 RUM

.340 Weatherby Magnum

ABOVE: The .338 Winchester Magnum sits in the middle of the “medium magnum” power spectrum. It offers heavier bullets than the 8mms, but considerably less recoil than the faster cartridges.

BOTTOM LEFT: The .338 is dramatically effective on deer-sized game, and with lighter, faster bullets the trajectory is adequately flat.

That you can use it on lighter game is a tribute to its versatility, but it’s really overpowered for this class of game.

BOTTOM RIGHT: This moose from southern British Columbia was flattened with a 250-grain bullet from a .338. The cartridge is genuinely ideal for moose and elk, providing ideal power and penetration.

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 11

The German M98 (top) is much like the Swedish M94.

Note striker tab on the M94.

12 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

auser M

Peter Paul

and his rifles

Inspired by a door latch? This German genius changed the face of American hunting rifles!

By Wayne van Zwoll B&C Professional Member

Photos courtesy of Author

Many moons ago, on a cold hill above Spoon Creek

in eastern Oregon, a mule deer buck stepped from behind rimrock.

The gyrating crosswire passed his shoulder just as the .270 fired. Other game has since fallen to my Mauser rifles. I wish I’d not sold that one, a 98 stocked by Iver Henriksen in beautiful French walnut. It didn’t last long in its new home. The shooter mistakenly chambered a .308 cartridge. The shorter case slid obligingly home, but the 30-caliber bullet resisted mightily its forced passage down the .277 bore. The extractor blew off, with a shard of bolt face. Escaping gas split that gorgeous French into three pieces. But the lugs held, limiting shooter damage to a peppering of powder and metal particles.

Breech pressure there must have far exceeded that of the friskiest proof loads—testimony to the Mauser’s legendary strength.

Another Henricksen-stocked Mauser in .270 felled my first bighorn.

Yet another 98, this one in .300 H&H with the magazine opened for the longer case, killed the first bull elk I had ever seen afield. It appeared out of dusk’s gloom, ghost-silent from black lodgepoles. Against that elk, I couldn’t see the tiny dot in my Lyman Alaskan. Frantic, I found it in bleached grass at the animal’s feet. Fixing my eye upon it, I lifted the rifle onto the bull and pressed the trigger.

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 13

An equally fetching Mauser in .257 Roberts tumbled a blacktail buck caught between Willamette Valley alder patches …. But enough about my rifles. I was foolish to part with those I sold—all when surplus battle rifles came cheap. Commercial and even custom-‘smithed Mausers were affordable then…

A family passion

While the Mauser moniker has appeared on myriad firearms and been used to describe (and sell) others, most shooters associate the name with the Model of 1898. This, however, was not the first Mauser rifle. In fact, it arrived when Peter Paul Mauser was 50 years old.

Paul came naturally to gun design.

His father was a gunmaker; so too were his six older brothers! Like John Browning, young Mauser began to “think” mechanisms onto paper and fashion parts that functioned as he imagined. He understood the value of fine machining, but his rifles boasted an economy of design that made them both reliable and, at the time, easy to manufacture in quantity. You’d be selling Mauser short if you credited him only with a bolt that worked like a door latch.

Almost anybody could have done that. Some probably did it before Paul Mauser. Notably, one of his first experimental rifles derived from the turn-bolt action of

14 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

the Dreyse needle-gun, German’s primary shoulder arm in the Franco-Prussian War. That work drew no contracts from the Wuerttemberg, Prussian or Austrian War Ministries. But it caught the eye of Samuel Norris, an American in Europe as an agent for E. Remington & Sons. Norris urged Paul and older brother Wilhelm to convert the French Chassepot needle-gun to a metalliccartridge rifle—and evidently offered financial help. In 1867 the Mausers moved to Liege, Belgium to tool up. But when the French government showed no interest, Norris skipped out of the project. (Oddly, Norris filed to patent Mauser’s rifle in the U.S! On June 2, 1868, this became the first patented design to bear the Mauser name.)

Paul and Wilhelm returned to set up shop

Wayne used a Mauser to take this elephant on a control hunt, with one Woodleigh solid in a Norma .375 load. Range: 16 yards in dense cover.

TOP RIGHT: Mauser’s long, broad extractor shows here, with the semirimmed bolt face and split left lug.

BOTTOM RIGHT: CZ’s 550 Magnum action borrows much from Mauser.

But the left lug isn’t split; instead, the ejector operates through a slot below it.

in Oberndorf, Paul’s birthplace 29 years earlier. They soon moved to bigger quarters.

Wilhelm’s business acumen complemented Paul’s mechanical genius in their fledgling firearms enterprise. Still, they struggled until the Royal Prussian Military Shooting School tested a Mauser rifle Samuel Norris had furnished. It so impressed ordnance people, they asked the Mausers for improvements. They complied. The resulting single-shot rifle chambered an 11mm (43-caliber) black-powder cartridge with a 385-grain

Catching up to the M98 The M98 Mauser heavily influenced the design of the 1903 Springfield (and of course Winchester’s M70 sporting rifle). Loads for the 8x57 cartridge also beat a path for the .30-06. Two years after its prototype appeared in 1901, the Model 1903 Springfield was in production. A 220-grain bullet at 2,300 fps made the .30-03 a ballistic match to the 8x57, with a 236-grain bullet at 2,125. But a year later, Germany switched to a sleeker, lighter bullet: a 154-grain spitzer at 2,800 fps. At the time, such speed was remarkable. America was obliged to catch up. In short order the U.S. introduced the Ball Cartridge, Caliber .30, Model 1906. It drove a 150-grain bullet at 2,700 fps. The case was soon shortened by .07, to .494. Issued .30-03 rifles were recalled and rechambered to the new round.

ABOVE: Winchester’s M70 debuted in 1937, with definite Mauser roots. Here: a 1950s Super Grade.

RIGHT: Mauser’s extractor was snapped up by Winchester, for controlled feed on its M70.

bullet clocking about 1,400 fps. Early in 1872 the Mauser Model 1871 became Prussia’s infantry rifle. But the rewards for this coup were disappointingly modest. The Prussian army would pay the Mausers only 15 percent of what they’d been led to expect for design rights! Also, the new rifles were to be built in government arsenals, not at the Mauser shop! The brothers managed to snare a contract for 3,000 sights for the Model 1871.

Bavaria’s order for 100,000 sights justified construction of a Mauser factory in Oberndorf. Soon the Wuerttemberg War Ministry awarded Paul and Wilhelm a contract for 100,000 rifles. They partnered with the Wuerttemberg Vereinsbank of Stuttgart to buy the sprawling Wuerttemberg Royal Armory (which had begun life as an Augustinian cloister). On February 5, 1874, it became Mauser Bros. and Co. The firm delivered the last Model 1871s in 1878, ahead of schedule. The Mausers then filled an order of 26,000 rifles for China. Paul also invented a revolver and a single-shot pistol, but neither sold well. After Wilhelm died young in 1882, Mauser sold stock. Ludwig Loewe & Co. of Berlin bought controlling shares.

By this time it was clear arms contracts of the future would go to makers of repeating rifles. Paul modified the Model 1871 to include a nine-shot tube magazine in the forend. The 71/84 proved a reliable service arm, but it was crude compared to later Mausers, and the 11mm bullet had a steep arc. As late as 1967, when American troops were toting M-16s, you could still buy Mauser 71/84 rifles—for about $15.

Rifles to bottle smokeless

In 1889 Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre (FN) emerged in Liege to produce Mauser rifles for the Belgian government.

FN owed its genesis to the Mauser Model 1889, Paul’s first successful arm for smokeless powder. This rifle boasted features that established Mauser as the dominant gun designer on the continent. The one-piece bolt, bored from the rear, had twin locking lugs up front. The magazine was designed for loading by charger or stripper clip. Still, the 1889 (Belgian), 1890 (Turkish) and 1891 (Argentine) Mausers—nearly identical, and all chambered for the 7.65x53 Mauser cartridge—had flaws. The narrow extractor, with its small spring, could fail; double loading and a subsequent jam could result. The trigger could be pulled with the bolt out of battery. The external magazine made for awkward carry.

In the Model 1892 Mauser, Paul introduced the long, non-rotating extractor now widely hailed as the most reliable claw ever.

Attached to the bolt body with a collar, this extractor required the rising case head to slide into the claw from underneath, for a positive grip even before the cartridge aligned with the barrel. The 1892 bolt cleared the breech even if, in the press of battle, a rifleman shortcycled. The broad, stout claw also engaged a big section of case head, forcing even reluctant hulls from hot, dirty chambers.

The Model 1892 featured a fixed magazine, though like its detachable predecessors the box held a single vertical stack

and protruded from the rifle’s belly. The bolt stop no longer secured the clip. A sear pin fitted up with a notch in the bolt to prevent firing if the bolt wasn’t locked. A bolt guide rib in the left locking lug race mated with a slot in the lug to prevent binding.

As notable as these improvements in the 1892 was the rifle’s new cartridge: the 7x57 Mauser. It remains popular 120 years later—a standout in the first flurry of rimless rounds for smokeless powder.

Mauser’s Model 1892 Spanish rifle (and the 92/93 Spanish Navy arm in 7.65x53Mauser) enjoyed barely a year in the sun before Paul simplified the safety and changed the magazine to a flush, fixed box with a staggered column. The resulting 1893 Spanish Mauser became a tremendous success. It was soon adopted by armed forces worldwide, and would become the prototype of the Model 1898. Mauser’s 1893 flat-bottomed receiver was machined from a steel forging, with an integral recoil lug and a trimmed bridge. The integral bolt handle of most Model 1893 and 1895 rifles was straight; horizontal with the action closed. Bent bolt handles appeared on carbines. An angled cut at the left rear of the bridge had a camming surface for the square bolt handle base, to help with primary extraction. The safety, a stout wing, pivoted on the top of the bolt sleeve. At “right horizontal,” the safety locked bolt and striker. At “vertical” it held the cocking piece off the sear but allowed bolt manipulation. “Left horizontal” was the fire position. The trigger, on a sear pin, had two humps for a two-stage let-off.

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 15

TOP: Wayne aims a .416 Rigby on CZ’s magnum action – stout, reliable like its Mauser forebear.

Inset: A century ago, Rigby acted as Mauser’s agent in England. The Magnum Mauser action owes much to the .416 Rigby (left). It also suits Remington’s .416. The .416 Ruger is ’06-length.

16 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

Paul Mauser designed his staggered magazine box as a unit integral with the trigger bow, held to the action by a pair of stout screws on either end of the bottom metal. A spring-loaded plunger secured the floorplate. Depressing it with a pointed bullet allowed the floorplate to slide back and down for removal.

There are variations beyond the scope of this article—from a hinged floorplate (Spanish 93) and a magazine cutoff (Turkish 93) to a sloped follower heel (Brazilian 94) and a right-side safety lug (Chilean 95) to the more common thumb notch on the lefthand receiver wall to speed clip stripping.

In 1894 Sweden ordered 12,185 Mauser carbines from Germany. Later, they would be produced by Carl Gustaf’s Stads Gevarsfaktori, a government arsenal in Eskiltuna, Sweden. These differed from the standard 1893/1895 rifles in that they chambered the 6.5x55 Swedish round, with a head slightly larger than that of the 7x57. A checkered projection on the cocking piece permitted a soldier to ease the striker forward without firing the rifle; an additional notch in the cocking piece allowed the safety to swing to the right with the striker down, pulling the striker back from the bolt face.

The Model 1896 Swedish Mauser was similar, but with a straight, rather than a turneddown bolt handle. It featured a deeper thumb cut. An anti-bind slot inside the bridge, matched a rib on the bolt body. The 1896 boasted three vents in the bolt to divert gas from a ruptured case. In 1938 Sweden adopted a carbine version of the 96, the M38 Swedish

Short Rifle. Three years later came the M41 Sniper Rifle, a scoped Model 1896 selected for accuracy. The Swedes reportedly proofed these actions to 66,000 psi—pressures as stiff as from modern magnums.

The rapid-fire series of Mauser actions in the 1890s brought improvements that culminated in the Model 1898, adopted by the German Army on April 5 of that year.

It cocked on opening and, for safety, featured generous gas ports and a third lug that slipped into a slot in the bridge. The M98 would become the most acclaimed military arm to that point in history. Exported to many countries, it was built in many more. France, Great Britain, Russia and the U.S. designed their own battle rifles; but none surpassed this Mauser in accuracy or function. The original Gewehr 98, a 9-pound rifle with 29-inch barrel and five-shot magazine, saw its first action in the Boxer Rebellion in 1898.

The Karabine 98a, a short cavalry rifle, was built from 1899 to 1908. During WWI, 18,421 Gewehr 98s were converted for use with 2x and 3x scopes.

Paul Mauser died in May, 1914, just before his rifle muddied and bloodied itself in the trenches.

Cartridges and receivers

The first cartridge chambered in the 1898 Mauser was the 8mm smokeless round introduced with the 1888 Commission rifle—which had little of Mauser’s influence. Known as the 7.9x57 or 7.9x57I (the common use of J for I is incorrect), this round fired a 227-grain .318 bullet at

around 2,100 fps. Germany lost little time developing a more potent cartridge for the stronger M98. The 8x57, with 154-grain pointed .323 bullet at 2,870 fps, appeared in 1905. Breech pressure of nearly 50,000 psi topped that of the 7.9x57I by 10 percent.

Officially, the 8x57 was designated 7.9x57IS and 8x57IS. It would see German infantry through WWII. The Lange Visier rear sight with a shallow V notch, could be adjusted for point-on aim to 2,000 yards with the 8x57IS load.

During WWI the walnut stocks of Mauser service rifles acceded to less costly and more available beech. Leather slings were replaced with canvas.

The Treaty of Versailles had nothing to say about accoutrements; but it did prohibit use and even possession of military ammunition by Germans. The 8x60S (with .323 bullet) was a logical sequel to the outlawed 8x57IS. A simple rechambering made 1898 infantry rifles into legal, lethal hunting arms. Later an 8x60 round came along, for early M98s bored for the original 7.9x57 (.318) cartridge.

Early 1898 carbines like the 98a, had receiver rings 1.300 inch in diameter. The later Czech 33/40 also had this “small-ring” receiver. Most 1898 military rifles and postWWII sporters have a larger 1.410-inch ring.

Custom rifles for powerful rounds, especially those with belted heads, are best built on large-ring actions. Steels and heat-treating of 98 Mauser actions have evolved, though the mechanism’s vaunted strength is due mainly to its design, not to metallurgy.

Throughout its military life the M98 was made of tough, low-carbon steel carburized, or case-hardened, for a hard finish. The earliest actions were softer, in general. During the final, frantic years of WWII, receivers showed wider variations in hardness. Soft steel in lug abutments can result in bolt setback. Choosing a military Mauser as the basis of a custom sporter, shooters have long been advised to pick a large-ring action made between 1920 and 1943. Some source names are also favored—the Mauser stamp certainly, but also DWM, FN and Brno (VZ-24).

While the bolt face of M98s chambered to the 8x57 will accept without alteration the .30-06 and derivatives, the 3.32-inch Mauser magazine is cramped for the ’06 and .270 (and short-belted magnums), commonly loaded to 3.30 to 3.34. Removing a bit of metal from the front of the magazine box and the ramp will usually ensure function. A box spacer and short follower is a good idea for .308-length rounds.

Some aficionados wax poetic over “short” Mauser actions—mainly the Mexican

1898. At 8.50 inches instead of the standard 8.75 inches overall, these receivers weigh 43 ounces, compared to the 45 of ordinary largering actions (Mexican Mausers also came in small-ring form). In my youth, riflemen spoke of bantam-weight mountain rifles crafted by the best stockmakers and metalsmiths on short actions; but wand-like handling came from the ministrations of these wizards, not from receiver dimensions.

In 1935 the Gewehr 98 (GEW.98 or M98) was replaced by the Karabiner 98 (KAR.98 or K98). The rifle’s mechanism remained essentially unchanged.

A Mauser for rimmed cartridges (originally the 8x52R Siamese) appeared in Siam, now Thailand, during the scramble for infantry rifles of Mauser design. By the 1960s the Thai army was equipped with more modern arms, and Siamese Mausers were surplused cheap. American shooters barreled them to .45-70 and .444 Marlin. They’ll also cycle the .303 British, 7.62x54R, .30-40 Krag and .348 Winchester.

The M98 on mountain and veldt

As war clouds gathered over Europe, Lee Sherman Chadwick went hunting. In his early 60s, the Cleveland industrialist set out in the summer of 1936 for central British

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Australia: A hunter aims a Mauser of classic profile. The M98 is popular Down Under.

MIDDLE: The current Mauser flagship, Model 03, has interchangeable barrels and bolt heads.

TOP: An Australian hunter used a Mauser in .30-06, with Woodleigh bullet, on this buffalo.

18 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

Columbia. Two weeks’ travel by rail and road put him on the trail with outfitter Roy Hargreaves.

Accompanied by guides Curley Cochrane and Frank Golata and 13 pack horses, the men made their way into sheep country.

The hard land showed them little at first, and when three Stone’s rams appeared in the distance on consecutive days, the hunters took the hint. Legend has it the object was camp meat. Chadwick’s Mauser rifle, in .404 Jeffery, was an unlikely sheep rifle, not only heavy but overly powerful. Mauser .404s had been issued to African game rangers in charge of culling thick-skinned game!

Evidently the rams got the drop on the hunters, as Chadwick fired from some distance. The bullet struck low, wounding the biggest ram. As the story goes, Hargreaves chased and finished the animal. That ram, shot on the 28th of August, is still hailed as the finest trophy ever from North American game fields.

Early in the 20th century, the Mauser sporter pulled the rug out from some fine rifles—particularly single-shots like the Farquharson. Mausers were cheaper to make, held a stack of cartridges in reserve and (unlike the weaker, rear-locking British SMLE) could be barreled to very powerful cartridges. But Mauser actions were not immediately available to all in the British gun trade. In 1900 Mauser blessed John Rigby & Co. of London as its agent. Rigby had prospered with its 1898 introduction of the .450 3¼-inch Nitro Express. While this rimmed round was for double rifles, it appeared in the

vanguard of a series of heavy-game cartridges using smokeless powder. Rigby must have seen the possibilities in Mauser’s 1898 action, with its cock-on-opening bolt, short lock time, third lug and twin gas vents. In fact, Rigby may well have influenced Mauser’s decision to build a magnum-length action.

In 1911, the introduction of Rigby’s .416 in Mauser rifles put repeaters on equal footing with most popular doubles. Its 410-grain bullets registered 5,100 foot-pounds of muzzle energy—on par with that of the .470 and .475 No. 2 N.E. John “Pondoro” Taylor was a great advocate of the .416. Rigby knew it had a good thing going and initially refused to sell Magnum Mauser actions to its competition.

When Rigby’s monopoly on Mausers ended in 1912, other British gunmakers scrambled to build rifles on them. Westley Richards barreled Mausers to its .318 and .425 rounds. W.J. Jeffery used the M98 in its .333 and .404 rifles. Holland & Holland found it ideally suited to the belted .300 and .375. The .505 Gibbs fit in Magnum Mauser actions.

Not all commercial Mausers bound for Africa were chambered for big-bore cartridges. W.D.M. “Karamojo” Bell reportedly owned six Rigby Mausers in .275 (essentially, 7x57) and one in .22 Savage High-Power—as well as a .416. In India, the great tiger hunter Jim Corbett carried a Mauser in .275. It proved more manageable than a heavy double in tight quarters—and at least once saved his life.

On the trail of the man-eating Chowgarh tigress, Corbett stopped to pick up a couple of rare bird eggs. Soon thereafter he came into a sandy wash. Stepping clear of a giant rock protruding from the steep bank, Corbett turned and “looked straight into the tigress’s face.” Her head was eight feet away.

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 19

In his left hand, Corbett still held the eggs.

He wrote that they may have prevented a sudden reaction to the sighting, which would almost certainly have triggered a charge. In slow motion, Corbett eased the slender Mauser across his chest and raised it with his right hand. “My arm was now at full stretch and the weight of the rifle was beginning to tell. Only a little further now for the muzzle to go, and the tigress … had not once taken her eyes off mine …

“To me, looking into the tigress’s eyes and unable therefore to follow the movement of the barrel, it appeared that my arm was paralyzed, and that the swing would never be completed….” As soon as the muzzle covered the beast, Corbett fired. The 7mm bullet caught the great cat’s spine and ripped her heart. She had killed, by firm count, at least 64 people.

Stateside, Jack O’Connor liked the Mauser. His first rifle from custom gunmaker Al Biesen was on a Mauser action—a .30-06, Al told me. Despite an affinity for Winchester Model 70 Featherweights, O’Connor never lost his fondness for 98 Mausers. Of the Springfield, he wrote: “Various departures were made from the Mauser design, and in every instance the designers laid an egg.”

Post-war commerce

After armistice in 1945, the Mauser enterprise was renamed to reflect a new direction.

“Werke” (works) replaced “Waffenfabrik” (arms factory), and Mauser’s business shifted toward the sporting trade. The U.S. agent, A.F. Stoeger, Inc. of New York, assigned numbers to the various Mauser actions. By the end of the Depression there were 20 configurations in four lengths: magnum, standard, intermediate and short.

The short, or “kurz” version featured a small receiver ring and only three chamberings: the 6.5x50, 8x51 and .250 Savage. Magnum and kurz actions were built specifically for the hunting market. Though Mauser did not adopt Stoeger numbers, 1 through 20, collectors still use these designations.

Surplus military Mausers sold at ridiculously low prices following World War II, but commercial sporting rifles never came cheap. In 1939 a Model 70 Winchester retailed for $61.25, while Mauser listed its sporters at $110 to $250. Square-bridge or 20 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

magnum actions cost more. Left-hand versions commanded a $200 premium.

Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre in Liege, Belgium, founded by Ludwig Loewe expressly to manufacture Mauser rifles, once exported commercial 98 actions to the U.S. through Stoeger. In 1941 you could buy an FN action (cataloged as the Stoeger Peerless) for $18! But war interrupted the supply of these actions. In 1947 they appeared again, this time via the importing conduit of Firearms International in Washington, D.C. Almost identical to its predecessor, the new FN featured a lower bolt handle, and, in 1948 a double-set trigger option. The bridge was trimmed and the clip slot eliminated. The next year FN was selling complete rifles. One receiver served for standard long- and shortaction chamberings, with a magazine filler for the short rounds. An FN Magnum action appeared in 1953 for the .300 and .375 H&H. It was really the standard receiver with opened bolt face, altered feed ramp and extended box. A single-shot BR or benchrest action arrived in 1955. A couple of years later, the repeating action became the FN Deluxe. A new action, the Model 300, incorporated improvements like an adjustable trigger and right-side sliding thumb safety.

The 300 later became the FN Supreme. By 1964, the Deluxe was moth balled. The Musketeer replaced it, only in completed rifle form. During these transitions, FN made an oft-overlooked internal change. In addition to milling the right-hand side of the receiver collar for the extractor claw, the company milled a cut in the collar’s left side. The cut has no function in service but does make machining the left lug race easier. By all logic, it weakens the receiver ring, albeit there’s no evidence the removed material has led to receiver failure.

The FN gave riflemen an economical route to Mauser 1898 features. While many tinkerers built sporting rifles on liberated military hardware, or bought surplus M98s at garage-sale prices, alterations needed to make an infantry rifle into a fetching sporter cost plenty. A new barrel, a swept bolt handle, an adjustable trigger and M70-style safety, a hinged floorplate, a hand-shaped and -checkered French walnut stock add up. Trimming the receiver and drilling it for scope mounts hike the bill. New York’s Griffin & Howe has delivered such services to the well-heeled.

For years, amateur gunsmiths made do with issue barrels (perhaps rechambered to 8mm/06) and triggers. They cut down

military stocks. FN and other post-war Mauser actions for the sporting trade promised less work and superior results. A fledgling industry in replacement gun-stocks provided semi-inletted walnut to home workshops.

Herter’s walnut went into my first attempt at stocking a rifle. The inletted blank cost $7.50.

The Yugoslavian Mark X Mauser, and the Spanish Santa Barbara served impoverished Mauser enthusiasts like me. A Mark X barreled to the then-new .264 Winchester Magnum was an early prize. I dug deep for a fancy stick of Claro walnut—but inletted it without proper attention to recoil lug contact.

After cinching the finished stock to the metal, I affixed a K4 Weaver and hied off to a nearby farm. There my first shot split the Claro through the grip as neatly as if I’d cleaved it with a maul.

Following that dark day, I patiently set to work on another blank. On a frigid November day the re-stocked .264 clobbered the first branch-antlered whitetail buck I’d ever seen through a sight. I’ve since assembled a couple of Mark X rifles in .308 and .358 Norma. Ed Sweet, of Intermountain Arms in Idaho, barreled another in .338 Winchester. I owned a Whitworth in .375 but foolishly sold it. An FN .30-06 got a makeover when the late, talented, Maurice Ottmar barreled it to .458 and installed a Lyman 35 receiver sight. This is a very fast-pointing rifle, as lithe as you’d wish for angry beasts bearing down fast in tight places. The sights are shotgun-quick. The trigger could serve on a target rifle. The barrel will never wear out either, because at just 8 pounds, this .458 has all the civility of a jackhammer.

Trumping the FN?

Early attempts to bring other 98s stateside failed. In the 1960s, wildcatter P.O. Ackley contracted to have a copy built in Japan, but the enterprise soon folded. A similar fate befell the Korean-built Royal Arms action. The common obstacle: Mauser’s M98 is an expensive action to make! Stout and fault-free in function, it requires many boring, milling and broaching operations in manufacture. Some have been easy to jettison—the clip guide, thumb cut and top-swing safety aren’t useful on hunting rifles. FN Supreme actions have a simpler shroud with a safety that blocks the trigger only. Ditto the Santa Barbara (Spanish) and Zastava (Yugoslav) Mausers. These, and the fine Czech Brno, were either dropped or fell victim to import restrictions in the U.S. (Zastava because of sanctions on Serbia).

Among the most coveted of short-run Mausers is the French Brevex, a magnum action that gave shooters a worthy alternative

to the scarce and costly Oberndorf Magnum Mauser. Now you’ll have to secure a second mortgage for a Brevex! In 2002 George Sandman and partners formed Empire Rifles to build true-blue M98 commercial actions and affordable big-bore custom rifles. By all accounts the few in circulation are excellent firearms, but the company didn’t survive its first decade.

In my youth, one rifle that made men swoon was Browning’s High Power, built on FN Mauser and small Sako actions. The FN, with short and long (desirable) extractors, handled cartridges from .243 to .375 H&H. The Browning receiver featured a trim bolt stop, which lay almost flush and pivoted with the ejector. The trigger, similar to the Winchester 70’s in its simplicity and adjustment, sported a sliding thumb safety. The bolt knob on Browning rifles was round, not flat inside like the FN’s. Less appealing: etched, gold-washed alloy floorplates. Illustrated seductively in two-page spreads in Browning catalogs, Safari Grade and fancier Medallion and Olympian High Power rifles were stocked in lovely walnut and handcheckered. FN built these rifles from 1960 to 1974. A liability surfaced years later. “Saltcuring” the wood left residual salts, which drew moisture and produced rust where the metal contacted the walnut.

Global Trading, an Italian firm that

22 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

came along in 1995, imported a 98 action under the Legacy Sports International name.

E.R. Shaw barreled two for me, in .264 Winchester and .270 Weatherby. At 3.2 pounds of investment-cast steel, these are heavy actions, 8.66 inches long with an extended receiver ring for barrel support. A squareshouldered bridge and front ring mimic double-square-bridge Mausers (there’s only one real bridge on any bolt rifle!). Flats are drilled and dovetail-machined for scope mounts. The 3.11-inch port has ample clearance for magnum cartridges. An Oberndorf-style guard latch secures a hinged floorplate. An M70-type safety complements a fully adjustable trigger. Alas, this rifle has faded.

Reimer Johannsen, of Neumunster, Germany, has produced classic commercial 1898 actions with a full suite of refinements.

Four action sizes accept chamberings from .223 to .500 Jeffery and .505 Gibbs. Options include cocking-piece rear sights and dropbox magazines. Stocks and barrels on cataloged rifles are svelte and conservative.

In the U.S. (Phoenix), Granite Mountain Arms builds actions faithful to the Oberndorf 98. Milled from 8620 steel billets, bolts and receivers (four sizes, right- and left-hand) are case hardened and hand-lapped. Action lengths to 9.695 inches and diameters to .750 accommodate the biggest hunting rounds.

A straddle floorplate is standard; so too an extended tang, an adjustable trigger.

Mauser resurrected its own commercial M98 actions (or, if you like, flew its banner over the M98 again) in 1999, under the shingle Mauser Jagdwaffen GmbH (Mauser Hunting Arms, Ltd.). But the firm’s main effort now is production and sale of Model 03 rifles, which differ significantly from M98s. Mauser Jagdwaffen GmbH, in Isny im Allgau, is a subsidiary of SIG Sauer.

Any discussion of Mauser rifles must end with a helpless shrug. No one can tell in a few pages the tale of the most important military rifle ever—and the mechanism still dominating the hunting field. Books have been written on the M98 Mauser alone. The hefty 33rd edition of Fjestad’s Blue Book of Gun Values has 20 fine-print pages of terse notes on Mauser pricing. The door-latch design of Paul Mauser’s 1871 rifle preceded George Custer’s last battle, the birth of W.D.M. Bell, the debut of John Browning’s falling-block action. A star in the most productive era in firearms history, it emerged a prototype for the strongest, most dependable, most accurate repeaters.

Chances are your big game rifle owes its genesis to the German inventor whose single-shot black-powder rifle lobbed an 11mm bullet at 1,440 fps. n

Best of 2012 The Boone and Crockett Club has a tradition of honoring trophies and the fair chase hunts that produce them, including photographs from the field. In keeping with this tradition, the Club, and our friends at Swarovski, thought it would be a good idea to take this one step further and celebrate some of the best examples of field photography, and share them with you in each issue of Fair Chase.

One average, the Club accepts 1,500 new B&C trophies annually. For the fourth year, our editors will be sifting through hundreds of field photos looking for exemplary trophy field photography. The most outstanding examples will be featured in the Spring 2013 issue with the top three being awarded prizes provided

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Golden Alberta: 1920-1970 B i ghor n Hu nt i n g Hi s tor y A l on g t he E a s ter n Front of t he Ro c k i e s

By Robert M. Anderson

An Excerpt from Great Rams III, B&C’s Newest Book!

F

or 130 years, it has been a wondrous Never-NeverLand for the mountain hunter. Here are the jagged teeth of great, dangerous peaks rising in the sky, soaring granite headwalls, mountain passes through tiny “notches” in high ridges far above timberline, permanent glaciers and ice fields, lower elevations of the mountains covered with giant alluvial talus fans and, below that, long fingers of purple timber and crystal rushing streams.

And here, the crown jewel of mountain hunting in the western world still lives in his brutal heaven of frigid gales, blinding snow, hail, lightning, bone-cold, racing clouds, and brilliant sunshine.

But, for the tiny fraternity of the world’s sheep hunters of that period beginning at the end of World War I and continuing for a half-century, all the foregoing rhetoric could have been summed up in the simple words: Bighorns in Alberta.

Early day Alberta outfitter John Haggblad with a fine personal ram taken in 1920 in the White Horse Creek drainage. In the photo, the ram appears to be at least a low-book ram. It was never measured via the modern Boone and Crockett system and has long since disappeared, one more casualty to the unceasing grindstones of time and changing life priorities. Brothers John and Nick Haggblad were well-known and respected outfitters in the Luscar and Mountain Park area in the 1920s and 1930s.

Beginning in 1947, John Haggblad, by then 62 years old, worked for and was an early mentor to famous bighorn outfitter Jim Babala.

Photograph courtesy Jim Babala Collection

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 25

Far and away the most prolific and successful outfitter and client sheep hunting team was a quiet, withdrawn, incredibly shy, 24-yearold college graduate and newlywed, Donald S. Hopkins from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and an equally reticent young guide on his way up, 22-year-old Ray Mustard.

Hopkins booked his first hunt with H. M. Mustard and Sons in the late winter of 1924. When he arrived for his hunt in the fall of 1924, young Ray, who had just received his first guide’s license, was assigned to guide him. It was the beginning of a unparalleled hunting partnership and lifelong friendship between the two men.

Hopkins hunted 15 times with Ray Mustard as his outfitter and personal guide over a period of 22 years. Hopkins’ first hunt in 1924 was for 21 days. Thereafter, all of his hunts were for at least 30 days. Most were for 60 days, or the entire fall season. These hunts produced three rams above 190 B&C, taken in 1924, 1927, and 1937. Hopkins certainly collected other game, but his ABOVE: Ray Mustard’s head guide Stanley Kitchen holds a tremendous ram killed by Donald S. Hopkins in 1937 in the Jobe Creek drainage of the Brazeau River with Ray Mustard as his personal guide. The ram officially scored 191-2/8 points. If you get the idea that Hopkins was a very camera-shy man, you are correct. Despite the great rams he certainly and undoubtedly killed, I’ve never seen a kill photograph of him with any ram on the mountain.

RIGHT: A very rare photograph of Ray Mustard, taken in front of his Southesk trail cabin in 1930. In the later years of the 1950s, after Mustard had retired from outfitting, he occasionally visited his great friend, Don Hopkins, who lived in Spokane, Washington. During these visits in Spokane, Mustard was often mistaken for OUTDOOR LIFE Gun Editor Jack O’Connor, who lived in nearby Lewiston, Idaho. O’Connor was often in Spokane, usually at the gun shop of one of his favorite rifle makers, Al Biesen. Although it’s not evident in this soft photograph, the resemblance between Mustard and O’Connor was striking.

Photographs courtesy Jim Babala Collection

26 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

Ray Mustard

A l b e r t a O u t f i t te r a n d G u i d e

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 27

total priority was bighorns, and the biggest of the big.

Photographs of Hopkins on the mountain with any of his great rams are non-existent because, I believe, they were never made.

I have exactly one tiny, grainy photograph made in 1930 of the two men together. If I didn’t know the circumstances of the photo and the clothing and postures of the two men, I could not identify them as Hopkins and Mustard.

The photo is one of my prized possessions. Over the last thirty years and for some strange reason, I have felt an almost consuming need to learn more about Hopkins and Mustard, perhaps the two greatest hunters and greatest gentlemen of Marge Hopkins, wife of famous early days Alberta sheep hunter Donald S. old Alberta’s bighorn trails.

Hopkins, with a unique and beautifullyGradually, the old outfitting shaped ram she collected in 1925 in icons of the 1920s and 1930s, such the Cardinal River drainage. Marge as Jimmy Simpson, John and Nick accompanied her husband on numerous Alberta sheep hunts in the 1920s and Haggblad, Curly Phillips, Ray and 1930s, taking several good rams herself.

Bill Mustard, Jim Boyce, George and Photograph courtesy Jim Babala Collection Ray Hargreaves, and the Brewsters gave way to a new group of pack train men just as professional, skilled, and successful as their predecessors. Among these were Jimmy Simpson, Jr., Felix Plante, Charlie Stricker, Jim Babala, John Ostashek, Chester Sands, Phil Temple, and others. Perhaps the peak years of outfitting for bighorn sheep in Alberta were the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

Certainly the mighty drainages, enormous above-timberline basins, glittering snowfields, and glaciers that fed the great east- flowing rivers spilling out onto the Alberta prairies were the birthing ground for the pack train big game hunting industry. For sheep hunters, these thinair challenges were unsurpassed, and these challenges and adventures played themselves out under enormous sweeps of rock and sky. n EDITOR’S NOTE: Interested in reading more about sheep hunting? The third installment of Anderson’s epic Great Rams series includes stories of legendary sheep hunters, colorful photographs of some of the top trophy rams taken by today’s hunters, plus fully illustrated features about famous mountain hunters, sheep hunting in Alberta through the decades, the early years of desert sheep hunting in Baja, and the strange death of Tony Granata. Great Rams III also includes a special section B&C Trophy Sheep Archives, plus a special photo essay from the author’s 50 years of collecting sheep hunting photos! See page 29 for more details about the book and how to order your copy.

28 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

Stories of legendary sheep hunts and hunters, colorful photographs, features on historic trophy areas and conservation efforts, and a look at yesterday’s—and today’s—sheep hunters.

Boone and Crockett Club and Author Bob Anderson Bring You Great Rams III!

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“Today’s sheep hunter is more challenge-oriented than ever before.

Scratch the sheep hunter of today and you will see a pattern and a history of success in most all that they undertake. Almost without exception, he or she is more knowledgeable, in better condition, a better climber, and a better shot than ever before in the history of the sport... I believe that it is a profound sense of respect and responsibility on the part of hunters themselves to the great game animals that they hunt,” states author, Bob Anderson.

on hand in nderson will be Author Bob A h. Stop by, pick up your the B&C Boot d have it signed! copy, an

BOOK SIGNING

Limited press run – hard cover with dust jacket PRE-ORDER your copy today for just $100—a savings of $25.

Order must be received by January 15, 2013, in order to receive discount.

Excellent gift idea! buy now and receive a special gift card to hand out for the holiday. Books will be available in January 2013.

Visit www.boone-crockett.org

or call 406/542-1888 to place your order today.

Alaskan outfitter and guide Frenchy Lamoreaux holds the horn and skull plate of an absolutely incredible Dall’s ram. The photo was taken in front of a tent which would indicate the head might have been a fairly recent winter kill and had been picked up during a hunt. The time frame of the photograph is probably the late 1950s or early 1960s. The head is so distinctive that one would think it would be well known, but I have never talked to anyone who could shed any light on it.

Robert M. A nderson Collection

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Call 888-840-4868 To Order Today

Long considered “The Book” of big game records, Boone and Crockett Club’s newest edition of Records of North American Big Game is the most complete big game records book cataloging the greatest big game ever taken in North America.

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 29

JUSTIN E. SPRING | ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF BIG GAME RECORDS

Lion Story Hunter: Christina L. Pope Told by: Doug Pope Early on a Sunday morning Charlie Cecchini and I went out to Monitor Valley to check his traps. We made it halfway up the first canyon when, across the meadow near the far edge I spotted something lying in the meadow. I grabbed for my binos to take a closer look and said to Charlie, “It’s a dead elk.” Charlie said to me “No, it’s a rock.” (Charlie really needs new glasses.) We argued for a few minutes, then decided to walk across the meadow to see who was right.

It was a small 2x3 bull elk that had been dead for about a day to a day and a half.

We finished checking all the rest of Charlie’s traps, and when we got back to town I loaded my truck and headed back to the kill to put my trail camera up. I was curious to see if a lion was still feeding on the elk.

The next day I went back to see if the lion had come back; he did at 2:30 a.m. I reset my trail camera location because the lion had drug the elk out of camera range. I went back the next day and did not get any photos but saw where the lion had moved the elk another 30 feet. I reset my trail camera and staked down the elk so the lion could not move it any further. He was moving it closer to the sagebrush, and I wanted to continue to get good photos of him coming in.

Wednesday afternoon a cold front came through and put about 2 inches of snow

down. The next morning, my daughter Chrissy and I loaded up our dogs and headed out. We arrived at the kill at about 6:00 a.m.

I headed to the trail camera to see if the lion had come back that night. It showed the lion had just left at 5:30 a.m. I ran back to the truck so happy to tell Chrissy that the lion had just been there feeding on the elk.

We decided to drive down the road to put the tracking collars on the dogs. We didn’t want to spook the lion because the dogs get a little excited when we start pulling them out one by one to put the collars on.

We drove back up to the kill and parked. We walked the dogs across the meadow and before we could even get them unleashed they had a good smell of the lion. Dogs were off. By the time I walked back to the truck about 150 yards, the dogs had blown out of site and over the hill—no sound of them whatsoever.

Chrissy followed the dogs, and I ran back to the truck to grab packs and guns.

By the time I caught up with Chrissy on the first ridge, we still could not hear anything. We found ourselves overlooking a

Doug was able to get photos of the cougar feeding on an elk on his trail camera.

30 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

large, cliffed basin. At that point we continued on the lion and dog tracks through the top of the next ridge, and we still could not hear the dogs. We then crossed the top of the basin and could hear, off in the distance, a roar that sounded like a jet. After we walked about 100 yards, the sound got a little louder, but there was a high-pitched sound of one dog off in the distance. About another threequarters of a mile, we were at the head of another cliffed basin, and underneath us straight down was the sound of the dogs, but we still could not see them. We decided to back-track a few hundred yards and go through the top of the basin, then come down the ridge above where we thought the dogs might be.

When we reached the ridge we figured the dogs were right below us about 100 yards.

We picked a path to get down—of course it had to be the steepest side of the ridge! We sat down on our butts, and down we went, sliding over icy rocks and tumbling over sagebrush. A few times Chrissy slid into me, knocking me over, and down the mountain

Christina took this Nevada cougar with the help of her dad, Doug, in Nye County, Nevada, in the winter of 2011. It scores 14-10/16 points.

This column is dedicated to those trophies that catch our eye as they come across the records desk at Boone and Crockett Club’s headquarters. Some score high, some are downright entertaining, and many are just unique.

I would slide more. When we got to the tree where the dogs had tracked the lion, it was so steep we crawled up to the tree so we could get some photos. I knew this was a big lion by the size of the track, the trail camera photos, and also because he took down a bull elk. We leashed up the dogs and got Chrissy positioned for a kill shot. She was using my .357 lever action rifle. When she shot, the lion leaped from the tree and down the steep ridge he went. We stumbled up to unleash the dogs and to grab backpacks. Off the dogs went once again.

We got down the ridge about 100 yards and found the dogs pouncing on the lion. I looked over to make sure all our dogs were there and alive. They were in good spirits and proud, so Chrissy and I turned our focus on our victory.

“Damn, what a big lion!” I said to my daughter. I just could not resist. I had to try and lift this lion. I could barely lift him off the ground. Then I just had to set up my

#1437-12A Fair Chase.indd 1 camera and take photos of Chrissy and I with this big cat. I have been lion hunting for 20-plus years in central Nevada and have never seen a lion this big.

After celebrating with photos, ahing and oohing over this large lion, I knew we needed to get the dogs back to the truck and figure out a way to get this lion out of the canyon. I knew I couldn’t just throw him over my back and walk out. We got the dogs to the truck, and I unloaded my ATV. I was able to get my ATV within 100 yards of the dead lion. It took everything Chrissy and I had to drag this lion to the ATV, then lift him up on it. We drove back to town with

11/19/12 9:44 AM smiles and a story to tell all—a three-hour, 3.8-mile, rough-terrain, rocky canyon chase of a lifetime!

When we got to town, the first person we contacted was Tom Donham, a Nevada Department of Wildlife biologist. First thing out of Tom’s mouth was, “that is the largest lion I have ever seen.” The lion weighed 175 pounds and was 7 feet 4 inches long. After we skinned the lion and removed some flesh from the skull, we got a green score of 14-12/16. After the drying period, the final score is 14-10/16.

What a great successful hunt! Happy Hunting! n

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 31

Generation Next: Youth Essay Drawing If you’re interested in donating a rifle to the youth essay drawing, please contact the Club’s Headquarters at 406/542-1888 and ask for the youth essay coordinator.

Boone and Crockett Club is pleased to announce our first-ever youth essay contest open to all youth with accepted trophies in the Club’s 28th Big Game Awards Program!

As a way to celebrate young hunters who have embraced the outdoor way of life and embody the spirit of Fair Chase hunting, the Club’s Fair Chase magazine will be featuring select essays in this special section as we lead up to the Club’s 28th Awards Program. Our editors will be selecting the top three stories, which will be awarded our grand prize, as well as second and third prizes shown below. Judging will be based on criteria such as involvement of youth hunter and mentor, story-telling ability, ethics demonstrated in the field, and understanding of our hunting heritage. Contributors of the remaining stories will be eligible to be drawn for one of seven CZ 452 American Rifles.

Drawing to be held in Reno, Nevada, at the 28th Big Game Awards Program in the summer of 2013.

Donated by Kyle C. Krause

GRAND PRIZE Remington Model 700 CDL in .30-06 rifle laser engraved with the Boone and Crockett Club logo, with a Minox scope (not shown).

SECOND AND THIRD PRIZES CZ 452 American .22 rifle laser engraved with the Boone and Crockett Club logo, with a Minox scope (not shown).

32 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

How to Enter!

Boone and Crockett Club’s

28TH AWARDS PROGRAM DRAWING The youth authors of the stories not selected for the other prizes are eligible to win one of seven CZ 452 American .22 rifles.

Donated by L. Victor Clark

Donated by Margie Clark

Donated by Wilson Stout

Donated by Richard T. Hale

Donated by Timothy Humes

Donated by David Rippeto

Generation Next

Youth Essay Drawing STEP ONE:

Write your hunting story. We’d prefer a Word document, but we can accept typed or handwritten stories as well.

STEP TWO:

Submit your story and photos online by going to the link below. You’ll have to set up a new account to get started: http://tinyurl.com/youthessaycontest

You can also mail a hard copy of your story and photos to: Boone and Crockett Club ATTN: Youth Essay Drawing 250 Station Drive Missoula, MT 59801

STEP THREE:

That’s it! Once we receive your story you will automatically be entered in the contest for the rifles.

DEADLINE: The deadline for us to receive stories is February 28, 2013. But don’t delay. The sooner we receive the story, the better your odds are of having it published in Fair Chase magazine!

Ramsey L. Avery, age 14, took this black bear, scoring 20-6/16 while hunting in Taylor County, Wisconsin, in 2011.

QUESTIONS: Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We can be reached by calling 406/542-1888 Monday through Friday, or email jt@boone-crockett. org with your questions.

THE FINE PRINT ELIGIBILITY & DETAILS

Contest is open to all youth hunters (16 years old or younger when they harvested their animal) who have a trophy accepted in the Club’s 28th Awards Program (2010-2012). Simply submit your story on-line at http://tinyurl.com/youthessaycontest along with your photos, or mail your submission to: Boone and Crockett Club, ATTN: Youth Essay Contest, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801. Deadline to submit stories and photos is February 28, 2013. Once we receive your story and photo you will be automatically entered into the essay contest and be eligible for one of the top three prizes. Authors of the stories that don’t receive one of the prizes are eligible for the drawing to be held at 28th Big Game Awards Youth Event in Reno, Nevada, Summer 2013. By submitting your hunting story, you also grant the Boone and Crockett Club the right to edit and publish your materials, in Fair Chase magazine, future print publications, and on other digital platforms. Visit the Club’s web site at www.boone-crockett.org for complete details.

NOTE: The 28th Awards Youth Essay drawing is only open to youth hunters who have a trophy accepted in the Club’s Records Program.

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 33

Generation Next: Essays Submitted by: Melissa Noel Trophy Type: typical whitetail

Age: 13 Location: Pike County, Ohio

It was the beginning of the season for my eighth-grade girl’s basketball team. I’ve been playing basketball since second grade, and basketball and deer hunting have always been my favorite things. My dad and I had been looking forward to the youth deer hunting season, and my coach called a practice on that Saturday. When I found out, I talked to my coach and explained to him how important it was to me to go hunting with my dad that weekend. With that, he gave me permission; it was the first practice I have ever missed.

As I ate my breakfast, all I could think about was shooting my first deer.

My dad was just as excited as I was; he has been hunting for 40 years. It was youth deer hunting weekend in Ohio, and we were at our cabin in Pike County.

My dad and I quickly set up, loading my new .410 Mossberg shotgun with Winchester deer slugs.

After three hours in my blind, we were still waiting for my opportunity.

At that very instant, I heard a crack and I slowly turned to see a good-sized

During Ohio’s youth weekend in 2010, Melissa took this typical whitetail while hunting with her dad in Pike County. Her buck scores 162-2/8 points.

34 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

doe, trotting right to left about 60 yards away. My dad quietly said to me, “Melissa, when it stops in the clearing, shoot it!” As I kneeled down and lifted my gun, I saw him. The most beautiful animal I’d ever seen so close—and in my grasp. As my adrenaline reached its maximum, I pulled my gun to my cheek, aimed, and took a deep breath as my dad called out to make him stop. I pulled the trigger as soon as he stopped. I had carefully aimed, and my dad and I watched with awe as the buck shot straight up the hill.

I was so excited, I wanted to leap into the woods and track down my prize. But of course, we had to wait an hour, just to be safe. I was very confident with my shot, even though it was from 60 yards away, with no scope.

After the torturous hour had passed, my dad and I set off to where I shot the deer. We hiked up the hill, and looked for blood. I kept finding small spots of blood, which seemed insignificant to me, because I wanted my trophy. We had been searching for 45 minutes when I started to wonder, What if I missed? What if he’s gone? We had split up, and I started to tear up. It had dawned on me that the buck might not be mine or that I may have wounded it. I can’t explain the disappointment I was feeling.

I turned and closed the yardage between my dad and me. He said, “Well honey, I don’t know where he went.” I didn’t answer him, in fear that my voice would crack and the tears would flow. I couldn’t look at my dad, so I turned and looked over the hill, desperate to find anything, any trace of my deer. I spotted something, but I wasn’t sure what. I turned to my dad and said, “Daddy, is that trash or…?” I couldn’t finish my sentence because my dad knew what I was going to say, once he had also caught a glimpse of the white belly.

We hurried down the hill, and there he was. He had tangled

himself in a large thorn patch, and I knew it was going to be difficult to pull him out, but I didn’t care. We had found my prize. I grabbed one antler and my dad had the other.

We tugged and pulled until he was resting on the leaf-covered ground.

I helped my dad field dress it there, to lighten the load. It was a long drag to the top of the hill, but easy going down the other side.

We loaded my deer in the back of our Ford F150 and drove a few miles to the deer check-in station where a nice lady congratulated me and tagged my buck. She told me it was the nicest buck they had seen.

We headed home and hung him in our garage. My dad and I, along with two of his friends butchered the

deer. I was very proud of the fact that I helped fill our family freezer.

The next day, we took my buck head and cape to the taxidermist.

Overall, I had a great experience hunting with my dad, and always look forward to our next opportunity. In the spring, we picked up the mount from the taxidermist and entered it in the Deer and Turkey Expo in Columbus Ohio. My 10-point typical buck scored 168 2/8 points, which later earned me the award of the biggest whitetail buck killed in Ohio by a female in the 2010-2011 Ohio deer hunting season, awarded by the Buckeye Big Buck Club. That’s a hunt with memories I’ll never forget. n

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cpopak.com Firearms, Optics & Scopes Fine Art & Sporting Collectibles Taxidermy Collections Sporting Gear

For more information call 1.800.664.0222 or visit coastalplainsoutdoors.com

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 35

28th Awards Program Youth Hunters

Samuel C. Martell III

Accepted trophies from August 25, 2012 through November 25, 2012 Hunter Morgan J. Weaver Ramsey L. Avery Nathan T. Kathler Hunter Hubbard Benjamin T. Jaksick Austin L. Newlon Philip D. Otto Addison G. Shane Colten H. McKay Samuel C. Martell III Maggie C. Evertsen Jereme M. Jones

Category black bear black bear non-typical whitetail deer non-typical whitetail deer bighorn sheep typical whitetail deer typical whitetail deer typical whitetail deer typical whitetail deer typical whitetail deer cougar shiras’ moose

Location of Kill Polk Co., WI Taylor Co., WI Alder Flats, AB Grant Co., WI Taos Co., NM Greenwood Co., KS Douglas Co., IL Page Co., IA Columbia Co., WI Worth Co., MO Fraser River, BC Clearwater Co., ID

Date 2009 2011 2011 2011 2011 2010 2011 2011 2011 2010 2012 2010

Final Score 21 5/16 20 6/16 190 4/8 188 2/8 187 1/8 180 172 3/8 170 3/8 161 3/8 160 1/8 15 5/16 155

NOTE: Trophies listed in orange include field photos.

Addison G. Shane

Phillip D. Otto

36 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

Nathan T. Kathler

Morgan J. Weaver

Sun Outfitti ng ight L idn

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A.C. Smid would like to thank the following.

YUKON

ROGER BRITTON

Magestic Mounts

Healthy places for people & wildlife

The ethics of fair chase

© istockphoto.com/ItchinToGoFishin

Too Much Technology, Not Enough Hunting I always wanted an Olympic gold medal.

As a young person, I learned that this achievement requires Daniel A. Pedrotti Jr. an astounding amount of time, effort, and Regular member Boone and Crockett Club phenomenal natural Chair talent. This is why an Hunter Ethics Olympic gold medal is Sub-Committee so highly coveted.

National pride aside, owning the effort and experiencing the competition is what it is all about.

I don’t have an Olympic medal. I did not earn it. I didn’t do the training, and I was never on the team. I have heard that you can buy one every once in a while, but I don’t know why anyone would.

Without owning the effort, it is counterfeit and you would always have to explain the circumstance by which you acquired it. It would be interesting but nothing to brag about.

I don’t have a “book deer” either, and I’m perfectly fine with that. What I do have are years and years of great experiences, countless hours of self-fulfillment and a measure or two of skill and knowledge which I picked up along the way. My experiences are worth more than gold to me, and each and every one of them is worthy of campfire, classroom, or convention. I aspire to put one in the book someday, but I don’t measure my hunting life in antler inches. I revel in the fact that I have been there, done that, and I assure you my heart is full. Perhaps most importantly, I can look my sons, my father, and my friends in the eye when I talk about my time in the field, and I know they know how precious it is to me. I have behaved with honor and integrity; the animals I chased and the wild places I visited were treated with dignity and respect.

To this day, I simply cannot fathom why anyone would want to cheat or shortcut one of the most fundamental reasons we go afield. At one of its most basic levels, the point of the hunt is that it is difficult, challenging and the outcome in uncertain.

It is in the pursuit that we justify our place in the great circle. Why would anyone want to lessen that? What is the point of lowering the standard? Who wants the “trophy” without the experience?

Enter our old friends, ego and technology. When ego requires one to get the 38 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

trophy at all cost, the sanctity of the hunt is forfeited. When one is willing to forego the effort, manipulate the odds or change the circumstance, the end product is a fake.

The mechanism to cheat the equation is technology. A sure thing in the least amount of time becomes more important than the satisfaction of the challenge and respect for the animals. With technology, one can speed it up or increase the odds.

With a little more, one can compensate for his or her lack of skill and knowledge. With

Perhaps most importantly, I can look my sons, my father, and my friends in the eye when I talk about my time in the field, and I know they know how precious it is to me. even more technology, a hunter can make sure it is the biggest ever. For what? So one can brag about what he or she did not achieve? It is an artificial scenario, and for an increasing number of people, it is replacing the real thing.

Ok, ok . . . enough ranting. The real question here is how much technology is too much? Let’s clear up a few things first: Is technology inherently bad? Absolutely, positively not!

Are innovative advances resulting in making a clean kill a bad goal? No way! Are the makers or sellers of the technology the villains? They certainly are not.

For some, there is already too much technology. For these folks all I can say is bully for you.

So, where is the line? Each of us has to make our own determination and live with it, but there are some guidelines worth considering.

When a particular technology allows a hunter to disregard a typical or normal hunting skill (think extreme long-range shooting equipment), you are getting warm.

If a technology decreases the game animal’s opportunity to elude or escape detection (think trail cams with live time, cellular capability), you are over the line.

If the use or application of a

technology changes the natural circumstance of the hunt (think genetic manipulation), you probably aren’t even hunting anymore.

These are a few of the manifestations we now face, but by its nature, technology will create new capabilities and therefore new issues. The simple truth is that when technology changes the natural circumstance, replaces skill and lessens challenge, we are moving away from the nature of the hunt.

Regardless, there is an extraordinary business responding to this ego-driven market. We are besieged with shortcut technology. The absolute necessity of skill and knowledge, much less the burning desire to put in the effort, has become secondary for some. The value of the antler inch is greater than the satisfaction of a great effort.

In the end analysis, we are hunters.

We are a knowledgeable, skilled, and relentless bunch. We value the aesthetic of nature and adventure. We embrace the challenge and accept the consequences.

We have an extraordinary relationship with wild things and places based on dignity, respect, integrity, and honor. This relationship delineates the difference between hunters and the counterfeiters.

Often no one else is there with us at the moment of truth. No one else knows how we conducted ourselves. The satisfaction or the disappointment is so intensely personal that I simply do not comprehend how one could shortchange that experience. n

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2012 is almost over! Supplies are limited!

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Records of North American Whitetail Deer n

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40 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

If you like what the Club stands for and is doing to advance science-based conservation and conservation policy, and fair chase and are wondering if there is more you can do, the answer is Yes. We hope that you will take this opportunity to join our growing list of Lifetime Associates who have stepped up their support of the Club’s work.

Boone and Crockett Club introduces a new Lifetime Associate membership fee for our supporters aged 65 and over. Those individuals who are 65 and over can now upgrade to a Lifetime Associate at the discounted rate of $750. The regular fee for individuals under 65 remains $1,000.

We Invite You to Become a B&C Lifetime Associate!

Please Welcome Our Newest B&C Lifetime Associates 813. Richard L. Deane - Port Angeles, WA 814. Kyle J. Tator - Dulce, NM 815. David R. Watts - Houston, TX

Please call us at 406/542-1888 to speak with a Lifetime Associates Program specialist or visit our web site for more details: www.booneandcrockettclub.com

816. Burk Lowe - Dallas, TX 817. David S. Bradford - Tampa, FL 818. Timothy Gafford - Lubbock, TX 819. Peter Kraenzlin - Zurich Switzerland 820. Craig S. Stonebraker - Foley, MO 821. LeAnn De Los Rios - Riverside, CA

LIFETIME ASSOCIATES BENEFITS

822. Warren H. Alloway - Silverthorne, CO

Subscription to Fair Chase n Lifetime shirt with B&C logo n H at with B&C logo n Lifetime Associates plaque n 20% discount on select B&C books n Significant tax deduction n Invitations to special events n

The Boone and Crockett Club would like to thank our Lifetime Associates for their loyalty and support of the Club’s commitments to the user-pay/ public benefit North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

New B&C Lifetime Associate Burk Lowe

823. Christian Lee Shafer - Lafayette, OH 824. Shay P. McGowan - Grand Island, NE 825. Zach Pallister - Helena, MT 826. Carroll Kelly - Dripping Springs, TX 827. David Howe - Choctaw, OK

New B&C Lifetime Associate Craig Stonebraker

New B&C Lifetime Associate Timothy Gafford

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 41

TROPHY TALK Boone and Crockett Club’s 28th Awards Program

Jack Reneau Director Big Game Records

Boone and Crockett Club is pleased to announce its 28th Awards Program will be held at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada, July 2013. A schedule of the highlights of this exciting program is included below.

The 28th Awards Program trophy display, which will feature over 100 of the finest big game trophies ever taken and recorded by B&C, will be open to the public at the Reno Ballroom in downtown Reno July 16-20, 2013. The trophy owners themselves will receive coveted B&C Medallions and certificates at an Awards Banquet on Saturday, July 20th.

The Awards Programs are unique opportunities for hunters such as you and me

BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB’S 28TH NORTH AMERICAN BIG GAME AWARDS Silver Legacy Resort Casino, Reno Nevada SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Dec. 28, 2012 - Early invitations sent to owners of accepted trophies falling in B&C’s All-time top-10 for each category, and/ or the top two or three trophies accepted in each category in the 28th Awards Program inviting them to send their trophy to the 28th Awards Program, Reno, Nevada, for Judging, Display, Awards Banquet, and related activities.

Dec. 31, 2012 - Official close of the 28th Awards Program Entry Period (2010-2012).

January 25, 2013 - Invitations sent to remaining trophy owners with trophies accepted after the close of the 28th Awards Program on December 31, 2012, inviting them to send their trophy to the 28th Awards Program location for Judging, Display, Awards Banquet, and related activities.

March 6-18 - Receipt period at Cabela’s stores for invited trophies being shipped free-of-charge via Cabela’s to Reno, Nevada.

April 8-29 - Receipt period for invited trophies at B&C’s warehouse in Reno, Nevada. Trophies not being shipped via Cabela’s must arrive at B&C’s warehouse in Reno during this time period in order to be eligible for the 28th Awards Program Final Judging.

Apr. 30-May 4 - 28th Awards Program Final Judging: re-measurement and certification of invited trophies for possible award at the 28th Awards Program Banquet on July 20th.

July 16-20, 2013 - 28th Awards Program, seminars, auction, Youth Recognition Banquet, Awards Banquet, and related activities at the Reno Ballroom in downtown Reno.

42 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

to view these exceptional trophies and to personally visit with the hunters who took them. They can share their hunting stories on where and how they got “the big one” and perhaps you can gain tips that will enable you to take a B&C trophy in the future.

One of the star attractions in the trophy display will be Troy Sheldon’s new World’s Record Rocky Mountain goat. Not only did Troy’s billy replace the previous World’s Records (two-way tie), but it crushed Below:Troy Sheldon’s new World’s Record Rocky Mountain goat will be on display this year.

them by six-eighths of an inch. We won’t know all the trophies that will be in Reno until much later, but examples of the quality of trophies you can expect to see are shown below, which is a portion of the 27th Awards Program Trophy display held in Reno in 2010.

In addition to this breathtaking trophy display and the Big Game Awards Banquet, there will be other events of special interest to attendees, including seminars on topics of special interest to hunters by the experts—Craig Boddington, Wayne van Zwoll, and Scott Bestful, Field and Steam’s whitetail editor. There will also be an auction of a limited number of select, premium hunts by top outfitters in North America. Another highlight will be B&C’s second Youth Recognition Program, where we expect to recognize 50 or more youths under 17 years old who have taken a B&C qualifying trophy with a display of their trophies and a Youth Recognition Banquet.

Boone and Crockett Club’s Awards Program Banquets, which are premier events in the hunting community, are conducted every three years. The purpose is to recognize the finest trophies ever taken, and celebrate the successes of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. If you have never attended one of B&C’s Awards Programs, please mark your calendar and plan to attend.

I have attended 11 Awards Programs since 1977, and I can assure you that the 28th Awards will be an event you will never forget.

Additional details will be given in an upcoming issue of Fair Chase as they unfold.

Two Important Deadlines

Depending on when you receive this issue of Fair Chase, the deadline for entering a trophy in Boone and Crockett Club’s 28th Awards Program is/was December 31, 2012,

which means score charts must have been postmarked to B&C no later than this date to be eligible for listing in Boone and Crockett Club’s 28th Big Game Awards book to be published next October. Score charts postmarked after this date will be entries in B&C’s 29th Awards Program that closes December 31, 2015.

The records office will process 28th Awards Program entries postmarked by the deadline date as quickly as possible. Trophy owners whose files are incomplete will be mailed a request for the missing entry materials and will have until March 18, 2013, to postmark those materials to B&C. Trophies for which we don’t receive these requested materials postmarked by this date will be moved into the 29th Awards while we await their entry materials.

Trophy Entry Fee Remains at $40

At a recent meeting in New York, the Records Committee rescinded its plan to raise the trophy entry fee to $50 starting January 1, 2013, that I announced in a previous Trophy Talk column. Thus, the entry fee will remain at $40 for the foreseeable future.

No Workshops until Spring 2014

Please note that here are no measurer training workshops scheduled until May 2014, except for one that we will be conducting for the Missouri Department of Conservation during June 2013. This is because records program staff will be immersed in the 28th Awards Program and the 28th Awards Program records book next year. n

Quality trophies like these will be on display as well, this is a portion of the 27th Awards Program Trophy display held in Reno in 2010.

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The following pages list the most recent big game trophies accepted into the Boone and Crockett Club’s 28th Big Game Awards Program, 2010-2012, which includes entries received between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2012. All of the field photos in this section are from entries that are listed in this issue and are shown in bold green text.

This listing represents only those trophies accepted since the Fall issue of Fair Chase was published.

ABOVE While on an archery hunt near Ugashik Lake, Alaska, in 2011, Gus A. Congemi, harvested this Alaska brown bear scoring 29 points. Below Joshua D. Warren was shooting his .300 Weatherby when he took this typical American elk scoring 391-1/8 points. He was hunting in Columbia County, Washington, in 2011.

44 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

BEAR & COUGAR FINAL SCORE

LOCATION

HUNTER

DATE MEASURER

23 1/16 Clark Co., WI Kurk A. Mackrill 2011 K. Herring 22 11/16 Armstrong Co., PA Timothy R. Kiser 2011 J. Smith 22 8/16 Tioga Co., PA J. Stan Martin 2011 R. D’Angelo 22 6/16 Barron Co., WI Shari S. Nyhus 2011 K.

Zimmerman 22 3/16 Jackson Co., WI Daniel D. Callaway 2011 T. Heil 22 3/16 Agassiz, BC Roger Pain 1991 A. Berreth 21 14/16 Duck Mt., MB Thomas K. Luffel 2012 R. Skinner 21 14/16 N. Saskatchewan Doug G. Shapka 1983 D.

River, AB Bromberger 21 11/16 Tyrrell Co., NC Albert J. Blase, Jr. 2010 H. Hall 21 7/16 Dunn Co., WI Thomas D. Miller 2011 S. Ashley 21 6/16 Lincoln Co., WI Vincent J. Catania 2011 M. Miller 21 6/16 San Miguel Co., CO Robert G. Farrow 2011 L. Wilf 21 6/16 Sullivan Co., PA Matthew J. Romano 2011 R. Heller 21 5/16 Marinette Co., WI David D. Nosgovitz 2011 D. Goers 21 5/16 Polk Co., WI Morgan J. Weaver 2009 K.

Zimmerman 21 5/16 Polk Co., WI Tony J. Meyer 2009 C. Cousins 21 4/16 Barron Co., WI Adam L. Gronning 2011 L.

Zimmerman 21 4/16 Mendocino Co., CA Jessica A. Marquis 2010 D. Morris 21 4/16 Roseau Co., MN James H. Buchwitz 2011 R. Dehart 21 2/16 Smoky Lake, AB Tim Lingnau 2011 D. Powell 21 1/16 Bradford Co., PA Matthew R. Santiago 2011 R. Kingsley 21 1/16 Centre Co., PA Dale R. Rutter 2011 D. Garrison 21 1/16 Clearfield Co., PA Picked Up 2011 R. Kingsley 20 15/16 Sanpete Co., UT Bobby G. Olsen 2012 K. Leo 20 14/16 Marshall Co., MN Steele D. Bertils 2011 R. Dufault 20 14/16 Pike Co., PA Owen L. Wiley 2011 L. Fulmer 20 13/16 Jackson Co., WI Neil W. McCune 2010 L.

Zimmerman 20 12/16 Barron Co., WI Michael S. Bilodeau 2011 L.

Zimmerman 20 12/16 Crawford Co., PA Glenn J. Morrow 2011 E. Defibaugh 20 12/16 Price Co., WI Russell L. Hotz 2011 P. Barwick 20 11/16 Menominee Co., MI Christopher K. Groty 2011 M. Boersen 20 10/16 Barron Co., WI Jennifer L. Klein 2011 L.

Zimmerman 20 10/16 Grand Co., CO James R. Holahan 2011 B. Smith 20 9/16 Marshall Co., MN Kaine W. Jablinske 2011 R. Dufault 20 9/16 Monroe Co., WV Derek B. Staten 2011 S. Cook 20 9/16 Lake Manitoba, MB John E. Dawson 2011 L. Davison 20 9/16 Shawano Co., WI Kenneth W. Alft 2011 T. Heil 20 9/16 Washburn Co., WI Dale C. Marker 2011 K.

Zimmerman 20 8/16 Douglas Co., WI Robert J. Fagan 2009 K.

Zimmerman 20 8/16 Lincoln Co., WI Dawn M. Rausch 2011 T. Heil 20 8/16 Coffman Cove, AK Gregory A. Pulver 2010 J. Weise 20 8/16 Price Co., WI Donald J. Zima 2011 B. Ihlenfeldt 20 8/16 Uintah Co., UT Jason L. Gross 2012 K. Leo 20 7/16 Allegany Co., NY Michael T. Evans II 2011 D. Haseley 20 7/16 Bradford Co., PA Lisa J. Campanelli 2011 D. Mitchell 20 7/16 Buckingham Co., VA Brent C. Barnes 2012 H. Atkinson 20 7/16 Kosciusko Island, AK M. Blake Patton 2005 R. Skinner 20 7/16 Tioga Co., PA Bradley P. Goodhart 2011 D. Lynch 20 6/16 Cattaraugus Co., NY Stephen M. Boyd 2011 R. Turk 20 6/16 Fergus Co., MT Timothy M. Stricker 2012 B. Zundel 20 6/16 Taylor Co., WI Ramsey L. Avery 2011 T. Heil 20 5/16 Columbia Co., PA Michael McCormick 2010 T. Conway 20 5/16 Lincoln Co., WI Dale E. Hetzel 2011 T. Heil 20 5/16 Shawano Co., WI Benjamin K. Cheslock 2011 P. Gauthier 20 4/16 St. Louis Co., MN Chad G. Miller 2010 G. Fausone 20 4/16 Tioga Co., PA Jeffery L. Rice 2011 R. Kingsley

Black Bear Continued

Typical American elk Continued

20 2/16 Burnett Co., WI Spencer T. Peterson 2011 K.

Zimmerman 20 2/16 Eau Claire Co., WI David M. Stavnaw 2011 L. Zimmerman 20 1/16 Aitkin Co., MN Ashley M. Shore 2010 T. Rogers 20 1/16 Chippewa Co., MI Jeffery G. Petricevic 2010 M. Drummond 20

Sawyer Co., WI Bowen J. Hallum 2010 K.

Zimmerman 20

Washington Co., ID Steve L. Nagy 2012 R. Addison

379 3/8 375 3/8 369 4/8 369 1/8 367 7/8 366 6/8 363 4/8 362 7/8 362 360 4/8

Grizzly bear 25 5/16 24 14/16 24 12/16 24 12/16 24 3/16 24 23 14/16 23 4/16 23 2/16

Kelly River, AK Burns Lake, BC Noatak River, AK Ungalik River, AK Tchentlo Lake, BC Otter Creek, AK Clear, AK Jennings River, BC Bear River, BC

Tim D. Hiner 2012 Donald E. Wenner, Jr. 2011 Louis C. Blanda, Jr. 2002 Timothy C. Groves 2011 Cameron T. Cooke 2008 Louis J. Wickas 2011 Allen C. Nichols 2011 Dean L. Rehbein 2011 J. Michael Goodart 2011

C. Brent L. Rominger J. Jackson K. Wiebe R. Berreth R. Boutang C. Brent L. Lack L. Rominger

Thomas A. Stago William H. Dawley Terry D. Ernst Henry K. Flatow Gus A. Congemi Thomas J. Combs

2012 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011

L. Fulmer C. Brent D. Eider L. Lack S. Cook J. Wiersum

Scott A. Fulton 2012 P. Barwick Richard A. Forthofer 2011 J. Reneau Brian P. McGowan 2012 A. Dewald Larry S. Partridge 2012 D. Rippeto Chad E. Allen 2012 K. Witt James L. Morris 2011 C. Brent Ernesto M. Santana 2011 D. Eider Christopher P. 2006 C. Lieser Hoffman Donald R. Corrigan 2011 R. Novosad Stephen R. Bolan 2011 R. Deis Anthony V. Hoots 2012 S. Ruckel Carla Jo Payne 2011 J. Witt

Cougar 15 11/16 15 5/16 15 5/16 15 4/16 15 4/16 15 2/16 15 2/16 15 14 11/16 14 10/16 14 10/16 14 10/16 14 10/16 14 9/16 14 8/16

La Plata Co., CO David D. Dillon 2011 Fraser River, BC Maggie C. Evertsen 2012 Utah Co., UT Joseph J. Tilton 2007 Missoula Co., MT Raymond C. Oyen 2012 Missoula Co., MT Todd L. Davis 2010 Mesa Co., CO Kyle R. Schlesser 2010 Lac La Hache, BC Vernon J. MacDonald 2011 Rio Arriba Co., NM Geoffrey F. Steiner 2011 Abraham Lake, AB Kevin Tyhy 2012 Garfield Co., UT Eric H. Boley 2012 Lewis & Clark Co., MT Derrick D. Hedalen 2011 Nye Co., NV Christina L. Pope 2011 Rio Blanco Co., CO Thomas R. Walz 2011 Colfax Co., NM M. Blake Patton 2005 Boise Co., ID John M. Joyce 2012

M. Duplan R. Berreth D. Nielsen L. Jass J. Reneau G. Hempey G. Markoski G. Pappas E. Parker K. Dana J. Pallister J. Maslach R. Selner R. Skinner R. Addison

Pacific walrus 141 6/8 144

Alaska Pen., AK

Picked Up

Mesa Co., CO John A. Ledbetter Teton Co., WY Robert A. Gassoff Yellowstone Co., MT Brian J. Geffre Teton Co., WY John B. Novisky III Mesa Co., CO George B. Harris Togo, SK Rick J. Schuster Lincoln Co., NM M.Shane Louder Montezuma Co., CO Kirk D. Nielsen Lincoln Co., NM Jason C. Wrinkle La Plata Co., CO John H. Ott

2011 2009 2011 2010 1997 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011

C. Neill R. Anderson B. Zundel S. Rauch T. Brickel H. Dreger J. Wrinkle B. Long A. Cain B. Long

Non-typical American elk 386 1/8 399 3/8 Colfax Co., NM

Philip A. Barrett

2011 K. Balfourd

Roosevelt’s elk 335 3/8 353 4/8 Humboldt Co., CA 334 2/8 339 6/8 Humboldt Co., CA 285 2/8 295 5/8 Coos Co., OR

Shan L. Grundman Picked Up Rob D. Miller

2011 G. Hooper 2009 G. Hooper 2005 D. Heffner

Tule elk

Alaska brown bear 30 4/16 Uyak Bay, AK 29 13/16 Cold Bay, AK 29 6/16 Cold Bay, AK 29 1/16 Alaska Pen., AK 29

Ugashik Lake, AK 28 11/16 Old Womens

Mountain, AK 28 11/16 Uyak Bay, AK 28

Naknek River, AK 27 14/16 Dog Salmon

River, AK 27 11/16 Egegik, AK 27 4/16 Becharof Creek, AK 27 3/16 Alaska Pen., AK 27 3/16 Unimak Island, AK 27 2/16 Pumice Creek, AK

26 6/16 Becharof Lake, AK 26 2/16 Becharof Lake, AK 26

Alaska Pen., AK 26

Lyman Hills, AK

390 5/8 385 2/8 371 6/8 372 5/8 386 1/8 373 1/8 380 4/8 375 3/8 377 378 7/8

2011 C. Bre

349 2/8 364 6/8 318 3/8 326 2/8 297 6/8 309 3/8 277 3/8 280 2/8

Colusa Co., CA San Benito Co., CA Monterey Co., CA San Luis Obispo Co., CA

David E. Leport Picked Up Picked Up Larry A. Meyer

2004 1997 2010 2011

D. Biggs M. Opitz D. Troy D. Troy

Typical mule deer 200 1/8 199 5/8 194 190 6/8 190 1/8 190 1/8 187 4/8 187 1/8 187 186 2/8 186 1/8 185 7/8 185 4/8 183 5/8 183 182 5/8 182 5/8 182 4/8 181 3/8 181 3/8 180 1/8 180 1/8

203 6/8 204 3/8 198 5/8 195 5/8 211 5/8 202 4/8 191 7/8 195 2/8 204 1/8 189 3/8 208 217 2/8 205 7/8 185 7/8 191 4/8 205 2/8 204 186 5/8 182 6/8 186 193 4/8 201 3/8

Uintah Co., UT Mohave Co., AZ Las Animas Co., CO Garfield Co., UT Kane Co., UT Wheeler Co., OR Valley Co., ID Carbon Co., UT Unknown Gunnison Co., CO Stockwell Lake, SK Billings Co., ND Mesa Co., CO Sonora, MX Rio Blanco Co., CO Gooding Co., ID Riverhurst, SK Chelan Co., WA Millard Co., UT Gull Lake, SK Haakon Co., SD Park Co., CO

Phillip C. McMillan 1987 Thomas E. Soyars 1985 George H. Brown 2011 Kurt P. Fisher 2011 Martha A. Soyars 2011 Brian Robertson 2011 James D. Bauman 2011 Michael D. Thomas 2008 Unknown 1939 William F. Ballard 2011 Nelson M. Yelle 2011 Glenn Olson 1952 Richard D. Stefanucci 1979 Jerry L. Tkac 2012 William E. Meissner 1950 Thomas D. Page 2011 Kris L. Ewen 2011 Leonard F. Sauer 2009 Kyle S. Shoman 2011 Tanya Zanidean 2011 Jason E. Hamill 2010 Mark A. Rohrer 2010

W. Bradwisch J. Stein G. Adkisson D. Nielsen J. Stein G. Childers B. Penske J. Bugni L. Jass R. Black H. Dreger J. Zins J. Reneau K. Krause J. Busic T. Conrads A. Long J. Wiggs J. Zins R. Allemand L. Jass T. Brickel

Non-typical mule deer 260 3/8 235 2/8 232 228 6/8 226 4/8 222 6/8 220 7/8 220 4/8 220 4/8 217 2/8 215 6/8

277 4/8 246 2/8 236 1/8 233 5/8 230 1/8 226 3/8 225 224 7/8 223 221 1/8 222 4/8

Uintah Co., UT Pelletier Lake, SK Big Valley, AB Franklin Co., ID Morgan Co., CO Unknown Elbert Co., CO Coconino Co., AZ Eagle Co., CO Idaho Co., ID Lincoln Co., NV

Max Rasmussen 1950 James A. Hitchens 2011 David Kastik 2007 L. Craig Fox 2011 Gregory W. Dardanes 2011 Unknown 2000 Daryl G. Evans 2011 Thomas E. Soyars 1988 Bradley N. Lowry 2010 David C. Klapprich 1962 Richard M. Kanaly 2011

R. Hall H. Dreger D. Powell H. Morse S. Grebe H. Yeager S. Grebe J. Stein L. Lack S. Wilkins G. Moore

Typical Columbia blacktail

ELK & MULE DEER

FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION

HUNTER

DATE MEASURER

141 4/8 139 6/8 138 4/8 138 3/8 134 5/8 132 6/8 129 3/8 127 7/8 125 7/8

146 7/8 143 4/8 147 149 7/8 142 7/8 139 2/8 134 7/8 134 3/8 129

Skagit Co., WA Humboldt Co., CA Clallam Co., WA Tehama Co., CA Cheam Mt. BC Douglas Co., OR Norrish Creek, BC Douglas Co., OR Mendocino Co., CA

Jeff S. Moody James R. Hight Douglas L. Maxfield John A. Flournoy Bryce Nadeau Mary Johnson Tom Morton Rob D. Miller Zachary J. Walton

2011 2009 1997 1993 2007 1967 1962 1976 2011

K. Vaughn G. Hooper W. Johnson D. Morris R. Berreth D. Heffner R. Berreth D. Heffner C. Larson

Typical American elk 391 1/8 409 7/8 Columbia Co., WA 382 4/8 388 5/8 Elko Co., NV 382 390 3/8 San Juan Co., UT

Joshua D. Warren Daniel L. Evans Michael D. Lassig

2011 G. Martin 2011 L. Lack 2011 S. Fuchs

Non-typical Columbia blacktail 177 1/8 187 2/8 Trinity Co., CA

Albert L. Binschus

1985 K. Evanow

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 45

Recently accepted trophies Typical Sitka blacktail deer 112 5/8 119 4/8 105 4/8 109 7/8 103 6/8 106 6/8 102 5/8 107 1/8

101 3/8 108 6/8

Exchange Cove, AK Picked Up Zarembo Island, AK Matt J. Nilsen Whale Pass, AK Peter A. Nilsen Kupreanof Matt J. Nilsen Island, AK Kupreanof Picked Up Island, AK

1991 1995 1985 2004

M. Nilsen J. Baichtal M. Nilsen J. Baichtal

2009 J. Baichtal

WHITETAIL DEER

FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION

HUNTER

DATE MEASURER

Typical whitetail deer 187 7/8 195 Franklin Co., OH Ronnie A. Stevens 2011 R. Deis 186 2/8 196 6/8 Lamont, AB Cliff Chopping 2011 J. Graham 183 4/8 214 7/8 Peoria Co., IL Mark A. Reatherford 2011 T. Walmsley 182 6/8 195 3/8 Preble Co., OH Kim A. Myers 2011 L. Loranzan 182 4/8 209 5/8 Mellon Lake, ON Bill Vankoughnet 1961 R. Poulin 180 7/8 189 4/8 Highland Co., OH Michael A. Stapleton 2012 L. Loranzan 180 2/8 184 5/8 Greene Co., IL Tyrone R. Cox 2007 B. Neitzel 180 188 2/8 Dunn Co., WI Picked Up 2012 L. Zimmerman 180 204 7/8 Greenwood Co., KS Austin L. Newlon 2010 B. Odle 180 187 5/8 Maverick Co., TX Harold T. du Perier III 2011 J. Stein 180 200 3/8 Randolph Co., IL Picked Up 2007 D.

Hollingsworth 179 2/8 182 4/8 Fulton Co., IN Dave E. Koch 2011 R. Graber 178 7/8 186 4/8 Dunn Co., WI Nicholas A. Wahlberg 2009 R. St. Ores 178 2/8 180 5/8 Elk Point, AB Kyle W. Reszel 2011 A. England 177 3/8 199 2/8 Franklin Co., IL Donald J. Flatt 2011 D. Belwood 177 1/8 198 2/8 La Salle Co., TX Floyd E. Spivey 1943 J. Stein 177 1/8 183 1/8 Marshall Co., IL Daniel S. Scott 2011 T. Walmsley 176 6/8 178 7/8 Sheho Lake, SK Duane R. Murray 2010 H. Dreger 176 5/8 189 2/8 Iowa Co., WI Dustin K. Weber 2012 S. Zirbel 176 3/8 186 2/8 Scioto Co., OH Anthony R. Stewart 2011 D. Haynes

This non-typical mule deer, scoring 220-4/8, was taken in Eagle County, Colorado, by Bradley Lowry.

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46 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

Recently accepted trophies Typical whitetail deer Continued 176 2/8 205 4/8 Columbia Co., WI Jeffrey C. Homman 2011 M. Miller 176 2/8 193 2/8 Bonnyville, AB Sam G. Syring 2011 J. Stein 175 7/8 200 5/8 Webb Co., TX Chris M. Hatthorn 2011 J. Tkac 175 5/8 200 Riley Co., KS Jon M. Massie 2007 D. Boland 175 2/8 194 6/8 Perry Co., IL Stephen Bury 2011 E. Hendricks 175 192 5/8 Sussex Co., VA Hugh F. Luck 2011 R. Mayer 174 7/8 190 2/8 Perry Co., IN Abe E. Schwartz 2011 M. Verble 174 6/8 183 Jackson Co., OH Bryan K. Harvey 2011 D. Haynes 173 7/8 177 2/8 Shelby Co., KY Kevin C. Peak 2011 W. Cooper 173 7/8 179 7/8 Yazoo Co., MS Peyton L. Crawford 2011 C. Neill 173 6/8 196 7/8 Peoria Co., IL Jack L. Pribble 2010 E. Hendricks 173 3/8 175 1/8 Pike Co., IL Kacie L. Fisk 2011 L. Hansen 173 3/8 182 2/8 Tazewell Co., IL Ryan T. McCoy 2011 E. Randall 173 181 7/8 Green Co., KY James W. Scott II 2011 L. Dennis 172 7/8 181 Russell Co., KS Michele A. Johnson 2010 T. Berger 172 7/8 190 4/8 Whitley Co., KY Randy E. Huddleston 2011 W. Cooper 172 6/8 176 3/8 Marion Co., IN Matt J. Burkhart 2011 R. White 172 4/8 182 7/8 Hancock Co., IL Robert G. Zalkus 2007 J. Pals 172 3/8 178 3/8 Douglas Co., IL Philip D. Otto 2011 E. Hendricks 172 2/8 175 2/8 Green Co., KY Troy Sluder 2011 W. Cooper 172 2/8 176 6/8 Lucas Co., OH Brent I. Couts 2011 M. Wendel 172 2/8 184 5/8 Warren Co., IA Jeff E. Lewis 2011 R. Bishop 171 7/8 181 7/8 Fulton Co., IL Glen E. Lynch 2011 D. Boland 171 7/8 189 3/8 Worth Co., GA Samuel H. Brannen 2011 W. Cooper 171 5/8 181 3/8 Jackson Co., IN Delbert L. Raber 2011 R. Graber 171 5/8 196 Lewis Co., KY Picked Up 2011 D. Jackson 171 5/8 180 1/8 Polk Co., WI Thomas 2006 D. O’Brien

Dzieweczynski 171 4/8 192 1/8 Boone Co., IA Dennis D. Bristle 2011 K. Freymiller 171 3/8 177 Jackson Co., WI Eric J. Hogden 2008 K.

Zimmerman 171 3/8 177 4/8 Pittsburg Co., OK Johnny L. Gibson 2011 C. Parker 171 2/8 181 4/8 Clark Co., KS Hoyt. A. Childs III 2011 K. Ison 171 2/8 173 1/8 Labette Co., KS Brad B. Butler 2010 D. Boland 171 1/8 173 Cherry Co., NE Kelly L. Griffith 2011 T. Welstead 171 1/8 179 1/8 Greenup Co., KY James C. Epling 2011 W. Cooper 171 1/8 182 2/8 La Salle Co., TX Tim Hixon 2011 J. Stein 171 1/8 199 3/8 Moniteau Co., MO Anthony C. Johnson 2011 D. Roper 171 1/8 174 3/8 Worth Co., MO Scott W. Eichhorn 2011 G. Wallace 171 183 Jackson Co., WI Jordan M. Edie 2011 L. Zimmerman 170 7/8 181 3/8 Buffalo Co., WI Gary L. Stanton 2009 C. Cousins 170 7/8 174 5/8 Crawford Co., WI Donald E. Kaun 2011 E. Randall 170 7/8 195 7/8 Lauderdale Co., MS Ricky G. Sullivan 2012 D. Doughty 170 5/8 179 6/8 Allamakee Co., IA Charles F. Henke 2011 E. Randall 170 5/8 183 3/8 Crawford Co., GA Rabun E. Thigpen 2011 W. Cooper 170 4/8 199 1/8 Dakota Co., NE Scott M. Shadbolt 2011 G. Hempey 170 4/8 187 5/8 De Kalb Co., MO Douglas G. McCrea 2011 J. Martin 170 4/8 178 1/8 Green Co., WI Benjamin S. Hedeman 2012 E. Randall 170 4/8 183 6/8 Guthrie Co., IA Rachel Garst 2011 G. Salow 170 4/8 179 6/8 Helen Lake, SK Picked Up 2011 B. Seidle 170 4/8 179 5/8 Pulaski Co., IN Rocky D. Gourley 2010 J. Bogucki 170 3/8 176 4/8 Otter Tail Co., MN Samuel J. Zutter 2011 M. Harrison 170 3/8 180 3/8 Page Co., IA Addison G. Shane 2011 K. Fredrickson 170 2/8 174 5/8 Wabasha Co., MN Peter M. Cyr 2011 S. Grabow 170 1/8 173 6/8 Wayne Co., IA Stephen M. Stanic 2011 K. Freymiller 170 174 3/8 Surry Co., NC Jeffrey L. Hamilton 2011 D. Boland 168 6/8 173 5/8 Adair Co., MO Melissa R. Mihalevich 2011 D. Ream 168 5/8 189 3/8 Mahoning Co., OH Jeffrey L. Hendricks 2012 M. Wendel 168 4/8 176 5/8 De Soto Co., MS John W. Hoggard, Jr. 2011 R. Dillard 168 4/8 173 4/8 Grant Co., KY Charles A. Thompson 2011 J. Phillips 168 3/8 172 1/8 Page Co., IA Steven R. Branson 2011 K. Fredrickson 167 7/8 185 7/8 Becker Co., MN Arnold Sweet 1938 D. Ohman 167 7/8 174 2/8 Christian Co., KY Chris Brown 2011 W. Cooper 167 5/8 187 4/8 Hall Co., TX Randell G. Hesteande 2010 J. Barrow 167 5/8 182 5/8 Lake Koocanusa, BC Brad Spady 2000 F. Pringle 167 4/8 172 7/8 Cross Co., AR Alton R. Irwin, Jr. 2011 C. Latham 167 4/8 179 1/8 Ripley Co., IN Jordan M. Schnebelt 2011 K.

Bumbalough 167 2/8 173 2/8 Athens Co., OH Aaron M. Reeves 2011 W. Culbertson 167 2/8 190 Cass Co., IL Randall J. Luft 2011 D.

Hollingsworth 167 2/8 173 2/8 Dunn Co., WI Rodney C. Baier 2009 K. Fredrickson 167 2/8 183 1/8 Fountain Co., IN Neil J. Deckard 2011 R. Graber 167 1/8 172 1/8 Buffalo Co., WI Kimberley N. Manor 2011 K.

Zimmerman 167 1/8 186 6/8 Lincoln Co., WI Richard J. Shorey 2011 T. Heil 166 6/8 172 4/8 Green Co., WI Brian K. Furniss 2011 K.

Zimmerman 166 6/8 171 6/8 Perry Co., OH Kenneth A. Osburn 2011 G. Trent

This typical whitetail deer was taken in Franklin County, Ohio, by Ronnie A. Stevens in 2011. This buck scores 187-7/8 points.

166 6/8 182 6/8 Polk Co., IA Glen E. Salow 2011 D. Boland 166 1/8 186 1/8 Calhoun Co., IL Kevin D. Uder 2011 E. Hendricks 166 1/8 172 1/8 Lebanon Co., PA Wesley M. McCurdy 2011 D. Kennedy 166 1/8 172 5/8 Monroe Co., OH William T. Cline 2011 J. Westfall 166 169 6/8 Clark Co., IN Michael R. Helton 2010 D. Curts 165 6/8 173 5/8 Clark Co., WI David R. Le Duc 2009 C. Cousins 165 6/8 174 5/8 Birch Lake, SK Brett E. Seidle 2011 A. Holtvogt 165 5/8 170 5/8 Clayton Co., IA Daniel C. Thurston 2011 P. Farni 165 4/8 192 7/8 Allamakee Co., IA Jayme F. Manning 2011 S. Grabow 165 3/8 170 2/8 Adams Co., IL Timothy D. Walmsley 2011 T. Grover 165 3/8 174 1/8 Prince Edward Charles T. Wilkerson 2011 W. Knox

Co., VA 165 172 7/8 Harrison Co., IN Douglas D. Stocker 2010 D. Curts 164 7/8 186 2/8 Ohio Co., KY Daniel Jarboe 2011 W. Cooper 164 6/8 179 5/8 Athabasca, AB Robert J. Peeters 2011 C. Smiley 164 4/8 171 6/8 Jackson Co., WI Raymond M. Huotari 2011 S. Zirbel 164 3/8 172 Lackawanna Co., PA Frank P. Namatka, Jr. 2011 R. D’Angelo 164 3/8 168 5/8 Van Wert Co., OH Nicholas H. Strader 2011 M. Wendel 164 176 2/8 Douglas Co., SD John D. Brenner 2011 R. Pesek 164 168 New Haven Co., CT Christopher P. Panzella 2011 C. Lieser 163 7/8 169 1/8 Cook Co., GA Michael Folsom 2011 W. Cooper 163 6/8 191 1/8 Morgan Co., IL Kevin W. Allen 2010 E. Randall 163 5/8 195 4/8 Marion Co., IL Charles C. Lyons IV 2011 M. Kistler 163 4/8 167 Adair Co., MO Carlos G. Snyder 2011 D. Ream 163 4/8 182 Wood Co., OH Jeffrey H. Hahn 2011 J. Hill 162 7/8 167 5/8 Etomami River, SK Gert C. Pieterse 2010 H. Dreger 162 4/8 173 5/8 Howard Co., AR Jared W. Smith 2011 D. Doughty 162 4/8 169 3/8 Keokuk Co., IA Nathan A. Watts 2010 K. Fredrickson 162 2/8 170 4/8 Burnett Co., WI Corey S. Westerberg 2010 R. St. Ores 162 2/8 173 6/8 Richland Co., WI Mitchell R. Dyer 2000 S. Godfrey 162 1/8 167 2/8 Itasca Co., MN John Fredlund, Sr. 1928 D. Ohman 161 7/8 171 7/8 Muskingum Co., OH Jerry L. Hixenbaugh 2011 R. Pepper 161 6/8 165 6/8 Morgan Co., AL Jason P. Palmer 2012 C. Cook 161 5/8 186 1/8 Allegheny Co., PA Dustin L. Andreis 2011 G. Block 161 5/8 179 4/8 Clayton Co., IA Barry J. Olberding 2007 P. Farni 161 5/8 167 4/8 Jackson Co., WI Allan S. Austad 2004 K.

Zimmerman

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 47

Recently accepted trophies Non-typical whitetail deer Continued

While on a 2011 archery hunt in Taylor County, Iowa, Matthew G. Strueby took this 228-5/8 point non-typical whitetail deer.

Whitetail deer Continued 161 4/8 161 4/8 161 3/8 161 2/8 161 1/8 160 7/8 160 7/8 160 7/8 160 7/8 160 7/8 160 6/8 160 5/8 160 5/8 160 5/8 160 5/8 160 3/8 160 1/8 160 1/8 160 1/8 160 1/8 160 1/8 160

180 2/8 179 180 3/8 176 1/8 175 1/8 177 5/8 167 6/8 189 7/8 173 170 3/8 165 6/8 172 2/8 161 7/8 173 3/8 180 167 7/8 171 2/8 165 1/8 189 1/8 167 2/8 167 3/8 175 5/8

Columbia Co., WI Nicholas M. Bortz 2011 Todd Co., MN Jack M. Burak 2011 Columbia Co., WI Colten H. McKay 2011 Sweet Grass, SK David W. Fox 2009 Wapello Co., IA Daniel R. Klein 2011 Coffey Co., KS Jeffery W. Edwards 2011 Fairfield Co., CT Joseph M. Fedorko 2011 Gallatin Co., IL Raymond B. Ellis 2011 Laclede Co., MO Mark A. Harston 2011 New Castle Co., DE Gregory R. McNett 2003 Whitley Co., KY Vincent D. Sulfridge 2011 Benton Co., MN David A. Thursness 2011 Irwin Co., GA Ronald Merritt 2010 Ohio Co., KY Donald W. Perry 2010 Trempealeau Co., WI James B. Billington 2010 Russell Co., KY Jeffrey Shearer 2010 Champaign Co., OH Mark A. Wallen 2011 Gentry Co., MO Kenneth Mechalske, Jr. 2010 Jasper Co., MS John K. Redd 2012 La Crosse Co., WI Roger L. Anderson 2011 Worth Co., MO Samuel C. Martell III 2010 Maverick Co., TX Frank A. Wojtek 2011

J. Ramsey S. Grabow B. Ihlenfeldt D. Levasseur B. Hagy C. Latham C. Lieser C. Fuqua J. Braithwait W. Jones D. Weddle R. Berggren W. Cooper D. Weddle S. Godfrey W. Cooper M. Wendel F. Horn D. Doughty C. Gallup R. Novosad M. Pillow

Non-typical whitetail deer 260 6/8 264 4/8 N. Saskatchewan Maverick Windels 2011 B. Seidle

River, SK 238 4/8 247 4/8 Jackson Co., KS Lucas T. Cochren 2011 R. Bergloff 231 4/8 238 5/8 Carroll Co., IA Joel M. Greteman 2011 K. Herring 231 3/8 238 6/8 Waupaca Co., WI Picked Up 2012 S. Zirbel 228 5/8 237 5/8 Taylor Co., IA Matthew G. Strueby 2011 D. Ream 226 232 6/8 Columbia Co., WI Thomas A. Taylor 2010 P. Gauthier 225 5/8 235 6/8 Surry Co., VA Malcom S. Graham 2011 R. Mayer 224 3/8 229 6/8 Shawnee Co., KS Todd S. Morstorf 2003 D.

Hollingsworth 222 1/8 227 3/8 Noble Co., OH Kurt M. Mallett 2011 M. Wendel 220 3/8 240 4/8 Livingston Co., IL William D. Cunningham 2011 E. Hendricks 219 2/8 226 Osage Co., OK Richard B. Davidson 2011 D. Doughty

48 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

218 1/8 227 1/8 N. Saskatchewan Barrett McCann 2010 P. Mckenzie

River, SK 218 224 7/8 Hardin Co., OH Derick S. Craig 2011 M. Wendel 218 224 1/8 Muscatine Co., IA Paul O. Hein 2011 K. Fredrickson 216 221 7/8 Franklin Co., IL Chris A. Menckowski 2011 T. Walmsley 213 1/8 221 7/8 Chippewa Co., WI Krista A. Hepfler 2010 L.

Zimmerman 212 7/8 224 1/8 Mecklenburg Dustin J. Reamey 2011 D. Boland

Co., VA 212 234 5/8 Callaway Co., MO Keith A. Schrimpf 2011 D.

Hollingsworth 211 7/8 228 1/8 Hancock Co., IL Robert G. Zalkus 2004 J. Pals 209 7/8 216 5/8 Thomas Co., KS Douglas W. Hills 2010 M. Bain 209 6/8 215 1/8 Macoupin Co., IL Christopher M. 2011 R. Willmore

Hammon 208 3/8 213 4/8 Plymouth Co., IA Chad A. Schlesser 2011 G. Hempey 206 3/8 225 5/8 Madison Co., IL Timothy S. Buescher 2011 D. Ream 206 3/8 218 6/8 Pigeon Lake, AB Brady W. Zielke 2011 D.

Bromberger 206 1/8 212 4/8 Pike Co., IL Clayton M. Deeder 2011 T. Walmsley 205 7/8 213 Sherman Co., NE Shawn C. Kaskie 2011 R. Walters 205 4/8 211 2/8 Decatur Co., IA Michael D. Smith 2011 S. Grabow 205 2/8 215 1/8 Pittsburg Co., OK James E. Russell 2000 W. Tobey 204 7/8 212 3/8 Rock Co., WI Jordan J. Schlittler 2011 P. Gauthier 203 1/8 207 4/8 Hopkins Co., KY David A. Daugherty 2011 W. Cooper 200 5/8 207 2/8 Nemaha Co., KS Kurtis W. Miller 2011 T. Archibeque 200 3/8 205 5/8 Logan Co., KY Kristopher D. Kelley 2011 W. Cooper 199 5/8 206 6/8 Lucas Co., IA Thomas L. Miner 2011 S. Grabow 199 3/8 207 6/8 Jo Daviess Co., IL Shane R. Gerber 2011 B. Ihlenfeldt 199 1/8 205 Dunn Co., WI Robert A. Scidmore 2011 S. Ashley 199 201 2/8 Knox Co., MO K. Ed Allen 2011 D.

Hollingsworth 198 7/8 204 6/8 Owsley Co., KY Stanley W. Young 2011 W. Cooper 198 5/8 209 1/8 Harrison Co., IN David E. Steen 2010 D. Curts 198 2/8 204 2/8 Hardin Co., KY Robert K. Ammons 2011 J. Lacefield 198 1/8 205 5/8 St. Louis Co., MN Wilburn Stanczyk 1980 C. Pierce 197 3/8 204 7/8 Maverick Co., TX Frank A. Wojtek 2011 M. Pillow 197 1/8 211 2/8 Williamson Co., IL Kenneth R. Penrod 1974 M. Kistler 196 7/8 206 4/8 Buffalo Co., WI Dale D. Johnson 2010 B. Ihlenfeldt 196 6/8 202 3/8 Adams Co., IL Donald W. Epley 2011 E. Randall 195 7/8 205 1/8 Allamakee Co., IA Greg M. Lewey 2011 D. Baumler 195 4/8 202 2/8 Marshall Co., MS Calvin H. Alderson 2012 R. Dillard 195 2/8 202 4/8 Moniteau Co., MO Kevin A. Jaegers 2011 D.

Hollingsworth 195 1/8 200 5/8 Albemarle Co., VA Vincent Sweeney 2011 B. Trumbo 195 1/8 202 Bureau Co., IL Zachary M. Smith 2011 T. Walmsley 195 1/8 202 2/8 Howard Co., MO Judson M. Lafrenz 2011 L. Lueckenhoff 195 201 3/8 Stark Co., OH Christopher J. Miraglia 2011 R. Pepper 195 201 3/8 Vernon Co., WI Chad E. Sullivan 2011 S. Zirbel 194 7/8 198 4/8 Oneida Co., WI Otto Mielke 1916 A. Loomans 193 7/8 198 4/8 Sauk Co., WI Steven J. Nelson 2011 M. Miller 193 4/8 198 7/8 Grafton Co., NH Fred Flanders 1964 R. Boucher 193 196 Pike Co., IN Steven H. Loud 2011 D. Belwood 191 6/8 198 6/8 McLean Co., KY Matthew B. Bailey 2011 W. Cooper 191 4/8 201 1/8 Rooks Co., KS John P. Jones 2011 K. Asbury 191 1/8 196 Bon Homme Co., SD Gary D. Kriz 2010 S. Rauch 191 1/8 196 6/8 Rice Co., MN Picked Up 1970 D. Ohman 190 7/8 198 3/8 Fulton Co., KY Billy D. Uzzle, Jr. 2011 R. Flynn 190 6/8 205 6/8 Hancock Co., IL Robert G. Zalkus 2011 J. Pals 190 6/8 196 2/8 Jackson Co., KS Steven W. Ellis 2009 M. Whitehead 190 4/8 192 7/8 Alder Flats, AB Nathan T. Kathler 2011 C. Dillabough 189 7/8 206 4/8 Dallas Co., IA Michael D. Erickson 2011 D. Pfeiffer 189 5/8 198 4/8 Douglas Co., WI Steven A. Anderson 1977 K.

Zimmerman 189 1/8 197 Orange Co., IN Eric D. Drexler 2011 D. Curts 188 5/8 196 4/8 Butler Co., OH Ricky P. Balzer 2011 L. Loranzan 188 5/8 192 6/8 Sheboygan Co., WI Jeffery D. Fischer 2010 S. Zirbel 188 4/8 195 4/8 Jennings Co., IN Nathan C. Abbott 2010 D. Curts 188 3/8 195 Clarke Co., MS Edward R. Vaughan 2011 S. Durham 188 3/8 197 5/8 De Witt Co., IL Jonathan A. Sautelet 2011 D. Good 188 2/8 191 5/8 Dane Co., WI Picked Up 2009 S. Zirbel 188 2/8 204 1/8 Edmonson Co., KY Huey Vincent 2011 W. Cooper 188 2/8 196 6/8 Grant Co., WI Hunter Hubbard 2011 L. Miller 187 192 1/8 Wayne Co., IL Robert O. Thiem 2011 D. Belwood 186 5/8 191 5/8 Jefferson Co., IN Ronald E. Novak 2007 D. Curts 186 3/8 192 3/8 Wood Co., TX Jeffrey L. Hawkins 2011 T. Caruthers 186 192 3/8 Taylor Co., WI Steven J. Tyznik 2011 T. Heil 185 5/8 192 6/8 Lewis Co., MO Picked Up 2010 L. Smith 185 4/8 195 6/8 Hopkins Co., TX Kyle L. Koon 2011 L. Kirby

Recently accepted trophies Typical Coues’ whitetail 120 7/8 116 2/8 116 1/8 112 3/8 107 5/8

131 5/8 122 5/8 120 2/8 119 6/8 113 6/8

Gila Co., AZ Cochise Co., AZ Sonora, MX Pima Co., AZ Catron Co., NM

Marshall J. Collins, Jr. 2012 Rickey L. Carpenter 2011 Mark R. Fitzpatrick 2011 Robert G. Ameen 2012 Picked Up 2006

C. Goldman J. McCrady H. Grounds P. Dalrymple R. Madsen

Non-typical Coues’ whitetail 135 2/8 140 2/8 Gila Co., AZ 127 6/8 132 1/8 Sonora, MX 126 4/8 133 4/8 Pima Co., AZ

Ryan D. Eustice James A. Reynolds Picked Up

2011 A. Moors 2011 A. Moors 1997 D. May

HUNTER

DATE MEASURER

MOOSE & CARIBOU FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION

Canada moose 205 1/8 221 4/8 Aroostook Co., ME Eugene G. Knox 2010 J. Arsenault 204 4/8 207 2/8 Cook Co., MN Fred J. Solinger 2011 R. Berggren 204 3/8 209 2/8 Meat Cove, NS Douglas S. Landsberg 2006 D. Bennicke 203 7/8 211 4/8 Dall Lake, BC Everett Godfrey 2010 F. Pringle 201 6/8 204 4/8 Hightower Creek, AB Lonny S. Billington 2011 D.

Bromberger 196 3/8 202 2/8 Cassiar Dist., BC David R. Unruh 2011 R. Berreth 195 197 Paddle River, AB Walter T. Currie 1971 D.

Bromberger 194 4/8 205 Aroostook Co., ME Ronald Crisp 2010 L. Desmarais 191 1/8 198 3/8 Queens Co., NB Marc J. Richard 2011 M. Bowling 188 7/8 193 6/8 Raven River, AB Derek W. Berry 2011 D.

Bromberger 188 4/8 191 7/8 Cook Co., MN Bryant M. Straub 1993 D. Meger

ABOVE Derek W. Berry was on his 2011 hunt near Raven River, Alberta when he harvested this Canada moose, scoring 188-7/8 points. Below While hunting in Colfax County, New Mexico, in 2009, Frank Noble harvested this pronghorn scoring 80 points.

Alaska-Yukon moose 231 4/8 236 Mt. Drum, AK 222 226 3/8 Yukon River, YT 215 2/8 217 5/8 Alaska Range, AK

210 3/8 219 2/8 Innoko River, AK

Reggie J. St. Amand Myles E. Thorp Benedict R. Lindeman, Jr. Dana S. Wilson

2011 A. Jubenville 2010 J. Dezall 2011 L. Lack 1997 C. Brent

Shiras’ moose 184 154 1/8 144 5/8 144 4/8 141 2/8

184 7/8 157 4/8 147 4/8 148 143 4/8

Summit Co., UT John K. Koster Stevens Co., WA Donald L. Wilde Sublette Co., WY Marcus W. Peagler Oneida Co., ID David B. Jeppsen Pend Oreille Co., WA Mark D. Brookfield

2011 2011 2011 2011 2011

R. Hall R. Spaulding G. Wilson J. Rensel J. Cook

Mountain caribou 406 1/8 418 1/8 Cassiar Mts., BC 384 403 4/8 Aishihik Lake, YT

Sponsored by

Zach Pallister Debra E. Stuchlik

2011 J. Pallister 2011 R. Krueger

Field Photography

Tip No. 12

Assets Forward Face it. We look at field photos from an “antler/horn first” perspective. We’re hunters, this is what appeals to the eye first over scenery and smiles, composition and lighting. That said, every trophy has it’s strong points and these assets should be brought forward. This mountain caribou has tremendous palmation in his tops. We may not of known this from only a straight on angle.

Debra E. Stuchlik took this mountain caribou, scoring 384 points, while hunting near Aishihik Lake, Yukon Territory, in 2011.

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 49

Recently accepted trophies PRONGHORN Continued 84 82 6/8 82 82 81 80 2/8 80 2/8 80 80

84 3/8 83 1/8 83 1/8 82 5/8 81 2/8 81 2/8 82 80 4/8 81

Rio Grande Co., CO Quay Co., NM Hudspeth Co., TX Yavapai Co., AZ Johnson Co., WY Box Butte Co., NE Malheur Co., OR Colfax Co., NM Mora Co., NM

Mark A. Schofield David Henderson Pate Stewart Robert E. Hallagan Bruce K. Adamski Richard L. Halstead John D. Thorpe Frank Noble Frank Noble

2010 2009 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2009 2011

J. Goodart M. Bain O. Carpenter C. Goldman T. Heil T. Nordeen D. Heffner J. Vore J. Vore

Bison 126 2/8 127 1/8 124 4/8 126 4/8 124 125 2/8 122 123 7/8 119 4/8 121 119 4/8 119 7/8 119 119 5/8

115 115 5/8

ABOVE This musk ox, scoring 112-2/8 points, was taken by Mark Wayne Smith. He was hunting the Seward Peninsula in Alaska during the 2011 season. Below Jeremy E. Page was shooting his .257 Weatherby when he took this bighorn sheep, scoring 191-2/8 points. He was hunting in Huerfano County, Colorado, in 2011.

Custer Co., SD Chitina River, AK Custer Co., SD Custer Co., SD Grand Co., UT Teton Co., WY Sikanni Chief River, BC Grand Co., UT

Donald L. Gatlin Michael E. Krohn David J. Lechel William J. Smith Wendell B. Crowe Edwin E. Higbie, Sr. David G. Eyer

2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011

L. Jass T. Spraker C. Goldman L. Clark M. Fowlks R. Hanson R. Petrie

Mary D. Weidner

2008 R. Hall

Rocky Mountain goat 51 2/8 49 4/8 48 2/8 48 47 6/8

51 7/8 49 7/8 48 2/8 48 5/8 47 6/8

Coles Lake, BC David Henderson Alaska Charles M. Johnson Cooper Landing, AK Allen C. Nichols Dawes Glacier, AK Charles Franz Toad River, BC M. Blake Patton

2011 1969 2009 2011 2011

W. Jones D. Heffner C. Brent H. Saye R. Skinner

Musk ox 125 4/8 126 7/8 Norman Wells, NT Carla R. de Kock 2012 W. St.

Germaine 112 2/8 113 6/8 Seward Pen., AK Mark Wayne Smith 2011 C. Brent 111 2/8 113 3/8 Shishmaref, AK Frank S. Noska IV 2011 D. Widby 109 6/8 110 Nunivak Island, AK James A. Blake 2011 T. Spraker 108 6/8 109 7/8 Serpentine River, AK Lloyd M. Hettick 2012 W. Hepworth

Bighorn sheep 191 2/8 191 6/8 Huerfano Co., CO Jeremy E. Page 2011 L. Clark 190 1/8 191 3/8 Wallowa Co., OR Gerald L. Warnock 2011 T. Rozewski 187 1/8 187 1/8 Taos Co., NM Benjamin T. Jaksick 2011 T. Humes 184 4/8 185 4/8 Chouteau Co., MT W. Clay Perschon 2011 D. Morris 183 2/8 184 Teton Co., MT Gibson P. Friesen 2008 S. Cook 180 2/8 180 5/8 Mount Toma, AB Ryan C. Bartsch 2011 B. Rehman 179 179 3/8 Huerfano Co., CO D. James Sceats, Jr. 2011 B. Smith 178 6/8 179 2/8 Red Deer River, AB Patrick E. Bates 2011 D.

Bromberger 175 175 7/8 Taos Co., NM Jeremy E. Page 2011 L. Clark

Desert sheep MOUNTAIN CARIBOU Continued 377 1/8 396 4/8 Mackenzie Mts., NT Quentin E. Deering 2011 W. St.

Germaine

Woodland caribou 369 345 3/8 299 4/8 281 5/8 278 6/8

377 366 5/8 309 4/8 298 6/8 315 7/8

Sam’s Pond, NL Peter Kraenzlin Middle Ridge, NL Albert R. Zelin Gaff Topsail, NL Joel J. Kuhns Long Range Mts., NL Peter A. Siskavich River of Ponds, NL Jelindo A. Tiberti II

2011 1967 2011 1999 2011

J. Anstey L. Polillo T. Ross R. Johndrow M. Trousdale

Barren ground caribou 420 430 7/8 Moody Creek, AK Robert L. Jensen 375 2/8 384 4/8 Aleutian Range, AK Rick Baur

1982 P. Deuling 1989 T. Heil

HORNED GAME

FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION

HUNTER

DATE MEASURER

Pronghorn 87 4/8 87 2/8 87

88 4/8 88 2/8 88

Coconino Co., AZ Erik W. Swanson 2010 R. Stayner Sweetwater Co., WY Christopher B. Denton 2011 R. Stayner Navajo Co., AZ Sam V. Davenport 2011 R. Stayner

50 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

187 1/8 187 6/8 185 3/8 187 1/8 184 2/8 184 7/8 180 180 4/8 179 6/8 180 2/8 175 4/8 175 6/8 169 7/8 173 3/8 169 6/8 170 1/8 169 5/8 170 2/8 168 5/8 169 2/8 166 167 6/8

Sonora, MX Riverside Co., CA Sonora, MX Pinal Co., AZ Yuma Co., AZ Nye Co., NV Mohave Co., AZ Clark Co., NV Clark Co., NV La Paz Co., AZ San Bernardino Co., CA

Benjamin T. Jaksick John C. Berens Pete E. Shepley Earnest B. Bunch III Trey D. Sullivan Todd B. Jaksick Judi Unale Kenneth M. Legarza Jeffrey S. Corbett Erik W. Swanson Robert J. Totah

2011 2011 2012 2011 2010 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012

T. Humes R. Stayner P. Dalrymple C. Goldman R. Stayner J. Capurro M. Golightly L. Clark J. Tiberti J. Gates J. Booey

2011 2001 2011 1997 2007 2004

D. Larsen C. Brent T. Spraker C. Brent F. Noska C. Brent

Dall’s sheep 170 3/8 166 4/8 164 4/8 163 6/8 160 2/8 160

171 2/8 167 1/8 164 7/8 164 2/8 161 1/8 160 3/8

Chugach Mts., AK Alaska Range, AK Veleska Lake, AK Alaska Range, AK Alaska Range, AK Chugach Mts., AK

Robert A. Burlone Robert W. Cassell Milton D. Bates II Robert W. Cassell Robert W. Cassell Robert W. Cassell

Stone’s sheep 172 6/8 173 2/8 Dromedary Mt., YT Brian Dobson 2011 D.

Bromberger 165 3/8 165 7/8 Summit Lake, BC Wade R. Portman 2011 D. Patterson 162 1/8 162 5/8 Toad River, BC Edward C. Joseph 1991 C. Fritz

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 51

FEATURE PHOTOS

The trophies in the field photos on the following pages have all been accepted in Boone and Crockett Club’s 28th Big Game Awards Program.

Check out the Boone and Crockett Club’s official web site at:

www.booneandcrockettclub.com 52 n Fair Chase Winter Fall 2011 2012

Above Vernon J. MacDonald harvested this cougar, scoring 15-2/16 points, in 2011 while hunting near Lac La Heche, British Columbia.

Below Peter Kraenzlin used his .300 Winchester Short Mag to harvest this woodland caribou, scoring 369 points, while hunting near Sam’s Pond, Newfoundland, during the 2011 season.

Top row

In 2005 Rob D. Miller was hunting in Coos County, Oregon, when he took this Roosevelt’s elk scoring 285-2/8 points.

Myles E. Thorp was on a hunt near Yukon River, Yukon Territory, in 2010, when he harvested this Alaska-Yukon moose, scoring 222 points.

MIDDLE row

This desert sheep was taken

by Earnest B. Bunch III, while hunting in Pinal County, Arizona, during the 2011 season.

The ram scores 180 points.

Jerry L. Tkac was shooting a .300 Ultra Mag. when he harvested this typical mule deer, scoring 183-5/8 points.

This buck was taken in Sonora, Mexico, in 2012.

BOTTOM ROW

While on a 2011 hunt in Jackson County, Kansas, Lucas T. Cochren shot this 238-4/8 point non-typical whitetail deer.

Christopher B. Denton was hunting in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, in 2011 when he harvested this pronghorn, scoring 87-2/8 points.

Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation 1. Publication Title: Fair Chase 2. Publication Number: 1077-4627 3. Filing Date: 9/28/2012 4.

Issue Frequency: Quarterly 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: Four 6. Annual Subscription Price: $35.00 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801-2753 Contact Person: Julie L. Tripp Telephone: 406/542-1888 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters of Publisher: Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801-2753 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher - Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801-2753 Editor - Kyle C. Krause, Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801-2753 Managing Editor - Julie L. Tripp, Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801-2753 10.

Owner: Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801-2753 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders: None 12. Tax Status: Has Not Changed During the Preceding 12 Months 13. Publication Title: Fair Chase 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data: Summer 2012 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation – Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months and No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date (respectively): a. Total Number of Copies: 8,415 and 8,000 b.

Paid Circulation (1) Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541: 5,430 and 5,773 (2) Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541: 0 and 0 (3) Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including Counter Sales and Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS: 0 and 0 (4) Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS: 408 and 333 c. Total Paid Distribution: 5,838 and 6,106 d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541: 632 and 0 (2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541: 0 and 0 (3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS: 1,279 and 1,421 (4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail: 322 and 246 e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution: 2,233 and 1,667 f. Total Distribution: 8,071 and 7,773 g. Copies Not Distributed: 345 and 227 h. Total: 8,416 and 8,000 i. Percent Paid: 72.33% and 78.55% 16. Publication of Statement of Ownership: X If the publication is a general publication, publication of this statement is required. Will be printed in the Winter 2012 issue of this publication.

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 53

FEATURE PHOTO

Quentin E. Deering was shooting his 7mm Remington Mag. in the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, when he took this mountain caribou, scoring 377-1/8 points.

54 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

Top ROW

M. Blake Patton was bowhunting near Toad River, British Columbia, when he harvested this Rocky Mountain goat, scoring 47-6/8 points.

Milton D. Bates II took this Dall’s sheep, scoring 164-4/8 points, in 2011 while hunting near Veleska Lake, Alaska.

This grizzly bear, scoring 24 points, was taken by Louis J. Wickas, while hunting with his .338 Winchester Mag. near Otter Creek, Alaska, during the 2011 season.

While on a 2011 hunt in Pend Oreille County, Washington, Mark D. Brookfield shot this 141-2/8 point Shiras’ moose.

Middle ROW

In 2011, Tanya Zanidean harvested this 181-3/8 point typical mule deer while hunting near Gull Lake, Saskatchewan.

Erik W. Swanson took this pronghorn, scoring 844/8 points, with his .300 Weatherby while on a 2010 hunt in Coconino County, Arizona.

Kyle L. Koon harvested this non-typical whitetail deer, scoring 185-4/8 points while bowhunting in Hopkins County, Texas, during the 2011 season.

M. Shane Louder was on a hunt in Lincoln County, New Mexico, in 2011, that resulted in this typical American elk, scoring 363-4/8 points.

BOTTOM ROW

W. Clay Perschon was hunting in Chouteau County, Montana during the 2011 season when he shot this bighorn sheep scoring 184-4/8 points.

Ryan D. Eustice shot his .270 Weatherby to harvest this non-typical Coues’ whitetail scoring 135-2/8. The buck was taken in Gila County, Arizona, in 2011.

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 55

Top ROW

M. Blake Patton was bowhunting near Toad River, British Columbia, when he harvested this Rocky Mountain goat, scoring 47-6/8 points.

CONSERVATION AND Research

Capitol Comments | Page 58 Member Library | Page 60 Knowledge Base | Page 62 AWCP Spotlight: Wild Sheep Foundation | Page 64 Milton D. Bates II took this Keeping the Records Honest | Page 66 Dall’s sheep, scoring 164-4/8 points, in 2011 while huntingDallas Safari Club Update | Page 71 near Veleska Lake, Alaska.

Moose App: Hunters as Citizen Scientists | Page 72 This grizzly bear, scoring 24 points, was taken by Louis J. Wickas, while hunting with his .338 Winchester Mag. near Otter Creek, Alaska, during the 2011 season.

While on a 2011 hunt in Pend Oreille County, Washington, Mark D. Brookfield shot this 141-2/8 point Shiras’ moose.

Middle ROW

In 2011, Tanya Zanidean harvested this 181-3/8 point typical mule deer while hunting near Gull Lake, Saskatchewan.

Erik W. Swanson took this pronghorn, scoring 844/8 points, with his .300 Weatherby while on a 2010 hunt in Coconino County, Arizona.

Kyle L. Koon harvested this non-typical whitetail deer, scoring 185-4/8 points while bowhunting in Hopkins County, Texas, during the 2011 season.

I

©Denver Bryan / Images On The Wildside

n this issue, Wini Kessler describes the perils of intensive deer breeding and urges engagement by the Fair Chase community as well as the wildlife science community. Steve M. Shane Louder was on a hunt in Lincoln County, New Williams reflects on the road ahead now the election is over, Mexico, in 2011, that resulted in this typical American elk, and delivering on the promises made. Ted Holsten delves into scoring 363-4/8 points. the mystery of Clarence King’s double life. In the first of a BOTTOM ROW series of articles, Jim Heffelfinger and his colleagues share W. Clay Perschon was hunting in Chouteau County, Montana during the 2011 season whenfindings and applications resulting from multi-year studies he shot this bighorn sheep of deer DNA supported by the B&C Club and its partners. scoring 184-4/8 points.

Mark Boyce describes a Moose App that enlists Alberta Ryan D. Eustice shot his .270 Weatherby to harvest this Hunters in the collection of reliable and affordable data non-typical Coues’ whitetail scoring 135-2/8. The buck was to monitor moose populations. Our AWCP spotlight taken in Gila County, Arizona, in 2011. organization is the Wild Sheep Foundation. The WSF has upheld its mission of “Putting and Keeping Sheep on the Mountain” while recognizing the aspiring sheep hunters, hunters who have not yet taken a wild sheep with the <1 Club (Less than One Club).

56 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 57

CAPITOL COMMENTS It’s Time to Deliver on Promises After we endured months and months of obscenely expensive television, radio, mail, newspaper, and social Steven Williams, Ph.D. media advertisements Professional member for candidates across Boone and Crockett Club the country, the nation decided to reelect President Barack Obama as Wildlife Management Institute president of the United States. Democrats retained control of the Senate, and Republicans retained control of the House of Representatives. Some might say we simply confirmed the political status quo and gridlock within the DC Beltway. It is too early as of this writing to judge.

However, I believe that the status quo has been profoundly shaken and looming fiscal challenges will unite political adversaries out of necessity, if not desire.

Election results indicated that demographic change within the United States effectively rearranged the electoral map and future campaign strategy. The growing minority segment of the U.S. population has spoken, and I believe both political parties will turn an attentive ear to their voices. Immediately after the election concluded—an election based ostensibly on jobs and the economy—the talk turned primarily to immigration reform and the “fiscal cliff.” Promises of compromise and

bipartisanship accompanied the end of the election just as surely as night follows day.

This time, however, I think bipartisanship will enjoy an extended honeymoon. The decisions that must be made by the end of this year with respect to tax extensions, cuts, reform, and the federal debt limit are, again, unprecedented. Remember, Congress already kicked this can down the road. Financial markets reeled as members of Congress played Russian roulette with our nation’s economy

ideology and spin was the signal that business as usual in Washington has become unacceptable to the American public.

Tackling our challenges will be messy.

It will take a messy bipartisan process to determine appropriate levels of defense spending, entitlement spending, discretionary spending, federal deficits and federal debt limits. Once members of Congress face the potential impact of budget sequestration cuts in their own districts and the changing face and attitudes of their constituents, I believe they will take positive action.

There is nothing like the incentive of money and votes to spur elected politicians to action. And by the way, legislators know that the road on which they have kicked the proverbial “can” becomes a dead end by the close of 2012.

Individually, legislators must realize that collectively they have been largely ineffective. The challenge will be for political party leaders to truly lead their troops.

They should remind themselves that the national Super PAC’s impotence to influence the 2012 campaign outcomes provides a clear lens and focus for politicians to pay attention to local issues and local constituents.

In conclusion and setting aside my Pollyanna view, I would note that a change in leadership at key federal agencies (e.g., Interior and Agriculture) should not be a surprise. Should the current secretaries decide to move onto the next chapter of their careers, we need to pay close attention to the nominees and their agendas for these critical natural resource agencies. The work of the American Wildlife Conservation Partners and the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council will provide the glue and structure to bridge leadership changes within an administration just as they have done between administrations. In spite of the annoyance and weariness associated with campaign season, the process that determines the leader of the United States and the orderly assumption of that leadership should be an inspiring and prideful experience for all Americans. We have heard promises before; however, the recent promises of bipartisanship have taken on an enormous level of importance as we face the critical challenges that confront our nation in 2013. n

Collection : Highsmith (Carol M.) Archive

The work of the American Wildlife Conservation Partners and the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council will provide the glue and structure to bridge leadership changes within an administration just as they have done between administrations.

58 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

and the world’s financial system. This time around, the “can” is being watched more intently by financial markets, foreign countries, and I hope, the American public. Prior to 2012, the term “sequestration” was not commonplace outside of Washington, DC. The budget sequestration trap that Congress set for itself has become water cooler discussion across the nation. All Americans have a personal stake in the decisions made in the next two months, whether it is in terms of personal taxes or the federal programs on which we have come to depend.

For all these reasons, bipartisanship must prevail. Call me an eternal optimist (which I am not), but I believe that the political leadership in our nation’s capital received a clear message—the public expects them to actually deliver the good government for which they were hired. Notwithstanding the minor changes that occurred in the House and Senate, what I heard amongst the noise of political

Entirely in Our Power “IT IS ENTIRELY IN OUR POWER as a nation to preserve large tracts of wilderness, which are valueless for agricultural purposes and unfit for settlement, as playgrounds for rich and poor alike, and to preserve the game so that it shall continue to exist for the benefit of all lovers of nature, and to give reasonable opportunities for the exercise of the skill of the hunter, whether he is or is not a man of means.”

— Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter

by Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States of America and founder of the Boone and Crockett Club.

Your tax smart year-end gift – cash, appreciated securities, gift annuity, or lead trust – will help the Boone and Crockett Club Foundation meet the new challenges of realizing Mr. Roosevelt’s grand vision.

For more information, please contact: Winton C. Smith, J.D. 1-800-727-1040

MEMBER LIBRARY CLARENCE KING - A Tale of Two Lives In 1887 or 1888 a man named James Todd met and fell in love with an African-American nursemaid named Ada Theodore J. Holsten Copeland. He was fairhaired, blue-eyed and Emeritus member Boone and Crockett Club claimed to be a Pullman porter, a job usually reserved for men of black ancestry. They married and set up a household in Brooklyn, New York, where they bore five childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;two boys, two girls, and a toddler who died at an early age. This story would be unremarkable except that nothing James told Ada was true.

James Todd was not actually black.

He was not a Pullman porter, and he was not James Todd. In reality he was Clarence King, an eminent geologist, explorer, mountain climber, and author. Over a period of 13 years until his death in 1901, he alternated between two lives, explaining to Ada that his lengthy absences were due to the travel requirements of his job as a Pullman porter.

Meanwhile, Clarence King, in his alternate role, continued with his high level scientific and society contacts,

ABOVE : Clarence King RIGHT: The 1864 field party of

the California Geological Survey.

From left: James T. Gardner, Richard D. Cotter, William H. Brewer, and Clarence King

60 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

keeping his marriage and family a complete secret from his associates and friends. Indeed, it was during this period that he was elected to professional membership in the Boone and Crockett Club.

Clarence King was born into a prosperous New England family in 1842.

His early interest in scientific matters led him to the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, where he graduated with a degree in chemistry in 1862. After graduation he traveled across the continent by horseback to California, accompanied by his classmate and friend, James Gardiner.

There they both joined the California Geological Survey. King loved his work, particularly among the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. He became an avid mountaineer, making first ascents of several of its high peaks. His book, Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada, was widely acclaimed and is still an international classic.

In 1867 King was named U.S. Geologist of the Fortieth Parallel Survey and he spent six years in the field exploring areas from Wyoming to the borders of California.

It was during this time that he exposed a

Book by Clarence King Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada (1871) Biography of Clarence King The Explorer King by Robert Wilson (2006)

diamond field fraud scheme that helped build his heroic national reputation. In 1879 the U.S. Congress consolidated the various geological surveys exploring the American West and created the United States Geological Survey with Clarence King as its first director.

King died of tuberculosis in Phoenix, Arizona in 1901. It was only on his deathbed that he wrote to his wife, Ada, a letter confessing his true identity. Their two daughters went on to marry white men and considered themselves Caucasian. Their two sons served in World War I classified as blacks. Interestingly, the relationship of King and Ada and their children only became known publicly, when, more than 30 years after his death, in a sensational 1933 trial, she tried to recover a trust fund that King had promised her. n

ABOVE : Mount Clarence

King, photographed by Ansel Adams

DON’T MISS

The Greatest Hunters Convention on the Planet. ™

January 3-6, 2013 Dallas Convention Center To register go to www.biggame.org

©2012 Dallas Safari Club

B rought

to you in partnership with

Wild S heep Foundation

KNOWLEDGE BASE Frankendeer: The Fear is Real One of my first actions as the 2012-13 president of The Wildlife Society (TWS) was to appoint a to address Winifred B. Kessler committee the issue of intensive Professional member deer breeding. TWS is Boone and Crockett Club the wildlife profession’s premier scientific organization, and its members are very concerned about the expansion of deer-breeding facilities, including proposed legislation that would allow the industry into new jurisdictions.

In 2011, such legislation was introduced in at least 10 states. The bills vary but most would take management authority for captive deer away from state wildlife agencies and transfer it to the agriculture agency or state veterinarian.

Is this a new issue for TWS? No and yes. No—inasmuch that practices employed in intensive deer breeding have long been recognized by TWS as harmful to wildlife. TWS’s Technical Review on the Biological and Social Issues Related to Confinement of Wild Ungulates (November 2002) surveys the vast body of science documenting the adverse effects of confining deer and other wild ungulates. The most serious problems concern the spread of diseases from captive deer to wild populations.

For example, within this past year Iowa and Pennsylvania reported their first cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD), traced back to deer-breeding facilities. In October, Indiana experienced a CWD scare following the escape of 20 deer from a deer farm breeding “trophy bucks.” In addition to such biological concerns, privatizing wildlife and transferring management authority away from wildlife agencies is contrary to the public trust doctrine and other pillars of the North American Model of Wildlife Management.

So what is new about the issue? Make no mistake—the new operations are not the little deer farms that supply venison as a novelty item on some restaurant menus. The techniques of intensive breeding include confinement of deer (usually whitetails) in breeding pens or enclosures, genetic manipulation, and treatment with steroids and other growth stimulants—all for the purpose of growing abnormally large, often grotesque antlers. The industry includes the

trade, distribution, and transportation of semen, ova, and embryos as well as farmraised animals. In essence the deer change from being a public trust resource to “alternative livestock,” consigned to a miserable existence of captivity and intensive intervention to produce “enhanced” breeders and bucks for the market.

I had encountered a big-antler industry before, while working in Siberia

The antlers were shipped to Korea and China for use in medicinal concoctions. It was a simple business. The larger the antlers, the higher the price-per-unit-weight that farmers could get for them.

For the deer breeding industry in North America, big antlers also mean big money. Here the market is driven not by medicinal values, but by one thing only: the craze to possess a huge set of antlers—no matter the cost, ethics of the practices involved, or the sheer artificiality of it all. The Internet is alive with ads and videos showing how you, too, can “hunt” in a high-fenced enclosure where one of these artificially-enhanced monster deer will be delivered to you, guaranteed!

Of course this has nothing to do with hunting, and is the farthest thing imaginable from the fair chase ethics we champion as Members and Associates of the Boone and Crockett Club. Yet it has immense potential to undermine our hunting heritage by giving the “antis” one more, horrendously awful example of “what is wrong with hunting.”

I’m very proud of TWS for stepping up to lead the science in fighting this disturbing trend. I’d be doubly proud if the Fair Chase community would step up to lead the ethical debates. n

©istockphoto.com/nater23

In essence the deer change from being a public trust resource to “alternative livestock,” consigned to a miserable existence of captivity and intensive intervention to produce “enhanced” breeders and bucks for the market.

62 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

during the 1990s. Farming of maral (same species as our elk) was the most profitable agricultural endeavor in the Altai Republic.

Maral farmers had selectively bred captive herds for over a century, resulting in smallbodied animals with abnormally big antlers.

BECOME A FOUNDING It has been nearly 125 years since Theodore Roosevelt formed a coalition of gentlemen hunters to establish the foundation for the world’s greatest conservation system.

Knowing that he could not accomplish this daunting task alone, he invited men of science, business, industry, politics, and public service to join him in forming the Boone and Crockett Club.

MEMBER OF THE BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB WILDERNESS WARRIOR SOCIETY

We still cannot do it without you.

We need your help.

Please join us in celebrating this historic occasion – the 125th anniversary of the Boone and Crockett Club.

As a part of this celebration we are kicking off a campaign to raise funds for the Boone and Crockett Club Foundation Endowment.

With your gift of $125,000 or more, you will be honored by being named a founding member of the Wilderness Warrior Society. You will be presented with your own numbered limited edition bronze of Theodore Roosevelt on horseback as well as other custom gifts to recognize and honor you for your contribution.

Please join us in this grand effort on such a significant occasion. Contact the Boone and Crockett Club today to find out how you can be one of the first to become a founding member of the Wilderness Warrior Society.

Contact Ben Hollingsworth at 713/840-1508 for more details.

Boone and Crockett Club | www.boone-crockett.org 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801 | 406/542-1888

The first members of the Wilderness Warrior Society were recognized at the Club’s 2011 Annual Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina. From left: C. Martin Wood III, Ben B. Wallace, Morrison Stevens, Sr., Edward B. Rasmuson, Thomas D. Price, Remo R. Pizzagalli, Steve J. Hageman, John P. Evans, Gary W. Dietrich, William A. Demmer, Marshall J. Collins, Jr., James F. Arnold, and B.B. Hollingsworth, Jr. Not pictured: Trevor L. Ahlberg, Rene R. Barrientos, Ned S. Holmes, Tom L. Lewis, R. Terell McCombs, Jack S. Parker, and Paul M. Zelisko.

A merican Wildlife C onservation Partners – S potlight O rganization

By Gray Thornton Photos courtesy of Steve Kline

Founded in 1977 and known formerly as the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep (FNAWS), the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF)— much like the Boone and Crockett Club—enjoys national and international mission accomplishments far exceeding its modest membership size.

Unlike Rocky Mountain elk, mule and whitetail deer, the iconic bighorn lacked sufficient population numbers and hunting opportunities, and hence, license and tag fees to pay its way. Responding to the lack of state and provincial funding to properly manage and repatriate wild sheep to their native range, and faced with near-historical all-time bighorn population lows in the 1960s and ‘70s, several visionary sheep hunters met in Wisconsin in 1974 to swap sheep and mountain hunting stories and to discuss the plight of wild sheep throughout their range. This humble beginning became the genesis of FNAWS and the formation of one of the most effective and influential wildlife conservation organizations in the world whose purpose is Putting and Keeping Sheep on the Mountain™.

With private funding from members and donors, an annual convention known as the The Sheep Show™ and in 1980 with the sale of the first Governor’s Tag from Wyoming, FNAWS and its partners began funding initiatives throughout North America to accomplish its purpose. Millions of dollars were raised and put “on the mountain” for wild sheep. Trap and transplants were conducted in the West, initially bringing bighorns south from Alberta and British Columbia. Wildlife swaps spawned stories of wild turkeys being transported in private jets and traded for desert bighorn sheep.

Relocation maps showing sheep transfers now look like an airline route map for a successful Western air carrier. FNAWS, its chapters and affiliates, members, and agency partners put sheep on the 64 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

mountains throughout their historical range. The results are a modern-day wildlife success story: Rocky Mountain, California, and desert bighorn sheep, which numbered an estimated 17,000 in the 1960s have been expanded four-fold—to more than 70,000 today.

Of course, this incredible increase in sheep has also increased hunter opportunities. In 1958, Montana issued 65 permits, and 59 sheep were harvested. In 2010, Montana issued 151 bighorn permits, and 136 were harvested. Wyoming issued 148 permits in 1958, and 71 were harvested. In 2010, Wyoming issued 256 permits, and 211 bighorns were taken. Interestingly, Colorado issued 211 permits in both 1958 and in 2010. In 1958, only 51 sheep were harvested compared to 118 in 2010. One of the finest bighorn comeback stories is Nevada which had only a remnant population of bighorns in the 1960s. Today, Nevada boasts more than 10,000 wild sheep made up of Rocky Mountain, California, and desert bighorn sheep. In 1958, Nevada offered 80 sheep permits and harvested 30. In 2011, the Silver State offered 285 tags and harvested 244!

This conservation success is a credit to the more than 10,000 WSF affiliated chapters and affiliate members worldwide, their thousands of man-hours of labor, dedication, and dollars that have contributed to bringing wild sheep back from the brink. But the work is not done. Knowledge gained from hundreds of thousands of dollars in disease research has proven unequivocally that the primary threat to keeping sheep on the mountain is ensuring domestic sheep and goats are separated both spatially and temporally from bighorns.

WSF is again leading the efforts to protect wild sheep from bacteria from domestic stock while working with the domestic sheep industry to seek collaborative solutions to this deadly problem.

During the 2011-‘12 fiscal year, WSF raised and put on the ground more than $3.6 million to mission programs benefiting wild sheep, other wildlife, their habitats, and those who pursue them.

This stunning amount equates to more than $700 per member annually. For every membership dollar received, WSF puts $16 on the

Bighorn Sheep then and Now:

Estimated Bighorn/Desert Bighorn Populations

1960 2011 % Increase Nevada Remnant 10,000 Colorado 3,000 7,500 250% Wyoming 2,000 6,500 325% Montana 1,700 5,100 300% Utah Remnant 5,000 Texas Remnant 1,100 Washington Remnant 1,700 Arizona 3,500 5,500 57% California 2,500 4,800 92% Oregon 25 4,200 1680% Idaho 2,800 2,900 3% Sources: Bueckner Monograph (1960) and Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (2011 data)

There are many programs to recognize sheep and mountain hunters, but what about aspiring sheep hunters?

Responding to this need, WSF WSF is again leading the efforts to protect wild launched the innovative <1 sheep from bacteria from domestic stock while Club (Less Than One Club). working with the domestic sheep industry to seek A basic tenet of organizations collaborative solutions to this deadly problem. like WSF is that people join because they like to be around ground in mission programs—a 16 to 1 ratio other people who share their unmatched in our industry. Combined with beliefs, interests, and goals and/or have shared our chapters and affiliates, WSF has raised experiences. Hunting/conservation organizaand contributed more than $85 million to tions capitalize on this by either being species its mission of Putting and Keeping Sheep on specific or offering other shared purposes the Mountain since its founding. such as hunting advocacy, youth and/or WSF launched two innovative pro- broad-based education, other mission programs in 2012 to compliment its mission. grams or regional interests.

The inaugural “Youth Wildlife Conservation During the WSF Saturday night grand Experience” (YWCE) was held during the finale banquet in Reno this past January, Foundation’s January 2012 convention in several young WSF members who are aspiring Reno, Nevada, and introduced youth in sheep hunters lamented that WSF did not grades 5–12 to the shooting sports, archery, have any program in place for “them”–hunters fly-fishing, conservation, wildlife manage- who have not yet taken a wild sheep ram. ment and wildlife forensics during the WSF and many other organizations with three-day event. The YWCE is funded award and hunting recognition programs through an endowed grant from MidwayUSA recognize either a notable sheep or goat or a Foundation and founders Larry and Brenda collection. But, WSF did not have any Potterfield. The WSF YWCE program is program designed specifically for the aspiring expanding in 2013 to include more than 600 sheep hunter—the man or woman who youth participants at the 2013 YWCE during dutifully enters the state/provincial lottery The Sheep Show in Reno and will include drawings waiting for their lucky day, or who similar, but downsized events within WSF have not yet purchased a North American chapter and affiliates ranks under the orga- or international sheep hunt (or, if they have, nization’s new Shooting Hunting Ethics have not yet pulled the trigger and taken a Education Program (SHEEP)—also gener- ram). That night, a concept was floated and ously underwritten by a grant from Larry and in the weeks following the WSF 2012 Brenda Potterfield. As a component of the convention, the <1 Club was born!

SHEEP initiative, WSF is partnering with <1 Club membership is open to those the Boone and Crockett Club to send youth aspiring sheep hunters who have not yet from throughout North America to B&C’s taken a wild ram. Membership in the Club Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch in the includes a special <1 Club logo t-shirt and summer of 2013. entry into a drawing for either a fannin sheep

hunt with Midnight Sun Outfitters in the Yukon or Dall’s sheep hunt with Lazy J Bar O Outfitters in Alaska. Both hunts will be drawn Friday night, February 1st in Reno during WSF’s 2013 convention. Hunt winners also receive a four-day SAAM Precision Level I rifle course at FTW Ranch in Texas, as well as a head-to-toe sheep hunting ensemble from Sitka Gear, Kenetrek Boots, Mystery Ranch backpacks and an optics package from MINOX USA. All of these fantastic drawing prizes were fully donated to WSF by the sponsors, who, with their generous support, are ensuring that a new generation of mountain hunters enters the WSF and wild sheep conservation ranks.

The WSF annual convention, The Sheep Show, is the premier mountain hunting and conservation convention in the world and will return under one roof in 2013 to the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada.

An exceptional show with a friendly family atmosphere, The Sheep Show is attended by dedicated hunters and conservationists from around the globe.

Sheep hunters are a rare breed—they hunt hard, hunt ethically, and go to the extremes in their quest and chase. With the finest outfitters and guides from the high mountains of North America, the South Pacific, Europe, and Asia, to the high plains of Africa, the Wild Sheep Foundation convention is the one to attend. Join them in Reno January 30–February 2, 2013, to help put and keep sheep on the mountain. n For More Information Find WSF at:

www.wildsheepfoundation.org info@wildsheepfoundation.org Facebook.com/WildSheepFoundation

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 65

Keep T rop h y Rec o r d s H o n es t:

Identifying Whitetail/Mule Deer Hybrids

By Jim Heffelfinger, Arizona Game and Fish Department

Renee Prive and David Paetkau, Wildlife Genetics International

Carlos Alcalá-Galván

Roy Lopez, U.S. Forest Service

Irv Kornfield, University of Maine

Eldon “Buck” Buckner, Boone & Crockett Vice President of Records Photos by Gerry Day, Pat O’Brie ZGFD, Jim Heffelfinger, John Holcomb and Steve Duarte

Humans have always been fascinated by hybrids. Consider such classic monsters as Wolfman, Dracula, and Mothman— or heroes such as Spiderman, Batman, and Catwoman. This trend pre-dates Hollywood by millennia; the “Minotaur” in Greek mythology was half man and half bull. Our fascination with creatures that are half one thing and half another extends to wildlife. Early naturalists often described new animals as a combination of parts from animals already known to them. Even the mule deer was described by John J. Audubon in 1846 as having fur like an elk, but hooves like a whitetail.

White-tailed and mule deer distributions overlap in a large section of western North America. Where both are found, mule deer typically inhabit the higher mountain areas and whitetails occupy the lower valleys and river systems.

This habitat preference is reversed in the southwest, however. Here Coues’ whitetails are found in the mountains, and desert mule deer occupy the lowerelevation valleys and foothills. Expanding and contracting distribution and abundance of these deer species, along with changing habitats and land-use practices, have altered the relationship between them. In some jurisdictions the two species coexist over extensive areas, bringing the animals near one another during the breeding season.

Analyzing a protein like serum albumin can show that an animal has either a “whitetail” band, a “mule deer” band, or both (indicating a first generation), but cannot accurately diagnose animals that are not 50:50.

>

>

>

This article is the first in a series reporting several years of deer DNA research supported by the Boone and Crockett Club’s Conservation Research Grants Program and its partners.

Watch for more of the research team’s findings in future issues of Fair Chase.

Whitetail Hybrid Mule Deer 66 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

LEFT: Notice the tiny white metatarsal glands of the whitetail are dwarfed next to the large brown tuft of the mule deer.

the ba ck side ) ha ve brown on ft (le er de ed ail White-t rope-like ta ils ed to the white ar mp co ils ta eir of th ght). the mule deer (ri w ith bla ck tip of Meet the Parents

Mule deer differ from whitetails in several characteristics. However, these characteristics vary enough that interesting specimens sometimes emerge that cannot be quickly identified as one species or the other. When used individually, some identifying characteristics can be confusing or yield an incorrect identification. Most hunters focus on differences in tails and antlers. Although these characters are different between the species, they can’t always be relied upon for a correct identification. Let’s look at some key traits.

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Tails. Whitetails have a wide, flattened tail that is broad at the base and narrower

at the tip. The pure white underside that gives the species its name is contrasted by a darker back side. White-tailed deer tails are considerably longer than mule deer tails, and whitetails lack the large, conspicuous white rump patch that mule deer have. Mule deer tails appear cylindrical and hang like a short piece of white rope that is usually white on the back side with a distinctive black tip.

Antlers. These are just about the last thing you would want to base your deer species identification on. Both species show amazing variation in antler shape. Typical mule deer antlers have small brow tines, if they have them at all. The main beams sweep out and upward, forking once and then each fork divides again in mature bucks. In contrast, whitetail antlers have several antler tines that arise independently off a main beam that sweeps outward and forward from the bases. It is not uncommon to see whitetails with forked tines like mule deer, or young mule deer with all tines arising from the main beam. There is simply too much variation in antlers to serve as a reliable indicator of hybridization.

Ears. Huge 9½-inch ears are what gave the mule deer its name. Although the ears of whitetails are relatively shorter than those of mule deer, it is not always easy to judge ear length alone. The ears of a whitetail are generally two-thirds the overall length of the head (back of head to nose) while those of a mule deer are threequarters the length of the head.

Preorbital Glands. Situated in the front corner of the eye, these glands differ

considerably between the two species. In whitetails they appear as a small slit with a maximum depth of 3/8 inch. The larger glands in mule deer form a substantial pocket 3/4-inch deep.

Metatarsal Glands. The only physical feature useful to determine if a deer is a hybrid is the appearance of the metatarsal gland, located on the outside of the lower portion of the rear legs. This should not be confused with the tarsal glands on the inside of the legs. The metatarsal glands on mule deer sit high on the lower leg and are 4 to 6 inches long and surrounded by brown fur. On whitetails, this gland is at or below the mid-point of the lower leg, usually less than one inch, and surrounded by white hairs. A hybrid deer has metatarsal glands that split the difference, measuring between 2 and 4 inches and sometimes encircled with white hair. Although this is the only physical characteristic that can be used to accurately diagnose a hybrid specimen, it is difficult to see clearly through a rifle scope!

Metatarsal glands are diagnostically different between the small 1” white circles of white-tailed deer (top), the large 4-6” brown fur tufts of mule deer (middle), and those of hybrids that are intermediate in location and size (bottom).

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 67

The Lowdown on Hybrids

White-tailed and mule deer hybrids are extremely rare in the wild. However, the many barriers to interspecies mating may fail, allowing whitetails to successfully mate with mule deer. For the most part, the resulting offspring show characteristics that are intermediate between the two species. Facial features may be intermediate, but the tail is usually dark chocolate brown or black on top and white underneath. The tail of a hybrid looks very much like a

Mule Deer

typical whitetail, but is usually longer and darker on the back side. Ears are normally larger than a whitetail and smaller than a mule deer. The preorbital gland in front of the eye is intermediate in depth or may be deep like a mule deerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Antlers are typically more whitetail-like with antler tines arising from the main beam. Many hybrid antlers have â&#x20AC;&#x153;wavyâ&#x20AC;? tines as if the antlers were receiving mixed signals about which direction to grow!

Hybrids have been reported from captive facilities, starting S ome areas de velop concen trations of hy with the Cincinthe southern brids, like en d of the G aliuro Mount Arizon a, where nati Zoo as early ains in Jesse Lim ha rvested this hy Ja nuar y 20 0 6. as 1898. Subsebrid in quent reports have come from North Dakota, other mammals. However female hybrids are Alberta, Arizona and other fertile and can breed back to one of the parent places. Researchers in Ten- species. Hybrid fawns were found to have ne s see succe s sf ully very low survival even when pampered in a produced whitetail/black- captive facility. Efforts in Arizona to produce tail hybrids in captivity. hybrids in captivity in the 1930s and 1960s Having animals of known showed that only about half of the hybrid parentage in captivity al- fawns survived their first six months. lowed researchers to study Biologists have documented the and describe the character- presence of hybrids in the wild on many istics and behavior of occasions. In fact, most states and provinces hybrids, which helps us where both species occur have at least one know what to look for in record of whitetail/ mule deer hybridization. the wild. These early cap- However, the relative scarcity of confirmed tive situations also showed hybrids among the hundreds of thousands of that male hybrids are usu- deer that have been seen and harvested ally sterile, as is typical in throughout the area of overlapping range illustrates how rare they are.

White-tailed and Mule Deer Overlap

Unraveling the DNA

White-tailed Deer

ABOVE: Whitetail and mule deer hybrids have been documented in the wild throughout North America where their ranges overlap. Illustration

by Jim Heffelfinger.

ed in ca ptivity by id (50:50) produc br hy n tio ra ne ge F irst n hybrids from an d F ish. Kn ow me Ga s na izo Ar the ical characteristic us identify ph ys d lpe he . ty re ivi he pt ca nds seen an d meta ta rsal gla such as the ta il 68 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

Recent advances in DNA analysis technology allow us to look at features more definitive than ears and antlers.

Although we know a lot about the physical features of hybrids, what can you do when the whole animal or the diagnostic parts were not saved?

Another complicating factor is that not all hybrids are half mule deer and half whitetail. A first generation (50:50) female hybrid may breed with a mule deer buck and the offspring will be three-quarters mule deer. This offspring may then breed with a mule deer, resulting in deer that are seven-eighths mule deer and not easily distinguishable from a one hundred-percent mule deer.

This scenario could also occur when hybrids back-cross to whitetails.

In cases like this we have to stop using our low-tech ruler to measure relatively big things and turn instead to high-tech scientific methods to measure very tiny things like DNA molecules. The DNA molecule holds a tremendous amount of information and recent advances in computers, software, and genetic analysis techniques have allowed scientists to begin unraveling the data that is twisted up in that double helix molecule.

Early genetic tests to detect hybrids focused on proteins that differed between the two species. The production of proteins in the body is regulated by genes; thus by analyzing differences between some proteins, researchers can identify what species a sample of tissue came from. Protein analysis by a process called “electrophoresis” produces a series of horizontal bands on a gel surface.

This protein produces a band in a different location for whitetails and mule deer. When a test shows bands of both whitetail and mule deer, it indicates a hybrid animal.

West Texans have reported an increasing trend in the number of hybrids they see on their ranches. In the early 1980s, whitetails and mule deer in a five-county area were tested for diagnostic proteins. The researchers found that on average, 5.6 percent of the deer they tested had evidence of hybridization. Similar work in Montana showed that less than two percent of deer may have been subjected to some level of hybridization in the past. Hybridization has been documented to occur in both directions; that is, mule deer bucks mating white-tailed does and white-tailed bucks mating mule deer does.

The original genetic tests relied mostly on fresh or frozen tissue, but that is not always available. Advances in genetic testing soon made the old protein tests seem very primitive by comparison. We were convinced that by applying new genetic analyses to this old question, we would be able to develop a solid genetic test that could use a small piece of dried skin, muscle, bone, or antler to identify a suspicious-looking animal as a hybrid.

The Boone and Crockett Club is one of the oldest conservation organizations in North America, and it remains at the forefront of scientific developments. Through its Conservation Research Grants Program, the Club invited researchers to submit proposals to develop a test that could determine if a deer was a hybrid. Out of several proposals submitted, one by Dr. Irv Kornfield at the University of Maine was selected because of

K eep T r o p h y Rec o r d s H o nes t:

Identifying Whitetail/Mule Deer Hybrids

the wide variety of different genetic markers he was working with and the potential to find clear genetic differences between mule deer and whitetails (and hence be able to identify any hybrids). Certainly genetic differences had been found between the two deer species, but no one had assembled a test that could be used for this specific purpose.

Dr. Kornfield’s work highlighted several separate genetic markers that showed differences between pure mule deer and pure whitetails. Some markers showed complete

separation between the species; in other words, when looking at that part of the DNA molecule, all whitetails looked one way and all mule deer looked different. In other cases, a particular genetic marker showed species differences in most, but not all cases. For example, one marker may be present in 91 percent of the whitetails and only 9 percent of the mule deer. Even though these partial markers are not 100 percent, we can combine several together and have a collection of markers that provide a powerful test of

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whether a deer is whitetailed deer, mule deer, or something in between.

In fact, Dr. Kornfield initially used 17 different markers to identify both species and their hybrids. After evaluating the initial results, he narrowed it down to 12 useful and informative ones and used that collection of markers on 40 to 50 deer of each species collected in the wild in far corners of their geographic range. He then tested individuals he knew were first generation (F1) hybrids (50:50) and others that were the result of a mating between an F1 hybrid and one of the parental species. In the end, he found that by using the most informative five markers, he could identify an F1 hybrid 95 percent of the time. By using seven markers, that confidence increased to 99 percent.

While Dr. Kornfield was developing these markers, the Boone and Crockett Club funded another deer genetic project to be able to identify whether or not a deer was a Coues’ whitetail.

Wildlife Genetics International was leading the Coues’ research and during the course of that work, they added a few mule deer and known F1 hybrids to their analysis out of curiosity. The results were stunning, with mule deer, whitetails, and hybrids separating out nicely in discrete clusters using a program called “Genetix.” They did not have different combinations of hybridization in various fractions (1/2, 3/4, 7/8, etc.) because this was not the goal of their research, but the separation is clear enough that it appears second generation (F2) back-crosses may be identifiable as points between the pure parents and the hybrids in the middle. Indeed, other suspected hybrids from the wild (parentage unknown) fell between the middle cluster of F1 hybrids and the clusters of both parents on either end.

Keeping Records Clean

It is very important to the Boone and Crockett Club that trophy records be kept free of errors. Genetic contamination results in records contamination. With the smaller Coues’ whitetail as a separate records category, it is very important that none of those high-ranking bucks contain a large dose of mule deer! A mature F1 hybrid could fairly easily approach the world record Coues’ whitetail in size. Even in parts of the country where white-tailed deer and mule deer are similar in size, it is important that the 70 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

categories are kept clean and true. It is well known that mixing two species often results in “hybrid vigor” where the hybrid offspring is larger than either parent for at least the first generation.

Several random and scattered genetic markers have come to light in the last decade that show differences between mule deer and whitetailed deer. The differences that Wildlife Genetics International found using a collection of microsatellite markers is currently the fastest, easiest, and least expensive

Many reported hybrids are simply odd-looking whitetails or mule deer, but some are legitimate like this one harvested

by Rudy Alvarez in Arizona and confirmed by genetic tests.

Results from Wildlife Genetics International visualized in the computer program “Genetix” showing clearly different clusters of whitetails, hybrids and mule deer.

method to test an individual deer that the Club suspects is a hybrid. In the future, a suspected hybrid will simply be compared to a random sample of 60 whitetails and 60 mule deer with the Geneclass program. The results will provide a numerical assessment of whether the mystery deer belongs to the white-tailed deer or mule deer group. A suspected hybrid may be shown to clearly belong to one of the parent species or it may be something in between.

Boone and Crockett now has a protocol for how suspected hybrids will be processed and dealt with in a fair and transparent way. Basically, if the Club has reason to suspect a deer has been exposed to recent hybridization, the person submitting the trophy will be required to have the deer tested with this approved protocol to show that is it not a hybrid as defined by the Club.

After years of trying to keep records clean and accurate by relying on physical

characteristics, we can now take a closer look—literally—at individual deer and base records-keeping decisions on good, solid science. This research would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the hours of work by agency biologists and hunters too numerous to mention who provided samples, and the generous funding contributions from not only the Boone and Crockett Club, but also the Pope and Young Club, Camp Fire Conservation Fund, Inc., National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Dallas Safari Club, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Seattle Chapter of Safari Club International, Purdue University, California Deer Association, and Safari Club International.

The early architects of the Boone and Crockett records program would be proud of this outstanding cooperation and the Club’s continued commitment to maintaining accurate records of North America’s finest big game specimens. n

DALLAS SAFARI CLUB UPDATE Records for Big Game Trophies, Hunters’ Conventions in Texas Like all hunters, Texans are fascinated with records—their state’s biggest buck, biggest ram, biggest hunters’ convention, etc. Here’s a list of Texas bests:

Hunters’ Convention 1,400 Exhibits Dallas Safari Club (DSC) Convention and Expo Dallas Convention Center Jan. 3-6, 2013

Whitetail Deer, Non-typical B&C Score: 284-3/8 McCulloch County Hunter: Unknown 1892 Jaguar B&C Score: 17-2/16 Mills County Hunter: H.D. Attwater 1903 American Elk, Typical B&C Score: 375 Denton County Hunter: O.Z. Finley 1934 Whitetail Deer, Typical B&C Score: 196-4/8 Maverick County Hunter: Tom McCulloch 1963 Cougar B&C Score: 14-15/16 Jeff Davis County Hunter: Clint L. Siddons 1986

The public-welcome DSC expo, which drew a record 40,000 attendees in 2012, features top outfitters, world-class sporting gear, firearms, art, collectibles, entertainment, seminars, auctions and more. More than 10 football fields’ worth of attractions—a record 600,000 square feet of exhibit space—are booked for 2013. n

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Additional events, galas, awards, and fundraisers will be held at the Omni Hotel Dallas for DSC convention registrants.

“In 2012, this event generated a record $1 million-plus for DSC grants to support conservation, education, and hunter advocacy efforts worldwide,” said DSC Executive Director Ben Carter. “We hope hunters from across Texas will join us and help us set more new records in 2013.”

Weatherby Foundation International recently announced that its prestigious Weatherby Award will be presented in conjunction with the DSC convention and expo beginning in 2014.

Big game records cited are No. 1 listings for Texas in Boone and Crockett Club records.

Sponsors for the 2013 DSC convention and expo include Orion, Sports Afield, Midway USA, Trijicon, The Hunting Consortium, Capital Farm Credit, Zeiss, The Wildlife Gallery, Ruger, Rock Island Auction Co., Sovereign Bank, EuroOptics, Rungwa Game Safaris, RBC Wealth Management, Yamaha, Blaser, and others.

Details are available at www.biggame.org

Pronghorn B&C Score: 90-4/8 Hudspeth County Hunter: Walter O. Ford III 1994 Mule Deer, Typical B&C Score: 195-6/8 Potter County Hunter: Mickey G. VanHuss 1996 Mule Deer, Non-typical B&C Score: 220-7/8 Jeff Davis County Hunter: John Z. Means 2002 Desert Bighorn Sheep B&C Score: 184 Culberson County Hunter: Stephanie Altimus 2007 Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 71

Moose Survey App

Hunters as Citizen Scientists

By Mark S. Boyce Photos by Vince Crichton, M.S. Boyce, R. Wainscoat, and Mike Schrage

It has long been true that hunters and anglers contribute more to wildlife conservation than any other segment of the public. The modest fees we pay for hunting and fishing licenses support management activities that help ensure the future of the resources we enjoy. In addition, many hunters and anglers volunteer through their local fish and game clubs to work on enhancement projects for fish and wildlife.

72 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

This fall moose hunters in Alberta were invited to participate in a pilot project to monitor moose populations by recording all moose seen while hunting into a smartphone app.

When we report our harvest data to state or provincial wildlife agencies, we all assist an important management activity—population monitoring. Examples include fishing creel surveys, filling in big game harvest reports, or reporting leg bands from ducks and geese that we have shot.

Such opportunities have expanded in recent years, under the label “citizen science.” One of the most successful citizen science programs in North America is the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), involving thousands of bird watchers across North America who drive along designated survey routes and follow a strict protocol to record numbers of each bird species observed during the spring breeding season. These BBS surveys have provided crucial data documenting population trends for a long list of birds. For example, one documented pattern is a decline in multiple species of grassland birds. This data is managed by Environment Canada and the U.S. Geological Survey under the supervision of John Sauer, a former graduate student of mine.

Scandinavian Innovation

Last year while on sabbatical leave, I travelled to Sweden and Norway with my wife Evelyn Merrill, a Professional Member of the Boone and Crockett Club. There we learned about the Scandinavian citizen science program for monitoring moose populations. At the end of each hunting day, participants reported their moose sightings while in the field. Studies by Swedish and Norwegian biologists have shown that the number of moose seen by hunters in the field is highly correlated with actual moose abundance. Likewise, hunter observations of the number of bulls, cows, and calves were found to yield reliable estimates of herd composition. In fact, these counts are so reliable that wildlife agencies in Norway, Sweden, and Finland use hunter observations exclusively for monitoring of moose populations. Most hunters are happy to participate because this information is used to enhance moose management.

We can learn from these three Scandinavian countries because they have the most

successful moose management programs in the world. Why do I say that? Let’s compare their moose abundance and harvest with that in Alberta (661,848 km2), where we have a population of approximately 118,000 moose and harvest about 8,500 moose each year. The entire country of Sweden is considerably smaller than Alberta at only 450,259 km2, but it hosts a staggering population of 350,000 moose and harvest 100,000 moose each year! Finland (338,424 km2) is about half the size of Alberta, but it supports more than twice as many moose with an estimated population of 264,000 and an annual harvest of 75,000. My ancestors came from Norway (385,242 km2) where the total population of moose is about the same as Alberta, yet Norskes kill nearly five times as many—about 40,000 moose each year. Moose numbers are much higher in each of these countries today than they were 50 years ago due to changes in forestry and improved moose harvest management.

Our moose harvests in Alberta are low, relative to those in Scandinavia, because of wolf predation and unregulated harvest by First Nations people. The estimated wolf population in Alberta is roughly 7,000; whereas Norway has about 30, and Sweden has a management target of only 200 wolves. First Nations people in Alberta harvest moose throughout the year, and they often kill cow moose that have much greater consequence to sustainability of harvest than does the harvest of bulls and calves. In most of Scandinavia the harvest is restricted to bulls and calves, while cow moose are protected. Although unmonitored, wolf predation and First Nations harvests are recognized to be major sources of moose mortality in Alberta.

To compensate, harvest regulations allow only bulls to be taken in most wildlife management units (WMUs). Only 10 WMUs had calf seasons during the 2012 season in Alberta.

Alberta Hunters Get Connected

I was intrigued by the success of the Scandinavian moose hunter observation system, and I puzzled over how we might monitor moose observations by hunters in Alberta. Scandinavian moose Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 73

Moose Survey University of Alberta

hunters are organized by local hunting organizations, making it easier to compile daily records of moose seen while hunting. But in Alberta, many hunters head to the bush for a week and have little contact while moose hunting. While puzzling over how to engage hunters in monitoring in Alberta, a friend suggested that a smart phone app might be developed to record hunter observations.

So with the assistance of Daniel Chui, an undergraduate IT technician, we programmed a smart phone app that prompts each moose hunter daily at about 8:00 p.m. to record the number of moose seen during that day. The ring-tone prompt that we’ve programmed into the app is the bellowing call of a cow moose in heat! Recording moose sightings on the same day is very important because it is easy to forget what one saw in days past. We ask hunters to record the number of hours spent hunting that day and the number of bulls, cows, and calves observed. We also included a space for reporting unclassified moose because sometimes a moose is seen but conditions do not allow accurate classification as bull, cow, or calf. When within range of a cell-phone tower, the recorded observations of moose are instantly beamed to a spreadsheet on our server. What if a hunter is in a remote area with no cell phone service? No problem. Data is stored on the smart phone and transmitted during the drive home or whenever the phone comes within range of a tower.

We established the following rules for volunteer participants to ensure that data collected from hunters are statistically valid: 1. Record the number of hours spent in the WMU when moose might be seen, whether in a vehicle or on foot.

2. Only record moose seen on that day.

3. Do not record observations of tracks, spoor, or moose beds. Only report moose actually seen.

4. Only record moose observed within the WMU for which a hunting license was issued. Do not report moose observations in other WMUs. 5. Record the number of bulls, cows, and calves observed during the day as well as any moose for which age/sex classification was not possible.

If uncertain whether the moose was a cow or a calf, report “unidentified” on the App Form.

6. Record moose observations even if outside the range of cellular communication. The date-stamped observations will be transmitted when the hunter returns to an area with mobile phone or WiFi coverage.

BELOW: In observations like this one , classification of cows and calves is easy.

But when moose are by themselves in dense bush, classification can be difficult. If uncertain, simply record “unidentified” on the App form (above).

74 n Fair Chase Winter 2012

Remarkably, in 2012 about 40 percent of Albertans (and 46 percent of Americans) own smart phones, so this system could sample a substantial fraction of Alberta’s 18,500 licensed moose hunters. It should yield large enough sample sizes from each WMU to secure a reasonable index of abundance throughout the province. Currently we have programmed the app for iPhones and for Android-based smart phones, making it widely accessible. After purchasing a hunting license this fall, moose hunters were sent a letter that contained a link where they can download the moose-hunter app. In the case of iPhones the “Moose Survey” app can be downloaded for free from the App Store.

You will be able to submit data through the Moose Survey only if you have a moose license for 2012.

Granted some hunters may attempt to cheat the system by recording more or fewer moose than they actually saw. But the experience in Scandinavia is that most hunters recognize it is in their best interests to be honest in reporting, thus providing

Methods for aerial survey of moose populations have been refined to the “gold standard” for population estimation. But these surveys are very expensive. Helicopters are commonly used to conduct aerial surveys of moose during winter when snow cover makes the animals easier to detect.

wildlife managers with the best possible information for making management decisions. Yes there are cheaters, but these are counterbalanced by conscientious participants in the citizen-science scheme. I believe that most Alberta hunters will support active participation in moose population monitoring.

The Bottom Line: Affordable Monitoring

Currently aerial ungulate surveys are among the most expensive and dangerous tasks conducted by wildlife biologists. In Alberta, a helicopter survey costs on average $60,000 per WMU, and only about 10 surveys are conducted each winter. We have over 100 WMUs in which moose hunting occurs each fall. This means that fewer than 10 percent of the WMUs are surveyed in a given year, and any particular WMU is monitored only once every 10 years. This certainly is insufficient to monitor the efficacy of the moose harvesting program—a moose population could crash in 10 years! Using our smart phone system, we would be able to monitor moose populations every year and managers will be able to detect the consequences of changes in harvest regulations, winter kill, winter tick outbreaks, excessive aboriginal harvests, and so on.

Naturally we wish to have as much data as possible for making harvest management decisions. However monitoring can be extremely expensive, competing for scarce dollars with other conservation and management investments. The bottom line for hunter-assisted monitoring is that we can have improved moose harvest management and an additional $600,000 each year to invest in habitat acquisition and other conservation programs.

Moose Survey App

Our Moose Survey App is experimental in 2012, and we might need a few years to iron out bugs in the sampling scheme. But technology continues to advance. That’s why we’re optimistic about providing better information for wildlife managers, which should translate into more opportunities for hunters. n Dr. Mark S. Boyce is professor and Alberta Conservation Association Chair in Fisheries and Wildlife at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta. He specializes in mathematical and simulation models of ecological systems, primarily at the population-level for conservation and management. He is an avid hunter of furred and feathered game alike, throughout North America and around the world.

Fair Chase Winter 2012 n 75

Celebrating the Boone and Crockett Club’s 125th Anniversary

1887-2012 The 125th Annual Meeting of the Boone and Crockett Club kicked off a host of events and activities planed throughout 2013 to commemorate the Club’s 125th.

A Legacy To Be Proud Of And To Build On Oldest wildlife conservation organization in North America – founded in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell

n

Pride: a satisfied sense of attachment toward one’s own or another’s choices and actions, or toward a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent self-reflection, or a fulfilled feeling of belonging.

Achievement: something accomplished, especially by superior ability, special effort, great courage, etc.; a great or heroic deed.

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Initiator and champion of the first National Parks, including Yellowstone, Glacier, Denali, and Grand Canyon Initiator and champion of the first legislation for wildlife, including the Timberland Reserve Bill, Yellowstone Protection Act, Lacey Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Alaskan Game Laws Champion of the earliest science-based wildlife management efforts and legislation, including the National Wildlife Refuge System Act, and the creation of the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units

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Champion of the first legislations funding wildlife conservation, including the Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson), and the federal Duck Stamp Act

Legacy: handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.

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Future: an indefinite time period after the present considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics.

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Pioneered and established the principles of responsible, ethical, and sustainable use hunting known as Fair Chase

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Created the first big game scoring and data collection system to objectively measure and evaluate species and population health and habitat quality to improve state and federal wildlife polices and management Initiator and champion of all of the principle federal land management agencies, including the US Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service Spawned and supported key wildlife conservation organizations, including the New York Zoological Society (1895), National Audubon Society (1905), Wildlife Management Institute (1911), National Wildlife Federation (1937), Ducks Unlimited (1937), and American Wildlife Conservation Partners (2000) Recognized, respected, and trusted authority on big game wildlife and habitat conservation for 125 years, thus far A message to members and guests from Simon Roosevelt at the Boone and Crockett Club’s annual black tie dinner. December 1st, 2012 To mark our 125th Anniversar y of the founding of the Boone and Crockett Club this year’s annual black tie dinner was held in New York, New York, just as the first one was. The dinner took place at the American Museum of Natural Histor y in Akeley’s Hall of African Mammals, which opened in 1936. Carl E. Akeley was a professional member of the Club. His ground-breaking sculptural taxidermy techniques are showcased in the Hall and are still used to this day.

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The Boone and Crockett Club’s Annual Black Tie Dinner the first week of December is a time honored tradition marking the birth of the Club in Theodore Roosevelt’s home in 1887.

From that beginning in Roosevelt’s dining room, the Club’s founders developed a strategy that not only reversed the problems of their times, but formed the foundation and framework for conservation in America.

16401 PL_fairchase-winter.ai

These achievements gave America’s oldest conservation organization its credibility as an effective and influential organization.

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A look back...

C ou g a r The back of the photo says â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A few cougarsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, but the large one in the middle earned itself first place at the 1949 North American Big Game Competition at the American Museum of Natural History.

This cougar was taken by Alan Gill in 1948, in Princeton, British Columbia.

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