Fair Chase Summer 2017 by Boone and Crockett Club

SUMMER 2017 | $9.95

Conservation Education Protecting Hunters’ Rights Please Join Us.

Next DSC Convention January 4-7, 2018 biggame.org G R E A T E S T H U N T E R S ’ C O N V E N T I O N O N T H E P L A N E T TM 2

FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE OFFICI A L PUBLICATION OF THE BOONE A ND CROCK ETT CLUB

Volume 33 n Number 2 n Summer 2017

18. Rifles that Rewrote the Records

26. King of the Swamp

FROM THE EDITOR

FROM THE PRESIDENT | Human-Wildlife Interactions

CAPITOL COMMENTS | Changing Tires on a Moving Vehicle

ACCURATE HUNTER | Keep it Natural!

RIFLES THAT REWROTE THE RECORDS

Doug Painter

56. Hunting the American West

B.B. Hollingsworth, Jr.

Steven Williams

Craig Boddington

Wayne van Zwoll

KING OF THE SWAMP Kari Hirschberger 26

KEY DEER POPULATION THRIVES ON WILDLIFE REFUGE THAT CARRIES ITS NAME

Martha Nudel

42 SCIENCE BLASTS | Who Really Does Fund Conservation? John F. Organ 44 EDUCATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF CONSERVATION LEADERS Boone and Crockett University Programs 60. Minnesota Black Bear

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE | PART THREE

HUNTING THE AMERICAN WEST

BEYOND THE SCORE | Minnesota Black Bear

TROPHY TALK | Moose Scoring Challenges

GENERATION NEXT | 30th Awards Youth Trophy List

RECENTLY ACCEPTED TROPHIES AND TROPHY PHOTO GALLERY 30 th Awards Program Entries | Sponsored by Realtree Xtra Green

An Allied Front - The CWD Alliance Matt Dunfee

32. Key Deer Population Thrives on Wildlife Refuge that Carries its Name

Excerpt from Hunting the American West Richard C. Rattenbury

48. Chronic Wasting Disease Part Three COVER A 70” Alaska-Yukon moose taken north of the Alaska Range. © Donald M. Jones

@BooneAndCrockettClub #BooneAndCrockettClub

Keith Erhardt

Jack Reneau

86 THE ETHICS OF FAIR CHASE | Gearing Down Mark W. Streissguth

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17

ABOUT THE BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB MISSION STATEMENT

It is the mission of the Boone and Crockett Club to promote the conservation and management of wildlife, especially big game, and its habitat, to preserve and encourage hunting and to maintain the highest ethical standards of fair chase and sportsmanship in North America. VISIONS FOR THE CLUB n

We envision a future in which the Boone and Crockett Club continues to be an internationally-recognized leader in conservation, especially in research, education, and the demonstration of sustainable conservation practices. A future in which the Club continues its legacy as a key leader in national conservation policy. A future in which the Club continues to be North America’s leader in big game records keeping as a conservation tool. A future in which the Club’s members continue to be respected and commended for their individual and collective contributions to conservation. A future in which the Club’s leadership and management continue as examples of excellence, and programs remain balanced with financial capability. A future in which the Club’s activities continue to be highly-focused and effective, and as a result, natural resources sharing, wildlife populations, habitats, and recreational hunting opportunities continue to improve through, and beyond the 21st century.

VISIONS FOR WILDLIFE AND CONSERVATION n

We envision a future in which wildlife and its habitat, in all their natural diversity, are managed and conserved throughout North America. A future in which hunting continues to be enjoyed under rules of fair chase, sportsmanship, and ethical respect for the land. A future in which all users of natural resources respect the rights of others in the spirit of sharing. A future in which the value and conservation of private land habitat is respected and supported. A future in which North Americans are committed to the principle that their use of resources must be sustainable both for themselves and future generations. A future in which hunting opportunities exist for all desiring to participate.

Club President – B.B. Hollingsworth, Jr. Secretary – Mary Webster Treasurer – Marshall J. Collins, Jr. Executive Vice President – Administration James F. Arnold Executive Vice President – Conservation Timothy C. Brady Vice President of Administration James L. Cummins Vice President of Big Game Records Eldon L. “Buck” Buckner Vice President of Conservation Tom L. Lewis Vice President of Communications CJ Buck Foundation President – R. Terrell McCombs Class of 2017 Anthony J. Caligiuri Class of 2018 Paul V. Phillips Class of 2019 A.C. Smid

FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

Editor-in-Chief – Doug Painter Managing Editor – Karlie Slayer Conservation and History Editor Steven Williams Research and Education Editors John F. Organ William F. Porter Hunting and Ethics Editor Mark Streissguth Assistant Editors Keith Balfourd Jim Bequette CJ Buck Kendall Hoxsey Marc Mondavi Jack Reneau Tony A. Schoonen Julie L. Tripp Editorial Contributors Craig Boddington Matt Dunfee Keith Erhardt Kari Hirschberger B.B. Hollingsworth, Jr. Martha Nudel John F. Organ Doug Painter Richard C. Rattenbury Jack Reneau Justin E. Spring Mark Streissguth Steven Williams Wayne van Zwoll Photographic Contributors John Hafner Donald M. Jones Fair Chase is published quarterly by the Boone and Crockett Club and distributed to its Members and Associates. Material in this magazine may be freely quoted and/or reprinted in other publications and media, so long as proper credit is given to Fair Chase. The only exception applies to articles that are reprinted in Fair Chase from other magazines, in which case, the Club does not hold the reprint rights. The opinions expressed by the contributors of articles are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Boone and Crockett Club. Fair Chase (ISSN 1077-3274) is published for $35 per year by the Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801. Periodical postage is paid in Missoula, Montana, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Fair Chase, Boone and Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801 Phone: (406) 542-1888 Fax: (406) 542-0784

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

FAIR CHASE PRODUCTION STAFF

FOUNDATION

Foundation President – R. Terrell McCombs Secretary – John P. Schreiner Treasurer – C. Martin Wood III Vice President – John P. Evans Vice President – Paul M. Zelisko Class of 2017 Remo R. Pizzagalli Edward B. Rasmuson James J. Shinners John A. Tomke Leonard J. Vallender Class of 2018 Gary W. Dietrich B.B. Hollingsworth, Jr. Ned S. Holmes Tom L. Lewis Paul M. Zelisko Class of 2019 John P. Evans Steve J. Hageman R. Terrell McCombs John P. Schreiner C. Martin Wood III

NATIONAL ADVERTISING Tom Perrier TPerrier@boone-crockett.org Phone: (605)348-4652

B&C STAFF

Chief of Staff – Tony A. Schoonen Director of Big Game Records – Justin Spring Director of Publications – Julie L. Tripp Director of Marketing – Keith Balfourd Director of Sales – Tom Perrier Director Emeritus – Jack Reneau Office Manager – Sandy Poston Controller – Abra Loran Assistant Controller – Debbie Kochel Records Dept. Data Specialist – Kyle M. Lehr Development Program Manager – Jodi Bishop Digital Strategies Manager – Mark Mesenko Creative Services Manager – Karlie Slayer TRM Ranch Manager – Mike Briggs Conservation Education Programs Manager – Luke Coccoli Shipping and Administrative Support Specialist – Amy Hutchison Customer Service/Receptionist – TJ Gould

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FROM THE EDITOR I recently read a New York Times story headlined, “Six Years After the Fukushima Disaster, a New Danger Looms: Radioactive Boars.” At first glance, you might think this piece is about a sci-fi horror movie. But, sad to say, it’s fact, not fiction. Reporter Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura writes, “As Japan prepares to lift some evacuation orders on four towns within the more than 12-mile exclusion zone around the Fukushima plant (site of the 2011 nuclear crisis) later this month (March 2017), officials are struggling to clear out the contaminated boars.” The author goes on to say that “Wild boar meat is a delicacy in northern Japan, but animals slaughtered since the disaster have shown levels of radioactive element cesium-137 that [is] 300 times higher than safety standards. Officials have also expressed concern that returning residents may be attacked by the animals, some of which have settled into homes and have reportedly lost their shyness to humans.” Officials in towns near Fukushima have hired teams of hunters to thin out boar numbers in the area. Reports indicate that in the three years since 2014, the number of boars killed in hunts has grown to 13,000 from 3,000. According to the mayor of a local town, Hidekiyo Tachiya, “We need a strong hunting plan. I wish for the day to come when we can eat wild game again.” All of us wish the best for the residents of the Fukushima area and hope that day is not too far off for them.

FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

It is also a poignant reminder that we should not take for granted the privilege we have long enjoyed of being able to eat the wide variety of wild game we have the opportunity to harvest throughout our great land, whether we end up grilling some elk tenderloins in Montana or frying quail down in Georgia. I had a successful duck hunt on the Mississippi Delta this January. For cooking inspiration, I turned to our Club’s own cookbook, Wild Gourmet, and ended up using the “Grilled Duck Breast with Raspberry Relish” recipe. The relish is easy to make and is a wonderful accompaniment to grilled duck breasts! Looking through Wild Gourmet, I was reminded that it’s not just a cookbook, but a broad-based reference guide on game preparation. In the preface, Julie Tripp, B&C’s director of publications, notes, “Chef Daniel Nelson of the Gourmet Gone Wild (GGW) program has provided an in-depth and fully illustrated chapter explaining different game-processing techniques, including his best cooking practices for various game, as well as recommended internal temperatures and food safety tips.” Julie also writes, “Moira Tidball, a human ecology nutrition resource educator, provides a detailed table of the nutrition content of wild game and fish species that have known nutritional data in the USDA database as well as nutritional comparisons of farm-raised versus wild game meat.” There is also a straightforward and easy to digest wine glossary.

All in all, it struck me that Wild Gourmet is more than a collection of recipes. It’s also a testament to the respect we have for the animals we harvest and a reflection of the thanks we give for nature’s bounty. If a visitor in my house asks me why I hunt, I might just hand over my copy of Wild Gourmet and say, “Here, take a look.” Summer is the perfect time to check the freezer and see what game we have left. And it’s also a great time to invite friends over for a wild-game meal. In the introduction to Wild Gourmet, Marc Mondavi, immediate past vice president of communications for the Boone and Crockett Club and co-proprietor, Charles Krug Winery, wrote, “While you’re enjoying your wild game meal with a delicious glass of wine, be sure to remind everyone at the table about the far-reaching benefits of being a sportsman. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll want to join you in the field next season.” Sounds like the perfect recipe to me. Hope to see you down the trail. n

If you don’t have a copy of Wild Gourmet you can order a copy online or by calling 888/840-4868 Hardcover Over 300 color photographs n 8 x 10 inches n 272 pages n n

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Doug Painter EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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HUMAN-WILDLIFE INTERACTIONS As the scope and intensity of human-wildlife interactions increase, it is a great honor for me to serve as president of the Boone and Crockett Club. Certainly my early exposure to the outdoors and years of service in the Club have made my presidency an experience of the utmost personal meaning. But as I think about the various landscapes—ecological, socioeconomic, political—affecting our Club’s activities, the increasing frequency of our interactions with wildlife in these arenas makes it a truly exciting time to lead the Club. One alarmingly familiar example of human-wildlife interactions is the occurrence and spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD). In the Winter 2016 issue of Fair Chase, we learned from Michael Miller and John Fischer about the history, biology, and ecology of CWD. As a result of both natural and anthropogenic factors, CWD is present in captive and/or free-ranging

FROM THE PRESIDENT

cervids in 24 U.S. states, three Canadian provinces, South Korea, and Norway. In the last issue of Fair Chase, Miller and Fischer delved deeper into the CWD story. We learned about the reasons why it can be difficult to detect and monitor CWD in wild cervid populations. We are reminded about the importance of using specific knowledge of CWD biology and ecology to design effective surveillance programs. We also learned about the socioeconomic and statistical aspects of CWD detection and monitoring. No CWD management program can be truly successful unless it aligns with stakeholder values and expectations in a statistically sound manner that promotes reliable data collection over space and time. Together, these articles (and those to come) provide us with critical information on CWD and insights to address this conservation challenge. As we work together to contain CWD prions and infected animals, we must remember two

important themes well-articulated by Miller and Fischer: 1) CWD-affected populations are likely not sustainable in the long term; and 2) it is prudent to minimize human exposure to infected animals. Moving from prions to populations, we are routinely involved in other human-wildlife interactions behind the steering wheel. As humans construct roads to facilitate transportation, we increasingly cross wildlife movement corridors. Highways and interstate freeways fragment wildlife habitats, disconnect wildlife populations, and threaten human and wildlife safety in many ecosystems across the globe. Every year, 500 human fatalities occur as a result of animal-vehicle collisions in the United States and Europe, not to mention the thousands of animals that are annually killed or injured during these collisions. Collisions involving cervids are particularly common, given their large body size and frequent spatial overlaps

B.B. Hollingsworth, Jr. PRESIDENT

between movement corridors and human-constructed roads. I have noticed in the last few decades the increasing frequency of human-wildlife interactions on our roadways. I often drive on Highway 9 connecting Denver with my home in northwest Colorado. The risk of a collision is high, and it is always a tense drive; but no more, as this year will mark the completion of wildlife crossings that have already greatly reduced wildlife collisions. Overpasses and underpasses represent a strategy for enhancing the connectivity of wildlife movement corridors while minimizing animal-vehicle collisions. They have been proven to reduce the number of collisions between vehicles and elk and mule deer

Read part one and two of the Chronic Wasting Disease series in the Winter 2016 and Spring 2017 issues of Fair Chase. Find out more about the Club’s 15-year involvement with Chronic Wasting Disease on page 48.

Together, these articles provide us with critical information on CWD and insights to address this conservation challenge. 8

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Overpasses and underpasses represent a strategy for enhancing the connectivity of wildlife movement corridors while minimizing animalvehicle collisions.

while decreasing habitat fragmentation and increasing connectivity. Despite the initial monetary costs associated with overpass and underpass construction, the various benefits of these structures— human safety, vehicle protection, habitat connectivity, wildlife abundance—often make them cost-effective in the long term. We live in a world where interactions between humans and wildlife are increasing in magnitude and diversity. From deer at road crossings, to bears at campsites, to turkeys in our backyards, wildlife are omnipresent in our lives. But our interactions with wildlife do not always occur at a familiar, visually recognizable scale. The emergence of CWD as

a threat to cervids teaches us that human-wildlife interactions span the gamut from prions to populations. Amidst the growing interconnectedness we share with wildlife around us, our role as a Club becomes ever more important. As hunters, wildlife conservationists, wildlife advocates, and public servants, the increasing frequency of human-wildlife interactions is an opportunity for our Club to make a difference in broader swaths of society. At this exciting time, I am fortunate to be part of a Club that invests so much time and treasure to pursue and protect our beloved wildlife. n

The Boone and Crockett Club asks that you please thank our Trailblazers with your patronage. FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17

CHANGING TIRES ON A MOVING VEHICLE For most of my life, I have driven old pickups. Living in the country, flat tires are routine. Each time it happens, I buy and mount new tires that get me on my way. After I change the tire, my pickup continues to take me where I want to go. The truck, it turns out, is more important than the tires. After the change, it keeps on going sometimes better, sometimes worse. At the risk of savaging a simile, our country is like the truck and the tires are like the administration on which the truck runs. We are now in the early months of a new president and a full transition of power to the Republican Party. As conservationists, we can all hold our collective breaths or breathe deeply, confident that our issues will be addressed. In reality, neither action is warranted at this time. The coming months will indicate what the implications are for the natural resources that sustain and inspire us. As always, the Boone and Crockett Club will need to position itself to remain a force for wildlife conservation. That positioning should not assume anything, and it should be ready to adapt to positive and negative signs from the new administration and Congress. At the time of this writing, the secretaries of Interior and Agriculture have been nominated and confirmed by the Senate. On the first morning of his new position, Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke met with representatives of national hunting and angling organizations. He decisively told us that he would listen to our concerns and restore our 10 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

rightful place in the conservation dialogue. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue had a very late start in his new role at the department. Neither individual had much of an opportunity to influence the budget blueprint released by the Office of Management and Budget. However, the document does provide insight into the new administration’s approach to conservation policy that both secretaries will inherit and carry out. In order to address priorities, the presidential “skinny” budget request (PBR) reallocates $54 billion from non-defense, discretionary funding to programs aimed at advancing the “safety and security of the American people.” One would be hard pressed to find fault with that aim; however, as with all hard choices, it matters whose ox gets gored in the process. Congress will certainly have its say on the budget and appropriations for departments across the federal government but the PBR does provide a blueprint for the administration’s policy priorities. On a general level, the PBR espouses the desire for agencies to be more effective, productive, efficient, and transparent in their use of taxpayers’ dollars. Numerous executive orders have been signed in an effort to curtail regulations and federal hiring, reorganize the executive branch of government, and further ethics reform. Recently the president has appointed his son-in-law to a post with the intent of bringing business management principles to government management. Each of these

CAPITOL COMMENTS

measures is intended to better operate the federal government and contain spending. However, for those of us who have worked in state or federal governments, these are familiar refrains heard with each new administration. As in the past, time will tell how much of this ambitious agenda will be accomplished. The PBR does not provide great detail about individual conservation programs, though it does provide insight into the future of conservation policy. As proposed, the PBR would reduce the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) budget by 21 percent. Reductions would occur, in part, due to closing USDA service centers across the country and a reduction in funding for land acquisition associated with the National Forest System. Impacts to Farm Bill programs are unknown at this time and Farm Bill deliberations are in full swing within Congress. As conservationists, we will want to carefully watch the government’s services to private landowners with respect to technical assistance and private land conservation efforts. The Department of Interior (DOI) budget is slated for a reduction of 12 percent. Proposed cuts to land acquisitions, streamlining administrative offices in both Washington, D.C., and in the regions, reduced construction and major maintenance project funding, and lower Payment-in-Lieu of Taxes combine to achieve part of the proposed reduction. Detailed impacts to DOI agency programs are unknown and demand our attention. Some members of Congress

Steven Williams, Ph.D. B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBER PRESIDENT Wildlife Management Institute

continue their push for the transfer of federal lands to states and/or private interests. Others have expressed the desire for amending the Endangered Species Act. The Environmental Protection Agency budget has been proposed for a 31 percent reduction and would turn much of the current environmental monitoring and enforcement responsibility over to states and tribes. How Congress treats this blueprint in its budget negotiations is yet unknown. It does establish policy markers that Congress must consider. Every new administration offers its perspective on how government should operate and spend. Like fitting a truck with tires, each time I have experienced this situation, I have been offered retreads or new tires. Sometimes the tires get kicked and mounted, and sometimes the tires get kicked down the road or into the gutter. By all indications so far, the Boone and Crockett Club should have better access to the selection and implementation of conservation programs on which our country will run. It is up to us to monitor the tread and tire pressure. n

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It is not the critic who counts;

not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood...

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- THEODORE ROOSEVELT

12 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

I walked down to this beautiful animal, grateful for everything that happened the last few days. I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have asked for anything better; the excitement, the company, the beautiful animal, taking it with my muzzleloader, and having the privilege of watching it just the day prior. I shall forever cherish yesterday. To be one of the lucky 10... was astonishing. To have lived the last few days... was priceless. pg .26. KING OF THE SWAMP By Kari Hirschberger

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 13

CRAIG BODDINGTON PROFESSIONAL MEMBER Photos Courtesy of Author

ACCURATE HUNTER KEEP IT NATURAL!

There are no benchrests in the field, but when available, a stur-

dy, natural rest is the next best thing. In previous columns we’ve discussed the four classic shooting positions: prone, sitting, kneeling, and standing. We’re not going to throw these out the window, but we’re throwing out all the National Rifle Association rulebooks for competitive shooting. In the field, the goal is to get as steady as possible and make the shot, so these positions can be endlessly modified. They are best enhanced by a solid natural rest that you can lie, sit, kneel or stand against. Outfitter Chris Bilkey demonstrates one of several ways to cushion the rifle against a vertical rest. It’s critical to keep something, if only a hand, between the rifle and a hard surface.

14 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

Nothing is as solid as the Earth’s surface, so absent a natural rest, the closer you can get to the ground, the steadier you can be. But if you can find a firm extension of the Earth to rest over or against you should be able to get steadier than is possible with any unsupported position. The options are endless: boulders, logs, stumps, tree forks and branches, the lip of a ravine—anything solid, sturdy, and more or less horizontal. Vertical rests are also useful, usually better than being unsupported, but they are neither as steady, nor generally, as easy to use. We’ll address vertical rests last, but one rule remains the same: Never rest the firearm’s barrel directly against any solid object. This will alter the barrel’s vibration during the passage of the bullet and will usually change the point of impact. Now, even though a barrel might be free-floated in its channel, the action will be tightly bedded to the stock. So, although the effect may not be as extreme, pretty much the same rule applies: Never rest the stock directly against a solid object! Also, even if you get away with it and make the shot, you can expect plenty of damage from the stock being scraped across rock or tree bark during recoil. I almost always carry a daypack, real handy to throw across a boulder or log. My old friend, gunwriter Bob Milek, usually wore a cowboy hat, and he’d scrunch it under his rifle or the hunting handguns he preferred. To my thinking, however, more padding is better. This is not because you need it, but because there’s one problem with a natural rest: it is what it is. You cannot adjust the height of a boulder or the thickness of a log, but you can adjust the height of your rifle with your pack—and sometimes your buddy’s pack as well. Depending on the height, you may lie, sit, kneel, or even stand behind your rest. You may contort yourself into absurd and sometimes uncomfortable positions, but I still believe you’ll be steadier over a solid rest than in any unsupported position. One trick to sweeten almost any position is to find a way to stabilize your

Boulders are solid, but can come in any height. A pack on a boulder and a sort of modified standing-leaningcrouching position worked just fine for a steady shot on a Mongolian ibex.

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 15

shooting elbow; it’s truly amazing how much this helps. Over a flat-topped boulder perhaps you can get far enough forward to firmly plant both elbows. Then there’s the “reverse-kneeling” position I mentioned in the Winter 2016 issue of Fair Chase. Since the rifle is supported over your solid rest, there’s no reason or benefit for resting your supporting elbow on your knee. Reverse it, grounding your supporting knee and cocking your shooting knee up so you can rest your elbow on it. Keeping that shooting elbow from flapping in the breeze makes a big difference in almost any position. The availability of a solid natural rest can’t exactly be planned much of the time, but in game country, I’m always on the lookout just in case a shooting opportunity suddenly develops. I consider this part of situational awareness, because a shot can happen at any time—so how are you going to handle it? Nearly 40 years ago, on my first blacktail deer hunt, Mike Ballew and I were working two sides of a volcanic ridge down from Mount Lassen. I suppose we were 50 yards apart when Mike hollered, so I bailed over the top toward him and saw a nice buck streaking up the next ridge. I spotted a conelike lava boulder in front of me, so I slid in behind it, mashed my cowboy hat over the top, rested the rifle, and took the shot. Today I couldn’t be quite so quick—but maybe I’d find a solution that saved me a 50-yard dash. A good natural rest is so important to me that I’ll

often stop a stalk a bit farther than necessary if a good shooting position turns up. Come to think of it, all things being equal, in broken ground I’ll often plan a stalk around a good place to shoot from. This is pretty simple in the mountains, where there are often plenty of good rocks to choose from! A vertical rest—whether a tree trunk, a stout fencepost, or the corner of an old barn—is a bit different. For most people, vertical rests aren’t nearly as steady, so I view them more as impromptu situations, preferably for use at shorter ranges. There are lots of ways to use one, but for me, the fastest and most efficient is to simply grip the fore end, place your hand between fore end and your vertical rest, and lean into it. This generally means that for righthanders, it’s probably best to work off the right side of the rest, lefties to the left; if it’s a good, stout tree you can actually rest your forearm against it. Pretty much the same situation applies as with a more horizontal surface: you can lie against the base of the tree; or you can sit, kneel, or stand, depending on the desired height and how much time you have. The stouter the support the better, but there are no rules in getting steady. In extreme situations, I’ve even gathered together a fistful of flimsy stalks. It comes down to whatever works; if available, a solid natural rest is one of the very best options. n

TOP: I’m not sure exactly what this position should be called, but a low boulder with two packs allowed the rifle, the body, and both elbows to be perfectly stabilized. MIDDLE: There are many ways to use a vertical rest, depending largely on its size. A stout tree like this allows you to lean into it, putting the supporting forearm against the tree. BOTTOM: A vertical rest usually isn’t as steady as a horizontal platform, but for a fast, quick shot, a handy tree is a lot steadier than any unsupported position. 16 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

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Rifles

WAYNE C. VAN ZWOLL B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBER Photos Courtesy of Author

That Rewrote the Records

Early rifles bring history, add challenge to any hunt. A 1909-vintage Savage 1899 in .25-35 took this pronghorn for Wayne with one 90-yard shot. No record? No problem!.

Hunters neednâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fire as far as they can see with glass. Iron sights have packed the records books!

PR MIM NG E R2 020 1717 18 FA I R CH A S E | SSU

The arc, accuracy and power of bullets put few animals “in the book.” Credit hard hunting, good shooting—and extraordinary luck!

Steel tape measures only bone; it tells nothing else about the hunt. Time, circumstance, weather and effort remain only in the hunter’s memory. Much of what defines the hunt, including the urgency of the shot, dies with him. Usually a record of the rifle remains. Advances in the shooting industry put ever more powerful, sophisticated arms afield. But Boone and Crockett lists include many outstanding animals taken with ordinary, arguably primitive rifles—and outdated loads with short reach and anemic punch.

John Plute’s Dark Canyon bull was declared a new World’s Record at the Club’s 10th Competition in 1962. The bull scored 442-3/8. This elk was bumped to No. 2 in 1998 by the surfacing of the Alonzo Winter’s bull taken in 1968. Only 2/8 inches separates these two Monarchs.

John Plute took his famous 1899 Dark Canyon elk with a .30-40 Krag, probably a Winchester 1895.

Whatever you carry, a hunt’s reward has little to do with the hardware in the crook of your arm. Someone may know of the rifle John Plute used when in 1899 he took an elk whose antlers would top records lists for a century. It was evidently a .30-40 Krag. The only photo I’ve seen of this enigmatic bachelor with a rifle shows a Winchester 1895—one of few rifles so chambered. Less likely possibilities: the military Krag-Jorgensen bolt-action that introduced this smokeless round in 1892, and Winchester’s High Wall 1885 single-shot, the first commercial U.S. rifle for a small-bore smokeless cartridge. The .30-40 also appeared in Remington-Lee and Rolling Block rifles. FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 19

Details of Plute’s ammunition—probably 180- or 220-grain softpoint factory loads—have been lost. The shooting was likely close. Scopes were rare, and neither the Krag-Jorgensen nor the iron-sighted Winchester with Plute in the photo readily accepted optics. As the tale goes, when he returned to his home in Crested Butte, Colorado, from nearby Anthracite Creek, onlookers didn’t believe his story of a big bull. So he rode back and retrieved the antlers he’d discarded. Later they would go to John Rozich, who owned the Elk Saloon, to settle a bar bill. Ed Rozman, Rozich’s stepson, eventually acquired the saloon. In 1955 he measured the antlers. In 1961 an official B&C score of 442-3/8 touted them as the World’s Record. A Slovenian immigrant, Plute has been described as a coal miner, a mountain man. He lived in a boarding house and reportedly drew from dwindling game herds to supply venison

to the Elk Saloon. One night in 1922, riding back from a party at a ranch, he was pitched from the saddle. He died two days later. Winchester’s Model 1895 was preceded by the Model 1894, which appeared in October of that year in .3240 and .38-55, both black-powder rounds. The new, smokeless .30-30 and .25-35 joined them a few months later when Winchester introduced nickel-steel barrels. The .32 Special, announced in 1902 and dropped in ‘73, outlived all but the .30-30 in this rifle. Initially loaded with a 160-grain bullet at 1,970 fps, the .30-30 got friskier with age. Current listings: 150-grain bullets at 2,390 fps, 170s at 2,200. The 94 lasted 112 years before leaving Winchester’s line in March 2006 when the New Haven plant closed. It has reappeared and remains the most popular lever-rif le ever—more than 6 million have been produced! Hunters who could have reached farther with

.30-06 bolt rifles favored the 94 carbine because it was easy to carry, quick to point. One day in 1941, Coloradan Jack Autrey drove his 1935 Plymouth into the hills near his home and hiked to a ridge. Movement behind a bush caught his eye. No! The bush was moving! Two shots from his Winchester 94, a .25-35, killed the biggest deer Jack had ever seen. With 32 points and scoring over 297, Autrey’s buck ranks 26th on B&C’s All-time list of non-typical mule deer. The short, flat-sided 94 carbine is a natural fit for scabbards. Late on an October

morning in 1972, Mike Blehm and a friend saddled up for a deer hunt in Colorado’s Soapstone Hills. They spotted a fine buck. Mike slid off his horse, yanked his .30-30 free and dropped the deer with one shot from 125 yards. It was a huge animal—300 pounds field dressed, by Mike’s estimate. Its antlers taped a whopping 195 inches, putting it solidly into B&C’s All-time listings for typical mule deer. The Model 1894 came late in a series of firearms designed by John Browning for Winchester. In 1883 a s a lesmen br oug ht t o

Slim and quick in hand, Winchester’s 1894 (now 94) has sold over 6 million copies. It’s still a star!

ABOVE: Jack Autrey’s non-typical mule deer was taken in 1941 in Larimer County, Colorado. LEFT: A beauty but not recordsbook, Wayne’s buck fell to a .25-35, as did Jack Autrey’s 297-point muley.

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TOP: Jim Jordan’s rifle may have looked like this Winchester 92. The .32-20 and .25-20 don’t hit very hard. ABOVE: The .25-20 is dwarfed by even the modest .3030. The great Jordan buck fell to several .25-20 bullets. BELOW: Jordan Buck Key Measurements: n 53-7/8 inches of mass/ circumference measurements n 30” mainbeams, even on both sides n G1s - G4s: 7, 13, 10 & 7 inches n Only 3-2/8 in symmetry deductions

Winchester VP Thomas Bennett a second-hand single-shot rifle “of interest.” Bennett saw it as competition for Winchester. He traveled immediately to Ogden, Utah, and the “biggest gun shop between Omaha and the Pacific.” It was staffed by four brothers barely out of their teens, John the eldest. “Ten thousand dollars,” he replied when Bennett asked to buy all rights. A fortune! Bennett got it for eight and hurried back to New Haven. Winchester put the rifle into production as its Model 1885. For 17 years,

Browning would work exclusively for Winchester. Eleven of his 40 designs appeared before 1887. Browning adapted the vertically sliding lugs of his single-shot to a new Model 1886 lever-action. Bennett paid him $50,000 for that, then offered John $10,000 for a short-action version “if you deliver in three months.” John replied. “The price is $20,000. You’ll have it in 30 days, or it’s free.” It wasn’t. In .44-40, .38-40, .32-20 and .25-20, the lithe Model 1892 scaled as little as 5½ pounds but held up to 17 rounds. It became a hit worldwide and lasted until 1941. With half-magazine variants, Models 53 and 65, more than a million shipped. It may have been a Winchester 1892 that 22-year-old James Jordan carried on a deer hunt along Wisconsin’s Yellow River, November 20, 1914. Jordan and hunting pal Eachus Davis walked the Soo Line rail from their hometown of Danbury, steps softened by a carpet of new snow. They’d crossed the bridge when Davis discovered he’d forgotten both his knife and 50-cent deer license. After Jordan shot a doe with one of his five cartridges, he loaned Davis his knife to field dress the deer as he took the trail of a buck with “a lazy hoof” back toward town. Jordan was nearing the bridge when a train approached. Several deer burst from brush beside the rail bed. From 50 yards, Jordan fired three times at the enormous buck. His .25-20 launched an 86-grain softnose at about 1,460 fps. Muzzle energy: just

405 foot-pounds, or one-sixth that of the .30-40 Krag’s. Though the deer was hit, it didn’t falter. Jordan stayed on its track, at last dropping it with his one remaining bullet fired across the river. He waded the icy, waist-deep water but couldn’t move the animal. Enlisting help in town, he returned to find the river had carried it downstream. In Da nbu r y t he huge-bodied buck caused a stir. Admirers included taxidermist George Van Castle from Webster, 10 miles away. He offered a shoulder mount for $5. Jordan paid. The deer left with Van Castle—who, seeking medical care for his ailing wife, soon moved to Grindstone Lake, near Hinckley, Minnesota. When Jim Jordan went to Webster to retrieve his deer, he found neither it nor the taxidermist. Van Castle lost his wife. Within three years he remarried and moved to Florida. His Grindstone Lake house would stand vacant 40 years, selling for taxes in 1959. That year, Minnesota DNR forester Bob Ludwig found in a second-hand store a crude mount of an enormous whitetail. He bought it for $2. Months later, he taped the antlers and sent the tally to B&C measurer Bob Fashingbauer in St. Paul. The score, concluded Fashingbauer, must be wrong! He found Ludwig and the deer and came up with a net 206-1/8 inches, just a half-inch shy of Ludwig’s total. Highest ever for a typical whitetail! By this time, Jordan and his wife had also moved and were operating a bar on Highway 48 near St. Croix. When word spread about the big buck, Jordan invited Ludwig to show the antlers at his bar. Immediately he recognized them as from the deer he’d shot 35 years earlier. But Jordan, a renowned storyteller, didn’t convince everyone. Ludwig kept the antlers. In FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 21

Rifles

RIGHT: No stopping rifle, Winchester’s 94 carbine did drop the huge Turner grizzly at six feet! A brain shot.

That Rewrote the Records

Ed Stockwell killed his No. 1 Coues’ deer with an iron-sighted Savage 99. This one has a tang aperture. 1965 B&C listed the deer as the World’s Record typical whitetail—taken by an “unknown” hunter in Minnesota. Jordan’s insistence that he’d killed the deer kept the debate alive after 1968, when Ludwig sold the antlers for $1,500. In December, 1978, B&C concluded the evidence favored Jordan’s claim. Alas, two months before a new listing credited him with the buck, Jim Jordan died. This extraordinary whitetail would hold top spot in B&C records until 1993, when Milo Hanson downed a buck scoring 213-5/8 near Biggar, Saskatchewan. But no whitetail story will likely ever trump that of the giant deer killed by a young James Jordan with the last cartridge in his .25-20! Their marginal performance on deer limited sales of the short-action .25-20 and .32-20. The .30-30 and .32 Special in Winchester Model 1894 and Marlin Model 1893 lever-actions (and Models 94 and 336 that followed) dominated in whitetail camps. The .32 Special’s 170-grain .321 missile is a ballistic twin to the .30-30’s same-weight .308 bullet. 22 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

But some hunters have favored the .32. Ed Broder did. On November 25, 1926, he and two pals herded a 1914 Model T 100 miles from Edmonton to Chip Lake, Alberta. They stopped at a saw-camp to hire a team of horses and a sleigh, reaching the lake cabin in a foot of snow. Broder immediately set out, rifle in hand. Outsized tracks led him a halfmile to a fresh bed, then into a jackpine swamp, where two moose had crossed. “I had to choose: moose or deer.” The moose would take longer to reel in, and little daylight remained. Ed stayed with the deer. In a clearing he spied the buck, facing away “I had to take a spine shot. So I waited until the animal raised its head, then fired my .32 Special.” Walking up to the buck, Broder gawked. Ninety years later, his non-typical mule deer still tops the records lists, with a B&C score of 355 2/8. In 1947 Leupold announced its first rifle scope and Weaver its K-series. Lyman’s Alaskan was by then nearly a decade in service. But despite brisk sales of bolt rifles that tapped the potential of optical sights, lever-actions remained popular. In 1953

ABOVE: Current World’s Record typical Coues’ whitetail deer scores 144-1/8. It was taken in Pima County, Arizona, by Ed Stockwell in 1953.

Winchester presented its two-millionth Model 94 carbine to President Eisenhower; Marlin added the .35 Remington to its Model 336 roster; Savage’s hammerless 99 was slated for the .308. That fall, Ed Stockwell and his partner hunted in Arizona’s rugged Santa Rita Mountains. One day they split at the foot of a ridge, Ed taking the high route. Climbing, he flushed two Coues’ bucks. In a blink they vanished near ridgetop. Ed raced after them, but soon stopped, gasping and despairing. Turning back, he glimpsed movement behind an oak 60 yards off. When a buck stepped clear, Ed killed it with his iron-sighted

Savage 99. The antlers, he now saw, were exceptional. They would score over 144 inches. In fact, B&C had to confirm this was indeed a Coues’ deer! It’s still the World’s Record. By that time the 99 in .300 Savage had become a mainstay of deer and elk hunters. But its more noteworthy chambering was the .250/3000, a cartridge designed by Charles Newton in 1913. Its 87-grain bullet clocked 3,000 fps, a veritable rocket in that day! In 1939 Bill Goosman carried such a rifle into the Beaver Flattops. Still-hunting through thick timber, he caught elk scent and eased toward it. Suddenly a bull elk appeared. Bill took quick aim through his aperture sight and fired. That 45-yard shot brought him antlers that, at 400 inches, would easily make B&C’s non-typical records list, established in the 1980s. Modest cartridges can indeed down tough game. “The summer of 1957,” wrote Jack Turner, “the year we came to our present place on the Atnarko River above Lonesome Lake, my wife Trudy…surprised a sow grizzly

Newton’s .250, left, gave way to the .300 Savage, but in 1939 brought Bill Goosman a 400-inch elk.

and two young cubs” tearing the garden apart. He started sleeping in the garden, .30-30 at hand. So began Jack Turner’s battle with bears. Later, after reluctantly firing at one of the cubs in hopes the sow would take the other and leave, he encountered her in a thicket. She charged. A 170-grain softpoint dropped her at 35 feet. The Atnarko is a major salmon stream. “Runs start in September, with sockeyes and humpbacks first, followed by the cohos. When the salmon appear, the grizzlies start coming ….” Jack figured that on average, 10 to 12 adult grizzlies ranged within six miles of his homestead. One morning in May 1965, Turner left the house at daylight and started up the Atnarko to repair a log fence. He carried an ax. Nylon cord suspended the Winchester 94 across his back. The trail wound through a copse of cedars. Suddenly, in a glade beyond a bend “stood the biggest grizzly I had ever laid eyes on…. [He came] in a savage rush without so much as a growl or a single popping of his teeth.” Jack dropped the ax, whipped the Winchester off his back,

levered a round into the chamber and thumbed up the peep sight. He’d have time for only one shot. “I hit him dead center between the eyes...his head went down between his forelegs, and he fell almost straight down.” After making sure the bear was dead, Jack returned to the cabin to fetch Trudy for help with the skinning. When he returned, he picked up his ax just six feet from the carcass. The shot had been that close! What led to the charge?

Turner couldn’t say. The bear was a male, with nothing nearby to defend. Cleaning the skull, Jack wondered whether, because of its size, this bear might be a cross between an inland grizzly and a coastal brown. He sent the skull to Ian McTaggart Cowan, an authority at the University of British

Columbia and a Boone and Crockett Club member. In May 1966, Cowan declared the animal a true grizzly, not a cross—and that the fragment of bone blown by the bullet did not preclude accurate measurement. The B&C score: 26-10/16. No bigger grizzly had ever been recorded! While subsequent entries would

What you take afield matters less than what you find there. Exceptional animals are, well, exceptional.

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 23

drop Jack Turner’s bear to 11th in All-time lists, he concluded as he hung the huge hide on his barn that it was bear enough to meet a casket-length away! As the 20th century spooled out, more records-book animals fell to bolt-action rifles. But not all were modern magnums. In 1961 Melvin Van Lewen took

ABOVE: To prevent pelt damage to lions, Lowell Hayes used an adapter to fire .32 S&W Longs in his Krag. BELOW: The Swedish Mauser, bottom, is much like the 1898. Such a rifle took Melvin Van Lewen’s big elk.

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to the Colorado hills on an elk hunt. Fresh snow soon showed him promising tracks. He trailed the bull through a day of flurries and eventually earned an 85-yard shot. Melvin’s Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55 dropped the elk with one bullet. Tragically, Van Lewen would die of carbon monoxide poisoning just a few years later on another elk hunt. While rifles with a Mauser stamp date to 1868, the Model 1889 was Paul’s first successful action for smokeless ammo. The Model 1892 introduced the stout, non-rotating extractor since—widely hailed as the most reliable ever—controlling each cartridge from the stack. Paul’s staggered‑column, fixed magazine came in 1893. The 1895 action would be perfected as the 1898. In 1894 Sweden ordered 12,000 Mauser carbines. Later, Sweden’s Mausers would be produced in-country by Carl Gustaf’s Stads Gevarsfaktori. They fired the 6.5x55 Swedish cartridge. The Model 1896 Swedish Mauser had some bolt modifications, including three gas vents and an anti-bind slot inside the bridge, to accept a rib on the bolt body. A 6.5x55 ended one of my most memorable elk hunts

when a bull jumped in Wyoming timber. I had only a quick offhand shot as the bull paused at 80 yards in a gap. The 140-grain softnose landed well. No, it wasn’t even close to a records-book elk. It didn’t have to be. Just about any rifle works for shooting a bayed cougar. Cats have been pulled from trees by .22 rimfires. Hunting cougars isn’t so easy—certainly not the way young Lowell Hayes did it in the winter of 1952-53. The Darby, Montana, native abandoned his trapline for a month to hunt cougars with the hounds he’d trained. In the vast Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness which drapes the Idaho-Montana border, he wrote, “You could line out for 50 miles in most directions without crossing an open road.” The appeal to this kind of hunting? “It’s like prospecting—not so much finding the gold as just looking for it….” Near the start, on Nez Perce Pass, a blizzard slowed Hayes’s progress. But the snow meant good tracking. “Breaking trail over the fluffy whiteness with snowshoes was hard work, but I felt free, fresh, and vigorous. That night the dogs and I stayed in an old prospector’s cabin.” The next morning before dawn they were on the trail. The first 11 miles were tough, as warming air had turned the loose snow to “doughlike balls” that clung to his snowshoes. The next night, hunter and hounds stayed in a brush shelter. Rain commenced. It would continue. Hayes subsisted on rice, tea, jerky, and citrus juice. His dogs ate meat from elk killed by lions, and those that had died of scabies. Prowling the drainages with his pack, Hayes lost track of the days and missed his 19th birthday. There was plenty of cougar sign, but the cats stayed no more than a day on

a kill. Chinook winds bared the ground and turned snow to water, confounding the dogs. Early in February Hayes and his pack crossed the Selway-Bitterroot Divide toward Montana’s Blue Joint Creek. And his luck changed. After a month afield, his hounds were in full cry on big, fresh tracks! He hurried to a rise, listening to each voice as the hounds circled. Soon he reached the tree. Not far up the short fir, a tremendous cat rested, its sides heaving. “I couldn’t help admiring such a fine animal,” Hayes said later. He loaded an auxiliary cartridge into his .30-40 Krag. It accepted a .32 S&W Long cartridge, whose 98-grain bullet at 780 fps wouldn’t ruin the hide. “The big cat didn’t flinch as the bullet struck him. The dogs quit their barking. The silence was complete. A trickle of blood ran from the hole in the lion’s chest. As I reloaded, the smooth action of the old Krag seemed to rattle like a boxcar [as the cat] hit the ground stone-dead.” Hayes measured the giant animal at 9 feet 8 inches. He couldn’t lift it. On snowshoes for 22 miles and over two mountain passes, he backpacked the heavy hide to Darby. It had been a month of trial. Hayes recalled, “There’d been cold, hunger, and always the rain. It drenched my lonely fires and soaked the wood….” In that wet, dreary month, he figured he’d walked 300 miles. He had also killed the biggest cougar in 52 years. At 15-11/16, its score missed by one-sixteenth of an inch that of a cat shot by Theodore Roosevelt in 1901. Lowell Hayes’s now ranks 19th on B&C’s Alltime list. I’ve yet to read of a tougher hunt—or of an animal in the records book taken by a .32 S&W Long from a .30-40 Krag! n

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 25

KinG King of the

Swamp 26 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

KARI HIRSCHBERGER B&C TROPHY OWNER Photos Courtesy of Author

I make a living as a wildland firefighter

out of Central Oregon during the summer months. I was raised in central Washington, and my father has been putting in for a moose tag for me before I even truly probably understood what a moose was. And after roughly 20 years of applications, I received one of ten of the coveted “selected” status for the East Okanogan/Kettle any-moose tag for 2014. This is an area I have some knowledge of, because for the few years I spent outside of firefighting, I worked as a research forester for the Pacific Northwest Research Station and spent many a night in the Prospector Inn in Republic. I had seen a few moose over the course of my time there, and although it wasn’t a tag any of my mentors had experience with, I was excited.

Fire season started off slowly; we normally head to New Mexico and Arizona in May and don’t return until the monsoons push us north back into Utah, Idaho, and Oregon. But this season was unseasonably wet, and we waited, poised and ready, in Oregon. Once fire season arrived, the work was steady. I was unable to break away from my helicopter rappel crew to do any scouting; I was gone the entire month of August and 14 days in September. Moose hunting—the opener—was coming on quickly. Fire season ended abruptly for me with a September 30th performance evaluation and exit interview on the season, followed by a 6.5hour drive to Chelan with all my belongings packed tightly into my Subaru Forester. I drove into my hometown at midnight with heavy eyelids. Sleeping didn’t come easily, even though I was tired. I unpacked my vehicle the next morning and threw in the essentials for moose: my “kill” bag, map, muzzleloader, .270 (and accompanying ammunition), sleeping bag, clothing, water, coffee, homemade fruit rolls (thanks Mom!), locally grown apples, and chocolate milk. All a girl needs, really. At this point, I was moose-bound, with the main notion of scouting some of the areas I had inventoried in 2011. My parents and I also drew the Clockum muzzleloader antlerless tag that started that day, so they were counting on me taping my trigger finger to my palm and just “window shopping.” I called one of the

I knew he was big. I knew he was a very respectable bull for Washington, but something inside of me said “shoot it with your camera, not your gun...” and I had to obey.

Kari is an active board moderator of www.HuntingWashington.com where she originally posted her moose story.

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 27

members of a website I’m a member of, who had contacted me about some local knowledge, but he was out muzzleloader hunting, so his wife kindly invited me to call back in the evening to chat with him. I made it to the unit and the area I had wanted to revisit, trying to clear the fog from my memory and recall which road system and particular area I had seen moose those three years prior. I drove around reacquainting myself with the area until dusk, making friends with two deer hunters from the Tri-Cities and Anacortes, and readily listening to their suggestions for “moosey” areas in the vicinity. I then headed back to cell coverage in town to call a local friend I had met earlier that season. He asked where I was concentrating, and I told him. With enthusiasm and knowledge of the area, he pointed me to a road system roughly two miles from my nightly scouting endeavors. I thanked him heartily, and with sandwich in hand, headed back out to the area where I slept in my car under the half moon and brisk skies, dreaming of tomorrow’s possibilities. My alarm quietly hummed Alison Krauss’s “The Lucky One” just before daybreak, but it wasn’t needed; I was up and ready. As daylight broke, I was giddy to find the road I was traveling to be familiar. This is where I had worked and seen those moose in previous years; the small silver tag nailed to the bottom of the tree alongside the road known as the “reference tree” at the research station confirmed it. I pulled into a narrow road I had never traveled before, grimacing as the brush announced my presence as it whined down the side of my vehicle. I stopped and decided to take my muzzleloader and camera for a walk, and no sooner than I had made the decision I was 28 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

rewarded with the view I had wanted the most—those dark, tall bodies working the far edge of a small swamp. As I got closer and worked myself into a small opening in the brush, my heart pounded at my chest wall; those paddles! The color! A bull! He was beautiful—and broadside—at less than 70 yards, trying to push a calf off of a cow. It was decision time: Was this my moose, or not? I knew he was big. I knew he was a very respectable bull for Washington, but something inside of me said “shoot it with your camera, not your gun...” and I had to obey. I shouldered my Thompson Center Black Diamond and then uncapped my camera. I proceeded to take photos of this magnificent critter for over 30 minutes as he raked the brush, grunted, and played king of the swamp. A smaller bull (I presume) stayed in the willows on the periphery probably wondering how he could get at that cow. Finally, the clicking of the camera caught the attention of the small calf, and all three animals walked back into the depths of the swamp and out of sight as the bull pleaded, grunting into the crisp morning air. At this point, as my local Hunt-Washington member says, my trigger finger was aching. Did I do the right thing? Should I have taken this beautiful animal? Did I really just find such a masher on my first morning out? I was in disbelief. If I had had someone I cared about there to share that moment with me, I think the outcome would have been different. I would have taken aim at him with my sights rather than my lens, but 20 years of putting in for 20 minutes of morning air? I just couldn’t do it. Realizing I might be the biggest fool ever and having shot nerves, I wandered back into cell service to

share the excitement and a few photos to see just how stupid I really was. The decision was pretty much unanimous: What had I been thinking? My parents were still busily packing for elk camp, and I couldn’t bring myself to say the words, “I need you!” Luckily, another lifeline presented itself. After sending the photos to my friend Jeff from Seattle, there was an immediate response. “How is a guy supposed to work with that excitement? Say the word and I’m there!” We chatted briefly on the phone before he decided to take the rest of the week off work and make the seven-hour drive to come enjoy this experience with me. I spent the remainder of the day half-heartedly exploring new roads and country, but my mind was still in the back side of that swamp with those animals. I snuck in later in the day; I just couldn’t stay away. I was giddy to hear a few grunts and the raking of paddles as my “king of the swamp” lorded over his land. I left and met up with Jeff, excitedly sharing stories of the day and catching up after six months of busy field seasons for us both—he in the marine world and me in fire. Who knew fire and water could get along so swimmingly? We headed back up into the woods to my previous night’s camp and slept (I use the term loosely for me) another night in the back of my car, just waiting for the daylight to break. We were up and at it at the perfect time; the car was defrosted on this nippy 30-degree morning, and all that was left to do was hop in when the unmistakable hum of a diesel engine broke through the morning air, and a silver truck came over the horizon. Unable to possibly get in front of him, I stepped out and flagged the gentleman down. “If I might

be so rude to ask, what are you hunting?” I pried. “I’m not going to lie, I’m road hunting for mule deer,” was the response. Feeling a small sense of relief, I responded, “Great! I’m hunting moose and there’s one down the next left I’d like to get after. May I please have that road?” He smiled and kindly responded it was all mine. Sweet relief! We got to the two-track road and prepared for an exciting morning. Slowly sneaking around the corner, my heart leapt when I heard a giant “snap,” but immediately fell when I heard the muffled sound of a truck and saw the headlights crest the ridge. The gentleman was unfamiliar with the area and didn’t know it was a loop road. He had driven three-quarters of my swamp already! I stepped aside to let him by, but he was already terribly embarrassed and reversed out the entire mile-long loop. I looked at Jeff as we sat and listened to the roar of the engine as it slowly faded into the distance. What now? Well, I whispered to Jeff that we should wait for the woods to settle. We sat at a spot with a good view of the swamp and just listened. I’d never wanted to hear racket in the bushes so badly, but none was afforded to me. A single branch snapped on the cutbank above us, and one set of moose tracks from the evening headed that direction, but I had convinced myself it was either the smaller bull or the calf. There was no way that bull was leaving that cow. After 30 minutes of silence, we walked the road until the swamp returned to a stream-like state. No tracks, no noise, no love. I decided we should go back to the set of tracks headed up the hill and follow them. We tracked them to a large bench full of seedlings and saplings and lost them in the brushy ground. I

was at a loss. I looked at Jeff, my patient and supportive hunting partner, and whispered, “I think I want to try calling. Let’s head up the hill and set up where we can see all of this.” I could tell he thought I was kind of nuts, but he played along. We worked our way up the hill and sat with our backs against the large remnants of a logged stump. Now, I should mention that at this point I had pretty much been listening to this YouTube “essential, must-know moose calls” from a gentleman out of Ontario nonstop the last two days. The previous night, Jeff and I had practiced up a storm on our way back out of civilization, laughing and bellowing our way back into the woods. I had adjusted my tone a few octaves higher and was sounding pretty decent. There we were, sitting in the woods, feeling like that moose could be 5 feet or 5 miles away, and we probably wouldn’t have the luck to see him again when I started my lovesick cow moose calls. No sooner had I ended the two bellows and grunt did we hear the unmistakable sound of an excited bull. He was down in the swamp, raking his paddles on anything near him, and splashing our direction. I told Jeff we should get to a spot where we can see the swamp, because I wasn’t sure I could talk him

There we were, sitting in the woods, feeling like that moose could be 5 feet or 5 miles away, and we probably wouldn’t have the luck to see him again when I started my lovesick cow moose calls. No sooner had I ended the two bellows and grunt did we hear the unmistakable sound of an excited bull. He was down in the swamp, raking his paddles on anything near him, and splashing our direction.

I thanked him heartily, and with sandwich in hand, headed back out to the area where I slept in my car under the half moon and brisk skies, dreaming of tomorrow’s possibilities.

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 29

I cursed, “Holy sh**! That’s my moose!” I walked down to this beautiful animal, grateful for everything that happened the last few days. out of it, over a road, and uphill. We started to move and made it about 30 feet when it was obvious we weren’t going to make it. He was on his way in—and hot! We sat; I with my back to a 12-inch diameter Douglas fir and Jeff crouched behind it. Moments after we sat down, I gave one more bellow, and tines became visible, swaying above the small saplings. The bull stopped, and for aching seconds stared our direction before starting to orbit us downslope. There was one good opening in the small trees, and I set up over my knees, looking down my muzzleloader waiting for him to arrive. He did, right on cue, and I squeezed, but met 30 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

resistance...I had been so excited I forgot to take my safety off! I adjusted accordingly but the bull had made it through the clearing and back into the seed-sapling scattered earth. He kept working his way through the small trees searching for the cow that didn’t exist. One more opening is all I had to get it done. I set up again looking down my Thompson Center and waited. My “king of the swamp” clambered into the opening, and I grunted my best grunt. He stopped, looking our direction, broadside roughly 40 yards. I squeezed off a shot and was rewarded with a thick cloud of smoke. I

Kari with her Shiras’ moose, scoring 155 points. It was taken in Ferry County, Washington, in 2014.

stood up and started my moose bellows; as the smoke cleared, I saw him standing there roughly 70 yards away. Steam shot out of his side as he sounded like a locomotive train with every breath. I had made a good shot, compromising both lungs. He wobbled and changed directions. Fearing he was going to try to make it to his swampy castle, I put another shot in him and he lay down, drifting into silence and stillness. I cursed, “Holy sh**!

That’s my moose!” I walked down to this beautiful animal, grateful for everything that happened the last few days. I couldn’t have asked for anything better; the excitement, the company, the beautiful animal, taking it with my muzzleloader, and having the privilege of watching it the day prior. I sha l l forever cher ish yesterday. To be one of the lucky 10... was astonishing. To have lived the last few days... was priceless. n

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LEUPOLD FULL LIFETIME GUARANTEE FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 31

MARTHA NUDEL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Photos Courtesy of Author

KEY DEER POPULATION THRIVES ON

WILDLIFE

REFUGE THAT CARRIES

Â© BRIAN SCOT T, CREATIVE COMMONS

ITS NAME

32 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

The male of North America’s

smallest deer stands just 30 inches at the shoulder and weighs some 55-75 pounds. Related to the more common whitetail deer, Key deer are considered a subspecies found only in the lower Florida Keys. By the 1950s, battered by habitat loss and poaching, the Key deer was in a critical state: fewer than 50 individuals remained in the wild in 1951.

Following its listing in 1967 under the precursor to the Endangered Species Act, the Key deer has rebounded to some 600-800 animals today. Although the deer’s population is considered stable, it faced a possible extinction event with the outbreak of New World screwworm. Seventy-five percent of the Key deer population lives on Big Pine and No Name keys. The outbreak not only threatened the deer, but also people, other wildlife and U.S. livestock. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) first confirmed the existence of the flesh-eating screwworm on September 30, 2016, from samples collected from National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key in Monroe County, Florida. After the discovery, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) worked closely with federal, state and local officials and citizens to eradicate the screwworm, treating deer orally with Doramectin, releasing sterile screwworm flies and closely monitoring progress. Because screwworm flies lay their eggs in the open wounds of warm-blooded animals, where larvae hatch and feed, bucks with wounds from the rutting season were especially vulnerable to the outbreak. From July 2016 to January 2017, 135 Key deer—about 15 percent of the herd—died from the infestation, including 124 bucks.

THE KEY DEER MIGRATED TO THE FLORIDA KEYS FROM THE MAINLAND DURING THE WISCONSIN GLACIATION SOME 21,000 YEARS AGO. THE DEER’S RANGE ORIGINALLY COVERED ALL OF THE LOWER FLORIDA KEYS. BUT WIDESPREAD POACHING IN THE LATE 1940S, HABITAT LOSS DUE TO RESIDENTIAL EXPANSION, AND THE DEER’S PROXIMITY TO PEOPLE HAD TAKEN A TOLL BY THE 1950S.

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Screwworm eradication efforts by agencies and citizens proved effective. The last confirmed case occurred January 7, 2017, on Little Palm Island; on April 10, the FWS ceased oral drug treatments. Provisions remain in place to respond swiftly and effectively in case another infestation is found. There is still important work to be done in conserving Key deer, however. FWS staff will continue to closely monitor Key deer, especially during the fawning season, which will last through the end of the summer. Biology technicians will continue to use radio telemetry to track 29 does, which were fitted by researchers from Texas A&M University in mid-January 2017 with lightweight flexible radio collars. THE CONSERVATION EFFORT ON BEHALF OF KEY DEER TOOK ON MANY FRONTS: n

DURING THE LATE SUMMER AND FALL OF 2016. KEY DEER BUCKS SPARRED DURING BREEDING SEASON, THEIR ANTLERS CREATING OPEN WOUNDS THAT WOULD NORMALLY HEAL WITH TIME. AT THE SAME TIME, THE NEW WORLD SCREWWORM FLY ARRIVED IN THE FLORIDA KEYS. THE WOUNDS PROVIDED A WARM, MOIST ENVIRONMENT FOR THE FLIES TO LAY THEIR EGGS. AFTER HATCHING, THE LARVAE FEED ON THE TISSUE WITHIN AND AROUND THE WOUND, AT TIMES BURROWING DEEP INTO THE HOST ANIMAL. IF FOUND EARLY, THE WOUNDS CAN BE CLEANED AND TREATED. KEY DEER FOUND WITH SEVERE, UNTREATABLE INFESTATIONS OF NEW WORLD SCREWWORMS ARE HUMANELY EUTHANIZED. INCINERATION OF THE BODY AFTERWARDS REMOVES THIS AS A SOURCE FOR THE FLY’S LIFE CYCLE.

A Key deer hotline operated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission dispatch center in Miami allows citizens to report sick or injured deer. The FWC, USDA, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the FWS have helped staff the hotline. The USDA Foreign Agriculture Service airlifted sterile fly pupae from Panama twice weekly to be placed on specific sites on National Key Deer Refuge to immediately emerge as adult flies, then mate with the fertile, wild flies to produce inviable eggs. With cooperation and assistance from nearly 200 citizen volunteers and other agency specialists, the FWS administered 15,502 doses of anti-parasitic medication to Key deer. Medication stations were located along heavily used deer trails on remote sections of National Key Deer Refuge. Deer were enticed to the stations by a forage pellet mix. There, technicians and wildlife veterinarians had set up a roller system that applied a topical anti-parasitic medication to the deer’s neck as it lowered its head to feed. In total, the stations provided 8,669 self-applied medicine treatments. Trail cameras continue to be used at strategic locations on the refuge to enable staff to monitor Key deer in backcountry areas. KEY DEER THRIVE WITH HABITAT PROTECTION

Today some 600-800 Key deer are found on 22 islands in the lower Florida Keys, from Little Pine Key in the east out to Boca Chica Key in the west. The positive outlook for Key deer is due to the establishment of National Key Deer Refuge in 1957, which conserves the deer and its habitat; the implementation of a habitat conservation plan by the FWS’s South Florida Ecological Services Field Office in cooperation with Monroe County; and important protections provided by the Endangered Species Act. The earliest description of Key deer dates back to at least the early 1550s, when Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, a Spanish shipwreck survivor, wrote about the small descendent of whitetail deer. Fontaneda lived among the Calusa and other tribes of Florida for 17 years after his ship smashed up on the coast of Florida around 1549. The Key deer migrated to the Florida Keys from the mainland during the Wisconsin glaciation some 21,000 years ago. The deer’s range originally covered all of the lower Florida Keys. But widespread poaching in the late 1940s, habitat PR MIM NG E R2 020 1717 34 FA I R CH A S E | SSU

B&Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S REFUGE HISTORY

Since the early days of the Club, its members have seen the value of wildlife refuges and worked to establish several throughout the United States.

1903 National Wildlife Refuge System Act Legislation passed. Floridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pelican Island became our first national wildlife refuge. 1929 The Club helped establish the Migratory Bird Conservation Act, which established the national waterfowl refuge system.

1936 Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge located near Charleston, South Carolina. 1937 Madison Grant Forest and Elk Refuge established in Humbolt, California.

1957 National Key Deer Refuge established. 2005 Holt Collier National Refuge established. Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge established.

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 35

loss due to residential expansion, and the deer’s proximity to people had taken a toll by the 1950s. The refuge protects the pine rockland forests, tropical hardwood hammocks, freshwater and salt marsh wetlands and mangrove forests that Key deer need to thrive. Pine rockland forests form on limestone outcroppings, and hardwood hammocks are dense stands of broad-leafed trees. “The hunting that nearly brought down the species was stopped even before the National Key Deer Refuge was established,” notes refuge biologist Kate Watts. “But the deer needs a specialized habitat. They are doing very well now, mostly through land protection.” Improvements have been incremental, says Watts. The refuge recognized the importance of its diverse habitats—not only to the Key deer but also to more than 20 other species listed under the ESA—and worked to protect them. The refuge worked with Monroe County and the Florida Highway Administration to have fencing installed along portions of the Overseas Highway (US1) and create under-highway crossings, safeguarding the deer from heavy traffic.

No less important, the refuge has worked with the local community to help visitors and residents understand that they can love the hugely friendly deer too dearly. Through close agency partnerships, refuge staff have answered the call from the Key Deer Response Hotline for some 20 years so the public can report fatalities as well as injured, diseased or entangled deer. Some 10 to 20 calls are received weekly, reporting sick or injured deer, including deer hit by cars. “Local residents have bonded with the deer that roam through the neighborhood and into yards. The deer live on small islands, and there isn’t a lot a space where they can be totally wild,” says Watts. “Residents know individual animals by their antler configuration,” she continues. “They know their offspring. And they have generally learned that they shouldn’t feed the deer, they shouldn’t corral them in their yards, and they should not have direct interaction.” Signs around the refuge and throughout the community convey the same messages. The local Chamber of Commerce has been in the refuge’s corner.

HOW MANY ANIMALS CAN THESE ISLANDS SUPPORT? IS THERE SUFFICIENT GENETIC DIVERSITY TO ENSURE A VIBRANT HERD IN THE FUTURE? WHAT WILL BE THE EFFECTS OF AN ENVIRONMENT THAT IS GETTING INCREASINGLY DRIER, LESS AVAILABILITY OF FRESH WATER AND ISLANDS THAT ARE SHRINKING AS THE SEA LEVEL RISES?

36 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

“One of the first questions visitors ask is where they can see Key deer,” agrees Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Susan Miller, whose organization so values the species that it not only is the subject of merchandise like t-shirts and charms, the animal is part of its official logo. “We have signs posted across Big Pine Key asking motorists to slow down and people not to engage with the deer. They’re adorable and so ‘domesticated’ that they want to get up-close and personal with visitors.” While the deer’s population numbers are healthy, according to Watts, questions remain. How many animals can these islands support? Is there sufficient genetic diversity to ensure a vibrant herd in the future? What will be the effects of an environment that is getting increasingly drier, less availability of fresh water and islands that are

shrinking as the sea level rises? Should the deer live only in natural environments, not in the urban setting that is its current home? Some questions are being researched in partnership with higher education institutions such as Texas A&M University. Others will be answered over time. As demonstrated by citizens’ response to the screwworm outbreak, the Key deer is an integral part of the community. “Key deer continue to roam around the neighborhoods that are adjacent to their natural habitat,” says Watts. “People here are accustomed to seeing the deer, and the deer have learned to coexist with people.” National Key Deer Refuge will build on the successful screwworm eradication effort—one in which citizens played a central role—to maintain a healthy balance that works for both deer and the local community. n

119 SPECIAL 75

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MEMBERS OF THE WILDERNESS WARRIOR SOCIETY The Wilderness Warrior Society is the Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premier major gifts society. It is named after Doug Brinkleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historic book about Theodore Roosevelt and his Crusade for America and was launched in 2011 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Boone and Crockett Club. With your gift of $125,000 or more, you will be honored by being named a member of the Wilderness Warrior Society. You will be presented with your own numbered limited edition bronze of Theodore Roosevelt on horseback, a custom Hickey Freeman Blazer, as well as other gifts to recognize and honor you for your contribution. The $125,000 donation can be paid with a $25,000 current contribution and the balance payable over a maximum of 4 years. Funds raised from Wilderness Warrior contributions are placed in the Boone and Crockett Club Foundation endowment where the principal remains intact, and the annual interest income generated provides permanent funding for vital conservation programs. There are now twenty-five members of the Society. This translates to more than $3 million for the endowment and has been a major portion of the growth of these funds. It has been a huge success by any measure. Please join us in this grand effort. Contact the Boone and Crockett Club today to find out how you can become a member of the Wilderness Warrior Society.

Trevor L. Ahlberg James F. Arnold Rene R. Barrientos Marshall J. Collins Jr. William A. Demmer Gary W. Dietrich John P. Evans Steve J. Hageman B.B. Hollingsworth Jr. Ned S. Holmes Tom L. Lewis Jimmy John Liautaud R. Terrell McCombs Jack S. Parker* Paul V. Phillips Remo R. Pizzagalli Thomas D. Price Edward B. Rasmuson T. Garrick Steele Morrison Stevens Sr. Ben B. Wallace Mary L. Webster C. Martin Wood III Leonard H. Wurman M.D. Paul M. Zelisko * Deceased

Contact Terrell McCombs at 210/818-8363 for more details. Boone and Crockett Club www.boone-crockett.org 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801 406/542-1888

2016 Annual Meeting, Tucson, Arizona

38 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

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FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 39

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Boone and Crockett Books and Clothing

THE LEGENDARY HUNTS OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT BY JOHN SEEREY-LESTER Acclaimed wildlife artist John Seerey-Lester takes you on a historic journey in words and paintings that will make you feel as though you were there, sharing the exciting adventures with the former president in the new book, The Legendary Hunts of Theodore Roosevelt. This much anticipated new book features over 50 true stories devoted to Roosevelt’s most spectacular hunts on three continents. Complementing Seerey-Lester’s fascinating text will be some 120 of his paintings and sketches, which altogether provide a fascinating glimpse into the life of the former president and his passion for wildlife and adventure. The book covers TR’s most active years as an outdoorsman from the 1870s until his death in 1919. It begins with TR’s first hunt as a 5 year old, and then tells of his brother Elliot and a thrilling story involving a massive herd of bison on the Western plains. You will share in TR’s excitement and frustration as a rancher in the Badlands of the Dakotas; of hunting grizzlies in buckskin and moccasins; of several harrowing incidents that set the stage for TR’s illustrious life as one of the world’s foremost adventurers.

UNIQUE GIFT IDEA – Signed by the Artist! Only 500 copies of this special limited edition were made... once they are gone, no more will be printed. Boone and Crockett Club has partnered with John Seerey-Lester and Sporting Classics to release this special Boone and Crockett Edition of The Legendary Hunts of Theodore Roosevelt. This special edition includes several pages of exclusive content about Theodore Roosevelt and B&C not found in the regular edition and is only available from the Boone and Crockett Club.

Order Today! Call Toll-Free 888-840-4868 or visit B&C’s webstore at boone-crockett.org

B&C LIMITED EDITION

Includes exclusive Boone and Crockett Club content, not found in the regular edition. n Limited to 500 numbered copies. n Special tipped-in signature page autographed by John Seerey-Lester. n Comes with a signed giclée print, “TR and Skip Headin’ Home” by John Seerey-Lester (pictured at right). n Gilt edges, and a gold foil stamped cover in a matching slipcase. n

BPLHTR | $250 ASSOCIATES PAY ONLY $200

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WHO REALLY DOES FUND CONSERVATION? Those of us in the hunting community take great pride in the fact the dollars we spend on hunting licenses, firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment are the financial backbone of statebased wildlife conservation. The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Program (see Fair Chase Summer 2016 “From the President”) was established in 1937 to direct the existing excise tax on firearms and ammunition to state fish and wildlife agencies for wildlife restoration purposes. Amendments to the act in the 1970s established excise taxes on handguns and archery equipment and established funding for hunter education programs. In recent years, as hunter numbers have declined and firearm sales have skyrocketed, there has been a great deal of speculation as to whether the bulk of the funding is coming from hunters or recreational sport shooters. Some have questioned whether hunters can continue to stake their claim as the major funders of wildlife conservation. Enter Mark Damian Duda and his team at Responsive Management (responsivemanagement.com). Mark is a specialist in human dimensions of fish and wildlife who did his graduate work under the late, legendary Dr. Steve Kellert at the Yale School of Forestry. For the last 30 years or so, Mark has worked with virtually every conservation agency in the United States and major stakeholders in the 42 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

outdoor industry, including the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), to help managers and policymakers understand the public they serve, and industry leaders to respond to trends in society. Mark has collected and compiled voluminous socio-economic data on hunters, sport shooters, and hunting. In a recent article published in The Wildlife Professional (volume 11, issue number 2), Mark, along with coauthors Tom Beppler and myself, address the issue of hunters versus sport shooters. Comparing survey data from 2012, 2014, and 2016 (2016 data just arrived, and were not incorporated in the article referenced) compiled by Responsive Management for NSSF, there has been an increase in those who target shoot but don’t hunt, an increase in those who target shoot and hunt, and a decrease in those who hunt but don’t target shoot. The single largest cohort among the three groups is those who target shoot but don’t hunt (51.4 percent), and the trend from 2012 (38.7 percent), 2014 (44.2 percent), and 2016 (51.4 percent ) shows this group is on the increase. Similar trends in archery are revealed through Responsive Management surveys conducted in 2012, 2014, and 2015: an increase in those who target archery and do not bowhunt, and a decline in those who bowhunt only. During 2015, 65 percent of archery participants in the United States were target archers only (i.e., did not bowhunt) while only 12 percent were

SCIENCE BLASTS

bowhunters only (23 percent bowhunted and were target archers as well). What does this mean for hunting and conservation? It means that wildlife managers and policymakers need to pay attention if the Wildlife Restoration Fund is to continue to get paid by those who purchase the products that are taxed. In 1937 it was a bold, but clear decision for the firearms manufacturers to allow the excise tax to extend beyond its scheduled sunset in 1938. After all, those who bought guns and ammo were mostly hunters, and if there was no wildlife to hunt, it would be bad for business. Eighty years later the playing field has changed. Sport shooters today are similar to hunters demographically in that they are mostly male and rural, but the recent growth has primarily come from young woman in urban areas—not your average bubba! The checks written by the manufacturers who pay the excise tax are the largest ones they write. As savvy business people, they want to ensure their investments provide a return and are relevant to their customer base; that’s what prompted them in 1937. State fish and wildlife agencies function as trustees of the wildlife public trust, and the public (all state residents) are their shareholders. The industry customers (shooters and hunters) are a minority segment of the agency shareholders, but they pay the bills. What can be done to ensure their continued support? Enter Mark Duda and

JOHN F. ORGAN B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBER Director of the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units

Responsive Management again. Their social science work has indicated that the primary concern of sport shooters is having access nearby to shooting ranges. Considering the trends of those who are making the purchases that fund conservation and the need they have identified, it’s clear that one strategy is to increase the number of shooting and archery ranges constructed with Pittman-Robertson dollars. State fish and wildlife agency staff have greatly increased their expertise in shooting range construction, as has the staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program who oversee and approve use of the funds. Much of this is due to workshops conducted by the National Rifle Association and NSSF. The training provided has helped state and federal biologists and hunter education specialists navigate the regulations and understand the best practices associated with range construction. Having more ranges will be a great benefit to hunters as well, as we need to keep our skills honed. One other take-home message from Responsive Management’s work: given the increasing number of people who like to shoot but do not hunt, we need to create the

opportunities to inform them about conservation and the role they play in ensuring our wildlife legacy will endure for generations to come. They may not think they directly benefit from wildlife conservation, but I would challenge them to imagine how they would feel living in a land where there were no grizzlies, no elk, no pileated woodpeckers or chickadees. Wildlife touches everyone emotionally, whether they admit it or not. A visit to any big city in the world will demonstrate that the big advertising agencies learned this a long time ago—the jumbotrons and other big advertising displays seem to mostly feature the animals we have conserved in their ads! We can capitalize in other ways as well—those who have purchased firearms and archery equipment for sport and target shooting only could be a source of new hunters. If, as data indicate, the new participants in sport shooting are largely urban and female, we have the opportunity to cultivate appreciation for conservation in a market we have had limited access to before. Kudos to Mark Duda and his team at Responsive Management for their great work! n

Considering the trends of those who are making the purchases that fund conservation and the need they have identified, it’s clear that one strategy is to increase the number of shooting and archery ranges constructed with Pittman-Robertson dollars.

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EDUCATING THE

B&C UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS

NEXT GENERATION OF

CONSERVATION LEADERS The Boone and Crockett Club University Program is designed to provide science-based knowledge from seasoned wildlife professionals and educators to college graduates in the wildlife field to better prepare the graduates for the responsible and wise management of wildlife in the future.

FROM:

Dr. Perry Barboza

Texas A&M University TEXAS A&M’S WILDLIFE PROGRAM

The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University (TAMU) uses the latest in the ecological and management disciplines to provide the most varied and innovative education available in the conservation of the earth’s biodiversity. Students in this department conduct research and learn problem-solving skills, focusing on areas that include species extinction, aquaculture food production, environmental education, and wildlife and fisheries recreational activities. Curricula in wildlife and fisheries sciences are designed to provide both the traditional and contemporary dimensions of academic instruction necessary to transform motivated and intellectually capable students into competent professionals. The program offers a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science, with three concentration areas: (1) Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, (2) Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, or (3) Vertebrate Zoology, as well as M.S. and Ph.D. options.

TEXAS A&M’S BOONE AND CROCKETT PROFESSORSHIP PROGRAM

TAMU welcomed Dr. Perry Barboza in 2015 as the new Boone and Crockett Chair in Wildlife Conservation and Policy. Perry was educated in Australia at University of New South Wales (B.Sc. (Hon) in Zoology) and the University of New England (Ph.D. in Nutrition). He has lived in the United States since 1989, when he joined the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. as a postdoctoral fellow. Perry served on the faculty at University of Alaska, Fairbanks for 18 years before joining TAMU. He works with students and colleagues to study how animals use the supply of food and water to meet the demands of living in an area. The laboratory group measures what foods animals use, how much food they use and how well they are able to survive and reproduce in an area. Perry’s research program attempts to better inform decisions about sustainably managing the landscape for wildlife and to help formulate policies to meet those management goals. The laboratory continues research with moose and caribou in Alaska, while initiating new projects on deer and bison in Texas and other “lower 48” states. They have also begun collaborative studies on state laws and policies for managing wildlife and their habitats.

Students in this department conduct research and learn problem-solving skills, focusing on areas that include species extinction, aquaculture food production, environmental education, and wildlife and fisheries recreational activities. 44 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

TEXAS A&Mâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CURRENT CHALLENGES ENERGY. There is currently no comprehensive edu-

cation, research and outreach effort in any single institution focused on how best to conserve wildlife and its habitat while developing much needed energy sources. Our series of studies on caribou herds on the North Slope of Alaska concerns the tolerance of these populations to natural disturbances as well as those produced by roads and infrastructure for mines and oil-fields. LAND MANAGEMENT. There needs to be a strong and consistent voice for the meaningful role that our public lands play in the economic and social wellbeing of people and communities through shared, sustainable and ethical uses of wildlife and its habitat. Our work on moose in Alaska is directly related to management of forest fires and the competing demands of serving a growing population of people with a sustainable harvest of moose. PRIVATE LANDS CONSERVATION. The task of re-

storing wildlife to large, connected natural areas (i.e., landscape conservation) in partnership with private landowners, agencies and industry is needed. Our group has begun working with private land owners to study ways of using animal populations to monitor changes in productivity and biodiversity associated with changes in land use in central Texas where wildlife habitat is being lost to exurban development. Dr. Barboza discusses these and other challenges for North American wildlife in his undergraduate course Fish and Wildlife Law and Administration. Some of the material in that course is included in a chapter authored with one of our students (Daniel Tihanyi) in the forthcoming B&C textbook North American Wildlife Policy and Law.

BOONE AND CROCKETT FELLOW PROFILE

Dan Thompson is a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University and a full time wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Dan grew up in western Colorado and obtained a B.Sc. in wildlife biology from Colorado State University. He went to work as a wildlife biologist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Colorado, writing wildlife habitat plans, before moving to Alaska. Once in Alaska, Dan received a M.Sc. degree in wildlife biology from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, researching caribou and reindeer nutrition. Currently, Dan works for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and conducts research on captive moose at the Kenai Moose Research Center, and on wild moose on the Kenai Peninsula. His Ph.D. research evaluates how moose respond, both physiologically and behaviorally, to daily and seasonal fluctuations in environmental temperature on the Kenai Peninsula. Thermoregulation and heat stress of moose have become a growing concern for southern populations of moose where summers are hot and populations are declining precipitously. Using internal temperature sensors in moose, Dan is looking at daily and seasonal moose body temperature to determine when moose become stressed from warm temperatures. Using captive moose, he is evaluating how individual moose respond to warm temperature using novel techniques such as heart rate belts, salivary stress hormone levels, and forward-looking infrared thermal images. Dan will use these physiological parameters to evaluate behavioral response of wild moose to temperature, using GPS collars to determine habitat selection. This research will define suitable habitat to sustain moose production, while managing for fire, forestry, and harvest.

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 45

Land management is an art that builds on history and is based on science.

Â© DONALD M. JONES

- HERBERT STODDARD, A pioneer of land and wildlife management

46 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

We had found where he had been feeding on the carcass of an elk; and followed his trail into a dense pine forest, fairly choked with fallen timber. While noiselessly and slowly threading our way through the thickest part of it I saw Merrifield, who was directly ahead of me, sink suddenly to his knees and turn half round, his face fairly ablaze with excitement. pg. 56 AN EXCERPT FROM, HUNTING THE AMERICAN WEST by Richard C. Rattenbury

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 47

PART 3 This series will give our readers a closer look at Chronic Wasting Disease. It will touch on the various challenges posed by this disease and begin to update you and all hunters about the status of CWD and what science can tell us about it today.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The disease(s) in question are more than a bit frightening from several standpoints. The disease is not like anything that has been seen before, i.e., it is not a bacteria, not a virus, not a deficiency, not a poison. It is a malformed protein strand that can be transferred somehow between sheep, deer, elk, cattle, and in some rare cases, to people.â&#x20AC;? Dr. Jack Ward Thomas, 2001

48 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

ALLIED

FRONT

Until the late 1990s, most hunters, and even

wildlife biologists, had very little awareness of what Chronic Wasting Disease was, and nobody was prepared for the impact it would have on hunting and cervid management in the coming decade. But, by 2003, when the disease had been confirmed in eight states and two Canadian provinces, CWD had emerged as an undeniable threat to North Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deer and elk populations. Adding to the growing concern about CWD and its impact to wildlife was the fear that the disease might pose a risk to humans. Media outlets, public health agencies, and sportsmen and sportswomen began asking more questions, but were left only to speculate due to an absence of reliable information and scientifically verified fact.

MATT DUNFEE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE PROGRAM MANAGER B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBER

As CWD was discovered in new areas at an alarming rate during the early 2000s, wildlife management agencies began scrambling to develop techniques to stop or control the diseaseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spread. At the same time, they were being forced to balance the complex, and often competing or conflicting interests of the general public, hunters, captive cervid industry, traditional livestock industries, and numerous state and federal animal and public health agencies.

www.CWD-Info.org has up-to-date information and resources to learn more about CWD in the U.S. and Canada.

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 49

IT WAS IN THIS ENVIRONMENT THAT THE CWD ALLIANCE WAS CREATED.

As questions, concerns, and fears about CWD and its impacts on wildlife populations and hunting grew, it became clear that strong leadership was needed to ensure that hunters and conservationists had access to timely and accurate information about the disease, as well as a voice in the political debate. In late 2001, three Boone and Crockett Club members provided start-up funds to allow the Club to develop a CWD initiative. Dr. Gary Wolfe, a Professional Member of the Club, was contracted to develop and coordinate the Club’s CWD plan. Soon after, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the Mule Deer Foundation joined forces with the Club to help fund this important collaborative project. This partnership became known as the CWD Alliance in January of 2002, and the partners agreed to pool resources, share information, and cooperate on projects and activities to positively impact the CWD issue. Since then, over 20 other conservation organizations, sportsmen groups, and industry partners have joined the Alliance. The early members and partners of the CWD Alliance all recognized that reliable, un-biased public information and education about CWD should be the focus of the Alliance’s work. Then, like today, CWD was emotionally and politically charged and inaccurate reporting and sensationalism undermined progress in managing the disease. Thus, the mission of the Alliance was crafted: “To promote responsible and accurate communications regarding CWD, and to support strategies that effectively control CWD to minimize its impact on wild, free ranging cervids.”

That mission remains as critical today as it did in 2002. With CWD now found in 24 states and four countries, the concern about the disease’s impact to cervid populations has not diminished. Scientific, reliable, and timely information remains at a premium. The flagship project of the Alliance, the website cwd-info.org, continues to be the premier information clearing-house for CWD news, updates, and current regulations, ensuring that anyone needing to understand more about CWD has a place to obtain the truth. Over 45 state fish and wildlife agencies link to the site, and it has become a trusted vehicle to disseminate up-to-date information about CWD from a variety of agency partners. In addition to cwd-info.org, the Alliance remains active on numerous other fronts. Over the last decade that Alliance has: n

Provided written and in-person congressional testimony on CWD funding and management issues,

Helped coordinate and sponsor national CWD symposia,

n Maintained

continual media outreach, providing over 120 media interviews,

Served on dozens of national CWD and wildlife health working groups and committees,

Produced information brochures and videos on CWD,

Coordinated CWD information campaigns and resources for other conservation organizations,

Compiled databases of CWD-related research articles.

“This is an explosive topic that will, in my opinion, burst onto the ungulate scene (sheep, cattle, deer, elk) and humans within the next year. When it does, there will be dramatic political pressure to do something.” Past B&C President Earl E. Morgenroth, addressing CWD for the first time in Fair Chase magazine, 2001.

In 1981, it was found in the wild elk population in Larimer County, Colorado. The overall infection rate at that time in the area was around four percent, according to Michael Miller of Colorado’s Division of Wildlife.

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BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB’S BOOTS ON THE GROUND. The Boone and Crockett Club is unique in the fact that many of our members are leading the way or directly involved with CWD research. They work for the state and government agencies trying to understand and manage populations, and are the stakeholders listening to land owners and hunters in the field. Many of our members are board members and active participants of other conservation organizations like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Mule Deer Foundation, ensuring that lines of communication stay open and our efforts are organized and cooperative.

“My experience with CWD includes implementing a statewide surveillance program for a disease considered by many hunters, wildlife managers, policy makers, and researchers as the most devastating disease to have ever affected the nation’s wild cervids. Through national committee work, I help develop strategies to curb CWD’s spread and assist multiple states with legal cases in stopping the movement of this disease. The prion is shed by chronically infected animals that leave habitats infected for years. With no cure or treatment, CWD is spread through animal migrations but more quickly to distant lands in transport trailers. The most effective way to curb its spread is to stop moving animals, both wild caught and owned captive cervids. This one action can slow the spread of CWD to new areas and provide the chance of a healthy wildlife resource for future generations.” Colin Gillin serves as the State Wildlife Veterinarian for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and chairs the Committee on Wildlife Diseases for the US Animal Health Association and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies CWD Standards Working Group.

“After 20 years of involvement in almost every aspect of CWD, I tend to be more philosophical than scientific in my perspective of this disease. I reflect on human arrogance, which demands a solution to every problem, but knows not the consequences of the solution. I question our empathy for healthy, sentient creatures when our only management solution seems to be a bullet. I despair at how ineffectual human intervention is once a disease takes hold in wildlife. Lastly, I wait to see a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of current and proposed management efforts to control or eradicate CWD.” Terry J. Kreeger, DVM, PhD retired as the State Wildlife Veterinarian with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. In 2016, he was unanimously elected a lifetime Honorary Member of The Wildlife Society.

In 2002, Fair Chase reprinted an article, Is it Safe To Hunt? by David Stalling from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. It was originally written for Bugle magazine. The conversation around hunter safety has been going on for 15 years.

In the state of Kansas it took roughly 7 years after the first detection in 2005 before the first CWD-positive deer with clinical symptoms was observed. On 23 October 2012 in Sherman County, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Game Warden Micheal Hopper captured the first photos of a wild, clinical, CWD-positive deer in the state. Reports of clinical CWD-positive deer have increased in the Northwest Zone since Hopper’s encounter. Despite increasing prevalence and geographic spread, no significant deer density declines have been observed in the Northwest Zone using annual distance sampling techniques. Although interest in CWD among Kansas hunters and the public varies, overall interest in the disease has been stable and slightly increased since CWD was first detected in the state. Even to this day I encounter people who say they have never heard of CWD, or if they have heard of it, are unaware of exactly what the disease is. More importantly, most hunters do not actively pursue having their deer or elk tested for CWD. The reasons for not testing vary, but cost, convenience, access to formalin preservative, knowledge of tissues needed, and lack of concern about CWD are speculated to be the main reasons.

Ellis County CWD-Positive WTD, September 19, 2016. PHOTO BY: JASON WAGNER, KDWPT

Shane Hesting, Wildlife Disease Coordinator, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism

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FAIR CHASE HAS BEEN COVERING CWD SINCE 2001

2001 - SUMMER ISSUE FROM THE PRESIDENT

2002 -FALL ISSUE FROM THE PRESIDENT

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A small conference of stakeholders is proposed. The objectives of the proposed conference are:

On May 16th, [2002] the House Resources Subcommittees on Forests and Forest Health and Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans held a joint oversight hearing on CWD. The purpose of the hearing was to probe the growing threat of CWD, and focused on ways federal agencies could support state wildlife managers and other involved state agencies in preventing further spread of CWD to non-infected populations. Additionally, the hearing explored ways in which the federal government could aid and support research and development efforts aimed at containing and, ultimately, eradicating the disease.

1) To foster a free discussion among wildlife veterinarians and a select group of specialists in deer and elk biology in order to relate the etiology of CWD to the ecology and behavior of free-living deer and elk. 2) To bring into the discussion representatives of sportsmen organizations and wildlife biologists so as to: (a) develop pilot projects to determine the feasibility of removing sources of CWD infection from the countryside and disposing such safely.

Boone and Crockett Club Professional Member, Gary Wolfe, chair of the Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newly created Wildlife Health Committee was one of ten witnesses invited to present testimony at the congressional hearing. Gary explained the efforts of the Club and the CWD Alliance, and offered specific recommendations for congressional action.

(b) develop a system of monitoring to detect infected deer and elk and lead to their removal. 3) To develop research projects aimed at rapid decontamination of the countryside.

2003 -SPRING ISSUE DISEASES - HOW THEY COULD IMPACT THE FUTURE OF BIG-GAME HUNTING

4) To develop a dialogue with agricultural and environmental agencies so as to foster above objectives.

We have entered a time when we need to contemplate the effects of our actions and decide how highly we value our big game resources. Our demands and actions of the past have created many of the problems we are presently dealing with; now it is our responsibility to promptly find and enact solutions. Through gaining a thorough knowledge of CWD, bovine TB, and brucellosis, state and federal agencies will be able to improve big-game management and the general public will have a better understanding of the reasons for the changes.

5) To organize an administrative structure to continually bring the volunteer potential of organized sportsmen to bear on the problem of CWD.

LEFT: Deer are netted and sedated, then fitted with a GPS collar while tests are run and vitals recorded. Winter 2011

2001 SUMMER

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Chronic Wasting Disease Earl E. Morgenroth

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2002 SUMMER

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT CWD is Topic of Congressional Hearing Earl E. Morgenroth

2002 FALL

IS IT SAFE TO HUNT? David Stalling

Bugle Magazine

2003 SPRING

2008 SPRING

USDA /APHIS/ WS/National Wildlife Research Center

Professional Member

DISEASES HOWS THEY COULD IMPACT THE FUTURE OF BIG-GAME HUNTING Michael Lavelle and Kurt VerCauteren

KNOWLEDGE BASE New Hazards for the Wildlife Biologist Winifred B. Kessler

All of these articles, and all past issues of Fair Chase, are available to read in their entirety online in the Associates Community on www.Boone-Crockett .org.

2008 -SPRING ISSUE KNOWLEDGE BASE

Is there some general trend that can explain the emergence of these diseases into the human environment? One theory is that habitat loss and human encroachment into previously wild areas have forced animals and people into closer contact than ever before. There is greater public awareness about the diseases that jump from animals to people, causing human death and suffering. But zoonoses travel a two-way street. Because they can also jump from humans to animals, zoonoses figure into wildlife conservation and management as well as human health. 2011 -WINTER ISSUE DEAD DEAR WALKING: CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE IN NEW YORK STATE

2014 -SUMMER ISSUE KNOWLEDGE BASE

2014 -FALL ISSUE FROM THE PRESIDENT

A 2011 study by Vaske and Lyon (Risk Analysis, Vol. 31 No. 3) looked at CWD-related factors that would influence hunters’ decision to give up deer hunting in a state. One factor is CWD prevalence; 52 percent of hunters said they would give up hunting in a state if prevalence of CWD reaches the 50 percent level. Add in the hypothetical situation of a human death due to CWD, and the quit rate jumps to 64 percent. Such studies show how CWD spread undermines the hunting heritage by eroding confidence in a nutritious food source, and by reducing hunter participation and associated revenues needed for wildlife conservation and management.

One key to preventing the spread of wildlife disease is the close monitoring of all captive wildlife. While there is a long history of close inspection and regulation of domestic livestock, captive wildlife generally falls outside of those regulations. The captive wildlife industry is a more recent development. Further, the captive wildlife industry has worked hard to avoid close inspection, which has been one major way that Chronic Wasting Disease has unknowingly spread among captive herds and then to wild herds with devastating effect. Better policy will require changes in legal definitions and jurisdictions concerning captive wildlife in order to get the right and honest answers on health inspections and control. These are f u n d a m e nt a l s that we long ago worked out for other aspects of conservation, and the North American Model must now adapt to address these new developments of wildlife disease.

In April 2005 the state of New York got some very, very bad news. A captive whitetailed deer on a farm in central New York tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD). Subsequent surveillance identified four more captive deer and two free-ranging deer that tested positive for the fatal disease. In an instant, New York wildlife biologists were faced with one of the most mysterious and unusual wildlife diseases ever reported. CWD had plagued hunters and wildlife professionals in the western U.S. for decades, and in recent years the pernicious disease cropped up in several states and provinces throughout North America. As a newcomer to the east, CWD was unequivocally unwelcome. That’s because this tiny, misbehaving protein can cause an awful lot of trouble.

2010 SPRING

KNOWLEDGE BASE Wildlife Diseases Winifred B. Kessler

Professional Member

2011 WINTER

Dead Dear Walking: Chronic Wasting Disease in New York State Amy Dechen Quinn with David Williams and Bill Porter (Professional Member)

2014 SUMMER KNOWLEDGE BASE CWD: Game Management’s Worst Nightmare Winifred B. Kessler Professional Member

2014 FALL FROM THE PRESIDENT Animal Health William A. Demmer

What’s next? Part four of our CWD series will focus on the disease impacts on cervid populations and the long-term consequences.

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 53

The Multi-task Gift. “My membership in the Boone and Crockett Club is a great honor and privilege for me. I want to do my part to insure that the legacy and the relevance of this historic Club is guaranteed for the next generation of hunter/ conservationists. One way I have done this is through my IRA. I have utilized my retirement plan to help the Club in a couple of ways—first, by making rollover gifts to satisfy current pledges, such as the Wilderness Warrior Society; and second, by naming the Club as a beneficiary of my plan. This is a very simple and tax-efficient way to make charitable gifts and to satisfy my very strong commitment to this organization. Please join me as a member of the Roughriders Society by making a gift through your estate plan. At our next Club function look for the distinctive lapel pin signifying membership; or better yet get your own today and wear it proudly.” — Ben Hollingsworth President, Boone and Crockett Club

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

54 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 55

hunting the Amer Among the most renowned sport hunters

of the golden age, Theodore Roosevelt first went west in September of 1883 to shoot a buffalo while one could still be found. Arriving in the Dakota Bad Lands with a romantic determination to meet the challenge, he engaged future-ranch-partner Joe Ferris to guide him to the by-then, extremely scarce quarry. Rooseveltâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;who still was something of an over-enthusiastic greenhornâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; scoured the rugged country for an exhausting and sometimes-misadventurous week before getting his prize. As Ferris remembered it:

TR poses in a New York City studio in buckskin suit with his custommade, silver-hilted hunting knife from Tiffany & Company and his favorite, special-order Model 1876 Winchester sporting rifle in caliber.45-75 WCF.

56 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

This tableau memorializes TRâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first encounter with a grizzly in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming Territory in 1884.

An excerpt from, Hunting the American West by Richard C. Rattenbury.

rican west One morning we started up Little Cannon Ball Creek. We got, I guess two or three miles, when I spied a buffalo....It was from twenty-five to forty yards to the extreme outside we shot at the buffalo and he [Roosevelt] made a dandy shot. I told him to take aim at the yellow spot...back of the shoulder and he would hit it right through the heart. That buffalo came out of that creek bottom almost straight up twelve feet....At first I thought he had missed him. However he had taken only a few jumps and the blood squirted. I knew he had him....Roosevelt was like a boy just out of school and so was I....I was plumb tired out and he was so eager to shoot his first buffalo that it somehow got into my blood and I wanted to see him kill his first one as badly as he wanted to kill it. TR was positively ecstatic over his hard-won success, performing an impromptu jig around his trophy and presenting Ferris with a bonus of $100 on the spot. Yet, though he would always reveal genuine enthusiasm over fine trophies fairly won, Roosevelt also would demonstrate an increasing perception and thoughtfulness as he matured as a western hunter. Having established two ranching operations near Little Missouri in the Dakota Territory, Roosevelt returned often to cowboy and hunt in the West. The region and its wildlife challenged his endurance and his abilities. In the summer of 1884 he wrote to his sister, Anna: “For the last week I have been fulfilling a boyhood ambition of mine—that is, I have been playing at frontier hunter in good earnest, having been off entirely alone, with my horse and rifle on the prairie. I wanted to see if I could do perfectly well without a guide, and I succeeded beyond my expectations. I shot a couple of antelope and a deer, and missed a great many more. I felt as absolutely free as a man could feel...and I enjoyed the trip to the utmost.” Meeting the challenges of self-reliance and occasional danger that were part-andparcel of western big-game hunting remained a central element of Roosevelt’s experience. The latter challenge clearly was met during his month-long hunting trip into the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming Territory in August and September of 1884. The enthusiastic hunter-naturalist set off to test his mettle against the vaunted grizzly bear, with guide Bill Merrifield and a camp attendant named Old Man Lebo as escorts. Attired in a new suit of fringed buckskin set off with silk neckerchief, sealskin chaps, and boots of alligator hide, TR carried a hunting battery consisting of a .40-90 Sharps Borchardt single-shot rifle, a .45-75 Model 1876 Winchester repeating rifle, a .50-150 Webley Express double rifle, and some 1,200 rounds of ammunition! Clearly, if surrounded

Hunting the American West is a thoroughly illustrated, narrative history of big-game hunting in the nineteenth-century American West. The engaging narrative draws extensively on the writings of original participants and observers of the subject and—along with an abundance of pictorial material—affords unusual insight into the diverse methods and motives for hunting big game in the Old West. No other work on the subject conveys the feeling and character of the hunt in its various eras and styles, or its profound consequences, as convincingly. This book covers subsistence, commerce, and sport hunting; the variety of methods used among different peoples in the harvest; the evolving weaponry involved; the artistic expression engendered by the western chase; and the rise of the hunter-conservation movement, which led to the founding of the Boone and Crockett Club. Hardcover with dust jacket 416 pages n 12 x8.75 inches n n

ITEM CODE: BPHAW | $49.95

ASSOCIATES PRICE | $39.95

TR perused mountain goats atop the Bitterroot Mountain in the fall of 1896. He wears his characteristic buckskin outfit with Mills-pattern cartridge belt and carries what appears to be his favorite Model 1876 Winchester rifle.

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 57

by a battalion of bears, he could stand a protracted siege. “I shall feel able to face anything,” he allowed in a letter to his sister. As it happened, the bears came up one at a time, and Roosevelt experienced a fruitful and satisfying hunt. Of his first grizzly, he recounted to Anna: We had found where he had been feeding on the carcass of an elk; and followed his trail into a dense pine forest, fairly choked with fallen timber. While noiselessly and slowly threading our way through the thickest part of it I saw Merrifield, who was directly ahead of me, sink suddenly to his knees and turn half round, his face fairly ablaze with excitement. Cocking my rifle and stepping quickly forward, I found myself face to face with the great bear, who was less than twenty five feet off—not eight steps....At that distance and in such a place it was very necessary to kill or disable him at the first fire; doubtless my face was pretty white, but the blue barrel was as steady as a rock as I glanced along it until I could see the top of the bead fairly between his two sinister looking eyes; as I pulled the trigger I jumped aside out of the smoke, to be ready if he charged; but it was needless, for the great brute was struggling in the death agony, and, as you will see when I bring home his skin, the bullet hole in his skull was exactly between his eyes as if I had measured the distance with a carpenters rule.

TR later reported his first grizzly as approaching nine feet in height and weighing more than 1,000 pounds! Obviously satisfied with his decorum and shooting, to say nothing of his trophy, he found grizzly hunting to his liking, and he took two more before departing the Bighorns. In all, his first western hunting expedition had proven a great success, not least in the experience of wilderness camping and meeting the challenge of the fair chase after dangerous game. n

ABOVE: Proud of a fine trophy fairly won, a dignifiedappearing TR poses with an oversized mount of the bull elk taken in the Shoshone Mountains of Wyoming in September of 1891. He found his quarry’s “neck and throat...garnished with a mane of long hair; [while] the symmetry of the great horns set off the fine, delicate lines of the noble head.” LEFT: Theodore Roosevelt favored the Model 1876 Winchester rifle during his early big-game hunts in the West. His personal favorite (left) in caliber .45-75, killed his first grizzly bear on the Bighorn Mountains hunt of 1884. The other rifle, caliber. 5095 Express, was presented to guide Bill Merrifield in commemoration of the event. Always discriminating in his firearms, Roosevelt preferred customorder guns, here with half-octagon barrels, half magazines, special sights, and deluxe checkered stocks with pistol grips and shotgun-pattern butts.

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MINNESOTA BLACK BEAR On August 31, 2014, I packed everything I needed for a Minnesota black bear hunt into my station wagon. I had managed to draw a tag that year and was hoping I’d be lucky enough to have a successful hunt. The next morning, I finished loading my cameras, rifle, shotgun, pistol, bow and arrows. Excited as always, I was on my way bright and early the morning of September 1, hopeful my hunt would begin by 3 or 4 o’clock. It was tough being patient after running into road construction. I pulled into the quaint little motel that I frequent when hunting in the area, the Lake George Pines Motel, located in the small town of Lake George, Minnesota (just 26 miles south of Bemidji). I visited with Margie Bridgman, the motel owner, about the upcoming hunt and how excited I was to see my good friends, Dale and Jean Raven, who I would be hunting with. Dale and his wife Jean are outfitters based out of Laporte, Minnesota, where Dale has been guiding since 2001. Dale is a true outdoorsman—a man in his 70s (though he hardly looks it), lives out in the woods off bear and deer meat and knows the woods better than just about anyone else. Dale hadn’t managed to get a hunting license that year; instead, he was my guide for the trip. Dale chose a great location for our hunt. There were lots of beautiful old oaks, a lot of cover, plenty of water, and most importantly, a good amount of bear signs. For three weeks before the hunt, he baited our location every night and kept track of the activity. The bait was a hit. From the tracks and dung left behind, Dale told me he figured that two bears had been drawn to the location: a small- to average-sized adult and a bigger one. By the time I reached the Ravens’ home, I was running behind schedule. Not wanting to waste any time, it wasn’t long before we were 60 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

BEYOND THE SCORE

Keith Erhardt Photos Courtesy of Author

headed out to the hunting stand. I was as hungry as the bears we were actively hunting, so I grabbed a bag of Fritos from my vehicle and tossed them into my backpack. Later, sitting in wait for my quarry, I wondered, “How on Earth did I think I would be able to eat these crunchy things in my tree stand when I need to be as quiet as a mouse?” After a short walk, Dale did the baiting and I crawled into the stand I would be using. I took a good look at my surroundings and got settled. Dale checked in with me before he left—all was good. It rained lightly throughout the day (good for keeping the human scent down), but I didn’t have to use my rain gear due to the thick brush above me. Unfortunately, the same thick cover prevented me from being able to use the bow I had brought along for the trip, so I prepared my shotgun for the hunt. I started to think about the Fritos in my backpack. I decided that since I’d entered the stand later than planned, maybe the bears already knew I was there and the night would be a wash. I placed the bag at the bottom of my backpack, and started to eat one chip at a time, slowly, as quietly as possible. I was prepared to stay in the stand for a half hour after sundown, but we’d lost some precious hunting time already. After a while, I heard a noise—and then nothing; then another, the snapping of a twig or branch, followed again by silence. This went on for some time until,

finally, I could see black. It ambled between the trees, disappearing and then reappearing through the brush. It appeared to be circling around in front of me. For a few minutes, there was nothing. Then I could see three-quarters of the animal moving slowly towards me. I tried to be as still as possible, swallowing a half-chewed Frito, as he approached my ladder. I was 17 or 18 feet in the air, and I couldn’t be sure if he had seen me or not. He seemed to be looking only halfway up, but I was quite sure he knew someone or something was up in the tree. Could he smell the Fritos I was eating? (“Of course he could smell them! He’s a bear, Keith!” I told myself.) After a few long minutes, he turned around. His back looked like a 3-year-old pig boar—wide, thick and long. But from my current position, it was hard to accurately tell just how large it was. I remembered what Dale had said about a small and a big bear getting into the bait and that he figured the big one was coming tonight. I’m always amazed at how well Dale knows the bears and their habits. Years of practice, I guess. The bear casually walked away, making a large circle towards the bait. A pile of 4-foot-long logs, approximately 6 to 8 inches thick, were stacked on top. The bear lay down, facing me, snuffling at the logs with heavy breaths. Dale had filled the bait with donuts, trail mix, jelly rolls and bacon grease for plenty of

This column is dedicated to the system that supports the public hunting of public wildlife for all fair chase sportsmen, and the stories and trophies that are the result. Theodore Roosevelt strongly believed that self-reliance and pursuing the strenuous activities of hunting and wilderness exploration was the best way to keep man connected to nature. We score trophies, but every hunt is to some extent a way of measuring ourselves.

TROPHY INFO B&C SCORE: 22 4/16 HUNTER: Keith A. Erhardt LOCATION Hubbard Co., Minnesota – 2014

B&C RANKED SECOND IN THE STATE! Hubbard

Cass Aitkin

MINNESOTA BLACK BEAR

Pine Mille Lacs Kanabec Isanti

ABOVE: Brian A. Gross’s state record black bear scores 22-5/16, only 1/16 over Keith’s black bear.

1. (tie) B&C SCORE: 22 5 /16 HUNTER: Brian A. Gross LOCATION: Hubbard Co., MN YEAR: 2000 1. (tie) B&C SCORE: 22 5 /16 HUNTER: Jason R. Wendberg LOCATION: Isanti Co., MN YEAR: 2013

“Keith,” Duane said as we finally managed to get the massive animal into his workspace, “I really think you should get this guy measured. I think you’ve got a record-breaker.” I’d never even thought to look into whether or not I’d set a record with this bear; I suppose I’d just been caught up in my own excitement. It would take some time for things to be verified, but I made sure to have my bear officially measured, just in case I came in close to any records.

3. B&C SCORE: 22 4 /16 HUNTER: Keith A. Erhardt LOCATION: Hubbard Co., MN YEAR: 2014 4. (tie) B&C SCORE: 22 3 /16 HUNTER: Duane C. Tiegs LOCATION: Mille Lacs Co., MN YEAR: 2012 4. (tie) B&C SCORE: 22 3 /16 HUNTER: Corey A. Gilbertson LOCATION: Kanabec Co., MN YEAR: 1996 4. (tie) B&C SCORE: 22 3 /16 OWNER: Greg & Gary Kullhem LOCATION: Aitkin Co., MN YEAR: 1992 7. B&C SCORE: 22 2 /16 HUNTER: Jerome P. Crimmins LOCATION: Cass Co., MN YEAR: 2004 8. (tie) B&C SCORE: 22 HUNTER: Joel J. Stang LOCATION: Aitkin Co., MN YEAR: 1995 8. (tie) B&C SCORE: 22 HUNTER: Darrin G. Stream LOCATION: Pine Co., MN YEAR: 1995 8. B&C SCORE: 22 HUNTER: Michael P. Haberman LOCATION: Mille Lacs Co., MN YEAR: 2000

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 61

scent—and it had drawn him in like a moth to flame. When I saw him next to that log pile, I knew he had to be the big one. He was as big as the logs were. Luckily, I already had my Browning shotgun prepared with a slug bullet. I lined up the shot, moving as slowly and quietly as I could. He seemed more interested in the bait, thankfully, and hardly noticed me at all. Nerves made my heart pound, blood thrumming in my ears. A few beats passed, and I pulled the trigger. The shot went over his head and into the top of his shoulders at the back of the neck. With a startled roar, he took off in such a hurry that he ran over some small trees nearby. The thick brush made itself an obstacle yet again, and I quickly lost sight of him. I had no idea where he was headed. I could hear loud thrashing in the distance for a time, until silence finally fell in the woods again. I called for Dale, who arrived a short time later, and then climbed out of my stand to join him on the ground. “Did you get one?” he asked.

“I think so,” I replied. We started to look in the direction I’d seen him run, combing the brush for the sight of black fur and blood. We passed the small grove of trees and found him on the edge of a small clearing. I couldn’t believe his size. I’d gotten him! A thrill of excitement came over me, and I grinned towards Dale. “Is this the big one?” I asked Dale. “Definitely,” Dale replied. “Can’t believe how big he is.” We took our first couple of pictures of this monster of a bear and then looked at each other with one last question on our minds: How are we going to get this animal out of these thick woods? Working together, we tried to drag him—and we couldn’t move him. There was no way we could get a truck out there, so we retrieved Dale’s ATV and carefully entered the area. The brush was so thick, we were forced to cut down a few small trees and move some old logs to get through. We hooked up the bear to the ball hitch, and tried dragging it along behind it. After moving only a foot, the ATV pitched up onto its back

Keith had his good friend Dale Raven (left) with him for his hunt. Dale and his wife Jean are outfitters based out of Laporte, Minnesota,

62 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

wheels. The bear was too heavy. Dale leaned onto the handlebars to try and compensate for its weight—and again, it pitched up. In the end, I had to stand on the grill of the ATV as we inched through the woods so it wouldn’t lift up and tip over. We moved old broken tree trunks out of the way and see-sawed our way through the brush until, finally, we saw the truck. Well, we’d gotten him out of the woods. The next challenge? Getting him onto the truck. We hooked him up as close as we could to the back of the ATV and drove it directly into the box. It took all we had to push the second half of the monster bear into the bed. Relieved, we shut the tailgate behind him, and took a few minutes to celebrate. “I thought you lifted weights,” Dale said, laughing. We weighed him at Dale’s place and he came to 550 pounds—the largest bear I’ve ever shot. We were exhausted after getting him out of the woods. We hung him up overnight. It was a frosty cold night, so we figured it would be fine to leave him out and skin him in the morning. After processing him the next morning, I had to run all over trying to find a tote big enough to get him packed in ice to keep him cool for the drive home. The largest one I could find still wasn’t big enough. I had to pack him in 60 pounds of ice and high-tail it home before it could all melt (which made for an exciting trip). Now that I’d gotten Bearzilla home, I wanted to take him over to my good friend Duane’s place. Duane does wonders with his taxidermy, and I’ve worked with him for years, whether it’s been collecting wood for mounting his finished creations or providing pheasants for the business. Since he was close to home, I was glad he agreed to do it.

After moving only a foot, the ATV pitched up onto its back wheels. The bear was too heavy. Dale leaned onto the handlebars to try and compensate for its weight— and again, it pitched up. In the end, I had to stand on the grill of the ATV as we inched through the woods so it wouldn’t lift up and tip over. “Keith,” Duane said as we finally managed to get the massive animal into his workspace, “I really think you should get this guy measured. I think you’ve got a record-breaker.” I’d never even thought to look into whether or not I’d set a record with this bear; I suppose I’d just been caught up in my own excitement. It would take some time for things to be verified, but I made sure to have my bear officially measured, just in case I came in close to any records. We took the proper measurements, and it turned out that Duane was right. With a skull measurement of 22-4/16 inches, my bear measures as the third largest (ranked second) ever reported in Minnesota. What a great memory! n

| S P RI FAIR FAIRCHASE CHASE| SUM MN EG R 2 0 17 63

64 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 65

MOOSE SCORING CHALLENGES I started working for Boone and Crockett Club’s records program on January 2, 1976, when I was hired by the National Rifle Association, and over the years I have reached the inescapable conclusion that moose are among the most difficult trophies to measure consistently. On the surface, you would think moose are almost as easy to score as cat and bear skulls, but there are occasions where nothing could be further from the truth. I have come to this conclusion from processing moose entries and personal observations over the years. Official Measurers tend to disagree on how moose should be scored more than any other category. While I wasn’t a judge on a B&C Judges Panel until the 28th Awards Program in 2013, I have been a panel assistant on 11 such prior panels. There have always been a few trophies at nearly every Judge’s Panel that present unique challenges that are easily resolved. However, there is usually a moose rack or two that present challenges that require a considerable amount of time and effort for a panel to resolve. The eleven measurements taken on moose are the greatest spread, number of normal and abnormal points (counted only) on each antler, widths and lengths of palms, and circumference measurements of the main beams. The primary challenges on moose encountered by Judges Panels and the records office concern the numbers of points and the lengths of the palms. So, I am

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going to concentrate on the proper method for recording these two measurements in this column. The first real possibility for making a scoring error is when counting the number of points (normal and abnormal) on each antler. In order for a projection to be counted a point, it must be at least one inch long, with the length exceeding width at one inch or more of length (Figure A). It doesn’t suffice for a measurer to just count all the projections and bumps just by eyeballing them. A measurer may need to get down on his/her hands and knees to check questionable projections. It’s obvious from the trophies entered in B&C, this isn’t always done. I have seen score charts submitted to the records office with as many as four non-qualifying projections erroneously counted as points. The second and most important possibility to make a significant error is when determining the length of palm measurements. To start with, the length of palm measurement, including the brow palm, must be taken (1) in contact with the undersurface of the palm, (2) parallel to the palm’s inner edge, or as close to parallel as possible, and (3) from a dip between bumps or points at the top edge of the antler to a dip between qualifying points, if present, on the brow palm (Figure A). Before taking the palm length

TROPHY TALK

measurements, the scorer should first eyeball the inner edge of the palm and lay out a strip of masking tape parallel to the inner edge of the top palm (Figure B). Further, the scorer must remember that while the palm length measurement cannot cross over an opening on the inside edge of the palm or a dip (space) between points (Figure B, a) anywhere along its length on the outside edge of the palm. It can and frequently does cross over the “bay” opening (Figure B, b) between the top palms and the brow palms. The scorer must check all options on every moose rack, and then pick the greatest length that is parallel to the inner edge of the palm. If there are four dips between points or bumps at the top of the palm and four dips between qualifying points on the brow palm, there are 16 options (4 x 4 = 16) for the palm length measurement. If none of the length possibilities are parallel to the inner edge of the palm, the length that is closest to parallel is the length measurement that is recorded on the score chart. In such

FIGURE A: Measure down one inch from the squared off tip of the projection. If the width is greater than one inch (dashed black line) it may not be a point. However, if at any location after one inch the width is less than the length at that location (solid green line) that projection is a point.

JACK RENEAU B&C PROFESSIONAL MEMBER Director Emeritus

cases, the longest length measurement may not be the palm length, and that’s where the rub is. Some measurers want to give the longest length measurement to the trophy even if it isn’t the closest to parallel. Also, they may want to erroneously give the longest length measurement to the moose palm even if it passes over a dip (Figure B) between bumps or points. When this happens, I have seen final scores of moose drop by as much as 20 points at Judges Panels when the correct length measurements are verified and corrected. I can’t recall ever seeing significant errors on palm width measurements or main beam circumferences with moose, but the possibility is there. Just remember that palm width is taken at a right angle to the inner edge of the palm (masking tape) at the widest place between points or bumps on the outer edge of palm (Figure B, dashed line).

The length of palm measurement, including the brow palm, must be taken:

Top Edge of Palm E

Width of Palm 900

1. in contact with the undersurface of the palm 2. parallel to the palm’s inner edge 3. from a dip between bumps or points at the top edge of the antler to a dip between qualifying points on brow palm

Inner Edge of Palm (a) Back Side of Palm (a)

(a)

(b)

Brow Palm

Outer Edge of Palm

FIGURE B: Place a strip of masking tape on the underside of the palm that is parallel to the inside edge of the palm to use as a guide when testing different lines to use as possibilities for the correct palm length measurement (E). The orange dashed line is the correct length of palm; the black dashed lines are incorrect lines for length of palm measurement; and, the red dashed line is the correct width of palm measurement. Dips between points are indicated with (a), and the palm “bay” is indicated with (b).

The masking tape can be used to determine the palm width because it was laid down parallel to the inner edge. To review additional details for scoring points, palm lengths, and widths, as well as main beam circumference measurements, please refer to the moose scoring chapter (pages 113-114) in B&C’s scoring manual, How to Score North American Big Game, 4th edition. If you don’t have a copy, it is available from B&C’s website or by calling B&C’s headquarters office at 406/542-1888. 95 MEASURERS “LOST”

If you’re an Official Measurer, you know by now that Measurer appointments are renewed every two years, and January 2017 was our renewal time for 2017-2018 reappointments. I know that more than a few Measurers know about this because we

received a few calls from measurers who wanted to know if they could still measure even though they hadn’t received their updated credentials. The obvious answer to that question is a resounding, “Yes!” It shouldn’t be, but unfortunately Official Measurer renewals turn out to be a long, drawn-out process. We started the process in January by sending out two separate emails or letters to all active measurers about a month apart depending on whether or not we had an email address for them. A month later, we sent a renewal letter to all measurers who either don’t have email addresses or didn’t respond to our earlier emails to see if they wanted to renew their appointment. The official renewal letter itself from the Records Committee Chairman, doesn’t go out

TABLE 1. LOST MEASURERS David Allen Dan Anderson T.K. Atkinson Eduardo Barrett Mena Maxey Baucum Mike Beck Hugues Béland Joseph Bland Craig Bowen John Bowers Blake Branom Todd Brickel Peter Bruhs Kelcey Burguess Bob Byrne Ronnie Cannon Larry Cates Chris Chaffin Randy Clark Jim Clarke Chris Clayton Daniel Coggin T.J. Conrads Emily Cope Vince Crawford John Davison Dustin Deaton Wayne DiSarro Tracy Dunkin Charlie Ebbers Ken Eifes Robert Fletcher

Mountain Top, PA Fort Meyers, FL CasperA, WY Tijuana, MX Little Rock, MS Dadeville, AL St. Eustache, QC Waddy, KY Bertram, TX Social Circle, GA Winter Garden, FL Colorado Springs, CO Pouce Coupe, BC Hampton, NJ Amissville, VA Oxford, MS Cabot, AR Melbourne Beach, FL Covington, OH Calgary, AB Center Point, LA Amory, MS Boise, ID Columbia, SC Hamilton, MO Sugar Land, TX Dickson, TN Ketchikan, AK Saint Joseph, MO Albuquerque, NM Canton, CT Fairfield, OH

Emily Flinn Eric Ford Jon Gassett Troy Gentry Charlotte Good Keith Griglak Mark Groves Dayna Harrison Danny Hawkins Joe Herring Bernie Hildebrand Jeff Hill Ryan Hilton Justin Hughes Dan Jackson Mark Jones Cyril Kingston Leith Konyndyk Michael Korth Dan Lees Dale Lindgren Charlie Logsdon David Lott Jr. Greg Lynch Michael Manni James McCloskey Chris Mcdonald Todd McGregor Cody Morris Betsy Mortensen Todd Nordeen Thomas Padgett

Columbia, MO Hagerstown, MD Georgetown, KY Taylorsville, KY Highlandville, MO Hampton, NJ Rimbey, AB Loon Lake, SK Letohatchee, AL Baton Rouge, LA Miles City, MT Rockbridge, OH Kimberly, ID Fulton, MS Shelbyville, KY Dobson, NC Rothesay, NB Petersburg, TN Newport News, VA Manassas, VA Norguay, SK Brandenburg, KY Dallas, TX McClellanville, SC Providence, RI Lawrenceville, NJ Brandon, MS Marble Hill, MO Pratt, KS New York, NY Alliance, NE Clarkton, NC

Rhett Pawluski Bill Phifer Mike Pittman Adam Pritchett Jean Provost Mike Pruss Daryl Ratajczak Wil Resch Mark Sasser Brian Scarnegie Annaliese Scoggin Ronald Scott Chad Sjodin Timothy Smith Steven Sorensen Simon Spain Matt Spurgeon Ralph Stayner Cook Sterner Sam Stokes Sr. Matt Suuck Todd Tobey Eric Tremblay Jose Trevino Stan Troutman Dan Uzelac Daniel Walker Larry Webb Kevin Wood Chuck Yoest Bob Zaiglin

Armstrong, BC West Point, UT Cross Plains, TX Midway, AL Gatineau, QC Harrisburg, PA Nashville, TN Friendship, WI Montgomery, AL Cary, IL Abilene, TX North Bend, OH Whitehorse, YT Brandenburg, KY Valley Center, KS Myrtle Beach, SC Montgomery City, MO Nutrioso, AZ Mertztown, PA Pickens, SC Cascade, CO McAlester, OK Adstock, QC Chihuahua, CHIH. CP, Mesa, AZ Valparaiso, IN Port O’Connor, TX St Charles, MO St. John, KS Nashville, TN Uvalde, TX

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 67

TROPHY TALK with new Official Measurer ID cards until we are comfortable that everyone who is going to respond to our renewal efforts has responded. Of those measurers who returned their renewal form, we had a great renewal rate. Unfortunately, we still haven’t heard back from 95 Official Measurers (Table 1). If we don’t hear back from these Official Measurers within the next month or so, it will be tragic because their appointments will be permanently inactivated, and each and every Measurer is important to us. We have expended a lot in training and support for our Measurers, and in turn each one of them has expended precious energy, time, and money becoming a scorer and supporting the Club. If your name is included on Table 1, and you want to continue as an Official Measurer, please call the office immediately at 406/542-1888, ext. 214, and let Kyle Lehr know your name is on this list and you either want to renew your appointment or resign. He will take care of you. If someone you know is on this list, please also have them contact Kyle. For those who have already renewed, you should receive a packet of materials if you haven’t already received it. The packet includes a renewal letter from Records Committee Chairman, Richard T. Hale which includes topics relevant to continuing Measurers, an Official Measurer ID card, a current Official Measurer Code of Conduct, and a form for ordering new supplies. If you did not receive your letter, and you did your part to renew your credentials at B&C, please call the office at the number above 68 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

and let Kyle know you didn’t receive your packet. If you received the packet, please do not set it aside - open it immediately, as there is a lot of important information every Measurer needs to know in the packet. Copies of the current score charts, Entry Affidavits, and Hunter, Guide and Hunt Information forms can be downloaded from B&C’s website boone-crockett.org. If you download the score charts, please print the front and back on one sheet of paper. If you do not have a computer and printer and/or you cannot download them for some reason from the website, please call 406/542-1888 to place your order. When you call, please have a ready list of the score charts you need, as well as the quantity of each one you need or order them from B&C using the order form enclosed in the packet. NOTIFY B&C IMMEDIATELY

If you move, change telephone numbers, and/or your email address, please think of Boone and Crockett Club and let us know immediately of the

changes. We don’t want to risk losing track of you before it is time to renew your appointment in 2019. We can’t emphasize enough how much B&C values all scorers who donate their time and talents to score trophies for B&C. BECOME A B&C OFFICIAL MEASURER

In a way B&C is like the U.S. Marine Corp – we are always in need of a “Few Good Men and Women.” If you’re interested in being considered for an Official Measurer appointment in your state or province. You must first attend a three and a half day measurer training workshop sponsored by the Club’s Records Department. The workshop is a hands-on class that covers scoring procedures for all 38 categories of North American big game recognized by the Club. Attendance at a workshop is by invitation only. To apply send a letter or email to B&C requesting a measurer application or download the Official Measurer Application from B&C’s website. When completing your application, be sure to include information such as

any previous measuring experience (state programs, contests, etc.), references, willingness to travel, and the reason you want to become an Official Measurer. Completed applications are kept on file and reviewed periodically. Please note that application to attend a B&C Official Measurer workshop, does not guarantee an invitation. Interest in the Club’s records program far exceeds B&C’s needs. Measurer candidates are selected based on their enthusiasm, experience, and where B&C’s needs are the greatest. The Club normally appoints anywhere from 20-50 new measurers per year. And we receive hundreds of applications for those few openings. The records office will be conducting several workshops this year, including two in Missoula and possibly two in Canada. By the time you receive this issue of Fair Case, we will have completed the two Missoula workshops. If you are interested in attending one of the two Canadian workshops, call Kyle at the above number. n

The Club will be holding Official Measurer classes at the headquarters in Missoula, Montana, as well as two workshops in Canada.

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Deadline to apply is July 3, 2017 FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 69

JACK STEELE PARKER

GENERATION

NEXT BLACK BEAR

The Boone and Crockett Club would like to celebrate young hunters who have embraced the outdoor way of life and embody the spirit of fair chase hunting. The following is a list of the most recent big game trophies accepted into Boone and Crockett Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 30th Big Game Awards Program, 2016-2018, that have been taken by a youth hunter (16 years or younger). All of the field photos in this section are from entries that are listed in this issue and are shown in bold orange text.

21 4/16 20 11/16 20

This listing represents only those trophies accepted since the Spring 2017 issue of Fair Chase was published.

FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION

Oneida Co., WI Red Lake Co., MN Lincoln Co., WA

HUNTER

Trevor W. Henke Bryce C. DuChamp Schuyler P. Harkness

DATE MEASURER 2016 2016 2015

S. Zirbel R. Dufault K. Vaughn

TYPICAL AMERICAN ELK

377 6/8 389 4/8

Olivia A. Parry

Dewey Co., OK

2016

S. Conrady

NON-TYPICAL AMERICAN ELK 430 6/8 439 5/8

Sioux Co., NE

Hannah R. Helmer

2016

R. Stutheit

TYPICAL MULE DEER 181 4/8 184 6/8

Okanogan Co., WA Benjamin R. Ricketts 2016 M. Opitz

TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER 165 5/8 165 2/8 163 5/8 160 1/8

175 172 1/8 171 3/8 167 2/8

Dearborn Co., IN Hardin Co., KY Richland Co., WI Lenawee Co., MI

Ezra W. Oettel Jeffrey B. Carman Logan M. Winklepleck Slayton J.H. Burch

2016 2016 2016 2016

J. Hooten D. Weddle B. Richards B. Hagy

NON-TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER 193 197 2/8 188 4/8 212 2/8

Jefferson Co., WI Saline Co., AR

Ella DeGrow Harris K. Hogue

2016 2015

P. Barwick J. Harmon

PRONGHORN 83 6/8 83 2/8 83 80 4/8 80

85 84 84 2/8 81 2/8 81 1/8

Malheur Co., OR Mason J. Recla Campbell Co., WY Hunter F. Larese Emery Co., UT Bronson A. Grace Carbon Co., WY Bryson S. Spilski Sweetwater Co., WY Tyler J. Rued

2016 2016 2016 2016 2016

E. Buckner J. Mankin D. Nielsen B. Wilkes F. King

Bronson A. Grace

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Schuyler P. Harkness

Tyler J. Rued

Ezra W. Oettel

Olivia A. Parry

Ethan Kelso

Colin M. Cahill

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 71

RECENTLY ACCEPTED TROPHIES The following pages list the most recent big game trophies accepted into Boone and Crockett Club’s 30th Big Game Awards Program, 2016-2018, which includes entries received between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2018. 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 Spring 2017 issue of Fair Chase was published. SPONSORED BY

72 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

30 BIG GAME AWARDS TH

LISTING AND PHOTO GALLERY Marc T. Rue took this Dall’s sheep, scoring 160-4/8 points, on a hunt near the Alaska Range, Alaska, in 2016.

TOP TO BOTTOM

In 2016, B&C Associate Elizabeth A. Kennedy-Geurts harvested this 20-13/16-point black bear while on a hunt near Swan River, Manitoba.

BEAR & COUGAR FINAL SCORE

LOCATION

BLACK BEAR - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 23-10/16

HUNTER

DATE MEASURER

22 13/16 Carbon Co., PA Kenneth J. Mehlig 2015 22 9/16 Taylor Co., WI Patrick C. Higley 2016 21 12/16 Hertford Co., NC Steven L. Cooper 2015 21 10/16 Prince of Wales Bill A. Potts 2016 Island, AK 21 7/16 Polk Co., WI Brian E. Sandstrom 2015 21 7/16 Rusk Co., WI Richard P. Klemm 2016 21 6/16 Humboldt Co., CA Jeff D. Battilocchi 2016 21 6/16 Little Swan River, SK Gary A. Lubachowski 2016 21 5/16 Gila Co., AZ Robert J. Rimsza 2016 21 4/16 Burnett Co., WI Ricky R. Danielson, Jr. 2016 21 4/16 Centre Co., PA H. Glenn Spitler 2015 21 1/16 Cygnet Lake, ON Harland L. Higley, Jr. 2016 21 Aitkin Co., MN Eric C. Sather 2016 21 Lincoln Co., WY Joseph R. Linford 2016 21 Marinette Co., WI Marten A. Gauthier 2016 21 Rusk Co., WI Terry W. Lintonen 2009 20 15/16 Polk Co., WI Ronald M. Rixmann 2016 20 15/16 Tyrrell Co., NC Ronn L. Kling, Jr. 2015 20 13/16 Fresno Co., CA Christopher M. 2015 Rosenlund 20 13/16 Assiniboine Ryan R. Onufreychuk 2016 River, SK 20 13/16 Miramichi River, NB Charles A. Ellmann IV 2016 20 13/16 Swan River, MB Elizabeth A. 2016 Kennedy-Geurts 20 13/16 St. Louis Co., MN Tyler T. Kozumplik 2016 20 11/16 Peace River, AB Michael D. Costello 2016 20 11/16 Sheridan Co., WY Rodney N. Thompson 2015 20 10/16 Lycoming Co., PA John S. Tebbs 2015 20 10/16 Nevada Co., CA Kou Yang 2016 20 9/16 Blair Co., PA Terry L. Walter 2015 20 9/16 Delaware Co., NY Robert S. Borow 2016 20 6/16 Sunshine Creek, ON Douglas R. Rivard 2014 20 6/16 Swan River, MB Gerard Heidt 2016 20 6/16 Woodridge, MB Sheryl J. Hoshowski 2016 20 5/16 Ashland Co., WI Robert L. Peterson 2016 20 5/16 Barron Co., WI Matthew M. Savina 2016 20 5/16 Marathon Co., WI Christopher C. Nelson 2106 20 4/16 Cass Co., MN Thomas C. Cross 2016 20 3/16 Potter Co., PA Clinton M. Zohner, Jr. 2015 20 2/16 Montezuma Co., CO W. Troy Weyand 2014 20 2/16 Rusk Co., WI Richard P. Jones 2014 20 1/16 Aroostook Co., ME William F. Carlin 2015 20 Gila Co., AZ Kevin E. Aldridge, Jr. 2016 20 Horsefly Lake, BC Lee M. Jackman 2016

R. D’Angelo P. Jensen W. Moore T. Fricks

While on a 2015 archery hunt in Coos County, Oregon, Craig P. Mitton took this Roosevelt’s elk, scoring 279-1/8 points. This cougar, scoring 14-11/16 points, was taken by Anton J. Stewart while bow hunting near Sullivan Creek, Alberta, in 2016.

J. Lunde M. Miller G. Hooper K. Somogyi M. Zieser J. Lunde R. D’Angelo P. Jensen M. Beaufeaux R. Anderson P. Gauthier P. Barwick D. O’Brien R. Byrne J. Booey A. England K. Schilling J. Ramsey J. Lunde R. Banaszak S. Wilkins R. Kingsley R. Tupen T. Wenrich F. Giuliani D. Nuttall J. Ramsey E. Parker P. Gauthier L. Zimmerman T. Heil S. Zirbel C. Graybill B. Long B. Ihlenfeldt G. Humphrey R. Hanson M. Monita

GRIZZLY BEAR - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 27-13/16 25 10/16 25 5/16 25 1/16 24 14/16 24 8/16 24 2/16 23 2/16

Derby Creek, AK Louis A. Cusack Tatlawiksuk Trenton L. Kelley River, AK Unalakleet River, AK M. Robert Delaney Kokomo Creek, AK William H. Jernigan Kivalina River, AK Robert E. Aman Otter Creek, YT R. Bruce Kirkpatrick Hasler Creek, BC Erin A. McLean

2015 S. Kleinsmith 2015 S. Kleinsmith 2015 2015 2016 2016 2016

S. Johns R. Norville R. Spaulding J. Kubalak C. Hill

ALASKA BROWN BEAR - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 30-12/16 28 9/16 27 11/16 27 5/16 27 4/16 26

Unga Island, AK Bear Bay, AK Afognak Island, AK Natalia Bay, AK Spiridon Bay, AK

Lonnie R. Cook 2016 Daemin C. Shinew 2016 Sam J. Smith 2016 Fredderick R. Chandler 2015 William C. Stocker 2015

J. Pallister D. Poole J. Pallister E. Ford J. Kubalak

COUGAR - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 16-4/16 15 5/16 15 2/16 15 14 13/16 14 12/16

Carrot Creek, AB Washakie Co., WY Rio Arriba Co., NM Nez Perce Co., ID Harney Co., OR

Steven J. Smith 2015 Heather J. Adels 2016 Enrique D. Cuellar 2016 Phillip E. Acree 2016 Michael A. Bohannon 2016

A. England R. Bonander J. Stein M. Schlegel R. Spaulding

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 73

30 TH BIG GAME AWARDS

COUGAR CONTINUED 14 11/16 Crook Co., WY Jack D. Corr 2015 L. Fredrickson 14 11/16 Sullivan Creek, AB Anton J. Stewart 2016 D. Powell

ELK & MULE DEER FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION

HUNTER

DATE MEASURER

TYPICAL AMERICAN ELK - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 442-5/8 399 2/8 423 6/8 384 1/8 401 384 394 4/8 383 3/8 413 380 2/8 387 1/8 373 2/8 388 6/8 369 2/8 378 2/8 362 4/8 371 3/8 360 3/8 367 6/8

Gila Co., AZ Lewis and Clark Co., MT Park Co., WY Carter Co., MT Garfield Co., UT Johnson Co., WY Lincoln Co., NM Madison Co., MT Gunnison Co., CO

Hunter D. Anderson Douglas S. Conrady, Jr. Bradley A. Himmel Tyrone R. Robinson Troy M. O’Dell Bradley S. Hadfield Chris D. Hamm Paul G. Ferucci Thomas J. Rizzo, Jr.

2015 J. Roof 2014 J. Pallister 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016

D. Hart L. Buhmann R. Addison D. Hart D. Linde F. Noska J. Olson

NON-TYPICAL AMERICAN ELK - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 478-5/8 412 3/8 397 3/8 392 389 385 2/8

426 5/8 408 7/8 407 394 7/8 393 2/8

Coconino Co., AZ Goose Lake, SK Pike Co., KY Garfield Co., WA Power Co., ID

Joseph Chacon, Jr. Riley J.P. Fisher Samuel T. Billiter Mike A. Carpinito Darren J. Puetz

2016 2016 2016 2013 2016

M. Golightly A. England D. Weddle D. Waldbillig R. Atwood

ROOSEVELT’S ELK - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 404-6/8 *419 6/8 427 7/8 375 4/8 390 6/8 358 1/8 366 4/8 342 6/8 350 5/8 327 4/8 345 4/8 331 6/8 338 5/8 331 4/8 341 6/8 330 1/8 335 5/8 312 1/8 316 1/8 308 345 3/8 297 1/8 312 2/8 292 6/8 296 7/8 285 1/8 296 1/8 279 1/8 287 6/8

Pitt Lake, BC Vancouver Island, BC Menzies Bay, BC Humboldt Co., CA Tillamook Co., OR Humboldt Co., CA Humboldt Co., CA Campbell River, BC Siskiyou Co., CA Rainy River, BC Douglas Co., OR Humboldt Co., CA Tillamook Co., OR Coos Co., OR

Rick Bailey Kevin T. Klumper

2015 R. Berreth 2016 C. Veasey

J. Mark Gittins Jack E. Foster Jonathan D. Mark Robert W. Smyth Edwin L. DeYoung Carrie L. Benner Robert T. Edwards Shaun C. O’Keefe Michael A. Jackson George J. Kurwitz Jeffrey G. Rogers Craig P. Mitton

2015 2016 2016 2015 2016 2015 2016 2015 2016 2016 2016 2015

Mark R. Dickson Leo E. Hansen, Jr.

2016 J. Bugni 2016 R. McDrew

D. Patterson G. Hooper T. Rozewski S. Boero B. Novosad J. Sanesh S. Boero A. Berreth T. Rozewski G. Hooper T. Rozewski K. Leo

TULE ELK - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 379 337 7/8 359 7/8 Monterey Co., CA 271 6/8 275 6/8 Solano Co., CA

TOP TO BOTTOM:

This typical mule deer, scoring 205-6/8 points, was taken by Frank R. Cheeney in Lincoln County, Nevada, on an archery hunt in 2016. This buck is Pope and Young’s new World’s Record typical mule deer. B&C Associate Thomas J. Rizzo, Jr. was on a hunt in Gunnison County, Colorado, when he harvested this typical American elk, scoring 360-3/8 points. He was shooting a .50 Cal. Muzzleloader. B&C Official Measurer and Associate Curtis P. Smiley took this nontypical mule deer, scoring 216-2/8 points, in 2016 Garfield County, Utah. He was shooting a .300 Winchester Mag.

74 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

TYPICAL MULE DEER - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 226-4/8 205 6/8 207 7/8 Lincoln Co., NV Frank R. Cheeney 2016 S. Sanborn 204 213 1/8 Wasatch Co., UT Victoria N. Bailey 2016 S. Bagley 200 2/8 204 5/8 Archuleta Co., CO D. Frazier Clark 2016 T. Watts 197 4/8 204 5/8 Sonora, MX Kevin C. Reed 2016 T. Bartoskewitz 196 4/8 209 7/8 Archuleta Co., CO James W. Devin 2016 J. Utter 196 4/8 201 6/8 The Dirt Hills, SK Michael J. Miller 2015 W. Howse 194 7/8 221 3/8 Park Co., WY Isaac P. Augedahl 2016 D. Hart 193 1/8 198 5/8 Lincoln Co., NV David W. Cullen 2016 C. Lacey 191 6/8 211 Great Sand Hills, SK Steven M. McKnight 2016 J. Clary 191 3/8 204 2/8 South Kevin Cote 2014 J. McJannet Saskatchewan River, SK 190 5/8 209 5/8 Mohave Co., AZ Jason K. Kirkland 2015 P. Dalrymple 190 3/8 211 1/8 Carbon Co., WY David B. Jaramillo 2016 B. Wilkes 188 3/8 194 2/8 Milk River, AB Kenneth B. Gross 2016 B. Seward 187 1/8 205 3/8 Lemhi Co., ID Charles L. Stuart 1935 J. Boke 186 1/8 189 5/8 Salt Lake Co., UT Allen Bolen 2016 K. Leo 186 196 Garfield Co., CO Drew J. Heimbigner 2016 R. Spaulding 184 7/8 205 2/8 Baker Co., OR Elliott N. Parris 2016 R. Addison 182 4/8 194 5/8 Stanley Co., SD Jason R. Taylor 2016 L. Fredrickson 181 2/8 187 5/8 Pondera Co., MT Bradley A. Rauch 2016 O. Opre 180 7/8 185 2/8 Yuma Co., CO Brad M. Stults 2015 G. Stults 180 4/8 200 7/8 Adams Co., ID Elliott N. Parris 2014 R. Addison

TYPICAL MULE DEER CONTINUED 180 3/8 190 Adams Co., ID 180 3/8 198 2/8 Eagle Co., CO 180 3/8 193 Grant Co., NE

Bob Dodge Ted W. Miller Wade A. Simpson

1984 R. Hatfield 2016 R. Newman 2016 L. Meduna

NON-TYPICAL MULE DEER - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 355-2/8 248 3/8 241 6/8 230 225 4/8 216 2/8

260 2/8 249 2/8 232 7/8 231 5/8 223 2/8

Franklin Co., ID Cassia Co., ID Natrona Co., WY Yuma Co., CO Garfield Co., UT

Dennis Johnson Gary M. Webb Thomas J. Hankins Wade R. Stults Curtis P. Smiley

1978 2016 1969 2015 2016

R. Hatfield D. Nielsen R. Selner G. Stults D. Robillard

TOP TO BOTTOM:

This typical mule deer, scoring 181-2/8 points, was taken by Bradley A. Rauch, in Pondera County, Montana, in 2016. He was shooting a .270 Winchester. B&C Associate Ryan M.K. Littleton was on an hunt near Muddy River, Alaska, when he took this typical Sitka blacktail deer, scoring 101-5/8 points, in 2016.

TYPICAL COLUMBIA BLACKTAIL - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 182-2/8 142 5/8 150 Sumas Mt., BC 142 145 5/8 Trinity Co., CA 139 147 6/8 Mendocino Co., CA 138 7/8 142 6/8 West Cracroft Island, BC 137 2/8 151 7/8 Trinity Co., CA 135 4/8 143 Sonoma Co., CA 135 1/8 140 2/8 Mendocino Co., CA 125 133 6/8 King Co., WA

Ronald P. Aish 1970 Jeremiah M. 2016 Mcdonald-Williams Jacob W. Hobbs 2016 Kelly D. Lance 2016 Lance R. Hunt Christopher D. Holloman William L. Aston III Morgan R. Preston

C. Andersen G. Hooper R. McDrew B. Mason

2016 G. Hooper 2014 G. Hooper 2015 R. Tupen 2015 D. Sanford

TYPICAL SITKA BLACKTAIL DEER - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 133 109 6/8 111 7/8 107 6/8 112 1/8 103 7/8 107 2/8 101 5/8 106 3/8

Kupreanof Island, AK Prince of Wales Island, AK Red Bay, AK Muddy River, AK

Donald R. Duke

2016 M. Nilsen

Donald H. Busse

2015 J. Spring

Rocky Littleton Ryan M.K. Littleton

2016 M. Nilsen 2016 M. Nilsen

WHITETAIL DEER FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION

HUNTER

DATE MEASURER

TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 213-5/8 194 2/8 230 6/8 184 189 4/8 182 4/8 195 2/8 181 7/8 186 6/8 181 2/8 182 7/8 181 193 3/8 180 5/8 195 6/8 180 4/8 207 4/8 179 7/8 186 3/8 178 5/8 186 3/8 178 3/8 190 3/8 178 190 3/8 178 184 7/8 177 7/8 180 7/8 176 3/8 205 5/8 176 2/8 181 3/8 176 1/8 186 175 7/8 178 7/8 175 4/8 191 2/8 175 2/8 197 2/8 175 179 5/8 174 6/8 186 174 6/8 183 1/8 174 6/8 183 1/8 174 4/8 192 5/8 173 7/8 187 173 7/8 182 4/8 173 6/8 186 5/8 173 5/8 182 173 4/8 179 2/8 173 3/8 190 5/8 173 177 172 6/8 183 1/8 172 2/8 186 172 2/8 181 3/8

Kenora, ON Picked Up 2003 Smith Co., KS Anthony K. Ifland 2016 Webb Co., TX Darell W. Hoffer 2016 Russell Co., KY Jacob T. Murphy 2016 Lafayette Co., MS Earl T. Stubblefield 2016 Owen Co., IN Russell A. Feltner 2015 Duck Lake, SK Marcel A. Gareau 2016 Fayette Co., IN Andrea J. Moffett 2016 La Crosse Co., WI Chia P. Vang 2015 Saratoga Co., NY William G. Stewart 2016 Huntington Co., IN William E. Dodson 2016 Schuyler Co., IL Travis L. Ballard 2016 Smith Co., TX Bryan K. O’Neal 2016 Delaware Co., IN Tim E. Hutson 2015 Shawnee Co., KS Randy D. Oleson 2016 Last Mountain Linda A. Johnston 2015 Lake, SK Beauvallon, AB Bruce D. Saint 2016 Dickinson Co., KS Jerry L. Osbourn 2000 Jackson Co., SD Thomas R. Temple 2016 North Saskatchewan Emily M. Martin 2016 River, SK Meigs Co., OH Michael R. Ball 2016 Jackson Co., OH Paul D. McGregor, Jr. 2016 Marion Co., IA Brian W. Ball 2015 Wright Co., MN Thomas D. Vanek 2015 Webster Co., KY Evan B. Richardson 2016 Maverick Co., TX Dawson O. George III 2015 Monroe Co., IL James C. Sellers 2016 Clinton Co., MO Matthew M. Gaines 2016 Clark Co., WI Luke M. Nigon 2016 Noble Co., IN Jeremiah L. Bess 2016 Swan Lake, AB Dean A. Dehod 2016 Le Sueur Co., MN Joseph A. Hollerich 2016 Pulaski Co., MO Marion L. Wilson 2015 Brooks Co., GA Charles L. Mitchell III 2016 Little Smoky Cameron M. Olsen 2016 River, AB

D. Nuttall J. Lunde J. Shipman D. Weddle R. Cannon J. Bronnenberg G. Sellsted T. Wright C. Gallup R. Johndrow J. Bronnenberg D. Guynn M. Poteet T. Wright J. Ramsey J. Lorenz A. England D. Boland G. Howard B. Seidle J. Satterfield D. Haynes K. Fredrickson K. Fredrickson D. Weddle B. Lambert J. Mraz J. Gordon J. Lunde R. Karczewski D. Powell D. Meger J. Braithwait W. Cooper D. Pezderic

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 75

30 TH BIG GAME AWARDS

TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER CONTINUED 172 1/8 176 7/8 172 1/8 176 172 1/8 181 5/8 172 181 3/8 171 7/8 179 4/8 171 6/8 174 4/8 171 1/8 186 5/8 171 1/8 177 1/8 170 6/8 177 7/8 170 3/8 181 6/8 170 1/8 186 5/8 170 175 2/8 169 7/8 191 1/8 169 5/8 177 6/8 169 3/8 192 1/8 169 2/8 175 4/8 168 7/8 182 4/8 168 5/8 179 2/8 168 5/8 177 2/8 168 4/8 178 4/8 167 5/8 179 5/8 167 5/8 183 167 4/8 192 1/8 167 3/8 182 6/8 167 3/8 196 1/8 166 6/8 170 1/8 166 4/8 193 2/8 166 1/8 184 6/8 166 1/8 177 4/8 166 171 4/8 165 1/8 173 1/8 165 1/8 169 165 174 7/8 164 4/8 182 2/8 164 2/8 179 2/8 163 6/8 175 4/8 163 5/8 169 4/8 163 4/8 175 5/8 163 4/8 166 1/8 163 4/8 170 7/8 163 2/8 175 162 7/8 164 6/8 162 6/8 171 5/8 162 4/8 169 3/8 162 3/8 182 2/8 162 3/8 169 4/8 162 2/8 197 5/8 162 1/8 168 162 1/8 171 3/8 162 167 161 7/8 164 2/8 161 1/8 171 7/8 160 7/8 180 2/8 160 6/8 167 160 5/8 168 3/8 160 4/8 162 7/8 160 3/8 175 4/8 160 2/8 164

Knox Co., IN Jack A. Shoemaker 2015 Knox Co., OH Kurt J. Rabine 2014 Nemaha Co., KS Ashley M. Kramer 2015 Gull Lake, AB Brian Prins 2016 Burnett Co., WI Scott S. Clark 2016 Red Deer River, AB Bradley J. Petersen 2015 Monroe Co., MI Jeremy J. Chapman 2016 Waushara Co., WI Adam J. Kaufmann 2016 Meade Co., KY Leo B. Faust, Jr. 2015 Green Lake Co., WI Mark A. VanderWerff 2016 Montgomery Co., KS Gregory E. Farrar 2016 Jo Daviess Co., IL Jeremy J. Funston 2014 Woodford Co., IL Phillip R. Giosta 2002 Lafayette Co., MO Scott M. Wilper 2015 Cass Co., IN Roger A. Harts 2016 Hickory Co., MO Jacob A. Hall 2011 Roseau Co., MN Jenna A. Lorenson 2015 Hillsdale Co., MI Andrew J. Alley 2016 Rooks Co., KS Joel G. McReynolds 2015 Flat Lake, AB Robert R. Laville, Jr. 2016 Anderson Co., SC Woody D. Swaney, Sr. 2015 Jersey Co., IL Shannon W. Hanson 2015 South Saskatchewan Kevin L. Bear 2015 River, SK Allegan Co., MI Roger L. Roelofs 2016 Marshall Co., IL David G. Cockrell, Jr. 2016 Vigo Co., IN Camden L. Holbert 2016 Sawyer Co., WI Peter R. Scoles II 2016 Huron Co., OH Dan J. Buschur 2016 Sawyer Co., WI Andrew W. Gordon 2016 Vernon Co., WI Dustin L. Nelson 2016 Monroe Co., MI Patrick Spence 2016 Quitman Co., MS James E. Tomlinson, Jr. 2016 Muhlenberg Co., KY Ridge M. Porter 2016 Major Co., OK Devin L. Nightengale 2008 Lorain Co., OH Eric Flynn 2016 Fauquier Co., VA Lesa R. Hardee 2015 Adams Co., WI Sean M. Doyle 2015 Lincoln Co., KY Bobby J. Clarkson 2016 Orange Co., IN Dustin T. Fallon 2016 Vernon Co., WI Jay R. Wolfenden 2010 Boyd Co., NE Daniel B. Byrd 2015 Northumberland William S. Hixson 2016 Co., PA Lincoln Co., WY David C. Barber 2014 Grayson Co., KY Mitchell T. Rudolph 2015 Dimmit Co., TX William M. Wheless III 2015 Cap-Seize, QC Christian L’Italien 2015 La Crosse Co., WI John R. Kassera 2015 Switzerland Co., IN Kevin D. Allen 2015 Vernon Co., WI Jay R. Wolfenden 2015 Knox Co., OH Darrin J. Meyer 2016 Gallia Co., OH Glenn A. Willis 2015 Hancock Co., KY Roscoe S. Chappell 2016 Miller Co., MO Nicholas B. Osmer 2015 Chouteau Co., MT Logan L. Tweet 2016 Tawatinaw, AB Marcus D. Borduzak 2015 Polk Co., WI Jesse M. Ashton 2016 Oconto Co., WI Shannon M. Flynn 2016 Jones Co., SD Kyle S. Jones 2016

J. Ohmer A. Cramer D. Boland D. Powell J. Lunde D. Powell B. Nash S. Zirbel K. Stockdale M. Miller W. Cooper E. Randall E. Hendricks J. Martin R. Graber T. Donnelly J. Zins B. Hagy R. Walters T. Vidrine R. Morton S. Corley R. Delorme E. DeYoung A. Shofner G. Howard P. Ostrum A. Cramer P. Ostrum S. Zirbel B. Nash T. Baine D. Weddle G. Moore A. Cramer B. Trumbo B. Tessmann D. Weddle L. Myers R. Case R. Harrison R. D’Angelo R. Wharff K. Stockdale J. Newport L. Soucy J. Hjort S. Johns R. Case B. Nash D. Haynes W. Cooper S. Corley J. Pallister B. Daudelin J. Lunde P. Gauthier C. Ruth

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

TOP TO BOTTOM:

Ryan R. Onufreychuk took this black bear, scoring 20-13/16 points, in 2016 while bow hunting near the Assiniboine River, Saskatchewan. This typical whitetail deer, scoring 175 points, was taken by B&C Associate Michael R. Ball in Meigs County, Ohio, in 2016. Justin L. Hart was on an archery hunt in Jefferson County, Illinois, in 2015, when he harvested this non-typical whitetail deer, scoring 191-3/8 points.

76 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

312 315 3/8 Sumner Co., TN Stephen L. Tucker 2016 D. Grandstaff 267 3/8 275 4/8 Stark Co., OH David G. Kopp 2016 L. Loranzan 246 3/8 255 6/8 Wright Co., MN James R. Wackler 2016 T. Rogers 232 4/8 237 2/8 Trempealeau Co., WI John L. Kittilstad 2016 D. Bathke 228 6/8 234 Clearfield Co., PA Eric J. Carns 2016 R. D’Angelo 226 5/8 234 2/8 Pottawatomie Ralph H. Ballentine 2015 O. Carpenter Co., KS 226 5/8 234 3/8 Reno Co., KS Corey J. Urban 2015 M. Steffen 224 3/8 236 4/8 Fayette Co., OH James L. Miller 2015 G. Trent 222 7/8 226 6/8 Pike Co., OH Ethan R. Johnson 2015 D. Haynes 218 1/8 223 5/8 Boone Co., MO Picked Up 2007 R. Naizer 217 4/8 225 5/8 Owen Co., IN Jeremy R. Feltner 2016 J. Bronnenberg 217 4/8 222 2/8 Ross Co., OH Marcus R. Peecher 2016 D. Haynes 214 2/8 222 Wapello Co., IA Wade E. Jager 2015 D. Baumler

TWO POTENTIAL NEW WORLD’S RECORDS HAVE BEEN RECENTLY ACCEPTED BY THE BOONE AND CROCKETT RECORDS DEPARTMENT. As with any trophy, regardless of potential rank, the first step in the confirmation process is the trophy being scored by an Official Measurer and then reviewed by the records office. Once the score is accepted its ranking is pending until the conclusion of the Awards Program, as panel verification is required. In the case of any potential new World’s Record, the Club extends an offer to the trophy owners as to whether they would like us to convene a Special Judges Panel to confirm its World’s Record status. The hunter who took the potential new World’s Record Roosevelt’s elk in British Columbia did not wish to pursue a special panel, so it will stay pending until it is brought to a judges panel or the trophy owner changes his mind. The mountain caribou was accepted March 21, 2016. The records office has contacted the trophy owner and he is interested in having a panel convened. Tentatively this will take place in May.

This mountain caribou, scoring 460 points was taken by Gregory B. Smith near Finlayson Lake, Yukon Territory, in 2016.

LEFT: Rick Bailey harvested this Roosevelt’s elk, scoring 419-6/8 points near Pitt Lake, British Columbia, in 2015.

30 TH BIG GAME AWARDS This Shiras’ moose, scoring 172-5/8 points, was harvested by Kelly M. Tynes in Gallatin County, Montana, in 2016. She was shooting a .300 H&H.

Brian W. Sewell was hunting in Moffat County, Colorado, in 2016 when he took this pronghorn scoring 86-4/8 points.

FAIR CHASE | SUM M E R 2 0 17 77

NON-TYPICAL WHITETAIL DEER CONTINUED

“I have been blessed to even be in the presence of such a magnificent animal, let alone harvest him. He deserves the very best of showings, and I would be honored for have him participate in the 30th Big Game Awards.” -David G. Kopp

213 3/8 222 5/8 Livingston Co., MI Chester A. 2016 B. Hagy Kulikowski, Jr. 213 1/8 216 2/8 Kleberg Co., TX Robert H. Buker, Jr. 2016 N. Ballard 213 220 Adams Co., OH Robert W. Bentley 2015 D. Haynes 210 6/8 218 4/8 Greensville Co., VA James B. Boney 2016 R. Mayer 208 1/8 215 4/8 Ashland Co., WI Lester W. Vogel 1942 S. Zirbel 206 212 6/8 Barton Co., MO Jared M. Foster 2016 J. Cussimanio 205 4/8 210 2/8 Warren Co., IN Curtis J. Campbell 2016 G. Wilford 203 3/8 211 5/8 Grant Co., IN David L. Hardcastle 2016 J. Bronnenberg 201 4/8 212 3/8 Nemaha Co., NE Bradley A. Gerdts 2016 S. Woitaszewski 200 5/8 207 3/8 Warren Co., IA Picked Up 2015 S. Grabow 200 3/8 207 Worth Co., GA John S. Sledge 2016 W. Cooper 200 2/8 210 1/8 Graves Co., KY Terry L. Dick 2012 R. Flynn 199 2/8 208 2/8 Adams Co., IA Randy B. Loghry 2015 K. Freymiller 199 2/8 204 3/8 Logan Co., OK Michael C. Moore 2016 G. Moore 198 7/8 213 5/8 Longlaketon Jeff A. Haughian 2015 G. Sellsted No. 219, SK 198 6/8 207 5/8 Cook Co., IL Frank E. Mazzocco 2015 B. Scarnegie 197 7/8 214 7/8 Dickinson Co., KS Bradley J. Cady 2015 L. Lueckenhoff 197 7/8 208 5/8 Waukesha Co., WI Gary J. Barenz 2016 B. Tessmann 197 2/8 208 1/8 Jasper Co., MO Patrick A. Snyder 2016 K. Kelso 196 6/8 205 Adair Co., MO Picked Up 2004 R. Cantu 196 1/8 206 2/8 Manitowoc Co., WI Heath T. Kersten 2016 S. Zirbel 196 199 Muhlenberg Co., KY H. Patrick Shemwell 2016 D. Weddle 195 6/8 200 1/8 Adair Co., MO Picked Up 2005 R. Naizer 195 1/8 199 4/8 Wabamun Lake, AB Archie P. Callioux 1993 D. Loosemore 195 1/8 204 2/8 Outagamie Co., WI Ryan D. Kettner 2016 S. Zirbel 194 3/8 201 6/8 Scott Co., MS Eddie L. Harrell 2015 W. McKinley 194 2/8 201 7/8 Trumbull Co., OH Ryan S. Schlemmer 2015 R. Pepper 194 1/8 204 5/8 Hickory Co., MO Danielle A. Beals 2016 T. Donnelly 193 7/8 205 3/8 Houston Co., MN Jeremy J. Griffin 2015 D. Boland 193 6/8 197 6/8 Cook Co., MN Brandon A. Kimbler 2013 R. Berggren 193 4/8 200 7/8 Nemaha Co., NE John W. Wessels 2016 T. Korth 192 3/8 198 1/8 Todd Co., MN Craig F. Stevens 2015 M. Harrison 191 6/8 196 1/8 McHenry Co., IL Nathan Vogelsang 2016 B. Scarnegie 191 4/8 194 4/8 Pembina River, AB Stephen W. Loitz 2015 B. Daudelin 191 3/8 200 7/8 Jefferson Co., IL Justin L. Hart 2015 M. Asleson 190 4/8 202 7/8 Hyde Co., SD Cody J. Baloun 2016 J. Lunde 189 7/8 197 6/8 Livingston Co., MI Steven L. Campbell 2016 J. Ohmer 188 3/8 193 5/8 Greene Co., MO Melvin D. Waterworth 2016 T. Donnelly 188 2/8 192 7/8 Becker Co., MN Seth A. Hubbard 2016 K. Fredrickson 188 1/8 198 Otter Tail Co., MN Picked Up 2015 T. Kalsbeck 188 195 5/8 Fayette Co., OH Jeffrey S. Litteral 2016 T. Schlater 187 7/8 190 6/8 Mahoning Co., OH Dean J. Parasolick 2015 G. Block 187 7/8 195 5/8 Marshall Co., IN Chris L. Collins 2016 J. Bogucki 187 5/8 191 7/8 Manitowoc Co., WI Richard A. Kouba 2016 B. Ihlenfeldt 187 5/8 190 3/8 Parke Co., IN T. Douglas Burgess 2016 G. Howard 187 4/8 198 4/8 Fremont Co., IA James E. Cobb, Jr. 2016 G. Dennis 187 193 4/8 Niagara Co., NY Steven M. Kroening 2016 R. Smith 186 6/8 192 6/8 Dodge Co., WI Eric K. VandeZande 2016 M. Miller 185 7/8 190 4/8 Marinette Co., WI Glen E. Steinfeldt 2016 B. Ihlenfeldt 185 2/8 191 6/8 LaSalle Co., IL Alvin W. Young 2015 R. D’Angelo 185 2/8 190 4/8 Pendleton Co., WV Charles T. Hoover 2016 T. Metcalf 185 1/8 190 5/8 Cooke Co., TX Jordan W. 2016 E. Walterscheid Stanosheck 185 192 4/8 Logan Co., OH Brian W. Arnett 2016 J. Bogucki

TYPICAL COUES’ WHITETAIL - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 144-1/8

TOP TO BOTTOM:

David G. Kopp took this non-typical whitetail deer, scoring 267-3/8 points, in 2016 while hunting in Stark County, Ohio. This non-typical Coues’ whitetail, scoring 138-1/8 points, was taken by Lee M. Comanduran in Cochise County, Arizona, in 2016. He was shooting a 7mm Winchester Short Mag.

78 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

136 6/8 152 3/8 Sonora, MX 113 1/8 119 6/8 Pima Co., AZ 109 2/8 111 5/8 Hidalgo Co., NM

Brian Kinsman Jacob D. Lindsey Patrick H. Lyons

2016 S. Boero 2014 P. Dalrymple 2015 R. Rockwell

NON-TYPICAL COUES’ WHITETAIL - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 196-2/8 153 6/8 159 2/8 Santa Cruz Co., AZ William G. Allen 1974 J. Doyle 138 1/8 146 4/8 Cochise Co., AZ Lee M. Comaduran 2016 D. May

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LEFT TOP TO BOTTOM:

Fredderick R. Chandler took this Alaska brown bear, scoring 27-4/16 points, in 2015 while hunting near Natalia Bay, Alaska. This woodland caribou, scoring 351-5/8 points, was taken by Robert H. Koehn, near Gregory Lake, Newfoundland, in 2016. He was shooting a .300 Winchester Mag.

ABOVE:

Jacob D. Lindsey was on a hunt in Pima County, Arizona, when he harvested this typical Couesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; whitetail, scoring 113-1/8 points.

Share your field photos with us! Follow: @BooneandCrockettClub Tag: #booneandcrockettclub 80 FA I R CH A S E | SU M M E R 20 17

TOP TO BOTTOM:

B&C Associate David Benitz took this barren ground caribou, scoring 430-1/8 points, in 2016 while bow hunting in the Ray Mountains, Alaska.

MOOSE AND CARIBOU FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION

HUNTER

DATE MEASURER

CANADA MOOSE - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 242 214 216 3/8 206 6/8 219 6/8 201 4/8 205 7/8 199 6/8 204 3/8 198 6/8 205 3/8 195 4/8 206 5/8 195 207 193 3/8 204 7/8 190 5/8 194 6/8 186 3/8 192 6/8 186 195 7/8 185 188 6/8

St. Lawrence River, QC Smoky River, AB Cape Brenton, NS Wabasca River, AB Granite Lake, BC Stikine River, BC Cassiar Mts., BC Mistay Lake, MB Zancudo Lake, BC Aroostook Co., ME Lac Lecointre, QC Skeezer Lake, BC

Sylvain Ouellet

2016 R. Groleau

This Alaska-Yukon moose, scoring 223-5/8 points, was taken by Marlin D. Eicher, near Wadell Lake, Alaska, in 2016. He was shooting a .300 Winchester Mag.

Allen R. Prokopchuk 2016 D. Bromberger Unknown 2001 D. Bennicke Bruce D. Saint 1998 D. Skinner Ronald R. Horlick 2016 L. Hill Frank Provencal 2016 B. Mason Bradley M. Rieland 2016 A. England Jeffrey O. Chamberlain 2015 M. Dowse Hamp Bass 2016 W. Walters Michael L. Kitchen 2016 R. Tone Louis Turbide 2011 A. Beaudry Dale E. Kruse 2016 E. Buckner

ALASKA-YUKON MOOSE - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 266-4/8 240 3/8 250 5/8 233 236 2/8 231 4/8 238 229 7/8 235 2/8 228 4/8 233 1/8 227 6/8 236 7/8 226 233 7/8 225 2/8 233 224 5/8 229 6/8 223 5/8 230 6/8 219 3/8 228 217 225 3/8 217 219 7/8

Yukon River, YT Gregory R. McHale White Mountain, AK Todd A. Burger Palmer, AK Unknown MacMillan River, YT Keith L. Mark Delta River, AK William X. Taylor High Lake, AK Gregory W. Duncan Cottonwood Jeffrey A. Beeler Creek, AK Farewell, AK Patrick P. Nolde Innoko River, AK Michael L. Hermeier Wadell Lake, AK Marlin D. Eicher Kingmetolik John G. Hill Creek, AK Hartman River, AK Nicholas B. Berger Hawk River, AK Gary C. Sessions

2016 2016 1963 2016 2015 2016 2016

C. Walker B. Nash G. Villnow B. Rueschhoff C. Gallup J. Reneau L. Holland

2016 2016 2016 2015

S. Kleinsmith A. Crum D. Poole S. Nasby

2016 K. Lehr 2016 R. Madsen

SHIRAS’ MOOSE - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 205-4/8 189 2/8 172 5/8 169 1/8 163 5/8 162 6/8 160 2/8 154 146 6/8

209 5/8 175 1/8 176 2/8 167 2/8 167 4/8 163 6/8 156 6/8 156 3/8

Gilpin Co., CO Gallatin Co., MT Stevens Co., WA Bonneville Co., ID Carbon Co., WY Glacier Co., MT Grand Co., CO Albany Co., WY

Eric Stahlecker Kelly M. Tynes Craig A. Martin Gregory T. Weiers Steven A. Kinker Edward J. Croff Avril W. McAdoo Sierra M. Amundson

2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2015 2016 2016

M. Duplan F. King R. Jones H. Morse J. Hooten T. Rozewski R. Rockwell K. Monteith

2016 2015 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016

C. Walker J. Blaylock D. Rogers R. Selner C. Gallup C. Dillabough S. Monette A. England

MOUNTAIN CARIBOU - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 459 3/8 *460 413 3/8 409 2/8 400 4/8 394 6/8 381 1/8 366 6/8 361 7/8

470 3/8 435 6/8 419 4/8 421 415 3/8 390 7/8 379 7/8 372 7/8

Finlayson Lake, YT Gregory B. Smith Aishihik Lake, YT Walter V. Moore III Anvil Range, YT Christopher A. Jolly Dry Lake, BC David S. Branzell Mackenzie Mts., NT James J. Bomkamp Telegraph Creek, BC Aaron J. Anderson Mackenzie Mts., NT Jocelyn Demetre Dease Lake, BC Bradley M. Rieland

WOODLAND CARIBOU - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 419-5/8 351 5/8 314 6/8 310 4/8 287 5/8 286 6/8

364 3/8 329 3/8 321 3/8 299 2/8 303 2/8

Gregory Lake, NL Middle Ridge, NL Main Brook, NL Saddlers Lake, NL Caribou Lake, NL

Robert H. Koehn Justin E. Whiteway John K. Lott Joseph D. Swisher Frank S. Noska IV

2016 2016 2016 2015 2015

D. Merritt J. Anstey R. Brugler S. Keithley C. Brent

BARREN GROUND CARIBOU - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 477 430 1/8 443 Ray Mts., AK 383 5/8 397 3/8 Rainy Pass, AK

David Benitz Allen Bolen

2016 M. Nilsen 2016 K. Leo

CENTRAL CANADA BARREN GROUND CARIBOU - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 433-4/8 370 3/8 377 6/8 MacKay Lake, NT Craig P. Summers 366 5/8 377 3/8 Noname Lake, MB Fred A. Lamphere

1998 E. Swanson 2014 J. Boke

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30 TH BIG GAME AWARDS

HORNED GAME FINAL GROSS SCORE SCORE LOCATION

HUNTER

DATE MEASURER

PRONGHORN - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 96-4/8 91 4/8 92 7/8 Fremont Co., WY David R. Fowler 2015 C. Lynde 88 4/8 89 4/8 Conejos Co., CO Aaron L. Renner 2016 J. Gardner 88 88 6/8 Logan Co., KS Mitchell A. McClure 2013 E. Stanosheck 87 88 2/8 Carbon Co., UT Eli A. Grimmett 2000 R. Stayner 86 6/8 87 4/8 Fremont Co., WY Eli A. Grimmett 2014 R. Stayner 86 4/8 87 7/8 Moffat Co., CO Brian W. Sewell 2016 T. Archibeque 85 4/8 87 3/8 Carbon Co., WY Valerie A. Mason 2016 B. Wilkes 85 4/8 86 4/8 Conejos Co., CO Mark A. Chambers 2016 T. Chapman 85 2/8 85 6/8 Catron Co., NM R. Douglas Isbell 2016 R. Hall 85 86 1/8 Carbon Co., WY Clay J. Evans 2016 B. Wilkes 84 4/8 84 7/8 Coconino Co., AZ Trenton K. Brooks 2016 M. Golightly 84 4/8 84 6/8 Hudspeth Co., TX Keith R. Eason 2016 O. Carpenter 84 2/8 85 5/8 Moffat Co., CO Claude C. Smith, Jr. 2016 R. Black 84 84 3/8 Carbon Co., WY Timothy W. 2016 E. Stanosheck Stanosheck 83 6/8 85 2/8 Coconino Co., AZ Roy C. Byerrum 2016 M. Golightly 83 6/8 84 3/8 Moffat Co., CO Clay J. Evans 2016 B. Wilkes 83 6/8 84 6/8 Sweetwater Co., WY Kurt D. Rued 2016 F. King 83 4/8 84 1/8 Crane Lake, SK Calli N. Illerbrun 2016 J. Clary 83 2/8 84 4/8 Lassen Co., CA Joseph E. Cook 2016 L. Clark 83 2/8 83 5/8 Mohave Co., AZ Dale Hislop 2016 C. Dillabough 83 2/8 84 1/8 Mora Co., NM Amy W. Buxton 2016 M. Ledbetter 83 83 3/8 Carter Co., MT Kevin R. Harper 2016 B. Zundel 82 4/8 83 5/8 Natrona Co., WY Jeffrey A. Chapman 2016 R. Krueger 82 2/8 82 5/8 De Baca Co., NM Robert L. Van, Jr. 2016 L. Clark 82 2/8 83 Mohave Co., AZ Glen B. Chamberlain 2016 B. Christensen 82 2/8 83 Pershing Co., NV Kingston A. Wulff 2016 J. Capurro 82 83 2/8 Garfield Co., MT Mark A. Deleray 2016 J. Williams 82 83 5/8 Millard Co., UT L. Glen Starr 2015 I. Mcarthur 82 82 3/8 Uinta Co., WY Bart D. Hall 2016 R. Hall 81 2/8 81 7/8 Carbon Co., WY Mike R. Bailey 2016 R. Bonander 81 81 3/8 Blaine Co., ID Rodney E. Runyon 2016 C. Nellis 81 82 Fremont Co., WY Blake S. Fegler 2016 D. Hart 81 81 5/8 Natrona Co., WY Mark W. Ellison 2015 R. Beagles 81 81 5/8 Socorro Co., NM Barbara A. Wolf 2016 R. Madsen 80 2/8 81 1/8 Elko Co., NV Craig D. Stevens 2016 G. Hernandez 80 2/8 81 4/8 Perkins Co., SD Keenan M. Soyland 2016 S. Rauch

BISON - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 136-4/8 127 120 6/8 120 2/8 119 6/8 116 6/8 116

TOP TO BOTTOM:

Ronald Y. Yee took this bighorn sheep, scoring 177-6/8 points, in 2014 while hunting in Gila County, Arizona. He was shooting a 7mm Remington Mag. Valerie A. Mason was hunting with her husband and guide Jared, in Carbon County, Wyoming, in 2016, when she harvested this pronghorn scoring 85-4/8 points. This Shiras’ moose, scoring 146-6/8 points, was taken with a bow by Sierra Amundson, in Albany County, Wyoming, in 2016.

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127 3/8 121 3/8 122 6/8 121 119 117 5/8

Petitot River, BC Chitina River, AK Custer Co., SD Grand Co., UT Coconino Co., AZ Custer Co., SD

Picked Up Joshua M. Kramer Rocco Verelli Darrell E. Griggs Lyle T. Button Rocco Verelli

2015 2015 2013 2016 2016 2012

B. Mason J. Dreibelbis B. Sippin M. Fowlks M. Golightly B. Sippin

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 57-4/8 54 4/8 54 6/8 Skeena Mts., BC Daniel H. Boddy 2016 J. Ohmer 52 6/8 52 6/8 Elko Co., NV Gregory E. Smith 2016 J. Capurro 52 2/8 52 5/8 Cedarvale, BC Benedict J. Sabal 2016 C. Hill 51 2/8 51 4/8 Halibut Cove, AK Julie A. Hinkle 2013 S. Kleinsmith 51 2/8 51 3/8 Legate Creek, BC Douglas N. Ochsner 2016 F. King 50 6/8 50 7/8 Revillagigedo Ryan M.K. Littleton 2016 M. Nilsen Island, AK 50 6/8 50 6/8 Stikine River, BC Lee M. Jackman 2016 M. Monita 50 50 4/8 Mount Glottof, AK Kyle D. Anderson 2016 J. Hjort 50 50 3/8 Weber Co., UT Luke D. Rasmussen 2016 R. Hall 49 4/8 49 6/8 Duchesne Co., UT Corey M. Navanick 2016 K. Leo 49 4/8 49 6/8 Goat Hollow, AK Robert P. Banocy, Jr. 2016 R. Burnham 49 2/8 50 1/8 Beaver Co., UT Marty L. Ellis 2016 S. Bagley 49 2/8 49 6/8 Gallatin Co., MT Dennis J. Steinhauer 2016 F. King 49 2/8 49 5/8 Tatshenshini David L. Hoshour 2015 R. Selner River, BC 49 2/8 49 2/8 Piute Co., UT Lynn P. Anderson 2015 C. Farnsworth 48 4/8 48 5/8 Copper River, BC Joel C. Biltz 2016 K. Bumbalough 47 6/8 48 4/8 Kinaskan Lake, BC Garland L. Hamilton 2006 J. Williams 47 4/8 47 4/8 Skeena River, BC Chris Shultz 2015 R. Berreth MUSK OX - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 129 123 4/8 123 7/8 Baker Lake, NU 109 6/8 113 6/8 Kugluktuk, NU

Terryl G. Fowler Jay D. Otto

2016 J. Plesuk 2016 R. Burtis

TOP TO BOTTOM:

B&C Associate Kyle D. Anderson took this Rocky Mountain goat, scoring 50 points, in 2016 while hunting near Mount Glottof, Alaska. He was shooting a .300 Winchester Short Mag. This non-typical American elk was taken by Darren J. Puetz on an archery hunt in Powder County, Idaho, in 2016. The bull scores 385-2/8 points.

RIGHT TOP TO BOTTOM:

B&C Associate R. Bruce Kirkpatrick was on a hunt near Otter Creek, Yukon Territory, when he harvested this grizzly bear scoring 24-2/16 points. He was shooting a .338 Winchester Mag. Victoria N. Bailey was on a hunt in Wasatch County, Utah, in 2016, when she harvested this typical mule deer scoring 204 points.

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30 TH BIG GAME AWARDS

BIGHORN SHEEP - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 209-4/8 199 199 4/8 Fording River, BC Darren R. Reghenas 2016 D. Patterson 197 3/8 198 2/8 Fergus Co., MT Cynthia M. Murphy 2016 F. King 194 6/8 195 2/8 Phillips Co., MT Dennis J. Steinhauer 2016 F. King 191 5/8 192 5/8 Mesa Co., CO Raymond J. 2015 T. Archibeque Bumgardner 191 1/8 191 7/8 Taos Co., NM Brian A. Salazar 2016 L. Rominger 191 191 6/8 Blaine Co., MT William J. Ashe, Jr. 2016 J. Brown 188 4/8 189 Apache Co., AZ Larry S. Thowe 2016 M. Golightly 184 6/8 185 6/8 Lost Mt., BC Dale R. Blumhagen 2016 D. Patterson 184 184 5/8 Nez Perce Co., ID Matthew W. Hansen 2016 R. Atwood 183 1/8 184 1/8 Fergus Co., MT Douglas W. Hoerner 2016 O. Opre 182 7/8 184 1/8 Syncline Trevor M. Loomer 2016 L. Schlachter Mountain, AB 182 3/8 183 Missoula Co., MT Jason C. Herndon 2015 K. Lehr 181 5/8 183 7/8 Taos Co., NM Mike A. Carpinito 2016 D. Waldbillig 181 4/8 181 4/8 Cascade Co., MT Taylor S. Reisbeck 2016 J. Pallister 180 1/8 180 5/8 Fergus Co., MT Jack O. Roberts 2016 J. Kolbe 180 1/8 180 4/8 Mount Allan, AB Tom Foss 2015 C. Dillabough 179 1/8 180 1/8 Fergus Co., MT Nathan Q. Messer 2016 J. Kolbe 178 3/8 179 1/8 Larimer Co., CO Carl P. Brzozowy 2016 B. Smith 177 6/8 179 Gila Co., AZ Ronald Y. Yee 2014 W. Keebler 177 6/8 178 1/8 Opal Range, AB Tom Foss 2013 C. Dillabough 177 2/8 178 1/8 Ravalli Co., MT Mike G. Laster 2015 K. Lehr 176 7/8 177 1/8 Missoula Co., MT Diana L. Ross 2015 K. Lehr 176 176 6/8 Park Co., WY Ross J. Taylor 2016 D. Hart

DESERT SHEEP - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 205-1/8 176 6/8 176 7/8 Clark Co., NV Clifton L. Kemp 2016 S. Sanborn 175 6/8 176 4/8 Carmen Island, MX Tom Foss 2012 C. Dillabough 175 3/8 176 2/8 Coahuila, MX David F. Bishop 2016 R. Bonander 174 6/8 174 7/8 Tiburon Island, MX James K. Lines 2016 J. Pallister 172 6/8 173 Dona Ana Co., NM Philip L. Green 2016 R. Madsen 172 4/8 173 1/8 Clark Co., NV Ray A. Taft 2016 T. Humes 169 5/8 169 7/8 Culberson Co., TX James K. Lines 2016 J. Pallister 169 5/8 170 2/8 Sonora, MX Brian T. Saathoff 2015 R. Skinner 168 4/8 169 3/8 Culberson Co., TX Johnny B. Bunsen 2016 J. Pallister 168 3/8 169 2/8 Kane Co., UT Glenn Bailey 2016 B. Trumbo 165 6/8 166 6/8 Kane Co., UT Robert M. Penney 2016 K. Hatch

DALL’S SHEEP- WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 189-6/8 170 169 7/8 168 7/8 168 7/8 165 3/8 164 1/8 163 1/8 161 160 5/8 160 4/8 160 4/8 160 2/8

170 6/8 170 1/8 169 3/8 169 2/8 165 4/8 164 5/8 163 2/8 161 6/8 161 161 1/8 161 3/8 160 7/8

Chugach Mts., AK Nahanni Range, NT Nahanni Range, NT Wrangell Mts., AK Wrangell Mts., AK Nahanni Range, NT Nahanni Range, NT Camp Creek, AK Mountain River, NT Alaska Range, AK Friday Creek, AK Nahanni Range, NT

Jeffrey G. Taylor Dwight W. Herbison Dwight W. Herbison Kevin W. Taylor Kevin M. Kelly Dwight W. Herbison Dwight W. Herbison Daniel W. Suver Michael L. Hall Marc T. Rue Kyle F. Lutz Dwight W. Herbison

2016 1982 1980 2016 2016 1978 1979 2016 2016 2016 2016 1981

D. Larsen B. Ryll B. Ryll F. Noska R. Deis B. Ryll B. Ryll R. Deis R. Henicke J. Zins C. Brent B. Ryllk

STONE’S SHEEP - WORLD’S RECORD SCORE 196-6/8 173 6/8 173 5/8 173 4/8 170 3/8 162

174 4/8 174 3/8 173 7/8 171 162

Nevis Creek, BC Shaft Creek, BC Muskwa River, BC Ogilvie Mts., YT Tutshi Lake, BC

Ronald A. Davidson 1987 W. Klingsat Kevin D. Hatfield 2001 R. Stayner Brian S. Malkoske 2016 A. Berreth Daniel A. Reynolds 2016 C. Walker Brian Toth 2016 R. Berreth

TOP TO BOTTOM:

B&C Associate Cynthia M. Murphy took this bighorn sheep, scoring 197 3/8 points, in 2016 while hunting in Fergus County, Montana. Matthew W. Hansen was on a hunt in Nez Perce County, Idaho, in 2016, when he harvested this bighorn sheep, scoring 184 points. He was shooting a 7mm Remington Mag. This Stone’s sheep, scoring 173-5/8 points, was taken by B&C Associate Kevin D. Hatfield near Shaft Creek, British Columbia, in 2001.

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GEARING DOWN During a coffee break recently, I was thumbing through some outdoor magazines. Between the hunting stories and how-to pieces, I found myself really reading the advertisements and some product reviews. I was struck by the new products and updated old ones that represented technological advancements that, from all appearances, were designed to make hunting easier. I wondered how young hunters viewed such things—and then I got concerned. Does too much of what looks like a good thing detract from the hunting experience or challenge our notions of fair chase? Many of the products advertised seem to offer shortcuts to success. Are we robbing our kids of something special and sending the message that the end justifies the means? Maybe I’m old fashioned, but to me, there is something about tradition that means some things are better off staying the same. I

THE ETHICS OF FAIR CHASE

hunt for the challenge and experience that I can’t get doing anything else, and shortchanging this never feels good. I think that’s why I’m such a big fan of fair chase. It sets the tone, and when faced with a choice, it’s the little guy on my shoulder that says step or don’t step. Fair chase, as defined by the Boone and Crockett Club, is “the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild, native North American big game animal that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animals.” Fair chase is the spirit of the hunt. It is a personal code of conduct that defines our intent when we set out to engage in the activity of hunting. Fair chase is the contract that hunters make with themselves about pursuing the game animals they hunt. Some of these new gadgets and gear do not honor this contract. Many, however, offer shortcuts to acquiring skill, knowledge and experience.

I’ve always maintained that hunting is personal, meaning it is up to individual hunters to choose what technologies we employ. The test for each of us is whether or not a particular product honors this contract and offers the hunting experience we seek. Put another way, if you believe fair chase is more a matter of the spirit of the hunt rather than a set of written rules, there is a line out there we don’t cross. Where that line is, is up to us. Words like “sportsmanlike” and “improper advantage” may be subject to interpretation, but I believe deep down most of us hunters know what this means and looks like. It’s that gut feeling each of us carries with us because we know we have to live with the choices we make. I like earning it: a hard fought hunt, win, lose, or draw is among my most memorable experiences. If I cut a corner or take the easy route, I feel it. When walking up to an animal I have just taken, no regrets works best for me. I don’t want

Mark W. Streissguth B&C REGULAR MEMBER Chair, Records Outreach Sub-Committee Fair Chase Magazine Hunting and Ethics Editor

any doubts creeping into that special moment. Don’t get me wrong, I like new stuff, but when it comes to the chase and that moment of truth, I prefer to keep it simple. I don’t want to have to worry about a battery going dead or if I forgot to pack the instruction manual. I get the most satisfaction out of knowing it was me, my skill, my accumulated knowledge, my fair chase that won the day. I’m not much into things that take that away. I’m not in it for a guaranteed result. If I was, I’d just go to the grocery store and call it good. n

TECHNOLOGY: WHERE THE CLUB STANDS Hunting is a complex and deeply rooted tradition that is greater than the sum of its parts. It teaches, challenges, and connects us to the natural world. The animals we hunt are neither helpless nor helpful, which requires us to develop skills. Hunting also confronts us with many choices, including those things that test the tenets of fair chase. The use of new technologies is a choice. As with all choices there are options and consequences to consider.

society normally embraces technology without question because it is seen as for the better, and to an extent is a symbol of status and progress. In hunting, new technology can be beneficial, such as those that help elderly or physically challenged people continue to enjoy the outdoors. Technologies that make hunting safer, help us bring game from field to table, and encourage youth participation are positive advancements.

On one hand good old fashioned American ingenuity and innovation is what built this country. Our

On the other hand, the purpose of new technologies is never to make something harder, only easier.

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There are some things that shouldn’t become easier, and hunting is one of them. When hunting becomes too easy, too predictable, and less challenging, something very special is lost. Hunting is a deeply profound human activity that fosters every notion and instinct we have to be connected to and protect the natural world we live in. The overuse, or an over reliance on technology has the potential to place the goal of killing above all else. Hunting has always had deeper meanings and provided more benefits than just killing or obtaining food. If this were the case, not only would our modern

societies have done away with hunting long ago, but hunters themselves would have lost interest. Our systems of conservation and management will not survive without the value we place on the game species we hunt and the advocacy provided by sportsmen. There is no form of technology that can replace this. The Boone and Crockett Club encourages all sportsmen and sportswomen to use technology responsibly under the principles of fair chase.

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