The Ishi Award

honoring the memory of eodore Roosevelt. eir suggestion for a special Ishi Award was quickly accepted by the membership.

e award itself was designed by Fred Bear with assistance from Chuck Kroll. Bear owned a few pieces of some very fine, select-grade rosewood which were nearly perfect in color, grain, and texture. is wood was donated to the Club to serve as plaques for what was to become bowhunting’s most rare and distinctive award. Next, specially made obsidian spear points were fashioned by Jim Ramsey of Lincoln, New Mexico, undoubtedly a master at this ancient art. ese had-chipped points, mounted on each rosewood plaque along with an engraved metal plate, complete the treasured Ishi Award.

To date, only four of the special bowhunting awards have been presented. e first Ishi Award, presented in 1964, was for the tremendous non-typical whitetail deer bagged by Del Austin. is trophy from Hall County, Nebraska, not only set a new Pope & Young World’s Record but ranked as the second largest non-typical whitetail ever recorded, a distinction it still claims at this writing.

A second Ishi Award was presented in Denver in 1969 at the conclusion of the program honoring the finest North American big game trophies listed during the Club’s Sixth Recording Period. e award went to the outstanding typical whitetail deer taken by bowhunter Mel Johnson near Peoria, Illinois, which not only was a Pope & Young World’s Record but also ranked as the second largest of its kind ever recorded. is magnificent trophy also received the Boone and Crockett Club’s Sagamore Hill Medal, the only animal ever named to receive both of these cherished big-game honors.

A third presentation of the prestigious Ishi Award was made following the Seventh Recording Period when five new bowhunting World Records were recognized. Obviously, the judges faced a very difficult decision since quality trophies were in abundance; however, the final decision called for the award to go to the bighorn sheep taken by Ray Alt in the Sweet Grass Primitive Area of Montana.

e last Award presentation was made, following the irtySecond Recording Period in 2021. Although World Record trophies were entered in numerous categories, the decision for this ballot did not take long. e winner was the world’s largest ever recorded, huntertaken, Whitetail deer with any weapon. Luke Brewster shot this incredible Non-typical Whitetail Deer in 2018 in Edgar County, Illinois.

Ishi Award Winners

4th Recording Period (1963-1964)

Non-Typical Whitetail Deer

Score: 279 7/8

Taken in Nebraska by Del Austin

6th Recording Period (1967-1968)

Typical Whitetail Deer

Score: 204 4/8

Taken in Illinois by Mel Johnson

7th Recording Period (1969-1970)

Bighorn Sheep

Score: 176 3/8

Taken in Montana by Ray Alt

8th Recording Period (1971-1972)

Barren Ground Caribou

Score: 446 6/8

Taken in Alaska by Art Kragness