County of Minburn Bow Hunter Achieves World Record

County of Minburn Bow Hunter Achieves World Record

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

Shawn O’Shea is a 55-year-old farmer and oilfield worker who lives on a farm south of Vegreville. Shawn has been bow hunting for 30 years. Shawn’s four sons all hunt with him. He has a huge passion for hunting and thinks about this sport all the time. He still shoots with the same Mathews Z7 compound that he bought new 10 years ago.

On September 14, 2020, Shawn first spotted the elk that would win the world-record. Shawn was amazed at the size of the animal and extremely excited when he first spotted and arrowed the elk that he shot and killed in the bushes of the County of Minburn.

In photo is Shawn O’Shea sitting next to the trophy elk that he shot and killed in the bushes of the County of Minburn on September 14, 2020. This animal is a non-typical 9 by 9 bull that has a net score of 4494/8 which beats the old world record by 7 4/8 inches.

(Shawn O’Shea/Submitted Photo)

This non-typical 9 by 9 bull that has a net score of 4494/8 that beat the old world record by 7 4/8 inches. It has been certified by the Pope and Young Club as the largest non-typical elk ever taken by a bow hunter and will be officially honoured by the conservation organization at its July 2021 convention in Reno, Nevada. O’Shea’s bull has more inches of antler than any other North American game animal hunted by archery equipment.

Going back, Shawn said the first time he seen pictures of this bull was from a trail cam in 2017, but he had never seen the elk in person until 2020. He practiced shooting for two months prior to hunting this elk.

He feels that hard work and perseverance pays off when it comes to bow hunting or anything in life, but he wanted to put more emphasis on this special animal who grew the horns. After all, this elk is the one who won the world record for Shawn.