The Boone and Crockett Club and Pope and Young Club released a statement yesterday stating they believe a bull elk killed on Montana public lands may be the new World’s Record typical American elk.
Hunting alone, Montana resident Steve Felix brought the elk to the attention of the Boone and Crockett Club after he killed it during the state’s 2016 archery season.
“It’s a milestone in the success of our commitment to this iconic species,” said Justin Spring, Boone and Crockett Club’s director of Big Game Records. “Animals of this size do not happen by chance. It takes the combined commitment of wildlife managers and biologists, landowners, sportsmen and, above all else, it takes the best habitats we can set aside for elk in elk country.”
The official entry score was confirmed at a whopping 430 inches, eclipsing the current archery record elk that scores 412-1/8 and was taken back in 2005. The final stages of scoring the antlers are scheduled to take place in St. Louis, Missouri this coming April prior to Pope and Young Club’s Biennial Convention and Big Game Awards Ceremony.
It is there the antlers will be panel scored by a group of esteemed official measurers and presumably placed in the history books.
“Elk of this size are a sign that we’re doing something right out there,” said Spring. “And the end result couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. He’s been bowhunting a lot of years and really gets the spirit of the chase, the importance of conservation, and what records keeping is all about–honoring the animal and what it took to make sure we still have elk with us, and the opportunity to see and hunt them.”
