Hunting a Sioux Country ranch in northwest Nebraska in late September, 14-year old Hannah Helmer shot the bull elk of a lifetime. Her father, Joel, an official Boone and Crockett scorer, green-scored the monster-sized elk at 428-1/8 net, eclipsing the current state record of 409-7/8 for non-typical elk.
To be officially scored, however, the Helmers had to wait the required 60 day waiting period to allow the antlers to dry out. The rack laid in rest with Scott Black at High Five Taxidermy in Ceresco, Nebraska for that 60 day period, where Black got familiar with the rack and was notably impressed.
“This thing easily puts them to shame and then some,” Black told Gooutdoorsne.com. “The symmetry on this thing is just spectacular.”
When the time came, Nebraska big game trophy records coordinator Randy Stutheit spent about an hour’s time measuring the antlers, before declaring it a state record. The final official score was 430-6/8, which eclipsed the green score her father had given the rack roughly 60 days earlier.
The Nebraska state record elk will rank within the top 20 nationally for non-typical rack, the 19 other elk being harvested from Rocky Mountain States.
Elk hunting was revived in the state of Nebraska back in 1995, and today officials estimate there to be between 2,000 and 3,000 elk statewide. Even with the healthy population, Helmer’s tag was only one of 111 available bull permits in Nebraska.
High Five Taxidermy is still handling the mount and is hopeful to have it completed for Hannah before the spring arrives.