RSS | 
Twitter
| 
Be a fan!
It's not easy to get into the record books
Not exactly.
There is more to entering the record books than just bagging a buck above the minimum scores for either Boone & Crockett or Pope & Young. In fact the best trophy I have ever put a tape on isn't in the record book.
I have measured bucks that score well over the 170 minimum for B&C, although most came from states other than Pennsylvnia. Many more were placed in the P&Y book exceeding the 125 minimum, with a lot of them coming from our home state.
Rate This Story:
1 the lowest - 5 the highest
Current rating:
I was doing a seminar in Greene County and had about 10 racks spread across the counter. John Dino who was helping me and I discussed quietly, so as not to hurt someone's feelings, the merits of each buck.
I was particularly impressed with a nice, even 10-pointer. A voice behind me said that it wasn't a whitetail, but a Coues deer. I was shocked for I knew these diminutive deer from the southwest seldom carry racks that would score over 95. Considered one of the hardest to hunt, a Coues scoring 100 is a fine trophy. Here in front of me was a Coues I knew would score over 120.
The gentleman explained how he had bagged this buck a long time ago and had often wondered what it would score. Since then I have learned that he also has some fine mule deer bucks in his home. We measured that buck and as I remember came up with a score over 130 which would place it No. 2 all time.
Why, then, is that trophy not in the book?
There is more required. The hunter must sign a fair chase statement swearing that the animal was taken within the law and under the rules of fair chase. The animal also had to be free ranging, eliminating animals shot on game farms. None of this was a problem for the gentleman from Greene County, but he couldn't produce a photocopy of a hunting license or proof of where he downed the buck. It had been a long time.
I had a similar situation come up with a goat that was taken in the late 1940s. It scored above well but there was no license or other proof it was taken legally and ethically. I thought it should have counted since the elderly gentleman had a copy of a newspaper article printed at the time talking about this goat.
That is what makes entering either book so special. Both B&C and P&Y are so careful about any entry.
Over the 20 some years I have been measuring I have found B&C a bit more careful of the two. Because of this, I found a recent statement by B&C interesting.
We are becoming overwhelmed with electronics. TrailCams, radios, thermal imaging and scopes with built-in rangefinders have made hunting easier. But are these things really an improvement to a quality hunt and are they entirely legal?
In this month's Fair Chase magazine, a publication of B&C, the use of such scopes is clarified. B&C will not accept any trophy downed with the use of a scope with a built-in laser rangefinder. Do these electronics have a place in hunting under the rules of fair chase? B&C doesn't think so and I agree.
The same could be said about the use of two-way radios to locate and move deer, or TrailCams that transfer images to waiting hunters. Making it easier is not a benefit to game or an ethical hunter who believes in fair chase. There is more to entering the book than just downing a large animal and then having it scored.
Methods of taking a big game animal that are not accepted by B&C would include: The use of an airplane to spot or herd game; chasing with any motorized vehicle; use of electronic communications or other electronics to down game; shooting game in an enclosure; the use of traps; game that is swimming or helpless in deep snow; using another's license; not in compliance with game laws or regulations.
That is but a partial list and when bagging an exceptional game animal it would be wise to save all licenses and tags and other info on the hunt. It is this care that makes B&C and P&Y entry so special.
