![]() ![]() But as hunters, we’re all about harvests, so if you’re curious to see what a world-record Pacific Walrus looks like, stop by Foster’s Bighorn, a restaurant and sports bar in Rio Vista, California. The category’s turnover in 1997 actually makes this the newest world record on this list-but the skull was a “pickup” (in fact, three of the top five on this list are pickups), which the Boone and Crocket Club still recognizes because an animal’s size is often a reflection of conservation efforts and good management. A few coastal dwelling tribes of Alaska Natives (Indians, Aleuts or Eskimos) are allowed to hunt them, but subsistence hunting is usually all about meat, not trophy size. Yeah, it’s a technicality, since the Pacific walrus has been sheltered by the Marine Mammals Protection Act since the 1970s. “In many cases, whitetails are coming into mule deer habitat, and they are just better at utilizing what’s on the land.” “Mule deer are an open sage species, and open sage is becoming harder and harder to find,” Spring notes. Blame shrinking habitat and expanding whitetail populations. It’s a giant, clean typical, which just doesn’t happen often.” Despite mule deer conservation efforts, overall numbers are down a bit. ![]() “That’s why the Burris Buck is so impressive. They don’t even make the book after deductions,” Spring says. “What we see in great big, older mule deer is they have a 200-inch frame, but they’ve got 15 inches of abnormal points. The tendency for a buck to experience abnormal antler growth is a factor here too. More attainable-but still a long shot, in Spring’s estimation-is the typical mule deer record set by Doug Burris Jr. “Nothing has even come close in nearly a hundred years.”īurris Jr.’s buck has a clean, symmetrical size and shape, which doesn’t happen often with old mule deer. ![]() They don’t turn into freaks, they just get kickers and drops and flyers but not enough to ever rival 355.” Combine that with the record’s longevity and the consensus that putting an all-time muley in the books is one of hunting’s toughest tasks, “and it’s a pretty tall order to find that many inches of antler on a mule deer without deductions that would lower the score,” he adds. “With mule deer, the biggest thing we see is that these older bucks now grow lots of abnormal points as they age. ![]() That’s a lot of history to overcome, says Spring. Of the top five bucks in the category, only one was taken after 1943: William Murphy’s 325-incher from 1955. Shot by Ed Broder in 1926, the nontypical world-record mule deer scores 16 inches higher than its closest competitor. 1 anytime soon seems unlikely.”īroder’s record mule deer scores a whopping 16 inches larger than the runner up. “Sixty-six years at the top is a very long time,” Spring says, “and considering these coastal behemoths thrive on salmon, and overall salmon abundance in recent years has declined up and down the West Coast, the possibility of this category seeing a new No. Among the top seven, the most recent harvest date is 1966, and the current world record, taken by Roy Lindsley, has stood since 1952. “The Alaska Brown Bear is a different story,” Spring notes. “The good old days of the big grizzly are right now,” Spring says-at least north of the 62nd parallel, where range has expanded, overall populations are on the rise, and the number two and number three grizzly bears on the Boone and Crockett list were added in 20. Because Alaska brown bears thrive on salmon, which aren’t as plentiful as they were when Roy Lindsley shot his bear in 1952, it may be another 66 years before hunters see another as large. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |