Most hunters get cagey when asked where they got their trophy elk, but Steve Felix doesn’t balk.
“This
was killed on public land,” said the potential owner of the newest
world record for typical American elk taken by archery. “It’s a
testament to great habitat and great management and the importance of
public lands.”
To be a
little more specific, Felix brought down the 7x8-point bull in Powder
River County, in the southeast corner of Montana. The Boone and Crockett
Club has confirmed its rack scores 430 inches, making it the largest
elk taken in the state and the fourth-largest ever recorded in the
club’s records. No. 1 scored 442 5/8ths, and No. 2 and No. 3 were both
taken before 1900 – all with rifles. The current world-record archery
kill scored 412 1/8, taken in 2005 in Arizona.
“History
was made right here in Montana,” said Justin Spring, records director
at Missoula-based Boone and Crockett. “It’s a milestone in the success
of our commitment to this iconic species. 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.”
Felix,
who lives near Seeley Lake, made the eight-hour drive to his hunting
area solo in September when his regular hunting partner couldn’t get
away for the weekend. He spotted the bull early in the morning, and
spent about an hour stalking it to get a shooting position.
A
single arrow at 61 yards brought the elk down 30 seconds after he shot
it. Approaching, Felix said he knew he had bagged the biggest animal
he’d ever pursued. But he wasn’t sure how big.
It
took five backpack loads over two days to bring out the meat. At first,
Felix hoped to bring out the antlers and skin in a single load.
“I got about 60 yards and said this is not going to work,” he said. “It was just too heavy.”
He stopped at the Cabela’s store in Billings to compare his bull to some of the trophies hanging there.
“They
had a rack that scored 400 there, so I took a quick look,” he said.
“Then I went back out to my truck and went, ‘Oh, boy.’”
Realizing he had a contender on
his hands, Felix next stopped at John Berger’s taxidermy shop in
Bozeman. After a preliminary measurement hinted the bull was in striking
distance of a world record, they called Fred King, an expert trophy
grader in the Gallatin Valley. In its fresh, “green” state, the antlers
scored 440 inches. Montana’s existing record was 412 inches.
Antlers
shrink a bit as they dry. After 60 days, the final measurement totaled a
net 430 inches. A final, official score for Pope and Young Club World's
Record status will occur before a panel scored by a group of highly
qualified P&Y and B&C measurers just prior to Pope and Young
Club's Biennial Convention and Big Game Awards Ceremony April 5-8, 2017,
in St. Louis, Missouri.
Felix
said the hunting district doesn’t have a trophy restriction like the
popular Missouri Breaks or Elkhorn Mountain regions of Montana. But it
did have great grass, healthy wildlife and public opportunity.
“I’ve
spent a lot of time in that country,” Felix said. “The first eight days
I was there, I never saw an elk. That was the first arrow either my
partner or I have ever shot there for elk.”
