New SCI World Record Elk

hawkbill

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That thing is less wild than an angus bull. Those steroid bulls aren’t even pretty.

Those elk arrive on the property in horse trailers the night before the “hunt” starts. It’s like going to vegas and paying for some $ex then claiming to be a lady’s man.
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High fence. 😓

Well he is ugly... And when it comes to high fence hunting I guess it's their money and they can do what they want
I've never read a story about a high fence hunt. Gotta say, after reading that article, it's worse than I imagined from a sporting standpoint. I always got that the animals were not free range, but the description reminded me of what it would be like to hunt cattle or sheep. Not very fun...
 
Probably a case of too much money and no hunting skills.....and not wanting to take the time to learn. Could've hired a guide for fair chase. The older I get, the less I try to figure people out. Whatever floats your boat but to me, not sporting at all. Probably gonna tell the gullible ones around the campfire a totally different story than the truth!!........kinda hard these days with social media though.
 
There is not enough money in the world I could make that would make me want to do a hunt like this. It certainly is not for me.

At the same time, I don’t care that some other people do them. This is a high fence farm designed for something very specific. There are a ton of things people spend their money on that make no sense to me. Add this to the list! But I’m not going to spend any time feigning outrage. Who cares? It’s legal. It’s their money. Live and let live.
 
There is not enough money in the world I could make that would make me want to do a hunt like this. It certainly is not for me.

At the same time, I don’t care that some other people do them. This is a high fence farm designed for something very specific. There are a ton of things people spend their money on that make no sense to me. Add this to the list! But I’m not going to spend any time feigning outrage. Who cares? It’s legal. It’s their money. Live and let live.
Exactly!!👍
 
This is why I have no use for SCI. kill a zoo animal in a squeeze chute and you're a hero.
I was thinking a lot the other day about SCI and what it was about it that gave me a funny feeling and I think I put my finger on it. Every other organization out there puts the animal first. WSF, RMEF, WTF, DU, PF, Delta waterfowl, you name it, it’s an organization put together by hunters who love a particular animal to raise money and awareness for conservation of that animal and any others that also benefit. SCI is an organization put together by hunters to protect their type of hunting. It puts the hunt before the animal and I guess that doesn’t sit right with me. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong on what the mission of SCI is, but it seems to me it’s fighting for import rights on different animals, making sure places abroad stay open to hunting etc.
 
I was thinking a lot the other day about SCI and what it was about it that gave me a funny feeling and I think I put my finger on it. Every other organization out there puts the animal first. WSF, RMEF, WTF, DU, PF, Delta waterfowl, you name it, it’s an organization put together by hunters who love a particular animal to raise money and awareness for conservation of that animal and any others that also benefit. SCI is an organization put together by hunters to protect their type of hunting. It puts the hunt before the animal and I guess that doesn’t sit right with me. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong on what the mission of SCI is, but it seems to me it’s fighting for import rights on different animals, making sure places abroad stay open to hunting etc.
I wish they would help get my free range red stag from Argentina, and the rest of the hunting party I was with on that trips animals back to America then.
That country might be just a little bit corrupt
Sidenote, don’t get drunk and bid on online hunting auctions that you haven’t done your research on.
 
I wonder if that meat is safe to eat with all the crap injected in that critter?? I like organic wild critters.
I’ve got some good friends in the whitetail and elk breeding world. They don’t use all the hormones everyone talks about. It’s amazing what good nutrition and genetics can do. They have 200” whitetail bucks in their yearling pen. 250” at 2.5 yrs old. They’ve been crossing the best does with the best bucks for 30 years and that’s what happens. No different then a corn, wheat or a tomato if you look back at what a heritage plant looks like. Not saying it’s my thing or I agree with it, but the whole steroid thing is misguided.
 
From what I understand the pen farmers are also using genetic strain alleles that are resistant to cwd.
 
Genetics is an interesting subject. We always think of game farms and the genetics they often use to produce whopper whitetail bucks, elk bulls, and other species. What about genetics in wild herds?

As a great example, Colo hardly produces any B&C antelope. If you head directly over the border in Wyoming there are literally hundreds of antelope bucks that have made B&C? What if areas in Wyoming that produce massive antelope were introduced to other herds in Colorado and other states to spread the wealth of genes capable of producing whopper bucks?

The same thing is true with wild sheep that are confined to live and breed in localized small regions. What if wild sheep from counties in Montana that produce whopper rams are introduced to Colorado...the land of slender, tight-curled rams?

Colorado likely has some of the best mule deer genetics available in the world. How about introducing those genetics into Wyoming....the land of 3x muley bucks! In time, my guess is the alleles for CWD resistance becomes apparent where CWD has been present for centuries. How about somehow increasing those resistant CWD alleles in wild mule deer herds that have new infestations of CWD rather than wide-spread culling projects?
 
WY produces a number of book pronghorn because of the volume, if WY had the genetics of AZ B&C would run out of score charts. CO does have the best deer genetics there's little debate on that, and MT certainly has some of the best sheep.

But how much of it is the habitat and the ability to reach trophy age do to management? look at the reduction of book bucks coming out of CO today with their current mismanagement. as much as I hate the game farms they do offer a test of what a species can become with the best of everything in a controlled environment. for whatever that's worth.
 
Togwotee, can you imagine the potential improvements that could take place in wild herds with a little genetic diversity? My guess is that genetics plays as much or more of a role in antler and horn size than feed and habitat if critters are given the same opportunity to age.

You are absolutely correct that if muley bucks in B&C counties in Colo can't live to an older age class that B&C is pretty much impossible. Colo became a B&C mecca shortly after they went from OTC to all limited draw tags.

I totally blame the CPW for the current depressed state of mule deer in Colorado! They wanted to decrease the age class of bucks in Colo and that is exactly what happened! With a couple bad winters added to the mix it totally screwed Colo's mule deer. Ask any of the outfitters on the Eastern Plains of Colorado what increasing tag numbers has done to the mule deer in that country.

I've always wondered if wild herds would be healthier if they had genetics from other areas. I guess what I'm saying is that things could be learned from some of the better game farms that could be used to benefit wild species.

Anyone that has read my posts knows my frustration with Wyo's shitty 3x mule deer genetics! In contrast, I see so many young muley bucks here in Colo with 4x4 frames. There is no doubt in my mind that it's poor genetics in most regions in Wyo. Having better nutrition is likely going to do absolutely nothing to change this. I'm pretty sure game farms would cull every mature buck from their herd with 3x3 frames.
 
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I'm thinking helicopters flying and shooting steroid darts might be the answer, let's get some of the farm results out to the field. I joke , maybe game and fish departments might learn something but I doubt it. Jims has much more knowledge than I do.
 
Genetics is an interesting subject. ...... What about genetics in wild herds?

As a great example, Colo hardly produces any B&C antelope. ...... What if areas in Wyoming that produce massive antelope were introduced to other herds in Colorado and other states to spread the wealth of genes capable of producing whopper bucks?

The same thing is true with wild sheep that are confined to live and breed in localized small regions. What if wild sheep from counties in Montana that produce whopper rams are introduced to Colorado...?

Colorado likely has some of the best mule deer genetics available in the world. How about introducing those genetics into Wyoming........?
... can you imagine the potential improvements that could take place in wild herds with a little genetic diversity?

Anyone that has read my posts knows my frustration with Wyo's shitty 3x mule deer genetics!

How about we don't screw with nature, and allow it to just run its course?

How about if we don't worry about manipulating the herds to put B&C animals on every mountain and in every canyon?

How about if we get back to "hunting", and looking for the largest animal that nature produced in an area (if that's your thing), and stop being obsessed with inches in everything we pursue?
 
What Jims is suggesting isn't really screwing with nature it's just logistics. if we hadn't shipped animals around many areas wouldn't have elk or bighorn today so the precedent has been set. but I don't think the public support is there to do it just for antler or horn size.

If we just say whatever is there is good enough STFU and hunt we're all going to be hunting for a few dinks . size does matter, but we should push our game departments to manage for age structure with what genetics exist locally.

As far as game farms and high fence shooting they should be banned in my opinion. here in OR after the last brucellosis outbreak from a game farm we did ban any new game farms or the sale of an existing one.
 
I don't have a problem managing for age or carrying capacity, to try to optimize what you already have. But I do have an issue with trying to manipulate genetics and whatever else, solely for antler size.

As far as reintroducing animals into a range, that is different than manipulating for antler size. That is reintroducing an entire herd, of all sizes and genetics, just just the elite.

I also would have absolutely ZERO problems with shutting down game farms and high fence operations everywhere.
 
The only downside I see with moving animals for better genetics for antler size is the possibility of disease transfer. so I don't think it'll happen for that reason or that the public wants to fund it.

But Oregon would be willing to send Colorado another load of wolves in exchange for some of those mule deer genetics. we'll make an exception there.
 
The only downside I see with moving animals for better genetics for antler size is the possibility of disease transfer. so I don't think it'll happen for that reason or that the public wants to fund it.

But Oregon would be willing to send Colorado another load of wolves in exchange for some of those mule deer genetics. we'll make an exception there.
Would prefer sending wolves to the hunting zones in Wyoming. Hopefully they would not last long. Maybe even spray them with some type of clear glow in the dark paint. 😎😎😎
 
Someone please correct me if I’m wrong on what the mission of SCI is, but it seems to me it’s fighting for import rights on different animals, making sure places abroad stay open to hunting etc.

You are not wrong, but they really fight for the rights of all hunters. They have political action commitees and lobbyist. The import rights make a lot of news, but they do a lot more than that.

Now that being said they aren't perfect and don't particularly care for the record book, but they do lot of great work.
 

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