New Record Heads Debunk Genetic Decline

Apr 25

Folks opposed to hunting have postulated that we big, bad, evil killers of Bambi are destroying the genetic quality of hunted species by artificially selecting the biggest and strongest for dinner, leaving the weak and puny to reproduce. On the surface this seems to make sense, but the numbers don't add up. For one thing, hunters generally take fewer than 10 percent of a given population each season. For another, "trophy" sized males have already enjoyed several seasons in which to spread their genetics before reaching the age -- often senescence -- at which hunters shoot them. Over the past 30 years -- despite all this trophy hunting mania -- there has been a 234 percent increase in qualifying Boone & Crockett trophy entries. Since 1993 new world records have been set for elk, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, moose, caribou, musk ox, whitetail deer, mountain goat and even Pacific walrus (legally hunted by natives in Canada.) Pope & Young Club bow-hunted trophy entries have increased eight times in the last 25 years with 23 new world records set in just the past 12 years. The big question is where hunters find these puny, genetic misfits, the progeny of puny genetic misfits left over from previous compromised specimens left over from hundreds of hunting seasons. When will the horrible genetic decline end? Apparently no time soon, because the B&C Club recently announced more bad news about the genetic decline in North American wildlife brought about by hunters: a hunter in 2011 shot the new world's record mountain goat. Dang those hunters. Here's the news release from the Boone & Crockett Club: A Rocky Mountain goat taken by a hunter in 2011 in British Columbia is the largest of its species ever recorded, according to the Boone and Crockett Club. Club officials today confirmed the goat, a male that scored 57-4/8 Boone and Crockett points, as a new World's Record. Since 1906, the Boone and Crockett Club's scoring system has been used to measure the success of conservation programs across North America. The system rewards antler and horn size and symmetry classic symbols of outstanding habitat, strong recruitment of animals into older age classes, sustainable harvest objectives and other elements of sound wildlife management and fair-chase hunting. More than a thousand Rocky Mountain goats from Alaska to Nevada have met the minimum Boone and Crockett score of 47. But by far the most entries (541) have come from British Columbia. "British Columbia continues to set the standard for Rocky Mountain goats," said Eldon Buckner, chairman of Boone and Crockett Club's Records of North American Big Game Committee. "The province remains home to more than half of the world's population and trophy-class specimens have been trending upward each decade since the 1970s. That testifies to the professionalism of the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations." The new World's Record goat surpassed the old mark by a substantial 6/8 of an inch. The previous record was actually a tie between two British Columbia goats, one taken in 1949 and the other in 1999, scoring 56-6/8. Troy M. Sheldon of Alexandria, Ky., bagged the new record goat on the seventh day of a hunt in the Stikine River area. Sheldon's friend Carey Renner and guide Heidi Gutfrucht of Northwest Ranching and Outfitting accompanied him on the hunt. He used a Tikka T3 .270 WSM to make a perfect 319-yard shot across a ravine. About the Boone and Crockett ClubFounded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club promotes guardianship and visionary management of big game and associated wildlife in North America. The Club maintains the highest standards of fair-chase sportsmanship and habitat stewardship. Member accomplishments include enlarging and protecting Yellowstone and establishing Glacier and Denali national parks, founding the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and National Wildlife Refuge System, fostering the Pittman-Robertson and Lacey Acts, creating the Federal Duck Stamp program, and developing the cornerstones of modern game laws. The Boone and Crockett Club is headquartered in Missoula, Mont. For details, visit www.boone-crockett.org # # #

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