from Idaho Fish and Game press release

On Monday, June 16, entries for Super Hunt tags will be drawn for eight elk, eight deer and eight antelope hunts as well as one moose hunt.
The winners will be drawn at 9 a.m. in the Trophy Room at Idaho Fish and Game headquarters at 600 S. Walnut in Boise. The public is welcome to attend.

One Super Hunt Combo ticket also will be drawn that will entitle the winner to hunts for one each elk, deer, antelope and moose. The winners can hunt in any open hunt.

A second drawing will be August 15. Entries for two elk, two deer, two antelope and one moose along with another Super Hunt Combo will be drawn.
It’s not too late to enter. Entries for the second drawing must be received at Fish and Game no later than August 10.

Ticket order forms are available online at:
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/superhunt/, and tickets are available at license vendors and Fish and Game offices, by phone at 800-554-8685 or 800-824-3729, or by mail at: IDFG License Section, P.O. Box 25, Boise, ID 83707.

Money from the sale of tickets for the Super Hunt - described as “the hunt of a lifetime” - supports the Access Yes! program, which compensates landowners to provide hunter and angler access to or across private land.

For information about this program contact local Fish and Game officials or visit the Website at: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/ifwis/huntplanner/accessyesguide.aspx.

Well heads turned today as I let out a whoop from in front of my computer!  I was one of the few but proud, successful applicants for elk tags in Wyoming. 

I checked my results on the Wyoming G&F Draw Results  page.  Don’t despair if you didn’t draw an elk tag, though.  You still have until March 15th to apply for deer and antelope. 

Wyoming’s online application system is up and running.   There is links to frequently asked questions and a glossery of terms for the unfamiliar. So gather up your personal information, hunt information , and the info for the rest of your party, and make sure you have a credit card to charge in case you draw.  Best of luck.

Wyoming, Here I come!

The Coues’ whitetail is known as the Grey Ghost of the Southwest. Odocoileus virginianus couesi, is its given taxonomic name. These deer rarely get much over 120 pounds and carry an almost miniature version of it’s eastern cousin’s rack. But don’t be fooled by it’s diminutive stature. The Coues’ whitetail (pronounces cow’s) is as wily as any 200# 10 pointer and lives in some of the most rugged country in North America.

It is only found in Central and Southern Arizona, Southwest New Mexico and in Old Mexico in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. Any other location is considered to be the common whitetail deer odocoilius virginianus virginianus.

The Pope and Young Club has 4 kinds of entries. Typical and Nontypical, Velvet and hard horned. The majority of bucks in the records system are hard horned typicals, but there are a few velvet entries

Arizona has the most entries, as well as the highest average score. With just under 300 entries in the records system, one can see that being successful with archery equipment, much less achieving the minimum score of 65 for typicals and 80 for non typicals, is no easy feat.

Arizona has a late winter archery season that occurs during the Coues’ deer rut. tHis may account for larger proportion of entries from that state. Regardless of season the lithe little deer are hard to pick out of miles of brushy desert canyons. Many a proficient hunter has had this desert deer give him the slip.

For hunters who want to apply for the Spring bear hunts in Oregon, the deadline is fast approaching.  February 10th is the last day to apply.  Results will be posted on or after February 20th.  successful applicants must purchase their bear tags BEFORE the first day of the season.  Spring Bear Seasons start as early as April 1st, and all controlled bear hunts end May 31st.

 On the Controlled hunts page of the Oregon Fish and Game website you can check draw odds and success statistics, as well as check your preference point totals.  The 2008 regulations are also now available for those hunters looking forward to the Fall Controlled Hunt application due May 15th.

“The Grey Ghost of the West Coast” has a loyal following of hunters who pursue them in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. Odocoileus hemonius columbianus, is more commonly refered to as the Columbian Blacktail deer, of just “blacktails”. For record keeping purposes, the Blacktail is found in the Western regions of the states named previously. The arbitrary line determined by the Boone and Crockett and Pope and Young clubs is placed so as to prevent entries of mule deer into the Blacktail class.

A Pope and Young Blacktail can be in one of four kinds
Typical
Non Typical
Typical Velvet
Non Typical Velvet
Velvet Entries are accepted in their own category, but to be “ranked” the velvet has to be removed
A typical Blacktail has measurements totaling more than 90 inches. Most good sized Forked horns with eyeguards will qualify for record book status. The “normal” main frame is 5 points on each antler (eye guard, front fork, back fork)
In order to be entered as a non typical the minimum score is 125 inches. A Non typical rack has “abnormal points in addition to the Forked main frame and eyeguards. While these points measurements are a deduction in typical scores, they are added in the nontypical scoring .
In order to be accepted in the non typical category, the antler score as a nontypical should be more points above the non typical minimum score than as a typical deer. Usually that level occurs when there are more than 7 4/8ths inches of abnormal points.

Oregon has the most Entries, as well as the world record Blacktail deer. Not far behind is California. With archery seasons that open in July, California leads the pack in Velvet entries.
Click on the Thumbnails below to see larger tables:

Washington and British Columbia certainly contribute their fair share of entries, but California and Oregon each have more entries than them combined. Late season hunts in Oregon have a higher likelihood of pursuing deer during the rut, but every bowhunter should know the joy of hunting in California heat in the 90-100’s! Either way the Columbian Blacktail is a worthy adversary, and has humbled many a bowhunter.

Nothing is more of a Western icon than the Bison. Market hunting in the 19th Century nearly exterminated the species. Private Game ranches have been successful in developing a domestic bison breeding industry. For the bowhunter who wants to pursue free roaming bison there are still remnant wild herds that roam the West. For a bison to be recognized by the Pope and Young Club, it must be from a state or province that 1)recognizes them as wildlife, and not domestic stock, 2) and has a SPECIFIC big game tag or license, and a hunting season for the bison. Animals from private ranch herds and state owned parks are not eligible for entry.

If you want to find these free roaming herds, the places to find them include Alaska, the Henry Mountains of Utah, The Pink mountains in British Columbia, and the House rock Wildlife Area of Northern Arizona. Wyoming Bison are not recognized by Pope and Young. These Bison are residents of Grand Teton National Park, and the harvest of these animals may be viewed as a depredation hunt rather than a free roaming herd.

Bison are unique in the manner that they are measured. A ¼ inch steel tape is used for all measurements which are taken for each side Then the difference between left and right measurements is recorded . There are 5 measurements (made to the nearest 1/8th of an inch) which make up a Bison Score.
Length of horn – Taken from the lowest outside base edge to the tip along the outer curve.
Circumference measurements – Quarter measurements at locations determined by the length of the longest horn.
Base- is taken at a 90 degree angle to the axis of the horn
First Quarter
Second Quarter
Third quarter
When all of these measurements have been added up for each side , and had the total differences for each measurement subtracted from the subtotal, you have the final score. The minimum score for recognition is 100.

Link to Score sheet

Click on the Thumbnail above for a larger view of top Bison Areas.

The Grizzly Bear is the inland North American Brown Bear, ursus arctos horribilis. It is slightly smaller than it’s coastal cousin, the Alaskan Brown Bear. For record keeping purposes the Grizzly is found north and east of the following line:

“…beginning at the Pearse Canal and following the Canadian and Alaskan boundary to Mt. Natazhat, then west-northwest along the divide of the Wrangell Range to Mt. Jarvis at the western end of the Wrangell Range. The boundary proceeds north along the divide of the Mentasta Range to Mentasta Pass, then in a general westerly direction along the divide of the Alaska Range to Houston Pass, and westerly following the 62nd parallel of latitude to the Bering Sea.”

The Grizzly has been reintroduced to much of it’s Rocky Mountain range, and populations have grown to the extent that it has been taken off of the federal endangered species list and is upgraded to threatened in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Currently there are no seasons open for the grizzly in the United States, but populations are thriving in Western Canada and Alaska. Alaska and British Columbia have the lion’s share of the entries, as well as the majority of the grizzly population.

(Click on the thumbnails below to show the full sized table.)

Scoring for all bears is the sum of two measurements. Length plus Width taken after a sixty day drying period, after all meat and tissue has been removed from the skull. Currently the record for the largest Grizzly is a 26 3/16” giant from Unakleet, Alaska. But British Columbia probably has a better average measurement from it’s 30 entries. Both regions have good chances for record book bears if you can brave the weather and go toe to toe with a deserving adversary. The two Wyoming entries from Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, in 1920 are credited to Saxton Pope and Art Young, the Forefathers of modern bowhunting. Art Young’s bear is # 8 as of the 2005 Record book.

All information presented is from the Pope and Young Club Bowhunting Big Game Records of North America, Sixth edition 2005 published by the Pope and Young Club Chatfield, MN. Not responsible for numerical errors, typographical errors or omissions, due to the author’s poor typing skills or plain bone headedness.

Black Bears are the second most popular animal based on Pope and Young Club entries. Taxonomically the black bear is known as Ursus americanus americanus. I’ts range stretches from coast to coast in Canada, America, Alaska and Mexico.

Scoring for all bears is the sum of two measurements. Length plus Width taken after a sixty day drying period, after all meat and tissue has been removed from the skull.  The minimum score for entry into the P& Y records is 18 0/8 inches

The states with the most black bear entries are in the upper North Central Region of North America, and Alaska. These are usually areas where baiting is the preferred method and bear densities are high.  (Click on the thumbnails that follow to see the full sized tables.)

If you are set on a Western Black bear hunt in the Lower 48 states then your best bet for a Pope and Young Bear is in Idaho, or Colorado.

The Current Pope and Young #1 black bear was killed in Mendocino County, California, not far from where I bowhunt blacktail deer. Needless to say, I always make sure to have a bear tag when I am afield there!  Of all the Western States, California has the largest average skull size followed closely by Arizona and Alaska. All great locations if you are looking for a bruin with a noggin the size of a pumpkin!

All information presented is from the Pope and Young Club Bowhunting Big Game Records of North America, Sixth edition 2005 published by the Pope and Young Club Chatfield, MN. Not responsible for numerical errors, typographical errors or omissions, due to the author’s poor typing skills or plain bone headedness.

We will start with the Alaskan Brown Bear because it is the first alphabetically in the Pope and Young Records. If you are after the largest land predator in North America, then this is it. Ursus arctos middendorffi is the larger coastal brown bear. For record keeping purposes the Alaskan brown is found south and West of the dividing line from the P&Y measurers manual:
“…beginning at the Pearse Canal and following the Canadian and Alaskan boundary to Mt. Natazhat, then west-northwest along the divide of the Wrangell Range to Mt. Jarvis at the western end of the Wrangell Range. The boundary proceeds north along the divide of the Mentasta Range to Mentasta Pass, then in a general westerly direction along the divide of the Alaska Range to Houston Pass, and westerly following the 62nd parallel of latitude to the Bering Sea.”

Scoring for all bears is the sum of two measurements. Length plus Width taken after a sixty day drying period, after all meat and tissue has been removed from the skull. The minimum measurement for entry in the P&Y records program is 20 0/8 inches.

Needless to say, you can only get an Alaskan Brown Bear in Alaska so I have presented the top ten areas for number of entries and average score. The vast majority of the Pope and Young Bears have come From Kodiak and Amiralty islands, both of which are well known for their high bear densities. Click on the thumbnails below to see the full sized charts.

All information presented is from the Pope and Young Club Bowhunting Big Game Records of North America, Sixth edition 2005 published by the Pope and Young Club Chatfield, MN. Not responsible for numerical errors, typographical errors or omissions, due to the author’s poor typing skills or plain bone headedness.

As a service to my readers, and also for my own personal edification, I have been invesigating the Pope and Young record books and doing some data analysis for the entries up to 2005.  In future columns, I will be presenting information on where the most entries are from, and the state or area’s average score for the species in question.  

We will concentrate on the species found in the Lower 48 states and Alaska with the exception of caribou, muskox and polar bear.    I will endevor to make this a weekly feature so stay tuned.  I hope you find this information as interesting as I do.