Boone & Crockett certifies elk taken in Utah set world record
The Boone and Crockett Club recently confirmed that a giant bull elk taken by a rifle hunter last Sept. 30 in Utah is a new non-typical world record for American elk.
Based in Missoula, Mont., the B&C Club is the official records keeper for North American big game animals.
The incredible bull carried a 9x14 rack that nets 478 5/8 B&C points. It surpasses the former record of 465 2/8 by more than 13 inches. The former record was found dead, frozen in Upper Arrow Lake in British Columbia in 1994.
Denny Austad of Ammon, Idaho, shot the elk while hunting in the Monroe Mountain District, a sprawling public hunting unit in central Utah. Austad was on a guided hunt with MossBack Guides and Outfitters.
Hunting guides had nicknamed the elk the "Spider Bull" because of its unique antler configurations. The net score on the rack includes a remarkable 140 inches of abnormal points.
The enormous rack was not the only unique characteristic that set the Spider Bull aside from its peers. According to MossBack Guides and Outfitters lead guide, Doyle Moss, the mature bull bugled like a youngster.
Bull elk bugle during the breeding season to attract cows and to discourage other bulls from infringing on their turf. Older bulls tend to have deeper, more dominant sounding bugles than young bulls -- or at least that is what most hunters believe.
"A lot of hunters think they can tell the size of the bull by its bugle, but this one will be a learning experience for those guys," Moss said. "If you heard the Spider Bull and a rag horn bugling but couldn't see either one of them, most hunters would go after the rag horn every time. He had one of the wimpiest bugles you have ever heard, but I am sure once his buddies saw him they walked the other way. He was one massive beast."
Utah has produced some exceptional bull elk through the years, many of them for Moss' clients. To date, the operation has led rifle hunters to three state record non-typical bulls, two state record typicals, the Nos. 1 and 2 archery kills and most recently, that monster of a world record non-typical.
Moss said he and his guides first located the bruiser bull last summer. But they were not the only ones aware that he was out there, as evidenced by photos and comments posted on Internet chat rooms and hunting forums.
"He was probably the most publicized bull in the world," Moss said. "There were lots of hunters out there after him. That wimpy bugle of his is probably one of the main things that helped keep him alive for so long."
Moss said the bull became somewhat secretive and kept a low profile once hunting season got underway.
"He was very nocturnal," Moss said. "He would come out of the woods right at dark, then go back in before daylight."
Moss said Austad hunted for 12 straight days beginning Sept. 1. He missed an opportunity to take the bull on the morning of the 12th day when he shot high and missed from 190 yards. The hunter returned Sept. 30 and killed the bull within the first hour. The guide said the bull was with a harem of cows and had moved deeper into wilderness, about 11 miles from where he had been hanging out earlier in the season.
Additional photos and video of the bull are available for viewing at www.mossback.com. Moss said the Austad's hunt will be featured in a full-length video titled Mossback Legends of the Fall, Vol. 2. The video will be released in early February.
Matt Williams' e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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