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## wyoming Big Game: The Quest for Record Antlers and the Concerns Over Genetic Manipulation
Wyoming is known for its exceptional big game hunting, particularly for elk and deer. But the pursuit of record-breaking antlers is raising concerns about fair chase and the ethics of genetic manipulation.
According to the Boone and Crockett Club (B&C), the official record keeper for north American big game, antlers start losing internal moisture after the animals are killed, and that will cause the antlers to shrink.
Measurements taken before the drying period are considered a “green score,” which isn’t eligible for record book entry. B&C requires a mandatory drying period of 60 days before official scoring.
Elk are scored by taking measurements in several places along the main beams and points of the antlers,for length and girth.
The spread, or distance between the main antler branches, is also measured.
The numbers are then calculated to come up with a total, in inches. Deductions might be taken for anomalies, such as asymmetry in antler structure.
That results in a final gross score (without deductions), and net score (with deductions).
There are two broad classes: “typical,” for elk with essentially normal antlers; and atypical, for elk with unusual antlers, such as those with knobs or drop tines (antler points facing downward).
Moreover, there are three recognized subspecies of elk in North America, and each has its own record class. Those include Rocky Mountain elk (which is what Wyoming has), Tule elk, and Roosevelt elk.
The standing all-time Boone and Crockett world record for a typical rocky Mountain elk is 442-4/8 inches,taken from a bull killed in arizona in 1958.
Sometimes “500-inch” elk appear in social media posts.
These are almost certainly high-fence ranch elk, raised in controlled environments.
“To get an elk over 500 inches, you’ve got to feed them supplements and manage their genetics. Nature has probably produced fewer than a half-dozen 500-inch elk,” said Wyoming Game Warden Joe Eastman.
Mixed DNA
While white-tailed deer in Wyoming are generally all-natural,in other parts of the country,it’s common for them to be raised in captivity,fed
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