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Utah elk sets Boone and Crockett record
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A typical bull can gain 40 inches of growth each year which means he would have been a 450 bull (gross, 425 net) last year which is enormous. Even if he doubled the growth rate, and grew 7 feet of new antler this year, he would have been a 400+ bull last year which anyone would take note of, yet somehow he went completely unnoticed on one of the most popular units in the state. How does a bull that has 7 feet more antler than any bull taken there go so unnoticed before this year?
My hunch is that it was bought and released in early spring or late winter by one of the guides down there like Mossback or Tines-Up. Mossback (the guide used here) is all ready a convicted felon for poaching... why not do it? It generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for outfitters this year!
If true it is great.
I do not like Mossback outfitters. They are no good to the industry. They cheat and step on people. Get me the DNA and lets see what really is going on.
I have no doubt at all that this is a wild Utah elk, I think that the Utah Division has done an amazing job at managing our herds. This is proved by the number of bulls that have been taken out of Utah in the last few years putting us ahead of all other states including Arizona, for the number of book bulls harvested. I hope that with my 13 points collected so far that I soon will have a chance at anything close to this bull.
I do however have issues with the guides. IF the rumors are true that Mossback aggressivly chased other hunters off of this bull on public lands and chased the bull off of private lands back on to public lands there should be an investigation and they have absolutly no place in the guide business, and IF that is the case then this bull should not count as a fair chase harvested bull. However, I congatulate the hunter on a fine bull in any case. What the guides may have done should not reflect in a negative way on him.
I'm with "not a believer"...dubious that a bull of that size could have escaped detection, or at least discovery of his sheds, for that many years. I'm a bit surprised that B&C didn't give it a little more scrutiny to preserve the integrity of their record book.
Take a drive up to Idaho and you will note that its elk herds are also being affected--along with domestic animals, coyotes (which would be great but for the more effective killing being done by wolves) and any other animal within the wolves' long list of prey.
Understand, there was a reason why wolves were removed in the early part of the last century. They decimated both wild and domestic livestock. We are seeing that again.
Balance my foot!!!
Most who want to "see" wolves back in the west will never actually see the wolves in person. It's just a cozy concept. Those actually affected who live around these areas are and simply don't want the effect that has come with the reintroduction. The large mammals are adversely affected because they are not adjusted to this type of predator. Will they survive? Probably, but there's a big difference between just surviving and actually having healthy populations that are a big part of the recreation and economy in the west.