B&C World's Record - Musk Ox

Aron F. Wark and his guide, Sam Kapolak, covered dozens of miles each day over rough terrain near Contwoyto Lake in the Canadian Territory of Nunavut for a shot a the biggest musk ox in the records. On August 1, 2023, Wark took that shot and killed a musk ox that beat the previous World’s Record by one point. Wark’s bull scored 131 4/8 points, nudging out Alex Therrien’s entry from 2020. 

“I had the best time of my life, even without shooting a musk ox,” Wark says. The 57-year-old is quick to credit his guide with filling the hunt with good laughs and plenty of exercise. “A lot of people think this is an easy hunt, but it’s not,” notes Warks. “We covered 20 miles in a day, and it’s not flat. The walking sucks. I want to get these hard hunts out of the way before I get old.”

According to Kyle Lehr, the Club’s director of big game records, “Keeping a record of the largest representations of North American big game isn’t a competition between hunters, it’s a tool for hunters and resource managers to help them understand how wildlife management is or isn’t working in a given area.”

“Every animal is a trophy,” says Tony A. Schoonen, chief executive officer of the Boone and Crockett Club. “Sometimes, there are truly magnificent animals taken that represent the conservation success story of North America. That’s really what we’re celebrating.”

As for Wark, he’s excited to share his passion for hunting with his 15-year-old daughter and 10-year-old twin boys. He hopes to start them out with something a little easier than musk ox, maybe an elk hunt, he says.