The Boone and Crockett Club’s Records of North American Big Game Committee is firing on all cylinders. Our big news during the past year was the overwhelmingly successful 32nd triennial Awards Program. We welcomed over 500 attendees to the event and $125,870 was generated to support the Club. Total visitor traffic through our trophy exhibit exceeded 118,000 guests. On top of that impressive number, nearly 35,000 youth field trip and summer camp guests viewed this testament to conservation success and the Boone and Crockett Club mission. Sponsorships, product donations, auction proceeds, trophies submitted, and overall attendance all increased. This was due, in large part, to the outstanding Club staff who orchestrated the event. Thank you all. And a special thanks to the Bass Pro Shops Team. Once again, the awards program was based at Johnny Morris’s Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield, Missouri. This amazing venue brings families and friends together for conservation and fun, and is a significant factor in our awards program success. The 33rd Awards Program is already on the not-too-distant horizon—mark your calendars for July 2028, invite your family and friends, and get ready for a memorable time in Springfield.

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Prior to the awards program, a Judges Panel of B&C Official Measures convened to verify the scores of the top trophies that would be included in the event. During this panel, the Records Committee also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Henry Kelsey Big Game Awards which is an ancillary body of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation. One of our Committee’s goals is to establish MOUs with organizations who share our Fair Chase standards, and the Henry Kelsey Big Game Awards does just that. The Judges Panel also unanimously voted to recommend the exceptional Rocky Mountain goat harvested by Justin Kallusky for the Sagamore Hill Award. This recognition was given to Justin at the awards program and was a special moment for all present.

Other recent and notable news from the Records Committee includes:

• Receiving a sizable donation from a generous, long-time Lifetime Associate. This donation has made it possible to waive the $40 entry fee charged to trophy owners for records submissions.
• Kyle Lehr and Jennifer Schwab conducted Official Measurer workshops for the Muscogee Creek Nation in Oklahoma, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and during the Pope and Young Club’s 34th Biennial Convention. These workshops increased the ranks of our Official Measurers, also known as our “Field Generals,” across North America.
• We have received 28 javelina entries since the committee added javelina as a new category last year—the first category addition in over two decades. We began accepting entries in August 2025 and expect that the number of submissions will continue to increase.
• Dave Rippeto, Deputy Chair of Big Game Records, has agreed to serve as the Records Committee point-person on the ever-increasing focus on record eligibility, Fair Chase, and emerging technology used in hunting.
• Former Records Committee Chair, Mike Opitz, is now our Vice President of Big Game Records. We’re in good hands.
• We welcomed Warren Strickland, Nyle Maxwell, Bill Little, and Mark Carroll as new members of the Records Committee during the annual meeting in Arizona. If you are interested in joining our committee, please contact Kyle Lehr. We encourage all committee members to complete an Official Measurer workshop.
• And finally, as a teaser of what’s to come, there are major changes to Big Game Records Live that are in development. Stay tuned for an amazing resource.

In closing, the Records Committee would like to recognize and thank Richard Hale and Kyle Krause for their tireless contributions to the Records Program while they served as the Vice President of Big Game Records and Deputy Chair of Big Game Records, respectively. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the contributions of these two men.

Respectfully,

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Jon McRoberts