Conservation

Where Hunting Happens, Conservation Happens™

A Tribute to Hunting on Public Land

By PJ DelHomme 
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Consider the following slideshow a subtle reminder of just one of the many benefits of our public lands. From world records to weeks spent off the grid, these places provide solace for hunters and non-hunters alike. The following is just a handful of memories made possible by our public lands.
 

All data compiled using B&C's Big Game Records LIVE! Click here to learn more about searching our online trophy database.

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TYPICAL AMERICAN ELK  

B&C SCORE: 430
LOCATION: Powder River County, Montana 
YEAR TAKEN: 2016
HUNTER: Stephan F. Felix

Montana is roughly 29% public land. And Steve Felix loves it, especially when you can kill the state record typical elk and archery world record on land accessible to all of us. In a story from Outdoor Life, he recounts how public land has shaped his adventures. 

“Over the years, I harvested several nice bulls with my bow and rifle. All but a couple of the bulls were killed on public land. That’s worth emphasizing. Public-land access is critical to my hunting partners and myself, along with most Montana elk hunters. My story would simply never have taken place without the opportunity to hunt public lands.”    

 

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DESERT SHEEP 

B&C SCORE: 170-1/8 
LOCATION: Kane County, Utah 
YEAR TAKEN: 2023 
HUNTER: Samuel D. Hays 

With a ram that lived 9.5 years, Samuel Hays was hunting on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management when he killed what ranks as the 13th biggest desert ram in Utah. Kane County is also home to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and borders Zion National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. 

 

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GRIZZLY BEAR  

B&C SCORE: 27-9/16
LOCATION: Norton Sound, Alaska 
YEAR TAKEN: 2024
HUNTER: Brian A. Van Lanen

This is the largest grizzly bear taken by a hunter in the records. Brian Van Lanen was hunting in northwest Alaska when he and his guide encountered this old bruin. Roughly 69% of the unit they were hunting is comprised of public land. In Alaska, public land accounts to a land mass three times the size of California. 

  

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TYPICAL MULE DEER  

B&C SCORE: 226-4/8
LOCATION: Dolores County, Colorado   
YEAR TAKEN: 1972
HUNTER: Doug Burris, Jr. 

Doug Burris and his buddies were driving their Jeep on mountain roads in the San Juan National Forest of southwest Colorado when someone got wind of a big buck up Proven Canyon. On the third day, Burris set out to find it, and with one shot from his .264 Winchester Magnum, he dropped this world's record buck. 

As for the San Juan National Forest, it spans five counties and features numerous peaks above 14,000 feet, also known as 14ers. It's also home to the Weminuche, Lizard Head, and South San Juan Wilderness Areas. Every fall, hunters from around the country head into Colorado's 24 million acres of federal public land in search of elk, mulies, pronghorn, bighorns, and above all else, adventure. 

 

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Boone and Crockett Club's Statement Regarding the Sale of Public Land 

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT 

B&C SCORE: 49-2/8 
LOCATION: Elko County, Nevada
YEAR TAKEN: 2023
HUNTER: David V.E. Raynor  

Goats? In Nevada? Yep, and plenty of public land on which to hunt them. Elko County in the northeast corner has nearly 11 million acres of public land, including the Bruneau River Wildlife Management Area and the Jarbidge Wilderness Area. 

David Raynor took this record-book goat on land managed by the BLM. Since 1978, hunters have entered Rocky Mountain goats from Elko County, accounting for 47 entries. 

 

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT 

B&C SCORE: 47-4/8 
LOCATION: Cleveland Peninsula, Alaska  
YEAR TAKEN: 2024
HUNTER: Judd D. Manuel   

When Judd and his buddies went looking for adventure (and a goat), they found both in Southeast Alaska. 

“I had a great hunt as soon as we left the dock, thanks to the crew that was with me,” Judd says. “Just getting out on public land has been instrumental to my happiness.” 

Happiness indeed.  A large portion of the Cleveland Peninsula is within the Tongass National Forest, the nation's largest national forest at nearly 17 million acres. Additionally, it's the world's largest remaining intact coastal temperate rainforest. The peninsula has a mix of federal, state, and private (including Native-owned) lands.

Judd's goat is the Alaska state record and the second largest in the B&C records. 

 

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BIGHORN SHEEP

B&C SCORE: 200
LOCATION: Hinsdale County, Colorado 
YEAR TAKEN: 2022
HUNTER: Kevin J. Neil   

On the San Juan National Forest, the same national forest where Doug Burris killed the world record mule deer, Kevin Neil killed Colorado's second-largest bighorn. In his story, Neil says that he cashed in his 12 points and decided to put in for an entirely different area for a ram. 

He spent weeks hiking and glassing public land to finally put eyes on the ram of a lifetime.  

 

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NON-TYPICAL MULE DEER 

B&C SCORE: 252-4/8
LOCATION: Wallowa, Oregon 
YEAR TAKEN: 2021
HUNTER: Mike A. Carpinito   

In 2021, Mike Carpinito won the Oregon statewide mule deer tag, and he chose to hunt public land above the Snake River in Hells Canyon, North America's deepest river gorge. Forming the border between Oregon and Idaho, Hells Canyon plunges more than 8,000 feet. For perspective, the Grand Canyon's deepest point is about 6,000 feet. 

The area is home to the 652,000-acre Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, which is managed primarily by the U.S. Forest Service. It's an iconic area for upland hunting (think chukars) and, as you can see, the mule deer aren't half bad either. 

 

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DALL'S SHEEP  

B&C SCORE: 172-3/8  
LOCATION: Spike Mountain, Alaska   
YEAR TAKEN: 2022
HUNTER: Jerry D. Lees 

 

Did you hear the story about the hunter who killed a record-book Dall's sheep on private land? Yeah, we didn't hear it, either, because it doesn't happen. In the U.S., Dall's sheep are primarily found in the subarctic and Arctic mountain ranges of Alaska, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). At 19.6 million acres, ANWR is the nation's largest national wildlife refuge in the system created by Boone and Crockett members more than a century ago. Hunters like you, me, and Jerry Lees can strap on a backpack and some boots in search of record-book rams like this great Dall's from Spike Mountain. 

 

 

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BISON 

B&C SCORE: 127-4/8
LOCATION: Grand County, Utah   
YEAR TAKEN: 2022
HUNTER: Bryon M. Griffiths

Grand County, Utah, is home to Arches National Park and the renowned Book Cliffs, featuring numerous designated roadless and recreational areas. It’s also home to one of the few truly wild bison herds in the country. Bryon Griffiths used horses and boots to access BLM land in the “Book Cliffs/Little Creek South” area where this bull hung his horns. With his 7mm at 220 yards, Griffiths entered the record books on a picture-perfect Utah day in October. 

 

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NON-TYPICAL AMERICAN ELK

B&C SCORE: 478-5/8 
LOCATION: Piute County, Utah  
YEAR TAKEN: 2008
HUNTER: Denny Austad

This world record stirred up plenty of opinions in 2008 when Denny Austad killed it on the Fishlake National Forest in Utah. The bull spent time on public and private land before eventually wandering onto public ground where Austad and his guides were waiting. 

This massive bull was killed in the Monroe Mountain Unit, which is 75% public land, and it's a prized, but tough-to-draw tag. After word spread of this elk coming out of that unit, the odds of drawing the tag certainly didn't improve.

 

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SHIRAS' MOOSE 

B&C SCORE: 205-4/8 
LOCATION: Green River Lake, Wyoming   
YEAR TAKEN: 1952
HUNTER: John M. Oakley

For more than 75 years, this Shiras' moose  has remained a world record. John Oakley was hunting the Green River Lakes area of the Wind River Range when he spied a massive set of antlers in the willows. Four shots from a .270 finally took down this new record. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service on the 3.4 million-acre Bridger-Teton National Forest, the Green River Lakes area is considered the headwaters of the Green River, the chief tributary of the Colorado River. The area is a gateway to backpackers looking to hike billion-year-old granite monoliths and hunters hoping to fill the freezer with moose and elk. 

 

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The Importance of Records in Big Game Management

When you enter your trophy into the Boone and Crockett system, you aren’t just honoring the animal and its habitat. You are participating in a data collection system that started in the 1920s and was refined by Club members in 1950. Today, there are nearly 60,000 trophy records. By establishing a records database more than 70 years ago, the Boone and Crockett Club established a scientific baseline from which researchers can use to study wildlife management. If you’re still  on the fence about entering your trophy, we encourage you to read Why Should I Bother to Enter My Trophy. To the best of our ability, we ensure that the trophies entered into the records were taken in accordance with the tenets of fair chase ethics. Despite what some may think, the Boone and Crockett records are not about a name or a score in a book—because in the end, there’s so much more to the score.

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"The wildlife and its habitat cannot speak. So we must and we will."

-Theodore Roosevelt