For the second time this week a long-standing hunting record has been broken. First reported was a new non-typical whitetail deer record, and now a new American typical elk record has been set in Montana.
Bowhunter Steven Felix took down the monster elk back in September in Montana, which gained media attention at the time, but Felix wanted to remain anonymous. There was a good chance the elk with a typical rack had set a new American record. A typical rack just means it’s symmetrical.
Now that the 60-day drying period has completed and officials have measured the antlers, it’s confirmed that it does in fact break a record at 430 inches, a record that’s held for 48 years. By comparison, the largest elk taken by rifle scored 442 inches, and the second largest typical American elk taken with an arrow measured 412 -1/8 inches and was taken in Arizona in 2005, reports the Boone and Crockett Club.
“It’s a milestone in the success of our commitment to this iconic species,” said Boone and Crockett’s Director of Big Game Records, Justin Spring. “Animals of this size do not happen by chance. It takes the combined commitment of wildlife managers and biologists, landowners, sportsmen and, above all else, it takes the best habitats we can set aside for elk in elk country.”
