Entering your big game trophy into the Idaho Big Game Records List

The Boone and Crockett Club, the Pope and Young Club, and the Longhunter Society each maintain lists of 'record' sized specimens of big game animals from across all of North America. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game maintains a record list of big game animals from Idaho. Pope and Young recognizes big game taken with archery equipment. Longhunter Society entries are limited to big game taken by muzzleloader hunters. Boone and Crockett Club (B&C) records, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game list, place the recognition more upon the noteworthy wildlife specimen rather than the means by which it was obtained. B&C and Fish and Game accept entries of exceptional animals taken by any hunting method. In addition, both also accept specimens that are found dead and subsequently picked up when legal to do so. These mortalities can be from a wide range of causes such as road kills, winter kills, predation, falls, disease, trains, locked antlers - any of the many ways a big game animal may die. Some Boone and Crockett entries have been recognized only after hanging in barns or homes for decades. For example, the Ôhole in the horn' buck is the second largest non-typical whitetail deer ever recorded. It was found dead by railroad workers along train tracks in Portage County, Ohio in 1940. It was on the wall in a local business for 43 years before anyone decided to have it measured in 1983. Big game record keeping organizations hold training classes to certify volunteer individuals to measure specimens. These measurers use criteria developed by the organizations to calculate an official score. Measurers are not paid and cannot charge for measuring. Each organization has a minimum score for the species of big game animals they accept. Minimum scores for entry differ to take into account the greater challenge of taking an animal using primitive hunting equipment. Archery record books (1 by Pope and Young) and muzzleloader record books (1 by the Longhunter Society) have lower minimum scores for entry than rifle or picked up entries found in the Boone and Crockett record book and Fish and Game's big game records list. The clubs publish record books every few years listing the entries meeting or exceeding their minimum requirement. Specimens must air dry for 60 days at room temperature before they can be officially measured. There is some shrinkage that occurs as antlers, horns, and skulls dry out, so the 60 day requirement ensures all are measured on equal terms. Idaho Fish and Game's list of big game animals taken in Idaho is available online at fishandgame.idaho.gov. The list is updated every year in the month of May. Minimum scores for the Idaho Records List are posted online, by species. The minimums follow the Boone and Crockett model, as the minimums do not differ for rifle, muzzleloader, archery and picked-up antlers or horns. To enter a trophy into the Idaho Records List, it must first be measured by an official measurer. Lists of measurers are found online, or they can be obtained by contacting any Fish and Game office. There are also numerous shows where official measurers are available. On February 13th and 14th there will be official measurers at the Post Falls Cabela's store. Other options include the Bonner County Horn Show in Sandpoint the first weekend of March, and the BigHorn Show in Spokane in mid-March. Once you have a signed official score sheet that meets the minimum for the Idaho list, complete an Idaho Big Game Records Entry Form found on Fish and Game's website. Submit these to the address on the form. The annual deadline for submissions is April 1 to be included in the annual update that is done in May.