Outdoors/Adventure

World-record moose shot in Yukon

MISSOULA, Mont. -- According to Boone and Crockett, the governing body for determining game animal records, a bull moose killed by a hunter in 2013 in Yukon Territory has set a new world's record for largest antlers ever recorded for the Alaska-Yukon moose subspecies.

The moose was harvested by Heinz E. Naef of Dawson City, Yukon. He was on a self-guided hunt for winter meat along the Yukon River near Stewart Island on Sept. 22, 2013.

The antlers measure 755/8 inches at the greatest spread. The left side has 17 points and a palm measuring 175/8 inches wide by 51 inches long. The right antler has 19 points and a palm measuring 236/8 inches wide by 507/8 inches long. The antler circumferences are 84/8 and 87/8 inches on the right and left sides, respectively.

Naef carried a .303 British with open sights and 180-grain Winchester ammunition. The hunter stalked to within 35 yards of the big bull before taking the shot. Naef was hunting for meat, not a trophy, and a Boone and Crockett release notes that he removed the antlers from the skull with a chainsaw, nicking them in the process, and did not keep the cape for a shoulder mount.

The world record was verified by a Boone and Crockett Club special judges panel convened at the Wild Sheep Foundation convention, Jan. 24, in Reno, Nev. The antlers were given a score of 2635/8 Boone and Crockett points. The previous record, taken in Alaska in 1994, scores 2615/8. These are the only two specimens on record to score over 260. The third-largest bull scores 2566/8.

Anchorage Daily News

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