In the current issue of the Pope & Young newsletter, eight typical Rocky Mountain (Pope & Young calls them "Yellowstone") elk qualified for the partial listing of records for the club's twenty-fourth recording period. The Pope & Young Club is recognized as the original national organization for bowhunters and maintains the record book for bowhunting.
A Washington County bull scored 361 5/8, second on the current list to a Nevada elk. Nevada accounted for only two elk, but they were in the top three of the scoring range.
Hunters in Montana added 10 bulls to the list, compared to Idaho's eight, but the number of Idaho bulls was double Colorado's contribution. From surrounding states, Wyoming accounted for three, as did Oregon, while two came from Washington.
Bowhunters in Idaho typically show a high rate of elk hunting success — up to 20 percent in some areas in 2002. (Complete harvest statistics are available in the hunting section of the Idaho Fish and Game website at www2.state.id.us/fishgame.)
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