Prepare to have your mind blown when you see the size of the biggest pronghorn kills of all time.
While they inhabit parts of almost every state west of the Mississippi River, some states have better pronghorn hunting than others. For instance, Wyoming has a legendary reputation for having some of the best pronghorn hunting in the country. That being said, even though the Cowboy State has a large antelope population and has more Boone & Crockett entries for pronghorn than any other state, the very biggest pronghorns in the record books were hunted in Arizona and New Mexico.
With slight differences, the three major conservation organizations measure pronghorn trophies the same way: measure the length of each horn, measure the circumference of the horn at the base and each quarter, measure the length of the prong and then add all the measurements together for the total score.
The biggest difference between how the Boone & Crockett Club, the Pope & Young Club and Safari Club International measure pronghorn is where each organization measures the circumference of the horn at each quarter and exactly how the prong is measured.
Even though each organization measures pronghorn trophies in a different manner, one thing is for certain: the biggest pronghorns in all of the record books are still very impressive.
The Pope & Young Record Book
Hunter: Marvin Zieser
When: 1995
Where: Yavapai County, Arizona
Method: Bow
Score: 91 4/8"
Marvin had done a lot of scouting before pronghorn season opened and identified a couple of very large bucks in the area he planned on hunting. He ended up shooting this massive buck on the second day of hunting season from a blind overlooking a waterhole.
In a strange twist of fate, the buck he harvested was originally his second choice of the two promising antelopes he identified before the season, but it turned out to be much larger than he originally thought. The pronghorn's horns were so thick that it threw off his "on the hoof" estimates and helped propel that buck to its spot among the biggest pronghorns ever taken by a hunter.
The Boone & Crockett Record Book
Hunter: Mike Gallo
When: 2013
Where: Socorro County, New Mexico
Method: Rifle
Score: 96 4/8"
You know you're looking at a gigantic pronghorn when his rack is so large that he looks like he has a scrawny body. Mike Gallo harvested what would turn out to be the biggest pronghorn in the Boone and Crockett Record Book in 2013 after purchasing the New Mexico Big Game Enhancement Package (similar to a governor's tag) earlier that year.
Interestingly enough, Mike took another monster pronghorn in 2011 (also after purchasing a big-game enhancement package) that would come within a hair of setting the SCI record for the biggest pronghorn of all time. However, due to differences in the way each organization scored pronghorn trophies, the buck from 2011 ended up with a slightly lower Boone & Crockett score than this one. Even so, that antelope was still a true giant, and Mike Gallo now has two of the 10 biggest pronghorns in the Boone & Crockett record book.
The Safari Club International Record Book
Hunter: John Grimmett
When: 1986
Where: GMU 11, New Mexico
Method: Rifle
Score: 99 7/8"
A lot has changed since 1986, but one thing still remains the same: the 99 7/8" record for the biggest pronghorn of all time taken by John Grimmett. Hunters have set multiple new records for black bear, moose and grizzly bear since then. While some (like Mike Gallo) have come close, nobody has been able to harvest a bigger pronghorn than this.
Like what you see here? You can read more great hunting articles by John McAdams on his hunting blog. Follow him on Facebook The Big Game Hunting Blog or Twitter @TheBigGameHunt.
NEXT: THESE ARE THE 4 BIGGEST MULE DEER KILLS IN THE RECORD BOOKS
