Alaska gains the title for biggest archery mountain goat.
Pope and Young has just announced its second new world record in less than a month. This time, it's a new world record Rocky Mountain Goat that edges out the previous record by just 2/8 of an inch.
The new record animal came from Revillagigedo Island, Alaska last October and was shot by Rosey Roseland. The big goat measured 53 2/8 inches during a special panel judging session beating the old record of 53 inches even.
The hunt for this new record book Billy was nearly a decade in the making according to the lucky hunter. Thanks mostly to the difficulty of drawing a tag for a popular area.
"I had been putting in for a limited draw permit for this area (Ketchikan 005) for about ten years," Roseland said in a P&Y press release. "The area is known for its big goats and is fairly close to my home, POW Island."
Roseland wanted a mature-sized animal and scouted a suitable area with his wife before returning in October for the actual hunt with a friend from Montana. It was on October 2 that they glassed the world class big game animal and moved into position for a close shot.
"Through the rain and fog, we spotted this goat bedded down and I could see that he had very big bases. Good enough, I decided," Roseland said. "I was concentrating so hard on my stalk and my 20-yard shot, that I hardly looked at his horns."
The lucky hunter also said he and his buddy knew the Billy was large, but they didn't realize it was a potential world's record animal. However, Eli Randall, Pope & Young's Records Director saw the animal's potential immediately.
"Upon viewing this Rocky Mountain Goat, it was evident that this was a special animal," Randall said in the press release. "World record size animals are a testament to the success of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and is a credit to science-based conservation programs across North America. Congratulations to Rosey Roseland on harvesting this outstanding Rocky Mountain goat."
While the horn size of this new Billy is huge, when you count all weapons, it falls a few inches short of being the largest ever taken. Boone & Crockett club's scoring system records a Billy measuring 57 4/8-inches as their world record. The monster was taken by Troy M. Sheldon in the Stikine River area of British Columbia in 2011. However, it's arguable taking a mountain goat with archery equipment is a much greater challenge as these animals often live at high terrain and are quite elusive.
The announcement of this new world record comes hot on the heels of another world record announcement by Pope and Young. Earlier this year they also announced a new black bear record from New Jersey.
Both that bear and this Billy are slated to go on public exhibition at Pope & Young's annual convention in Virginia. The animals are slated to be part of a display of trophy-class specimens called the "Bass Pro/Cabela's Trophy Tower." The bowhunting organization says it will be one of the largest displays of fair chase archery world records ever put together. From P&Y's social media channels we already know the display will include at least include one record bighorn sheep, a coues whitetail deer and a grizzly bear. That convention is being held in Chantilly, Virginia March 26-28.
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NEXT: POPE AND YOUNG ANNOUNCES NEW WORLD RECORD BLACK BEAR FROM NEW JERSEY
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