Pope & Young Club Scoring
Bighorn
Sheep - Len Fabich
Interest in bowhunting in Montana has seen a notable increase as the number of licensed
bowhunters has grown from approximately 2,000 in 1967, 11,000 in 1979, 27,000 in 1997 and
nearly 37,000 in 1999. Due to special seasons, special bow only areas, and healthy wildlife
populations, an increased number of Records class animals have been taken. The scoring of these
outstanding trophies is done by the Pope & Young Club's official measurers utilizing the
scoring system that was established by the Boone & Crockett Club.
The Pope & Young Club is one of North Americas's leading bowhunting and conservation
organizations. It was incorporated in 1961 and records for posterity the finest trophies of North
American big game taken with the bow and arrow. Further, it encourages responsible
bowhunting by promoting quality hunting and sound conservation practices. Named in honor of
pioneer bowhunters Dr. Saxton Pope and Arthur Young, whose exploits during the early part of
the 20th century drew national attention to the sport, the Pope and Young Club has grown to
epitomize sportsmanship and fair chase hunting. Today it fosters and nourishes bowhunting
excellence while also being dedicated to the perpetuation and sound management of wildlife and
its habitat, as well as other beneficial wildlife practices. Financial grants totaling many
thousands of dollars annually have been awarded by the club in support of habitat preservation,
field research programs, educational programs, and pro-hunting initiatives.
Data collected from the scoring of various Records class big game goes into teh Pope & Young
Club's archives as part of the organization's ever growing file on North American Big game
species. The 5th edition of Bowhunting Big Game Records Of North America (1999) is the most
recent complete compilation and contains over 41,000 entries. The Club is recognized
worldwide as the official repository for bowhunting records and its publications are available to
interested individuals, wildlife agencies, and conservation organizations through the Pope & Young Club Official Website.
Montana Trophies
Thirtyfour categories of big game are listed in the 5th edition of Bowhunting Big Game Records of North
America with 14 of those being available to bowhunters in Montana. *Velvet categories, with
the same minimum score requirements as hard horned trophies, have recently been established
for all antlered species. The velvet entries are listed separately from the hard horned trophies and
are not ranked. Minimum scores for some species taken in Montana and listed in the Montana Big Game
Records Book are less than the standardss set by the Pope & Young Club.