The score isn't official yet, but it appears that a nontypical 10 x 9 elk just taken in Arizona will smash the current world record by a huge margin. The giant elk, killed September 22 by Mark Shipsey in the Dry Lake area of the San Carlos Indian Reservation, measures 490 1/8 points SCI. That's according to Master Measurer Hagan Thompson in Las Vegas, who put a tape on the rack October 1. Hagan was not in when I called to ask him to describe the overall appearance of the trophy, but an assistant, Tony Snow, volunteered the word - "B-i-i-i-g!" Describing the rack as "magnificent... and pretty symmetrical," he said the main beam was so large he couldn't get his hand around it anywhere. The rack, of course, cannot be officially scored by Boone & Crockett yet, but it was green-scored at San Carlos by Tribal Biologist Cecil Brown at 475 2/8. If that score holds up, it means the huge rack is not just larger than the current No. 1 nontypical in the B & C book (447 1/8) but much larger even than the new No. 1 nontypical headed toward the record book at the next awards banquet. The latter animal is a pickup from British Columbia that scores 456 3/8.
Here at The Hunting Report we have been predicting that a large elk would be taken at San Carlos, but certainly we never expected an animal this big. The behemoth has eight long measurable tines on each side, main beams that measure 56 and 61 inches respectively and an outside spread of 60 inches. The main beams have a circumference of 10 4/8 inches and 11 inches. The lucky hunter, Mark Shipsey, says his hunt was paid for by Hunting Report subscriber Shirley Hayward, who grew interested in the San Carlos hunt after she read our reports about the elk potential there. Since Hayward paid for the hunt, she is owner of the trophy, Shipsey said at press time.
Interestingly, San Carlos Reservation has never been as highly regarded by hunters as the adjacent........(continued)
