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World-class elk in Texas?
Trophy bull sparks classification debate on state's elk population
By Mark England,Lone Star Outdoor News
Ronnie Urbanczyk of Spring Branch, Texas, shot a mammoth elk with a bow near Alpine (TX) in October — a potential world-class trophy topping an estimated 454 Boone and Crockett points — but don't look for it in the record books.
The Boone and Crockett Club doesn't record elk taken from Texas, given their status as a non-game animal and lack of a hunting season.
But even without the official recognition, the animal was impressive enough to spur Internet chat and guarantee the elk received celebrity status via photos e-mailed nationwide.
Urbanczyk was at the sprawling CF Ranch, which covers more than 150 square miles of terrain ranging from rolling grassland to rocky hillsides, to hunt antelope when he saw some impressive elk. The ranch advertises its elk hunts starting at $7,000.
"These guys at the ranch had a ton of good-looking elk," said Urbanczyk, who owns Urban Concrete in San Antonio. "We worked out a deal. Two days later, I caught one going to a water trough on top of the mountain. He was 26 yards away. I shot him with a bow. I had to chase him and shoot him three more times. He was a big animal. When we got through quartering him and backpacked him out, it was about one in the morning. It was a challenge. He was a tremendous bull."
The decision by Boone and Crockett officials surprised him, Urbanczyk said.
"I kinda thought they would accept it," he said. "They should. We have a bunch of free-ranging elk in Texas. We just don't have a season on them."
A Boone and Crockett records official said allowing the recording of elk from Texas isn't in keeping with the organization's philosophy. He added that an elk born inside a high-fence area and released would not qualify for a Boone and Crockett record anyway, according to the official.
The largest typical elk recorded by the organization was taken in 1968 in Arizona's White Moun-tains at a score of 442 5/8 points.
Boone and Crockett's rejection of what would have been the biggest elk on record disturbs some Texans.
"What hurts is that so many are behind a high fence in Texas," said Walt Isenhour, the Texas state chairman for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. "Boone and Crockett must think that they're all behind a high fence." Isenhour, on a hunting trip of his own, actually ran into Urbanczyk while he was hauling the giant elk home.
"I've been around the elk foundation the last 16 years," Isenhour said. "I go to Missoula (Mont.) quite often. I don't know of a typical Rocky Mountain elk that outscores it. These elk aren't hunted with intensity they are in the mountain states. Not many know these free-ranging elk even exist in Texas."
But the hunt exposed an uncertainty related to the evolving management of game. How do you classify an animal born behind a high fence and then released onto a range?
David King, who publishes Hunting Illustrated and tracks trophy animals, said he had doubts the giant elk was a true free-range elk because of its size.
"You just don't see many free-ranging elk of that stature," King said.
King said he talked to guide Chris Chopelas, who led Urbanczyk's hunt. Chopelas told him that a hole was found in the elk's ear where a tag would go. He also said CF Ranch had released some ranch bulls some seven years before, King said.
Chopelas did not return phone calls seeking comment by deadline.
Classifying such a kill is difficult, King said. Groups such as Boone and Crockett only record trophy animals they deem shot under fair-chase conditions.
"It's a unique situation: releasing a high-fence bull on a free range and seven years later it's shot," King said. "What do you do?"
For his part, King questions recording such kills. "What it comes down to is it's not even a generation removed from the farm," King said. Urbanczyk, though, sees the kill as legitimate.
"A lot of people are raising whitetails and turning them loose, introducing new genetics into the species," he said. "It's hard for me to see that it's OK on one side and not OK on the other side. The introduction of new genetics is everywhere. I don't think that's a good argument."
For more information contact Darlene Sanchez at Lone Star Outdoor News at 214-361-2276.
Trophy bull sparks classification debate on state's elk population
By Mark England,Lone Star Outdoor News
Ronnie Urbanczyk of Spring Branch, Texas, shot a mammoth elk with a bow near Alpine (TX) in October — a potential world-class trophy topping an estimated 454 Boone and Crockett points — but don't look for it in the record books.
The Boone and Crockett Club doesn't record elk taken from Texas, given their status as a non-game animal and lack of a hunting season.
But even without the official recognition, the animal was impressive enough to spur Internet chat and guarantee the elk received celebrity status via photos e-mailed nationwide.
Urbanczyk was at the sprawling CF Ranch, which covers more than 150 square miles of terrain ranging from rolling grassland to rocky hillsides, to hunt antelope when he saw some impressive elk. The ranch advertises its elk hunts starting at $7,000.
"These guys at the ranch had a ton of good-looking elk," said Urbanczyk, who owns Urban Concrete in San Antonio. "We worked out a deal. Two days later, I caught one going to a water trough on top of the mountain. He was 26 yards away. I shot him with a bow. I had to chase him and shoot him three more times. He was a big animal. When we got through quartering him and backpacked him out, it was about one in the morning. It was a challenge. He was a tremendous bull."
The decision by Boone and Crockett officials surprised him, Urbanczyk said.
"I kinda thought they would accept it," he said. "They should. We have a bunch of free-ranging elk in Texas. We just don't have a season on them."
A Boone and Crockett records official said allowing the recording of elk from Texas isn't in keeping with the organization's philosophy. He added that an elk born inside a high-fence area and released would not qualify for a Boone and Crockett record anyway, according to the official.
The largest typical elk recorded by the organization was taken in 1968 in Arizona's White Moun-tains at a score of 442 5/8 points.
Boone and Crockett's rejection of what would have been the biggest elk on record disturbs some Texans.
"What hurts is that so many are behind a high fence in Texas," said Walt Isenhour, the Texas state chairman for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. "Boone and Crockett must think that they're all behind a high fence." Isenhour, on a hunting trip of his own, actually ran into Urbanczyk while he was hauling the giant elk home.
"I've been around the elk foundation the last 16 years," Isenhour said. "I go to Missoula (Mont.) quite often. I don't know of a typical Rocky Mountain elk that outscores it. These elk aren't hunted with intensity they are in the mountain states. Not many know these free-ranging elk even exist in Texas."
But the hunt exposed an uncertainty related to the evolving management of game. How do you classify an animal born behind a high fence and then released onto a range?
David King, who publishes Hunting Illustrated and tracks trophy animals, said he had doubts the giant elk was a true free-range elk because of its size.
"You just don't see many free-ranging elk of that stature," King said.
King said he talked to guide Chris Chopelas, who led Urbanczyk's hunt. Chopelas told him that a hole was found in the elk's ear where a tag would go. He also said CF Ranch had released some ranch bulls some seven years before, King said.
Chopelas did not return phone calls seeking comment by deadline.
Classifying such a kill is difficult, King said. Groups such as Boone and Crockett only record trophy animals they deem shot under fair-chase conditions.
"It's a unique situation: releasing a high-fence bull on a free range and seven years later it's shot," King said. "What do you do?"
For his part, King questions recording such kills. "What it comes down to is it's not even a generation removed from the farm," King said. Urbanczyk, though, sees the kill as legitimate.
"A lot of people are raising whitetails and turning them loose, introducing new genetics into the species," he said. "It's hard for me to see that it's OK on one side and not OK on the other side. The introduction of new genetics is everywhere. I don't think that's a good argument."
For more information contact Darlene Sanchez at Lone Star Outdoor News at 214-361-2276.
