Elk

Story of the World Record Elk Typical

Growing up in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona has given Alan C. Ellsworth the opportunity to see some great elk. However, he never would have imagined what was going to take place on February 28, 1995.

"Being a local antler buyer, I was leaving my home to pick up some antlers. As I was waiting at the intersection to pull onto Main Street, a blue Dodge pickup loaded with a washer and dryer, along with a great elk rack, drove by. As I pulled onto Main, behind the truck, I was in awe of the faded elk rack. It was turned upside down, straddling the dryer. My first thought was, ‘There’s a 400 point bull!’ I followed the truck for about a mile, guessing the 6x6 would score about 420 points. The truck turned into a local restaurant and I had to see the bull up close, so I turned in as well."

"To make the story short, I was able to purchase the elk. I took the rack back home, quickly put a tape to it, and came up with a score of 438. Telling my wife, Debby, that we may have a new state record, I hurried out the door to get back to my antler business. While I was gone I kept thinking, ‘I must have made a mistake on my score.’ I didn’t think it was that big. When I returned home that night, I remeasured the huge rack. This time a lot slower! After double checking everything I came up with a score of 445- 4/8. Now I was really excited, but also in disbelief! Could I possibly have a new World’s Record?"

A week later an official Boone and Crockett measurer, Robin Bechtel, scored the elk at 447- 7/8 points. Ellsworth’s trophy went on to break the Arizona state record that April with another score of 446- 2/8. However, in order to take the World’s Record at Boone and Crockett’s 23^rd Awards program, Ellsworth would need to provide some additional history on the great 6x6.

Backtracking, Ellsworth traced the story to the previous owner’s brother, Alonzo (Lon) Winters of Globe, Arizona. Winters, since deceased, was a second-generation cattle rancher who grew up enjoying the outdoors of Arizona. Riding through the White Mountains during the fall of 1968, Winters and close friend, Bill Vogt, spotted the magnificent animal near the Black River. Winters took the elk down using his Savage Model 99 .308, and avoiding incident, the hunters headed out of the canyon with their prize packed on their horses. Later though, Ellsworth noted one minor dilemma Winters had to overcome.

"Tagging his elk presented a problem. In 1968, the Arizona Game and Fish game tags were a metal band. Lon was unable to fit this tag on the large elk, so he notched the bull’s antler between the G-4 and G-5 points, so he could properly tag his elk. His children can remember eating elk burger that winter, and the rack was stored for years in the garage. Friends and relatives remember how proud Lon was when he showed them his trophy."

Nearly 30 years later, Ellsworth must have felt similar pride as he concluded the fine elk hunting story with a triumphant ending, a new World’s Record scoring 442- 5/8 points.