The Boone and Crockett Club is prepping for its 32nd Big Game Awards, which will take place in Springfield, Missouri, from July 24 to 26, 2025. In advance of the event, the Boone and Crockett Club hosted a Media Summit and Judges Panel, where 27 official measurers, along with support staff and media, spent time in Springfield recently. The Judges Panel, made of official measurers from the Boone and Crockett Club, confirmed all measurements of animal trophies from 38 big game categories in North America. Staff prepared and hung a display of these animals in the Wonders of Wildlife Museum, specifically in a room near the beautiful National Collection of Heads and Horns.
In order to be eligible for display, animals must have been hunted and tagged between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2024 (by fair chase, not a canned hunt). The trophies – in some cases full mounts, but mostly head/shoulder mounts, European mounts or just horns or antlers – have been scored by official measurers throughout North America certified by the Boone and Crockett Club. Bass Pro Shops underwrites the transportation of the trophies to its headquarters and to its Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife Museum, where they will be on display for three months – from May 3 through July 26, 2025.
This was the second time I have had the good fortune to witness the process of scoring and displaying some of the world’s most beautiful animals of record, including the world record walrus and Rocky Mountain goat. It is awe inspiring, and I know that every trophy in this exhibit represents the best males of the species, and as you can imagine, some thrilling hunting stories.
When the trophies arrive, official measurers carefully unpack and meticulously score each one two times, working in teams of two. The teams do not see the original score that placed each trophy in the top five for the most recent time period. Note: a trophy must undergo a 60-day drying period before it’s measured officially. Official measurers admit that more, extremely slight, shrinkage can occur since the original measurement, but it’s not a significant amount and rarely, if ever, affects the final score.
Not only does the Boone and Crockett Club displays these animals, it also honors youth involvement in the hunting world by specially recognizing accomplishments of hunters 16 and younger who have had the opportunities and good fortune to tag Boone and Crockett Club trophy animals.
In fact, we highlighted some of the girls who attended the 31st Big Game Awards in July 2022, here at The WON. The Boone and Crocket Club also hosts a Jack Steele Parker “Generation Next” banquet at the Big Game Awards time, for the youth hunters.
This banquet also honors the memory of Jack Steele Parker, a club chairman of the Records of North American Big Game Committee for six years. Parker later served as the president of the club. He is one of the main reasons the Generation Next Youth Banquet exists.
Of note, while onsite, we witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Boone and Crockett Club and Henry Kelsey Big Game Records – the official records keeping system and ancillary body of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation. Although Henry Kelsey employs Boone and Crockett scoring methods, it may begin the scoring with “green” (not requiring the 60-day drying period prior to measurement) trophies. In order to qualify for Boone and Crockett awards, a green trophy scored by Henry Kelsey scorers must be re-scored at least 60 days later after being properly dried at a “habitable room temperature.”
The public can see these majestic trophies on display at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium from May 3 through July 26, 2025. If interested, you may consider attending the 32nd Big Game Awards in July, see the trophies, enjoy the camaraderie of people who believe in fair chase and meet some of North America’s big game hunters.
Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
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