Boone and Crockett’s 32nd Big Game Awards Preview 

Hook & Barrel Magazine recently got a sneak peek of the Boone and Crockett Club's 32nd Big Game Awards bonanza. Enjoy the following info and snapshots, but be sure to fully immerse yourself by planning a road trip to Springfield, Missouri, with family and friends. Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium will host Boone and Crockett’s 32nd Big Game Awards with a world-class display of North American trophies, dinners, receptions, luncheons, and, of course, awards.

The Museum and National Collection of Heads and Horns alone are worth a visit. So why not make the trip a home run and attend Boone and Crockett’s 32nd Big Game Awards as well?  For more, visit boone-crockett.org.

The Boone and Crockett Club has a tradition of giving out awards to the top 5 male species reported to them every three years. This is not just a club for the well-to-do, famous hunters, or industry professionals. They are for everyone to be included and be a part of the record-keeping of multiple centuries. In a way, each person who submits an entry can be called a keeper of history.  

Between January 2022 and January 2025, hunters could have volunteers measure the antlers and horns of the big game animals that were harvested and record them in the Boone and Crockett Record Books. This tradition dates back to 1895, when there was a fear of extinction among our big game species.  

This record-keeping was to note how close we were to losing all of these beautiful animals, but it ended up showing how conservation efforts did the complete opposite. Instead, it keeps a record of how years of drought or disease might affect growth, nutrition can help by maintaining habitat, and even tag limits can prevent pressure and allow for the numbers in herds to be what they are today.  

The top 5 of each category from adults and every species entered by a youth are invited to send in their entry to Springfield, Missouri, where a panel of judges will confirm the measurements and then present to the public the whole collection at the Johnny Morris' Wonders of Wildlife Museum from May 3- July 26th. This was the only time in all of history that this collection from the records of these past three years would ever be on display. They are returned to their owners after the event. The Big Game Awards event is held on location as well. The events are open to the public during the dates of July 24-26, 2025. Thank you, Johnny Morris, the founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, for hosting this event! Additional sponsors include Wild Sheep Foundation, Buck Knives, Fiocchi, Mule Deer Foundation, RMEF, and more.

The Big Game Species eligible for the records program are male animals within 38 categories taken within Fair Chase Guidelines. Fair Chase, as defined by the Boone and Crockett Club, is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper or unfair advantage over the game animals. This includes legal means of take within the state or province of the hunt. 

In the past three years, there have been three new world record-setting measurements, and they will also be on display at the museum. The Boone and Crockett Club takes pride alongside the owners of these entries in telling their stories on their website. 

Elk: In 2025, Casey Brooks set a new World Record Rocky Mountain Elk with a Boone & Crockett score that surpassed existing records for typical and non-typical elk. The hunt took place on December 31, 2024, and initial measurements suggest a gross score of 490 4/8 inches and a net score of 480 4/8 inches. The Boone & Crockett Club will officially recognize and celebrate this new record at the Big Game Awards.  

Goat: A Special Judges Panel convened by the Boone and Crockett Club confirmed a new World’s Record Rocky Mountain goat. The Club announced the new record at the Wild Sheep Foundation’s 2023 Sheep Show in Reno, Nevada. Justin Kallusky’s British Columbia billy goat officially scores 60-4/8 points, eclipsing the previous World Record by three points. Each horn measures well over 12 inches. PHOTO 

Musk Ox: Aron F. Wark and his guide, Sam Kapolak, covered dozens of miles each day over rough terrain near Contwoyto Lake in the Canadian Territory of Nunavut for a shot at the biggest musk ox in the records. On August 1, 2023, Wark took that shot and killed a musk ox that beat the previous World Record by one point. Wark’s bull scored 131 4/8 points, nudging out Alex Therrien’s entry from 2020.  

There are also some honorable mentions that will be on display at the museum for all to see. 

Preston Burger, a 14-year-old from Missouri, entered a beautiful whitetail that has two back kickers that show so much character in this old deer. You can read the story here from Realtree. 

Dustin Huff has a likely new #2 All Time Typical whitetail from Indiana. 

Austin Prieskorn’s new Virginia State Record Rocky Mountain Elk 

James Balise Jr.’s new Pennsylvania State Record Rocky Mountain Elk 

Boone and Crockett took this time, during the judging panel, to add to their MOU of the Standard of Measuring a signature from the Henry Kelsey Club in Canada. Pope and Young had already entered into that partnership and had joined in with Boone and Crockett to write a book of standardized measuring practices for any volunteers measuring for these three clubs in North America. 

The 32nd Boone and Crockett Big Game Awards this July will be a great opportunity to see a beautiful collection of record-setting species, but also the ability to walk through the Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium is a day of wonder! Enjoy the history of wildlife on our North American continent, as well as other places in the world. May 3- July 26, 2025, will be an interactive family vacation spot for you to visit.