New world’s record musk ox entered into Boone and Crockett Club big game records

BILLINGS – A musk ox bull shot in 2023 in Canada’s Nunavut Territory has been certified a world record by judges for the Missoula-based Boone and Crockett Club.

California hunter Aron F. Wark killed the musk ox on Aug. 1 near Contwoyto Lake.

The bull was scored by two teams of judges to confirm its 131 4/8 points. The massive set of horns weighed 46 pounds.

Wark’s musk ox beat the record of 130 4/8 points set by Alex Therrien in 2020.

“I had the best time of my life, even without shooting a musk ox,” Wark said in a club news release.

The 57-year-old was quick to credit his guide, Sam Kapolak.

“A lot of people think this is an easy hunt, but it’s not,” Wark said. “We covered 20 miles in a day, and it’s not flat. … I want to get these hard hunts out of the way before I get old.”

Before Wark’s entry could be made official, Boone and Crockett Club procedures require that the final score of a potential World’s Record be verified by either an Awards Program Judges Panel or a Special Judges Panel. In this case, the club held a Special Judges Panels at club headquarters in Missoula.

The measurers included the panel chairman and the club’s director of big game records, Kyle Lehr, as well as Fred King, Rebecca Spring, and Jennifer Schwab, assistant director of big game records.

The Boone and Crockett Club has been measuring North American big game since 1895.

As a way to measure conservation efforts the club began keeping records in the 1920s and released the first record book in 1932.

“Keeping a record of the largest representations of North American big game isn’t a competition between hunters, it’s a tool for hunters and resource managers to help them understand how wildlife management is or isn’t working in a given area,” Lehr said.

“Every animal is a trophy,” said Tony A. Schoonen, chief executive officer of the Boone and Crockett Club.

“Sometimes, truly magnificent animals are taken that represent North America’s conservation success story. That’s really what we’re celebrating.”