BARRHEAD - Sport hunting is in good hands.
At least, it is if the hunters have the character and skills of the young people that Barrhead Fish and Game Association gave distinction awards during the Alberta Trappers Association (ATA) at its annual Rendezvous & Outdoorsmen Show, which was held on July 13 at the Bablitz Exhibition Hall.
Angela Moon received awards for scoring a bear and a white tail dear, while Ryley Stephani and Alec Kapler received their awards for their prowess with a bow, bagging trophy specimens; Kapler scored a 150 1/8 point mule deer, while Stephani bagged a 154 5/8 point whitetail deer.
"Both scores are very respectable," Barrhead Fish and Game Association president Joe Prociuk said, adding that the Boone and Crockett scores refer to the size, length, mass, symmetry and quality of the animal's antlers.
"It's quite a process," he said. "They measure each horn, each high, all the different points and come up with a number. When you get to 150, that is pretty darn decent."
The Boone and Crockett system of scoring big game trophies originated in 1906 as a means of recording details on species thought to be disappearing because of rampant habitat loss, market hunting and unregulated harvest.
"These young people are true hunters," Prociuk said, adding that he knows of hunters who brag about the trophy animals but also sport "powder burns on the hoods of their trucks."
He said Kapler tracked his buck all fall for an entire month before finally bringing it down.
Prociuk said it was a similar story for Stephani, who went out every night
As for Moon, Prociuk noted she was the association's first-ever woman double-header receiving awards for whitetail deer and bear.
"She was so excited," he said. "She came in with her seven-week-old baby to pick up her plaques."
Prociuk said it is important to honour young hunters such as Kapler, Stephani, and Moon, who do everything right and are excellent ambassadors of the sport.
"They did a great job and are so dedicated; they need to be honoured and recognized," he said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
