These are the stories and pictures of the largest moose currently in the Boone and Crockett Club records, including the world’s record moose.
The Alaska-Yukon moose is the biggest species of deer in the world. The Guinness Book of World Records claims that the biggest moose was found in the late 1800s in Yukon Territory and weighed more than 1,800 pounds. It’s likely that there have been larger moose, but we’ll never know. What we do know is that there are some massive bulls found in the records kept by the Boone and Crockett Club, America’s oldest conservation organization. These are the stories and photos behind the top five biggest free-range moose ever to make it in the record book. All photos courtesy of the Boone and Crockett Club.
#1 World Record Moose from Lower Yukon River, Alaska
Score: 266-4/8
Year: 2010
Hunter: Rex Nick
A subsistence hunter, Rex Nick was looking to put away some winter meat when he was hunting the Lower Yukon River in September. Moose populations here were robust, and Nick did not hesitate to shoot this world record at 65 yards with his .300 Win Mag.
He thought the rack looked rather large, so he had it measured by a panel of Boone and Crockett Club judges, who declared it the new world record. But Nick needed meat and money more than a set of giant antlers so he sold them, but not before he cut them in half. You see, according to the regulations regarding subsistence hunts, hunters can only sell the antlers when they are not attached to the skull. Rest assured, the new owner glued them back together.
#2 Yukon River, Yukon Territory
Score: 263-5/8
Year: 2013
Hunter: Heinz Naef
It was a family float down the Yukon in the fall of 2013 when this family of hunters began talking about a knocking sound somewhere on the river. That knocking meant there was a bull moose out there, and it was looking for love.
Heinz and his son went upriver, and Heinz began to call into a slough. After an hour or so, a bull appeared. It’s a good thing that Naef was using an WW II British Engfield .303 with iron sights becuase the country was so thick that a scope would have done him no favors. He waited until the bull was just 35 yards away until he shot. Then the family all pitched in to haul it 300 yards to the boat on the Yukon.
#3 Fortymile River, Alaska
Score: 261-5/8
Year: 1994
Hunter: John Crouse
When John Crouse and two friends flew into east-central Alaska, Crouse decided to shoot just about any moose he saw. They were on a six-day hunt at the end of August and camped on a ridge when Crouse saw a glint of antler. It was typical Alaska rain and fog, but there was enough visibility to spot this moose in his bed. Crouse waited for it to stand. When it did, the moose took two solid, well-placed shots from Crouse’s .270 (that’s right, he killed a world’s record moose with his .270). It took the three men an hour to get it in a position just to butcher. It then took them two full days to pack it back to camp. When the pilot came to pick it up, the rack wouldn’t fit anywhere in or outside the plane. And get this: Crouse suggested they split the skull to fit the antlers inside. The pilot wouldn’t hear of it and sent for a bigger plane.
#4 Beluga River, Alaska
Score: 256-6/8
Year: 1997
Hunter: William Nelson
William Nelson, his son Brian, and longtime hunting partner Dean were out to fill the freezer with some moose meat in the Beluga River drainage 30 miles west of Anchorage. It was the middle of November, 25 degrees and snowing hard when they left camp on snowshoes. William had shot his first moose in the area as a boy 40 years prior and knew the country. The party stopped to glass the drainage when movement caught their collective eyes. It was a moose, a big moose, whose palms were filled with snow. The bull was 250 yards away, but every time William put the scope on him, the massive antlers covered the bull’s vitals. When the old bull put his head down, William emptied his scope of snow and took the shot. The moose moved ever so slightly and disappeared from view. Dean snowshoed down and found the bull curled up dead with a shot through the lungs.
#5 McGrath, Alaska
Score: 255
Year: 1978
Hunter: Kenneth Best
No one, it seems, is ever looking for a world record moose; they just find them and shoot them. At least that’s the case for the top three Alaskan/Yukon moose. When Kenneth Best and hunting partner Art Beatie left camp near McGrath, Alaska, they did so in a 12 ft raft with a 12 ft ceiling hanging over the willows. After a couple hours of floating and some unsuccessful forays onto shore to call for moose, they rounded a bend a saw this monster moose on a sandbar. They floated to within 75 yards and the moose vanished. Both men hit the ground and spilt up. Best found the moose browsing not 40 ft away from him, just opposite a patch of willows. He filled his scope with brown fur and shot the bull in the shoulder. He followed-up with a shot in the neck and spent the rest of the day wrestling that massive rack through the willows to the boat.
