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Big game scoring: Tales of the tape

The Columbian
Published: December 12, 2014, 4:00pm

For local big game scorers, every animal they lay a tape to is a trophy, whether it makes the record books or not.

Both Sam McNeill of Lewiston and Sam Wilkins of Clarkston tell hunters who ask the men to measure the deer, elk and other big game animals that making the book is secondary to the hunt and their own memories.

“Just because it doesn’t make the record book, it doesn’t diminish their accomplishment,” said Wilkins, who has been scoring for the Boone and Crockett Club and the archery-centered Pope and Young Club for 13 years. “The score is secondary to the experience and the animal.”

McNeill has a similar outlook and said most of the people he measures for know they have little chance of making the cut.

“Most people realize what it takes to get one that is ‘All Time’ or in the ‘Awards Book’ (Boone and Crockett publications).”

“They just want to know what the score is,” he said. “I encourage people to think (their animal) is a trophy, regardless of the size.”

Both men also relish meeting hunters, hearing their stories and sharing in their excitement about hunting.

“What I enjoy most is getting to see the different racks, because every one is different, and getting to talk to the people, the hunters, and getting to hear their stories,” Wilkins said.

He became interested in scoring after taking an antelope in Oregon that scored 86 and 4/8, enough to qualify it for Boone and Crockett’s “All Time” record book, a publication that is updated every six years.

He also took a nice, full-curl bighorn ram from the Oregon side of Hells Canyon. It was just shy of qualifying for the books, but Wilkins said that doesn’t bother him.

“I was happy with it even though it missed the record book, and I’m still happy with him,” he said. “It’s just the way it is. That is what I tell everyone, ‘Don’t worry about the score, it’s just what it is.’ “

Wilkins is retired from the Oregon Department of Transportation and moved to Clarkston following more than 30 years living at The Dalles.

He guides for an Oregon-based outfitter and measures deer, elk and other animals whenever he is asked. Scorers are excluded from charging for their services by the record book keeping organizations.

He learned by attending and volunteering at sportsmen’s shows, like the annual Big Horn Show held at Spokane, where scorers are kept busy for hours at a time in an assembly line-like operation.

He prefers the more leisurely pace of scoring for individuals.

“I just like doing it more one-on-one. You get to know the people and get to know the story of the rack and the hunt,” he said.

McNeill, a semi-retired Idaho Fish and Game employee, learned to score at the behest of one of his bosses early in his career. His supervisor wanted the department to be able to offer scoring to hunters as a service.

Like Wilkins, he enjoys the chance to interact with people as he scores their animals.

“You get to meet a lot of different people and they are so excited about what they have done and you get to hear all the stories about the hunt.”

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