First new category since 2001
Think you’ve harvested a record javelina? Well, you may be able to find out by entering it into The Boone & Crockett Club’s (B&C) new big game records category. B&C announced the new records category for javelina (collared peccary, Pecari tajacu) this month, making it the first new category created since 2001, according to a news release.
“The decision to add javelina as a trophy species was years in the making and reflects not only the growing appreciation for the species among hunters and wildlife managers but can bring conservation benefits to javelina and the places it lives,” said Mike Opitz, chair of B&C’s Big Game Records Committee.
The decision is thanks to the work of B&C’s Big Game Records Committee, comprised of wildlife managers from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico, along with other hunting conservation group members.
The category was approved during B&C’s annual meeting. The next steps include creating measuring protocols and establishing minimum scores.
The javelina is a popular big game animal in the Southwest and Mexico, and the interest in hunting them has grown in recent years. In the U.S., there are roughly 60,000 javelinas across Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
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“As we work on establishing minimum scores, we’ll work with the states and Mexico to come up with a minimum that strikes the balance between a mature specimen worthy of recognition and a good representation of a mature javelina across its range,” said Kyle Lehr, B&C’s Director of Big Game Records. “We need to determine if a mature javelina in, say Texas, is quantifiably different than one in Arizona.”
The last time a category was created was back in 2001, when nontypical categories were added for both Columbian and Sitka blacktail deer. The last time a new species was added was in 1998 with the addition of California’s tule elk.
There are extensive geographic areas where the proposed category occurs;
The animals occur in good numbers;
Suitable boundaries can be drawn;
The game department(s) managing the proposed category are in favor of setting up the category and
The scientific evidence supports this category.
