Boone & Crockett removes Darner from record book
By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau
GRANTS ? The upcoming January trial of big game hunter Kirt Darner has stirred up controversy in many areas of the world of hunters. One of the issues is the claim that has appeared in many articles that Darner removed his records from the Boone and Crockett record books because they were simply challenged, but there is more to the story.
Darner claimed he had brought down more Boone and Crockett trophy deer than anyone else, however, some of the records he held were disputed by the club, which resulted in the removal of two of them by Boone and Crockett and one refused entry.
The Boone and Crockett Club is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1887 by conservationist Theodore Roosevelt. The club?s Fair Chase statement was the first document outlining a code of conduct and ethics for sportsmen which later became the cornerstone of the game laws in place today in most states, including New Mexico. Any violation is taken very seriously by the club and local game officials. The club also oversees all claims for big game records and is the final word in the world of the outdoorsman.
According to the Boone and Crockett Club, Darner claimed to have taken a large non-typical mule deer in San Miguel County in Colorado in 1977. Boone and Crockett received the score chart for that entry in 1979. Then in 1989 the club received photos of a non-typical mule deer taken decades earlier. The deer in the photos, based on the club?s examination, was determined to be the same deer Darner was claimed to have taken.
The photos related to one deer that could be identified because deer have certain markings that are as unique as human fingerprints. The hunter in the photo was identified as Dean Naylor from Phoenix and he was already listed in the records books and it showed that the deer he took was killed in 1948 and is still listed in the records.
The club tracked down Naylor to find out more information. They found out that the photographer was Charlie Niehuis who was working for the Arizona Fish and Game Department at the time.
At this point the records committee of Boone and Crockett went through a review process in an attempt to identify the deer, and it was determined that the deer in the earlier photos was the same one Darner was claiming to have taken in the 1970?s. So on January 12, 1990 the Darner claim was dropped from the record books. Boone and Crockett sent a letter to Darner stating that they were going to review five other of Darner?s entries because of the discrepancy they had discovered.
They informed Darner that a hands on examination of each of his trophies that he had listed in the book. At one point another one was removed, and they refused to enter a third entry and it was at this point that Darner notified Boone and Crockett to remove them from the record books, which they did.
By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau
GRANTS ? The upcoming January trial of big game hunter Kirt Darner has stirred up controversy in many areas of the world of hunters. One of the issues is the claim that has appeared in many articles that Darner removed his records from the Boone and Crockett record books because they were simply challenged, but there is more to the story.
Darner claimed he had brought down more Boone and Crockett trophy deer than anyone else, however, some of the records he held were disputed by the club, which resulted in the removal of two of them by Boone and Crockett and one refused entry.
The Boone and Crockett Club is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1887 by conservationist Theodore Roosevelt. The club?s Fair Chase statement was the first document outlining a code of conduct and ethics for sportsmen which later became the cornerstone of the game laws in place today in most states, including New Mexico. Any violation is taken very seriously by the club and local game officials. The club also oversees all claims for big game records and is the final word in the world of the outdoorsman.
According to the Boone and Crockett Club, Darner claimed to have taken a large non-typical mule deer in San Miguel County in Colorado in 1977. Boone and Crockett received the score chart for that entry in 1979. Then in 1989 the club received photos of a non-typical mule deer taken decades earlier. The deer in the photos, based on the club?s examination, was determined to be the same deer Darner was claimed to have taken.
The photos related to one deer that could be identified because deer have certain markings that are as unique as human fingerprints. The hunter in the photo was identified as Dean Naylor from Phoenix and he was already listed in the records books and it showed that the deer he took was killed in 1948 and is still listed in the records.
The club tracked down Naylor to find out more information. They found out that the photographer was Charlie Niehuis who was working for the Arizona Fish and Game Department at the time.
At this point the records committee of Boone and Crockett went through a review process in an attempt to identify the deer, and it was determined that the deer in the earlier photos was the same one Darner was claiming to have taken in the 1970?s. So on January 12, 1990 the Darner claim was dropped from the record books. Boone and Crockett sent a letter to Darner stating that they were going to review five other of Darner?s entries because of the discrepancy they had discovered.
They informed Darner that a hands on examination of each of his trophies that he had listed in the book. At one point another one was removed, and they refused to enter a third entry and it was at this point that Darner notified Boone and Crockett to remove them from the record books, which they did.
