Chuck Adams sets another record with his bow, this time he's done it with a beautiful velvet Sitka deer. (Photo courtesy of Pope and Young Club)
December 15, 2021
By Sam Forbes
On December 15th, 2021, the Pope and Young Club officially named Chuck Adams’ velvet Sitka blacktail deer as the new world record in that category. Adams’ impressive buck scored an amazing 109 7/8” and is the now largest bow-killed velvet typical Sitka blacktail deer in North America.
Chuck Adams is an icon in the bowhunting world, long known for both his skills and perseverance as a hunter. Chuck was the original bowhunting editor for Petersen's Hunting magazine, as well as the first bowhunter to complete the Super Slam, taking all eligible North American big-game animals with a bow. He’s also tagged 210 animals that qualify for the Pope & Young awards, with this newest feat making the grand total 211. No other bowhunter even comes close to the achievements and accolades Adams has garnered over his 45-year career as an author and ambassador of the bowhunting world.
This new trophy was shot on Kodiak Island, Alaska, on August 12th, 2021. When Adams arrowed the buck and knew he had shot something special, but it wasn’t until December 6, 2021, that the world record was made official. A panel of measurers gathered in Rock Springs, Wyoming, to pull tapes on the buck’s properly aged antlers and ensure that the measurements were true.
“I have been blessed to hunt Kodiak Island for 17 years,” said Adams. “It is one of my favorite hunts to do. Amazingly, as luck would have it, this buck was the very first buck I saw on this trip. There was never a doubt that this was a buck of a lifetime.”
Advertisement
Measurers present at the Special Panel were Keith Dana of Wyoming, Bruce Capes of Utah, Chuck Adams, Brett Ritter of Wyoming, Tim Rozewski (Director of Records) of Oregon, and Drake Atwood of Idaho.
The more symmetrical a deer's antlers, the higher it will score. This buck is nearly perfect. (Photo courtesy of the Pope and Young Club) “This is a prime example of a truly symmetrical typical antler configuration on a tremendous animal, as it only had 2 7/8” of total symmetry deductions,” said Roy Grace, Records Chairman for Pope and Young. “Once again, this amazing animal is a true testament to the success of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and supports all science-based conservation programs across North America. Congratulations to Chuck Adams on his incredible typical velvet Sitka blacktail deer and to the Alaska Fish and Game Department for its management of its wildlife resources.
Adams' Sitka blacktail surpasses the previous world record velvet typical Sitka blacktail taken by Allen Bolen in 2020, measuring 108 1/8".
Advertisement
Chuck Adams and Allen Bolen sat down together on the Pope & Young Podcast to relive the hunt and talk about the passing of the torch from one great hunter to the next. You can listen now on YouTube or Apple Podcasts .
This world-record velvet typical Sitka blacktail deer has been entered into the 33rd recording period representing entries accepted into the Pope and Young Records Program from January 1st, 2021, to December 31st, 2022. At the close of every biennial recording period, numerical awards and honorable mentions are awarded to the most outstanding bow-harvested animals in each species category that have been entered during this two-year recording period. New world records are verified and proclaimed, and awards are presented to these outstanding animals during the Pope and Young Biennial Convention and Awards Banquet.
If you want to see this world record buck in person, it will be on display at the Pope and Young Club’s Biennial Awards Convention, in Reno, Nev., April 13-16th, 2023. This upcoming event is one of the largest displays of North American, bow-harvested, big-game animals in the world. Look for Convention information in the months to come.
