Chuck Adams Arrows New Sitka Blacktail World Record

Chuck Adams is certainly no stranger to longtime readers of Bowhunter, having penned numerous stories and columns for the magazine for many years now.

In fact, at last count, Adams has penned well in excess of 6,200 magazine stories and authored some 10 books in his hall of fame bowhunting and writing career. Those magazine tales include Adams’ most recent "On the Track" column in the February 2022 edition of Bowhunter magazine, an issue just now hitting subscriber mailboxes and newsstand shelves around the country.

In that most recent column, Adams tells Bowhunter readers some of the first hand details of his most recent Sitka Blacktail bowhunt on Alaska’s Kodiak Island, one that took place only a few months ago as he traveled to the 49th state solo with his Hoyt compound bow in hand.

What Adams didn’t say in his column is that the results of that particular adventure, one of many do-it-yourself trips he has made to the 49th State down through the years, is yet another record book experience for the Wyoming bowhunting legend.

That’s because the three-by-three Sitka Blacktail Deer that Adams arrowed with an Easton arrow shaft and G5 broadhead on Aug. 12, 2021 is yet another world record for Adams in the hallowed pages of the Pope and Young Club Bowhunting Big Game Records of North America record book.

That Sitka Blacktail adds even more fuel to Adams’ legendary bowhunting resume, which has seen him take more than 210 Pope and Young entries including world record benchmarks for Sitka Blacktail, Coues’ whitetail, Mountain Caribou, American Bison, and American elk.

In fact, his 409 2/8-inch typical American elk from Montana’s Rosebud County in 2000 is still a Top 5 all-time bull and earned the Ishi Award from P&Y, the highest honor that the archery record keeping organization bestows upon an animal and archer.

Now add the velvet Sitka Blacktail world record to Adams’s career accolades after a special panel of measurers gathered in Wyoming last week, including Keith Dana of Wyoming, Bruce Capes of Utah, Brett Ritter of Wyoming, Tim Rozewski (P&Y’s Director of Records) of Oregon, and Drake Atwood of Idaho.

Those special panel judges gathered to see what the measuring tape would say about Adams’ most recent world record candidate. Incidentally, the P&Y team gathered at the premises of Brian Forbes and Dr. Griffin & Associates in Rock Springs, Wyo. according to the Club.

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At the end of the judge’s measuring session, the panel came up with a final score of 109 7/8-inches, confirming Adams’ velvet typical Sitka Blacktail Deer as the new Pope and Young Club World Record. With the club’s announcement, the Adams’ buck from late August now overtakes the previous world record velvet typical Sitka Blacktail, a buck taken last year by Allen Bolen in 2020, one that measures 108 1/8-inches.

“I have been blessed to hunt Kodiak Island for 17 years, it is one of my favorite hunts to do,” said Adams in the P&Y news release issued this week. “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.”

Pope and Young officials say that once again, the bowhunting icon Adams has helped to prove that the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation works…and then some.

"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, in the news release.

“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 almost certainly won’t rest on the latest accomplishment in his bowhunting career, as anyone who has followed his adventures can attest to. For the first bowhunter to ever achieve the North American Big Game Super Slam — a feat that Adams achieved in early 1990 — the pursuit of bowhunting excellence continues unabated. As does his quest for more content to provide for the pages of Bowhunter magazine!

In the meantime, Adams’ newest panel judged world record has been entered into the P&Y Club’s 33rd recording period, which represents accepted program entries from Jan. 1, 2021 until Dec. 31, 2022.

It will also be on display at the Pope and Young Club’s Biennial Awards Convention in Reno, Nev. from April 13-16, 2023.

At that next P&Y convention, club officials will once again assemble one of the largest displays of North American, bow harvested, big-game animals (velvet and hard antlered entries alike) ever assembled for public viewing. That will include Adams’ most recent world record entry, as well as numerous other outstanding big game animal specimens and potential world records verified by the Club’s official measurers, special panel judges, and organization officials.

Until then, fans of Adams and bowhunting in Alaska’s wild 49th state frontier can listen in to a recent podcast interview that Pope and Young held. In that interview, Adams and Allen Bolen chatted on the Pope and Young Podcast (visit iTunes or YouTube to catch the interview) and discussed their respective world records, bowhunting in general, and the Pope and Young Club and its history.

Finally, if you dream of duplicating some of Adams’ bowhunting adventures — or even breaking his world record benchmark — continue visiting the pages of Bowhunter in the months to come, as well as www.bowhunter.com.

After all, as Adams recently proved once again, records are made to be broken — even in the wilds of North America with a bow in your hand!