Record books

1) A way of honoring animals that have survived many hunting seasons and are the 'elite' of their species.

2) Yes

3) No

4) No

PRO

1.a. honors the animal
b. provides long term data of the species
c. provides scientific data and trends
d. provides game management tool for wildlife agencies
e. establishes a basis of non-visual comparison for hunters (when someone says they took a 300 inch bull, you have a non-visual idea of the size of the animal). It also allows comparison of whether that 300 bull is the largest that species is capable of growing in a particular area, or if a person might realistically expect to hold out to take a larger one in that region.
f. provides direct contribution to conservation (entry fees used to fund various archery education, bowhunting defense and conservation projects).
g. promotes fair chase and ethics
h. bowhunting record books like P&Y demonstrates to G&F departments & world that bowhunting is an effective method of hunting (to defend and promote bowhunting seasons where necessary).
i. shows which dates, times, locations, hunting methods are most successful for various species, to educate hunters and help them be the most successful in the limited amount of time we each have to hunt these days.

2. yes

3. yes

4. In some cases yes, some cases no. However, if you were to remove the names, it would definitely cause some hunters not to enter theirs. This would undermine many of the benefits listed above.

1. To document and/or record an extraordinary representative from each respective species of North American big game animals killed by sportsmen who pursue them.

2. Yes

3. Yes, it's not official until accepted.

4. Yes. When I review the P&Y / B&C record book or it's periodic supplemental recording magazines, rarely do I even look at the hunters name. I usually look at the final score, where it was taken and what year it was taken. I can't remember the last time I looked at the hunter's name.....unless it's Marvin's world record. :) (I would suspect many do the same thing)

Like Roy's answer in #4, I often use the record books to research areas to hunt, both in my state and others. I don't believe I've ever noticed a name while doing so.

Most recently, I used it a month or two ago to decide where to apply for antelope in New Mexico. I skimmed through P&Y for all New Mexico entries in the top 100-150, that were taken in the last 10 years. I put a check next to the name of each county that had an entry. When I was done, I looked for the hunt that included the top three counties that really stood out in shear numbers of recent entries of large bucks, and I chose my hunt area almost completely based upon that research (and drew it!). We will see in a couple of months if I was right!

I also used our AZ state record books just this week to make my final selections for my desert bighorn sheep choices. I have tried to choose units that legitimately have a chance of producing a sheep large enough to set the P&Y world record (basically looking for a unit with a genetic history of rams that reach 180 or more). Hey, if I only get once chance in a lifetime, I want to try to make it count!!! There is NO better source for this information than record books! Again, we will see if that research pays off when I draw my tag next month!!! ](*,) [-o<

Marvin

Good answers guys. You can't kill a record class animal in an area w/o record class animals living there. The record books allow me to research areas that hold the caliber of animals I am desiring to kill. Some of these areas get alot of publicity on these forums and in magazines, others are 'sleeper' areas that alot of hunters know little about, those are the areas I focus on. My favorite elk unit in Utah is a sleeper that is getting harder and harder to keep under the radar because we kill so many big bulls on it every year, yet for now it isn't regarded as a 'top tier' unit for elk in Utah. Hopefully I can draw my tag before it gets discovered by the masses.

PRO

I'm sure there are some hunters out there that just like seeing their name in a book and are proud of that, but there are some that just do it for the respect of the "trophy" (by that i mean book standards) that they have taken, found or purchased.
As for me, it's the least i could do for that animal, and i owe it too him.