Boone and Crockett has declared a new world-record Roosevelt’s elk. Two teams of judges remeasured the entry submitted earlier this year and adjusted the score from 439-7/8 points to 455-2/8 points.

Timothy Carpenter killed the Roosevelt’s elk on Sept. 21, 2023, in Humboldt County, California. His elk smashes the previous record held by Rick Bailey, who harvested a 419-6/8-point bull elk in British Columbia in 2015. Carpenter has multiple Roosevelt’s elk in the record books, including a 2011 bull that scored 398-1/8, which is the current archery world record. 

Before Carpenter’s entry could be made official, Boone and Crockett Club requires that the final score of a potential world record be verified by either an Awards Program Judges Panel or a Special Judges Panel. In Carpenter’s case, the Club held a Special Judges Panel in Verdi, Nevada. The measurers included the panel chairman and veteran measurer Victor Clark, Tim Humes, John Capurro, Slade Sanborn and Jeff Simmons. 

Carpenter, 39, guides elk hunts in the fall and works as a wildlife biologist in the spring. He rarely has the time to hunt for himself; rather he helps other hunters find success. 

“It is very rewarding to be part of any successful Roosevelt’s elk hunt,” Carpenter said in a statement to Boone and Crockett. “It is that much more rewarding when we are able to take animals that are mature — or even past their prime — and are Boone and Crockett animals.”

Roosevelt’s elk are one of three subspecies of North American elk for which the Boone and Crockett Club keeps records. Named after Club founder Theodore Roosevelt, Roosevelt’s elk are found only in the Pacific Northwest, ranging from northern California up through British Columbia’s mainland and into Alaska. They are the biggest elk subspecies, with bulls weighing as much as 1,100 pounds.

Carpenter believes the bull elk was 11 or 12 years old, and that a combination of genetics, environmental conditions and late rain that produced great forage contributed to its antler size.