PROPOSED CHANGES TO ROWLAND WARD’S RECORDS OF BIG GAME

At the 54th General Assembly of the International Council for Game and Wildlife (CIC), in Belgrade during April this year, two morning sessions were devoted to the topic of Trophies, Trophy Hunting and Trophy Recording. Representatives from many of the 82 member countries comprising CIC contributed to the well attended presentations and debates, including Rowland Ward. A committee was elected to take the debate further and to produce recommendations for consideration by CIC. Rowland Ward is also represented on this committee.

In addition to important topics, such as a record book’s role as a research tool for both conservationists and hunters and as an indicator of good or bad conservation practices, one of the other issues which received attention was the importance of ensuring that trophy recording encouraged the hunting of old, male animals, which were out of the breeding cycle, having long since passed on their genes. Specific attention was directed at the measurement system adopted for buffalo as some measurement systems have encouraged the shooting of young, immature animals. Other species such as oryx and eland, amongst others, were also mentioned.

At the time, Rowland Ward was already in the process of formally re-examining its Records of Big Game which, in the field of trophy record keeping, has an unequaled, 117 year old history. Although this process is and has been an ongoing one throughout its history, particular interest has been paid over the last four months to the issues raised at the CIC meetings.

The following views are offered by the Board of Directors of Rowland Ward for consideration by hunters, conservationists and other interested parties, for inclusion in the next edition of Rowland Ward’s Records of Big Game due out in 2010, namely, that:

1. No female animals are recorded in future in the Records of Big Game;

2. The minimums for all recorded animals will include the longest horn or greatest outside spread as well as a composite measurement which will be derived from a combination of the outside spread or longest horn, as the case may be, and the width of the biggest boss or the circumference of the longest horn, as the case may be, multiplied by two;

3. The animals are still ranked by the longest horn or greatest outside spread but the relevant composite measurement will be set out next to it; and

4. Persons submitting entries for consideration will be required to sign a statement as
to how the horns were obtained and, in the case of hunted game, that the hunt was conducted in accordance with the Code of Conduct of Rowland Ward’s Guild of Field Sportsmen – members of the Guild being exempt as they will already have signed such a statement as a pre-condition of membership. The wording of the Code is also being re-examined.

The purpose behind Clause 1 is self evident. The purpose behind Clause 2 is to encourage the shooting of old, hard bossed buffalo bulls and other bovine species where, as they become older, the horns are usually worn down and become shorter, the sweep or curl of the horns drop, the tip to tip measurement becomes wider and the bosses become hard and wider. In this regard, consideration has also been given to include the tip to tip measurement in the composite measurement but, at this stage, for the sake of simplicity, it has not been included. Most of the above applies to the antelope species except, of course, they do not have bosses and the tip to tip measurement is not indicative of age. Consideration has also been given to increasing the value of the boss or circumference of the longest horn, as the case may be, by multiplying this measurement by three instead of two but it was felt that this was excessive.

Clause 3 has been included so that people examining Rowland Ward’s Records of Big Game will, by comparing the horn length with the composite measurement, be able to determine whether the animal was younger or older. It is hoped that this will continue a century’s old tradition, established by the already high minimum lengths, of encouraging hunters to select older animals.

Clause 4 has followed from the thinking that led to the establishment of Rowland Ward’s Guild of Field Sportsmen. While there have been extremely few cases where Rowland Ward has had occasion to doubt the ethics or legality of how a particular entry was obtained, there is a feeling that hunters must increasingly be like Caesar’s wife – beyond reproach. Those who are, should have no difficulty in signing the simple statement which can be down loaded from Rowland Ward’s website or obtained from its offices in due course.

The reason behind the retention of the longest horn and outside spread measurement systems is to ensure, firstly, that Rowland Ward remains true to its past and traditions. Secondly, Rowland Ward believes that its existing systems, with their high minimums, already go a long way towards ensuring the goals set out above. The composite measurement system is also difficult to estimate for anyone judging trophies and is, and Rowland Ward believes should be, a secondary but worthwhile and important consideration when deciding on which animal to shoot.

In embarking on the most extensive re-evaluation in its history, Rowland Ward is using the services of a number of experts and is also consulting with organizations such as CIC, the Dallas Safari Club and the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep who have expressed an interest in working with Rowland Ward on this key initiative. Any other hunting and conservation bodies which have a similar interest are more than welcome to contribute and Rowland Ward looks forward to hearing from you.

Lastly, Winston Churchill is reported to have said, when accused of changing his
mind, that “I reserve the right to change my mind in perfect harmony with changing circumstances.†While Rowland Ward will not depart from its motto “Authentic hunting and shooting traditionsâ€, it nevertheless shares these sentiments and, in the interests of remaining the main source of recorded information on the world’s game animals, while serving the interests of hunter and conservationists alike, it was felt necessary to consider making the changes set out above. Any comments on the above are welcome and should be sent to one or more of the following contacts:

Jane Halse - janehalse@rowlandward.com
Gerhard Damm - gerhard@muskwa.co.za

Written by Peter Flack – 20 September 2007