 With a score of 229 6⁄8 inches, Tim Butts’ Alaska-Yukon bull is the No. 3 bowkill in the world. Pope and Young’s 248-inch world record was taken back in 1973. The 240 4⁄8-inch runner-up was dropped in 1995. Photo courtesy of Tim Butts |
By Mike Handley: For a guy who’d never considered hunting moose, Tim Butts sure changed his mind in a hurry.
It was his boss’s fault the West Virginia contractor wound up spending his 43rd birthday in the Yukon, sitting under a tent flap with a stranger and watching the rain. That was the first morning of his 10-day bowhunt.
Tim’s boss had seen a television advertisement for Jim Shockey’s Rogue River Outfitters and booked a mid-September hunt. When he asked Tim if he would like to go, Tim had to think about it. He’d never been bitten by the moose bug; wasn’t sure he wanted to share his love of hunting whitetails and elk with another big game animal. For the entire story click here.
But the following day, he told his boss: “I’m in.”
The journey eventually took them to Whitehorse via Toronto and Vancouver. From there, they traveled four more hours to the town of Mayo, Shockey’s base camp. That’s where the two men parted company. From there, Tim boarded a float plane bound for his camp, a wall tent on the banks of the Stewart River. When the plane splashed down an hour later, he met his guide, Chris Locke.
Shockey was supposed to be his guide, but the outfitter was stuck farther north.
Not to worry. Tim had already fallen in love with the place from the air.
“The amount of undisturbed territory up there is unbelievable,” he said. “Words can’t describe it.”
Tim and Chris, the same age, hit it off immediately, even though Chris had never guided a bowhunter. The rest of the afternoon was spent reviewing safety tips and learning lessons in survival: how to deal with rising water, bears, wolves and the wilderness.