60 NEBRASKAland • JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2017
H
annah Helmer's bull was officially scored at 430
6/8 on November 30 by Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission wildlife biologist Randy Winter. That topped
the previous mark of 409 7/8 taken by Dana Foster of
Ogallala in Garden County in 2008. The 14-year-old and her
father, Joel, watched the process. She repeatedly posed for
photos with the antlers as a steady stream of people stopped
to see the world-class trophy, continuing a busy two months
after the story of her hunt and photos went viral.
"It was really cool," Hannah said. "It's never happened to
me before."
It hasn't happened to many, and few likely figured it
would happen in Nebraska. The top 20 of non-typical
American elk listed in the 13
th
edition of Records of
North American Big Game is dominated by mountain
states. Nebraska will be the third state that doesn't fit that
description, joining Pennsylvania and North Dakota, and will
match Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Washington, and
New Mexico, all of which have one entry in the current non-
typical top 20. Arizona has seven. Scores are calculated by
adding a series of measurements of the length and mass of
an animal's antler beams and points.
14-year-old's Elk a Record
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
A bull elk harvested by a Seward girl near Crawford in September is not
only the new non-typical record for Nebraska, it also ranks 16
th
in the
all-time world records maintained by the Boone and Crockett Club.
Hannah Helmer of Seward was all smiles after harvesting what would become the new Nebraska state-record non-typical American
elk in the Pine Ridge near Crawford on the opening morning of the firearm elk season September 24.
