C'est maintenant officiel, M. Stewart Shaft détient le nouveau Numéro 1 au livre des records de Safari Club International pour l'un de ses deux caribous abattus en octobre 2005 à la Pourvoirie Mirage.  Son autre caribou, lui aussi abattu lors de la même partie de chasse lui a valu le numéro 3.

Voici une copie de l'article no. 1591 de Barbara Crown, paru en janvier 2006. sur le site de  www.huntingreport.com , dans la section newsletter article.

New SCI World Record Quebec-Labrador Caribou Taken

What better Christmas present is there than taking a new Number 1 record book animal? That's exactly what subscriber Stewart Shaft did this past October. He killed a Quebec-Labrador caribou bull that when officially scored by the SCI record books committee should be the new Number 1 caribou in its category. The trophy, as scored by an SCI measurer, came to 507 6/8, beating out the current Number 1 of 499 6/8. Shaft also took a second caribou that scored 488 4/8 SCI and should put it at Number 3 in the record book.
Shaft hunted with Peter Palmer of Mirage Outfitters, who operates fly-out caribou hunts in Quebec's James Bay country in LG4. Mirage flies hunters out each day and drops them off ahead of the migrating caribou herds, where they lie in wait and try to spot the largest bull they can find in a sea of moving animals. Shaft says he let hundreds of caribou go by, sometimes close enough to him that he could have patted them on the rump. As an experienced caribou hunter, Shaft knew the quality trophy he sought, and after watching animals for four hours he spotted a good bull. This one was actually the smaller of the two he eventually killed. The next day, he killed the potential new Number 1 SCI bull, also within a few hours of hunting.

The irony here is that Shaft was originally booked to hunt with another outfitting company in the same region but was left stranded in Montreal when the outfitter suddenly cancelled the hunt. (See page 15 for a special controversy item regarding this outfitter.) Determined to go hunting after coming all that way, one of the hunters in Shaft's party looked up Peter Palmer, with whom he had hunted a few years ago. Palmer was already booked out and at the tail end of his season, but he took pity on the stranded hunters and made some room for them.

Needless to say, both Shaft and Palmer are glad he did. “I had never even seen a caribou that would score over 500 SCI,” says Palmer, “and I've been in this business for 30 years.”

As this is written, we are scrambling to get our hands on photographs of these fine animals. By the time you read this, they should be posted to our web site, www.huntingreport.com. Click on “Trophy Gallery.” Our congratulations to both Shaft and Palmer!





CONTACT DETAILS FOR COMPANIES/INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED IN ARTICLE (if any)
Peter Palmer, Mirage Outfitter. Tel. 450-349-1144, 866-339-6202. E-mail: peter.palmer@videotron.ca

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