Controversies on official trophy score measurements
Subscriber Roger Gregg says he
was overcharged $1,000 for a red
stag trophy because his operator
intentionally over-scored it and
later refused to acknowledge the
erroneous score. Gregg hunted red
deer in Argentina in April 2011 with
Luis Bertone at La Colorada ranch
in La Pampa. On the score sheet
provided to Gregg, Bertone scored the
animal at 361 SCI. 的 truly doubted
the stag was that good, he says. So,
he had the antlers re-scored by an SCI
measurer in the US when he received
the trophy. The score was 316 SCI,
which was about what Gregg says he
had expected of the trophy.
典o make absolutely certain of the
score, I made a 200-mile trip to have
a Master Measurer with 35 years of
experience also measure the stag. The
Master Measurer got a score of 322.
Luis reaction to the 316 score was that
the US SCI measurers do not know
how to measure stags.
Gregg also submitted a complaint to
SCI about the matter, which ignited
a veritable firestorm. In the February
2012 issue of Safari Times, published
monthly by Safari Club International
(SCI), Chairman of the SCI Record
Book & World Hunting Awards
Committee (and longtime Hunting
Report subscriber) Herb Atkinson
wrote that some SCI members who had
taken trophies in South America would
be asked to have them rescored. An ad
hoc committee reviewed hundreds
of Record Book entries from South
America and identified dozens of
entries that had possibly been scored
incorrectly. The committee further
concluded that certain outfitters had
inflated scores of animals to charge
higher trophy fees or to have animals
taken with their company rank higher
in the record book.
In the June 2012 issue of Safari Times,
Atkinson announced, 的t has become
very obvious that certain South
American SCI Official and Master
Measurers have been intentionally
scoring trophies incorrectly to make
them appear on the Record Book entry
form to be larger than they really
were.
To rectify the situation, SCI inactivated
the certification of all Argentine
measurers (Official and Master) with
the notable exceptions of Eduardo
Gerlero and Francisco Minieri. Also,
no one directly associated with the
hunting industry (outfitters, guides,
animal brokers, taxidermists, etc.)
will be allowed to become Master
Measurers, at least for the near future.
Just this past month, SCI started
a series of measuring classes in
Argentina, conducted by Record Book
committee members and department
staff to train and re-train all Official
and Master Measurers there.
Not all previous SCI measurers in
Argentina would be able to renew
their certificates, however. Atkinson
wrote, 展ritten reprimands and
notice of irrevocable revocation of
their Official Measurer and Master
Measurer certificates have been sent
to: Francisco 撤aco Pizarro, Luis
Bertone, Bernardo Feune De Colombi
and Juan Carlos Wagner.
Back to the Gregg controversy: Bertone
offered Gregg a credit toward a future
hunt in a November 2, 2011 email,
before SCI conducted its investigation.
Gregg responded, 的 feel the ethics of
this matter are more important than
the $1,000.
Gregg also had some problems with
some other charges and shipping
issues, but told The Hunting Report,
典he excessive score matter really
bothers me the most. It is unfair,
crooked and really lacks conscience?
feel other hunters should be aware of
this fraudulent practice. Here at The
Hunting Report, we completely agree
and will do whatever we can to help
keep the process of trophy scoring
open and honest. We applaud SCI for
its swift and decisive action.
We sent Bertone a copy of Gregg痴
complaint, inviting him to provide
his perspective on what happened.
At press time, we had not yet
received a response. We will add any
correspondence we may receive from
Bertone after going to print to the
file in our database and inform you
in the following issue of The Hunting
Report. Paid subscribers may request
a free email copy of the entire file.
(Send request to Ben@huntingreport.
com.) We also encourage any Hunting
Report subscribers who suspect their
trophies from Argentina or any other
destination were purposely mis-scored
to file a report.
