Record Grizzly Ignites Questions about Trophy Categories

News traveled fast when conservationists learned the largest grizzly bear ever taken by a hunter had been entered into Boone and Crockett records. Nearly as quickly, however, came questions about why grizzlies are distinguished from Alaska brown bear…

. After all, aren’t these technically the same species? The Boone and Crockett Club announced the new record grizzly on May 5. Soon after, an Anchorage, Alaska, newspaper headline chided, “Giant Grizzly is One for Some Record Books, But Not Alaska’s.