Sportsman's Warehouse Big Bull Contest???

[Bravo]

Before I start, let me say that this post is about Integrity of the Contest and SCI/ Sportsman's Warehouse.

 

I entered my bull a few months back in their contest and let them hang my horns up on display. I figured the contest would be well organized and with SCI scoring the animals, I thought "what could I lose"? In the final weeks prior to the contest close, a couple of real GIANT bulls came in taking me out of the running for 1st, 2nd and maybe even 3rd. So I was just wanted to see where mine would rank with those toads. I have already had my bull officially scored by Pope and Young, but I was curious what SCI would score since the typically score a little higher with no deductions.

 

Let me say I was SHOCKED BEYOND BELIEF to see "326 2/8" as my final score. After some discussion with the manager on duty about the discrepancy he informed me that several individuals had complained about the exact issue with bulls being scored way below what they have already been scored by another Record's organization. To add insult to injury, when I asked for a list of scores and who ranked in what place in the contest, I was told that no "official" list existed. What??? How can you have a contest and not provide people with the results of the contest? How do I know where I ranked since I was not present at the "announcement" on Saturday? I asked what the heck was going on and nobody seemed to be able to give me a clear answer.

 

Once I got to my truck I added up the measurements they recorded only to discover that they totaled 354 6/8. So where did they come up with 326? Did that take me out of the ranking for a prize? Who knows. Second, there is no name in the measurer line; so who tapped the horns? Lastly, how could a bull that was scored at 358 1/8 gross by a guy as reputable as Clay Goldman lose almost 4 inches by SCI? I green scored it at 364 in the woods so I expected to lose a few inches after a pro tapped it lol. Just strange how some of the points lost an entire inch. That's A LOT of variance IMO but again, I'm no pro.

 

Something is extremely off about this whole deal and I'm sure that there are other guys that participated in the contest that are experiencing a similar issue. Before I cry conspiracy (which it has all the making of), I'm going to chock it up to incompetence on the part of the measurer. I'm going to talk with the store manager on Tuesday, and I'll be calling the President of the SCI Phoenix Chapter regarding this issue. I want to give them a chance to defend or rectify this issue before I do too much trash talking. I'm just concerned that the integrity of the contest may have been compromised so we'll see how it turns out.

 

I will post the pics tomorrow of the score sheets so everyone knows what I'm saying. Thanks for listening!!

[CouesWhitetail]

Wow, sorry to hear about your issue with the contest. My guess is it's measurer error. They had a LOT of animals to score in a short time. I am assuming they had multiple measurers there to take care of the load of work. Perhaps they assigned one guy to elk, one to muleys, and one to whitetail.....if so, then at least all the entries withing a category were scored by the same person and all the elk for instance should rank out ok, even if the score isn't what you think it should be...know what I mean? So the ranking might not change even with a different measurer.

 

I will call the manager and speak with him about this.

[mason a]

I just picked my elk up from sportmans and they scored it at 351 2/8 , i scored him at 351 4/8 so it was real close . They had my inside spread at 52 7/8 and i measured it at 53 , so it all was close

Thats to bad they messed your score up so bad

My son got first place in the youth mule deer with a score of 147 2/8 and i scored it at 149 , so it also was close

 

I to am curios what the 1st 2nd and 3 rd place elk scored , I was bummed to see so many huge elk come in the last few days of the contest, but oh well it was fun anyways

[mason a]

Before I start, let me say that this post is about Integrity of the Contest and SCI/ Sportsman's Warehouse.

 

I entered my bull a few months back in their contest and let them hang my horns up on display. I figured the contest would be well organized and with SCI scoring the animals, I thought "what could I lose"? In the final weeks prior to the contest close, a couple of real GIANT bulls came in taking me out of the running for 1st, 2nd and maybe even 3rd. So I was just wanted to see where mine would rank with those toads. I have already had my bull officially scored by Pope and Young, but I was curious what SCI would score since the typically score a little higher with no deductions.

 

Let me say I was SHOCKED BEYOND BELIEF to see "326 2/8" as my final score. After some discussion with the manager on duty about the discrepancy he informed me that several individuals had complained about the exact issue with bulls being scored way below what they have already been scored by another Record's organization. To add insult to injury, when I asked for a list of scores and who ranked in what place in the contest, I was told that no "official" list existed. What??? How can you have a contest and not provide people with the results of the contest? How do I know where I ranked since I was not present at the "announcement" on Saturday? I asked what the heck was going on and nobody seemed to be able to give me a clear answer.

 

Once I got to my truck I added up the measurements they recorded only to discover that they totaled 354 6/8. So where did they come up with 326? Did that take me out of the ranking for a prize? Who knows. Second, there is no name in the measurer line; so who tapped the horns? Lastly, how could a bull that was scored at 358 1/8 gross by a guy as reputable as Clay Goldman lose almost 4 inches by SCI? I green scored it at 364 in the woods so I expected to lose a few inches after a pro tapped it lol. Just strange how some of the points lost an entire inch. That's A LOT of variance IMO but again, I'm no pro.

 

Something is extremely off about this whole deal and I'm sure that there are other guys that participated in the contest that are experiencing a similar issue. Before I cry conspiracy (which it has all the making of), I'm going to chock it up to incompetence on the part of the measurer. I'm going to talk with the store manager on Tuesday, and I'll be calling the President of the SCI Phoenix Chapter regarding this issue. I want to give them a chance to defend or rectify this issue before I do too much trash talking. I'm just concerned that the integrity of the contest may have been compromised so we'll see how it turns out.

 

I will post the pics tomorrow of the score sheets so everyone knows EXACTLY what I'm saying. Thanks for listening!!

 

My bull was the first in the line of bulls , Was that your bull next to mine? If so it looked like your main beams were at least 56 inches, I guested that bull to be around 360

[COUESAZ]

I here ya about the contest issue. I am very angry about it because I did not even get a tag this year to enter the dang thing. Haha

 

Well I hope they get it worked out with them. If you bull was scired wrong they owe you that to get it done write so you know for sure what he is.

[Bravo]

Wow, sorry to hear about your issue with the contest. My guess is it's measurer error. They had a LOT of animals to score in a short time. I am assuming they had multiple measurers there to take care of the load of work. Perhaps they assigned one guy to elk, one to muleys, and one to whitetail.....if so, then at least all the entries withing a category were scored by the same person and all the elk for instance should rank out ok, even if the score isn't what you think it should be...know what I mean? So the ranking might not change even with a different measurer.

 

I will call the manager and speak with him about this.

 

Thank you much. I did email him about this. I don't really need them to re-score it or anything like that. I've talked to a few people about this with a little more experience then me and I guess its kind of common to have small variances like that depending on the measurer. So their score of 354 should be fine, but hey didn't put that on my sheet. They wrote 326. I just need them to rectify that and they do need to publish the ranking of the scores and such. Thanks again for looking into it.

[Bravo]

[My bull was the first in the line of bulls , Was that your bull next to mine? If so it looked like your main beams were at least 56 inches, I guested that bull to be around 360

 

Yeah it was! Offically it was 358 1/8 gross. We field taped it at 364, but after drying time and late night rookie mistakes, we were a little off. You know how that goes.LOL

 

You had a great bull man!! I loved the width. Congrats man and goodluck in the draw this year!

[Bravo]

I just picked my elk up from sportmans and they scored it at 351 2/8 , i scored him at 351 4/8 so it was real close . They had my inside spread at 52 7/8 and i measured it at 53 , so it all was close

Thats to bad they messed your score up so bad

My son got first place in the youth mule deer with a score of 147 2/8 and i scored it at 149 , so it also was close

 

I to am curios what the 1st 2nd and 3 rd place elk scored , I was bummed to see so many huge elk come in the last few days of the contest, but oh well it was fun anyways

 

Yeah that was tough seeing those giants come in last minute but I had a good time sharing my horns with the public. It was fun to say the least!! Maybe next year they will do the contest with Pictures only so that participation is a little better. Then the week prior to the event guys can bring their horns in for measuring. Just a thought.

[Bravo]

Well the Jury is back on the scoring issue on my bull......

 

Master Measurer and SCI AZ President, Leon Munyan scored my bull officially at 362 5/8. When I first contacted him, I was informed that they were only given 2 hours to score all the Deer and Elk antlers hanging up in SW. WOW, not much time at all! Apparently, they took the largest looking bulls and bucks and measured them in detail and quick taped the rest. Leon admitted that due to the rushed nature of those involved in measuring, he had no doubt that an error may have occurred and was glad that I had sought him out. He quickly sprung into action and offered to personally measure my elk. I was extremely impressed with his candor, honesty, and willingness to do the right thing to resolve my concern. He and his family went out of their way to get my antlers from me and to drop them back off. I'm sure he is a busy man but never once acted as if I was an inconvenience. Great people all the way!

 

I also want to note that the new General Manager of Sportsman's Warehouse, Steve Ortiz was great in all of this. He and I have spoke several times after I brought my concerns to his attention. He got me the info I was looking for and also advised me of the changes that will be made in next years competition and also asked for my input. We actually spent more time talking about hunting and getting to know each other more then anything! Class act guy through and through. I informed him many times that I was not looking for any kind of compensation due to the outcome and that was never my goal. Just for the record that would have placed me 3rd in the competition if the errors weren't made. In short, I will continue my patronage with SW for years to come!

 

 

In the end, everything worked out and I got the resolve I was looking for. (Being right was also a bonus) I was so impressed with the way SCI handled my concerns that I am now a member of SCI and SCI AZ and look forward to becoming involved in their conservation efforts. Maybe one day I can become a measurer too!

[Non-Typical Solutions]

So what was the breakdown of scores for the top three bulls?

[Bravo]

So what was the breakdown of scores for the top three bulls?

 

That was one of the issues. They didn't have them written down anywhere. The manager for SW had to call each of the winners and ask them their scores from their score sheets. All I remember is the the 3rd place guy was 361 and some change. That is something they will be doing differently next year is posting up the results prior to awards so if there are any issues, they can fix them before handing out awards.

[tjhunt2]

Bravo, I saw your bull hanging at Sportsman and I must say it was very impresssive. Congratulations on your bull. It was neat looking at all the antlers hanging and I spent some time checking out each of them. Can't wait to see next years contest. I'm sure they learned alot from this years contest and will take a little more time getting it right next year.

 

TJ