Entry Requirements
Rules of Fair Chase and Entry Requirements
From Pope & Young:
The fair chase philosophy reaches to the very foundations of the hunting spirit; it should be a dominant factor in the personal hunting ethic of every responsible individual; it is key to bowhunting’s future with deep roots in our hunting heritage.
Simply defined, fair chase is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit of free-ranging wild game animals in a manner which does not give the hunter an improper or unfair advantage over the animal.
From ABA:
- Must be taken in accordance with the current Alberta Hunting Regulations.
- Use the definition of allowable bow, arrow and broadhead from the current Alberta Hunting Regulations.
- Incorporating any device or mechanism that holds the bowstring at partial or full draw without the shooter’s muscle power (draw lock devices) is NOT allowed. (Voted at 2010 AGM)
- Crossbows are not considered a “bow” and entries taken by crossbow are not allowed for entry into the ABA Game Awards program. (ABA Position Paper from March 14, 2022)
- For big game and applicable small game entries, must be taken in a regulated hunting season.
- Must be taken on a valid Alberta hunting license (exception for some small game/predator entries that do not require a hunting license).
- Must be an Alberta resident.
- Must be an ABA member in good standing at time of harvest.
- For ABA Game Awards Youth Entries, the age is “under the age of 18”.
- For cougars, the hunter must be present when dogs are released.
- Effective Jan 1, 2021, animals taken from Jan 1 – Dec 31 will be considered for the following year’s ABA Game Awards Program. An example is a cougar taken in Jan 2020 would be in the same competition with cougars taken in Dec 2020. (Only exception would be an animal entry that is under review from the previous year)
- Must be entered by March 1 for annual awards.
- Animals will be considered, for level achievement only, at any time as long as membership can be proven at the time of harvest.
- Animals shot between December 25 and December 31 will be accepted but may be ranked and awarded with animals shot in the following year if the 60-day drying period before being officially measured cannot be met.
- Member must be an Alberta Bowhunter Association member for both the calendar year it was shot and the following calendar year in which it is being ranked and awarded.
- The awards chairman must be notified immediately of any animals shot between Dec 25 and Dec 31.
Anything outside of these timelines would be addressed on a case-by-case basis and dealt with through the Game Awards Entry Review procedure.
- If using the paper form of the ABA Game Awards Entry Form, the form must be completely filled out with all signatures as required. Incomplete entries will be returned to the person making the entry to be completed as required.
- If using the online entry form, the paper copy of the Game Awards Entry form (filled out completely with all signatures as required) must be attached. A completely filled out Boone & Crockett or Pope & Young official score sheet is also acceptable in lieu of the paper ABA Game Awards application form.
- Entries for the Annual Big Game Awards, Big Game certificate, Master Bowhunter and Grandmaster Bowhunter levels, require the entry to be measured and the entry form signed by an official Pope and Young or Boone and Crockett measurer if a “score” is attached to the entry.
- Abandoned search – an animal for which the search was abandoned and the animal is later recovered will not be eligible for entry. Any time an entry is questioned for which the recovery was not immediate (within a day), a wide range of circumstances surrounding the recovery process will be reviewed by the Game Awards Review Committee on a case-by-case basis to determine the eligibility of the individual entry.
- Disclaimer: All entry materials including photographs submitted to or taken by the Alberta Bowhunters Association or its representatives will be donated to the ABA. The entry materials will be used as the Association wishes. Signature required on Game Awards entry form/Affidavit of Fair Chase portion.
