The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Likely leaving the Chamber unless you have $250,000 lying around
By Mark Reaman
One of the most well known artifacts in Crested Butte, the one-time World Record Typical Bull Elk as scored by Boone & Crockett and one of the most famous big game trophies ever taken, is likely leaving the community this fall.
The John Plute elk antlers that hang in the Crested Butte Visitor’s Center are up for auction and the owners, Ed and Roger Rozman, expect that it could sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can view the online auction at trophyelkandranch.com.
Crested Butte-Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce executive director Eliza Cress said the Chamber received a letter from Hotchkiss auctioneer Gary Hubbell giving 60 days notice of the auction and potential removal of the antlers. He said given the history and size, the trophy is expected to draw between $250,000 and $500,000 from a collector.
“Right now we pay the Rozman family $100 a month to have it on display,” explained Cress. “It is a very historical thing for Crested Butte and we get tons of people coming in to check it out. They suggested we start a Go Fund Me campaign to see if we could raise enough money to keep it here, but I can’t imagine raising that type of money right now, let alone how we’d refund money if we were outbid.”
The Boone and Crockett’s website describing the six biggest elk of all time says the Crested Butte bull killed in 1899 was in the record books for 115 years, but it was relegated to second place in the 1990s. An elk killed in Arizona’s White Mountains in 1968 but not measured until 1994 is now the champ.
In the letter to Cress and the Chamber, Hubbell said the owners were looking to sell their home in Paonia so the 94-year-old Ed Rozman could be closer to the VA Hospital in Grand Junction. Ed and his son Roger made it clear to Hubbell they needed the financial proceeds from the home to secure their future. Hubbell pointed out to them that they owned the famous trophy and that trophy could be very valuable.
In a description from the Outdoor Life website, it describes how the rack came to be the world record in 1961:
“When elk are killed a good century back, details of the hunt tend to get fuzzy. Nearly 20 years ago, OL outdoor writer Jim Zumbo struck out to see and hear about what was then the world’s largest elk. Legend has it that John Plute, 31, was a miner around Crested Butte, Colorado—as most able-bodied men from the region were. He lived in a boarding house, occasionally trading wild game meat for rent. He hunted every chance he got. One day in 1899, he went up to Dark Canyon, 12 miles west of Crested Butte and killed a fine bull, a mighty fine bull. He didn’t typically haul out the racks as it was tough to pay rent with something that useless back in those days. He told others about the size of his elk, and to prove it, he eventually went back in to pack out the antlers.
“Then in 1915, as legend has it, Plute gave the rack to a bar owner to pay his tab. The Rozman brothers inherited the saloon in question in 1948 along with the antlers. The rack was loaned out, stuck in storage, and returned. It was finally measured by an official scorer. In 1961, it was made official in New York City as the number one bull in the world. After touring about, the elk ended back in Crested Butte in 1971. It sat in a hardware store that’s just about as old as the rack. Now, when it’s not traveling the country as a display, it sits in Crested Butte’s Chamber of Commerce downtown.”
Cress did say that in order to get the elk out of the Visitor’s Center, a window would have to be taken out.
The auction site describes the elk as a once in a lifetime opportunity. “The trophy is indeed massive: seven points on one side and eight on the other, with a gross score of 459 7/8″ and a net score of 442 3/8″ after deductions. The antlers are beautifully symmetrical, with the brow tines an astonishing 20 5/8″ long and massively thick. Not only is the shoulder elk mount a tremendous big game trophy, it has a historical provenance like few other items. It is a reminder of the glory days of western mining, the vast herds of big game that once populated the Rocky Mountains, and a time when a hunter didn’t even bother to pack out a set of massive antlers because the meat was more important.”
Hubbell acknowledged that there would likely “be considerable interest in keeping the antlers in Crested Butte” and so encouraged local participation in the auction.
The bidding will conclude September 21 at 5 p.m.
The Chamber board is looking into having an exact replica made to keep on display.
