A Montana hunter appears to have bagged the largest American elk in state history earlier this month, and is also likely to take the international all-time record for archery elk hunting.

According to Justin Spring, the Boone and Crockett Club’s director of big-game records, the hunter asked to remain anonymous until the elk’s measurements are official, but a preliminary measurement indicates the animal — shot in Montana on Sept. 10 — is well within record territory.

“This was a green score, which means [the rack] hasn’t dried yet, but it was completed by a very experienced measurer,” Spring said last week. “Our official scoring doesn’t actually take place before an animal is dry for 60 days.”

Elk are scored by the hunting organization based on the total length of their racks, including each tine, as well as their antler circumference and spread.

The “green score” was 429 and 6/8 inches. The Pope and Young Club keeps the archery-specific records for hunters and lists the current record at 412 and one-eighth inches, shot in 2005 in Arizona.

Spring said there is a lot of variability in how much a given rack shrinks between its green and final scores, but added that he had never seen a pair of antlers shrink enough to bring the elk short of a new record.

Including records set with firearms, the elk may also have set an overall state record. Spring said the current record American elk in Montana dates back to 1958, when Fred C. Mercer bagged an elk that scored 419 and one-half inches.

Across the species’ entire range, the Boone and Crockett Club’s overall all-time record was an American elk that scored 442 and five-eighths inches.

The anonymous hunter has also asked the Boone and Crockett Club to keep the location of his kill secret for the time being, to allow him to bring his friends to the same hunting spot without it becoming overrun with hopeful big-game hunters.

Spring said his organization doesn’t track weight, but noted that elk with antlers of that size typically weigh in at 800 to 900 pounds.

The official measurement will likely take place in mid-November.

“The whole reason we do the scoring is to gauge wildlife population, so you can see even in this day and age ... that just shows our method of wildlife conservation continues to work today,” Spring said.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.