TL;DR
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Outdoor Life’s Nov. 2, 2026, report recounts how Las Vegas firefighter Dave Snyder shot a giant bull elk with a bow in Montana’s Belt Mountains. The story identifies the bull as the world-record archery elk, but the supplied material does not give its score, the record category or the organization that verified the title.
Outdoor Life published a report Nov. 2, 2026, recounting how Dave Snyder, a Las Vegas firefighter, shot a giant bull elk with a bow while hunting Montana’s Belt Mountains the previous year. The article describes the animal as a world-record archery elk, though the supplied report excerpt does not state its score or explain how the record was certified.
Snyder was hunting from a tree stand when he heard several high-pitched, one-note bugles that he took to be from a younger bull. The report says a much larger elk then appeared less than 30 yards away. Snyder tried to turn and draw his 73-pound compound bow, but his position made it difficult to shoot.
The account says Snyder had hunted the Belt Mountains seven times before and taken an elk on each trip. Two of those animals were large enough to enter the Pope and Young Club’s record book. His prior success, the report says, came from years of bowhunting and studying elk behavior rather than chance.
The supplied excerpt does not provide the record bull’s antler score, the exact date of the hunt or the record category. It does give details of an earlier Snyder bull: that animal scored 357⅞ points under Pope and Young’s standard measuring system and ranked No. 17 in the club’s record book at the time described. That score belongs to the earlier bull, not the reported world-record animal.
A Bowhunter’s Record Claim
The account draws attention to the skill and close-range conditions involved in archery elk hunting, where a hunter may have little time to draw and release after an animal comes within range. Snyder’s difficulty drawing from an awkward position is central to the story: even a hunter with extensive experience can face a shot opportunity that is hard to take.
The report also places the hunt within a period when, according to its introduction, archery hunters were repeatedly breaking the Pope and Young elk record in the early 1980s. That historical framing may interest bowhunters and readers of hunting records, but the excerpt does not connect the reported bull to a specific score or dated record list. The record label should therefore be understood as the article’s description, not as independently documented certification in the material provided.
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Snyder’s Belt Mountains History
Snyder’s connection to the area began in 1974, when he and fellow Las Vegas firefighter Mike Freeman encountered local logger Dee Hills after their truck developed carburetor trouble. Hills, an experienced rifle hunter who was new to bowhunting, offered to take them to an elk hunting area in the Belt Mountains.
On that first trip, Snyder killed a cow elk with an arrow. Hills initially thought the animal had escaped when it ran into the trees. Snyder explained that an elk hit by an arrow could travel before falling; when they tracked it, they found it 75 yards from the shot location. The report says Snyder and his friends returned to hunt with Hills over the following years, building a record of success through observation and careful stalking.
Snyder said his first bull elk was a five-point animal taken in Colorado in 1972. He later hunted across the West and took other big game. The article also describes a separate Belt Mountains bull he shot after calling and stalking among bugling elk. That bull’s 357⅞-point score and No. 17 ranking are historical details about an earlier animal, not the record bull in the headline.
“If you know what you’re doing, a bowhunter has just as good a chance as a rifleman of taking a big bull—maybe even a better chance.”
— Dave Snyder, as quoted in the Outdoor Life report
Record Details Not Supplied
The supplied report excerpt does not state the world-record bull’s score, identify the specific record division, or name the authority that recognized it. It also does not give the precise hunt date, the bull’s measured antler details, or the circumstances of the shot after Snyder struggled to draw from his stand.
The introduction says the hunt happened “last year” in relation to the article’s publication date, which places it in 2025, but no more precise date is provided. The excerpt also ends during the account of an earlier bull, so it does not supply the full narrative or documentation for the record claim. These details cannot be inferred from the 357⅞-point score given for Snyder’s earlier elk.
Verification and Full Hunt Account
The source material provides no announced next milestone, record review date or follow-up from Snyder or a record-keeping organization. Readers seeking to verify the title would need the bull’s score, its category and confirmation from the relevant record authority. Until those details are available, the record claim remains one reported by Outdoor Life in its account.
The central next step for understanding the story is access to the complete report or record documentation, which could clarify how Snyder made the shot, how the elk was measured and what standard supports the world-record description. The excerpt supplied here does not say whether additional material is forthcoming.
Key Questions
Who shot the reported world-record archery elk?
Dave Snyder, a Las Vegas firefighter, is identified by Outdoor Life as the bowhunter who shot the bull in Montana’s Belt Mountains.
When did the hunt take place?
The report was published on Nov. 2, 2026, and describes the hunt as occurring the previous year, placing it in 2025. The supplied excerpt gives no exact date.
What was the record bull’s score?
The supplied material does not give the record bull’s score. It mentions a 357⅞-point score for a separate, earlier bull Snyder shot; that animal ranked No. 17 in the Pope and Young Club record book at the time described.
How did Snyder know the elk was nearby?
According to the report, Snyder first heard several high-pitched, one-note bugles. A large bull then appeared less than 30 yards away while Snyder was in a tree stand.
Has the record been independently verified in the supplied material?
No verification details are included in the excerpt. It calls the animal a world-record archery elk but does not name the record authority, category or official score.
Source: outdoorlife.com
