How Long Did it Take for Your SCI Record Book Entries to Appear?

[Sabre]

I recently joined SCI this year. I have never had anything measured before this for any club or book. I decided to start with having a few things measured to see how the process goes. I will likely have some other things from past hunts measured in the future.

When I submitted the entries, the online form and SCI website said 6-8 weeks for the entire process to be completed and then you would get a card in the mail with the entry. It has now been 13 weeks, so I called to see if there was an issue and they told me they were approved, but pending, not in the book, and they still need to be sent to a board. Which they might send this batch in a week or two and then from there however long it takes the board to look at all the entries they send them. Then someone will enter them into the book.

I am guessing by the end of it, it will take around 20+ weeks. The person on the phone said this was a very normal amount of time which just surprised me based on the SCI website and Record Book saying 6-8 weeks.

Not like this is a big deal in life. But I was surprised by how long it is taking compared to the stated times, is this pretty normal from other people's experience?

 

[wesheltonj]

20+ is correct, 4-6 weeks is someone’s aspirational dream.

 

[Sabre]

20+ is correct, 4-6 weeks is someone’s aspirational dream.

Kind of like when my wife says she will be ready in 5 minutes. Or when I tell her there is only 5 minutes left in the game.

 

[Badjer]

I recently joined SCI this year. I have never had anything measured before this for any club or book. I decided to start with having a few things measured to see how the process goes. I will likely have some other things from past hunts measured in the future.

Where did you get the measurements taken? One of my guides (before I left) said I may have some SCI and/or Rowland Ward animals.

 

[Sabre]

Where did you get the measurements taken? One of my guides (before I left) said I may have some SCI and/or Rowland Ward animals.

Find a Measurer - Safari Club

Name City State/Prov Zip Country Name City State/Prov Zip Country

safariclub.org

Use that link to locate an SCI measurer near you.

I looked into having the few I had measured by SCI also measured by Rowland Ward. However, there was only one measurer listed anywhere near me. When I called him, he said he signed up to do it a very long time ago and had never actually measured anything for them because no one ever contacted him and wasn't really sure about doing it. The lack of measurers near me, lack of contacts available, and lack of info available online made me decide not to deal with Rowland Ward.

Other people on here seem very into Rowland Ward, but I found it frustrating trying to gather info about them. Their own measurer said he thought no one was really interested in entering records with them anymore. I don't necessarily agree with that based on people's comments on here. But maybe it is more common outside the US, or in certain parts of the US.

 

[DieJager]

Interesting thread. So you go with your trophies to the measurer if I am correct. Will they upload the record of the animal or how does it work?

 

[Sabre]

Interesting thread. So you go with your trophies to the measurer if I am correct. Will they upload the record of the animal or how does it work?

I looked up a measurer near me. If you have one that you think will make it into the top 20 for that species, make sure you go to a "master measurer".

Then called the measurer, and we set up a time for me to come over and have them measured. It seemed like by what he said sometimes they like to have you leave them there to be measured at their convenience. But the things I had measured were simple to measure, so he did them while I waited. I took the trophies to the measurer, and he measured them.

The documentation was one sheet which he filled out with the measurements and information he asked of me about the hunt. Such as the date, method of kill, location, etc.

Then he signed and dated the sheet and gave it to me. From there it was up to me if I wanted to officially submit it to SCI.

You do need to become a member of SCI in order to submit things to the record book.

I submitted the documents to their online portal by entering the info from the sheet, and also scanning it and uploading the signed document from the measurer. You also generally need to submit a "field photo" from the hunt with the measurement document.

From there, in my case, it took I think about a month and a half for someone from the records department to review the forms and approve them.

After the records department approves your submission it is then sent on to the awards board where an "expert panel" will review each submission and give it a final approval to be entered into the record book.

During the review by the record department or with the awards board panel, it is possible for it to be rejected if they see something wrong, or it could be requested that it be remeasured, or more documentation, etc.

If you had a trophy measured by a regular measurer and the animal qualifies as a top 20 animal, it will need to be remeasured by a "master measurer". That is why I suggested finding a master measurer from the start if you believe it might make top 20.

There are other rules that vary by different species and also different rules based on how high it ranks, such as drying times and if in the top 3-5 for a species. But that seems to be the general process from my experience so far and from what I have found in researching it.

Other people who have much more experience can feel free to add their expertise as well.

 

[DieJager]

I looked up a measurer near me. If you have one that you think will make it into the top 20 for that species, make sure you go to a "master measurer".

Then called the measurer, and we set up a time for me to come over and have them measured. It seemed like by what he said sometimes they like to have you leave them there to be measured at their convenience. But the things I had measured were simple to measure, so he did them while I waited. I took the trophies to the measurer, and he measured them.

The documentation was one sheet which he filled out with the measurements and information he asked of me about the hunt. Such as the date, method of kill, location, etc.

Then he signed and dated the sheet and gave it to me. From there it was up to me if I wanted to officially submit it to SCI.

You do need to become a member of SCI in order to submit things to the record book.

I submitted the documents to their online portal by entering the info from the sheet, and also scanning it and uploading the signed document from the measurer. You also generally need to submit a "field photo" from the hunt with the measurement document.

From there, in my case, it took I think about a month and a half for someone from the records department to review the forms and approve them.

After the records department approves your submission it is then sent on to the awards board where an "expert panel" will review each submission and give it a final approval to be entered into the record book.

During the review by the record department or with the awards board panel, it is possible for it to be rejected if they see something wrong, or it could be requested that it be remeasured, or more documentation, etc.

If you had a trophy measured by a regular measurer and the animal qualifies as a top 20 animal, it will need to be remeasured by a "master measurer". That is why I suggested finding a master measurer from the start if you believe it might make top 20.

There are other rules that vary by different species and also different rules based on how high it ranks, such as drying times and if in the top 3-5 for a species. But that seems to be the general process from my experience so far and from what I have found in researching it.

Other people who have much more experience can feel free to add their expertise as well.

Thanks for the eleborate reply. I am a SCI member but not active, except paying my contribution and reading the magazine. My country only has two measurers for the whole country (live in Europe). I am thinking doing the course and become a measurer. I still have to have one of the two measurers score my trophies but more options for fellow hunters is no bad idea.

I am certain I do not have any top 20 animals. Although my springbok I took last year will make the record book. First entry is free so I am thinking about scoring my springbok when it arrives from the taxidermist.

This info is very helpful in that regard.

 

[wesheltonj]

. . . Their own measurer said he thought no one was really interested in entering records with them anymore. I don't necessarily agree with that based on people's comments on here. But maybe it is more common outside the US, or in certain parts of the US.

That might because the Rowland Ward trophy has to be big and not many animals qualify, whereas SCI has Bronze, Silver and Gold. I prefer to have my animals in Rowland Ward.

 

[Sabre]

That might because the Rowland Ward trophy has to be big and not many animals qualify, whereas SCI has Bronze, Silver and Gold. I prefer to have my animals in Rowland Ward.

I sort of agree. In that Rowland ward being stricter on size naturally makes it more exclusive. However, what I was looking to have measured would have easily made it into Rowland ward, and I was interested in participating. But, if availability just isn’t present, then people aren’t going to do it. So I don’t think it is exclusively a size issue.

 

[Philip Glass]

Find a Measurer - Safari Club

Name City State/Prov Zip Country Name City State/Prov Zip Country

safariclub.org

Use that link to locate an SCI measurer near you.

I looked into having the few I had measured by SCI also measured by Rowland Ward. However, there was only one measurer listed anywhere near me. When I called him, he said he signed up to do it a very long time ago and had never actually measured anything for them because no one ever contacted him and wasn't really sure about doing it. The lack of measurers near me, lack of contacts available, and lack of info available online made me decide not to deal with Rowland Ward.

Other people on here seem very into Rowland Ward, but I found it frustrating trying to gather info about them. Their own measurer said he thought no one was really interested in entering records with them anymore. I don't necessarily agree with that based on people's comments on here. But maybe it is more common outside the US, or in certain parts of the US.

We are getting more SCI measurers qualified. They do these courses at Nashville during convention. I encourage more folks to sign up for the course! For those without any scorers nearby it can actually be done by FaceTime with you holding the tape. I am waiting on one of my friends to get to be a master measurer hopefully next year. If the animal is top 20 it has to go to a master measurer. This has stalled me a bit as there are none nearby.

 

[wesheltonj]

. . . This has stalled me a bit as there are none nearby.

Define nearby? There's one in Kerrville.

 

[Sabre]

I wanted to update this to provide insight for anyone that might search out the question in the future.

It took 21-22 weeks from the time of submission to book entry.

It was about 11 weeks for them to be approved but pending and waiting on the boards certification.
So after the 11 week mark the rest of the time was just sort of waiting in line for the board to certify/approve them.

One thing that is interesting, since it takes about half a year, is that, if a person joins and then waits to submit for a while, they could end up not being a member anymore by the time their stuff is approved.

One area of contention for me is that their rules state that you need to submit by (I believe it was) March 31st for your submission to be considered for a "Major Award" like Top Ten NA etc. Now, these seem a bit.....subjective to me as far as an awards category goes. So while they are neat, they don't seem completely objective to me, and so this didn't bother me much. But, if someone was very interested in being considered for those, you wouldn't have been. I say that because my records were submitted before the deadline, but my records weren't even looked at until after the awards issue of the magazine was sent out. However, since they were sent in before the deadline, they couldn't be considered for next year either. Sort of hit a weird middle ground with that.

Again, while a neat thing, the subjective awards don't mean much to me, they might mean more to someone else and I feel like you should know to become a member and submit well before the deadline if possible.

Overall, it was an interesting experience. I will likely stay an SCI member and I may or may not have other things measured in the future. I do wish there was more info about this whole process on their site, I wish the info that was there was even close to the time it really takes, and just to do things the way they state they will would be better. I am very glad SCI exists to keep records and promote hunting.

 

[codofish]

Find a Measurer - Safari Club

Name City State/Prov Zip Country Name City State/Prov Zip Country

safariclub.org

Use that link to locate an SCI measurer near you.

I looked into having the few I had measured by SCI also measured by Rowland Ward. However, there was only one measurer listed anywhere near me. When I called him, he said he signed up to do it a very long time ago and had never actually measured anything for them because no one ever contacted him and wasn't really sure about doing it. The lack of measurers near me, lack of contacts available, and lack of info available online made me decide not to deal with Rowland Ward.

Other people on here seem very into Rowland Ward, but I found it frustrating trying to gather info about them. Their own measurer said he thought no one was really interested in entering records with them anymore. I don't necessarily agree with that based on people's comments on here. But maybe it is more common outside the US, or in certain parts of the US.

My taxidermist just measured two of my African animals that are top twenty and should be measured by a SCI master measurer. I have two coming from South America that were measured there by a SCI measurer that are top twenty. How do you locate a SCI master measurer? Their database does denote a "master." Or am I just missing that in my search?

 

[Sabre]

@codofish
Yes, on the website in the link you replied to, it will have an “(M)”, next to or below the name on their list. That’s what denotes master measurer. Congrats on the top 20 animals.