The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) has formally endorsed the Boone and Crockett scoring system for measuring North American sheep taken by WSF members.

The move follows a unanimous vote by the WSF board of directors.

By official proclamation, WSF will use the Boone and Crockett scoring system—and its attendant ethical and fair chase standards--as the basis for its Ram Awards. The awards recognize WSF members who take trophy-class bighorn, California, Dall’s, desert or Stone’s sheep.

The Boone and Crockett scoring system will apply for all rifle kills entered into the Ram Awards. WSF will use accepted international scoring systems for other species of sheep, and Pope and Young Club scoring (which is based on the Boone and Crockett system) for archery kills.

"We’re pleased to formalize our long partnership with America’s first conservation organization, the Boone and Crockett Club. We look forward to an even stronger alliance for putting and keeping sheep on the mountain," said Gray Thornton, WSF president and CEO.

Eldon "Buck" Buckner, vice president of Big Game Records for Boone and Crockett Club, said, "Wild sheep are one of the most tightly monitored of all big game species. This endorsement from the Wild Sheep Foundation is important because it strengthens the objectives we share for sheep conservation as well as sheep hunting in North America."

The Boone and Crockett scoring system was the first ever developed for measuring conservation initiatives in North America. Today the Club’s records book remains a classic gauge of modern habitat and management programs. In addition to its prestigious history and tradition, the Boone and Crockett scoring system is strongly associated with the highest tenets of fair chase and hunting ethics.