Montana BBQ Cookoff
2024-06-07 – 2024-06-08 · Absarokee, MT · 📍 Main Street · State championship
Reps: DEL ANDERSON, FORREST BRUCE · Prize money: $9,200.00
Grand Champion: Bushmaster BBQ (703.9772) · 28 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 American Heroes BBQ
Entries
Top score
Winning margin
Field average
Tightest race
Top-10 cutoff
Field spread
Prize money
Double threats
How hot was the win?
Traveled in
Came back for more
Form held
Field strength
Storylines
🧳 Out-of-towners took the title
Bushmaster BBQ took the Grand Championship home to CO.
🧹 A double category winner
Bushmaster BBQ won Pork Ribs, Pork — a double, and took the Grand Championship on top of it.
📸 Photo finishes
Pork Ribs places 3–4: American Heroes BBQ and BIG BOYZ BBQ tied on 175.4172 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 5–6: TEXAS SMOKE WHISPERER and Smoke On The Waters BBQ tied on 174.2628 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 9–10: 202 BBQ edged TEXAS SMOKE WHISPERER by 0.0112.
🛡️ Back to defend
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: Colorado Bulldawg BBQ (won 2023).
Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)
Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)
Score distribution
Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)
Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)
Where the field came from (home regions on file)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-06-09 | Absarokee, MT | Woodard Ave | 36 | 707.4400 | Colorado Bulldawg BBQ | Dirty Little Pigs BBQ |
| 2024-06-07 ← this one | Absarokee, MT | Main Street | 28 | 703.9772 | Bushmaster BBQ | American Heroes BBQ |
| 2025-06-13 | Absarokee, MT | Main Street | 33 | 691.3828 | Heifers, Butts, & Clucks BBQ | PAPA'S PIT CREW |
| 2026-06-12 | Absarokee, MT | Main Street | 29 | 691.9428 | Smellaque | Colorado Bulldawg BBQ |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180.0000 | 174.8456 | 171.4288 |
| Pork Ribs | 177.1544 | 174.2628 | 171.9656 |
| Pork | 177.1428 | 174.8572 | 169.6800 |
| Brisket | 180.0000 | 174.8456 | 169.7028 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
28 entries · top 703.9772 · median 669.3200
Chicken
28 entries · top 180.0000 · median 167.7430 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork Ribs
28 entries · top 177.1544 · median 166.5314
Pork
28 entries · top 177.1428 · median 164.8114
Brisket
28 entries · top 180.0000 · median 162.5600 · 🔥 perfect 180
Ancillary categories
Run by the organizers alongside the sanctioned contest. These are judged on their own terms and do not count toward the overall score, so they're kept out of the meat stats above.
Ancillary — Anything Goes
14 entries · top 180.0000 · median 173.1200 · 🔥 perfect 180