The Boone and Crockett Club is the oldest conservation group in North America and its members are behind most of the biggest wildlife conservation policy victories over the last 137 years
By Jodi Stemler
Quick, let’s play word association—if I say, Boone and Crockett Club what comes to mind? I won’t be offended if there isn’t any connection at all, but I’m guessing most of you might be picturing Booner bucks and the well-known scoring system and record book.
What if I told you that the Boone and Crockett Club, founded in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt, is the oldest conservation group in the country? The Club, through Roosevelt and other leaders of the American conservation movement (who were all members of the Club), saw the devastating impact we were having on wildlife and their habitat and called people to action to change America’s direction.
They initially focused on protecting wild places and stopping the killing of game and fish for markets in meat, hides, and feathers. They helped develop the system of funding that supports wildlife conservation across the country. They also spearheaded the nation’s conservation movement, setting aside millions of acres of public land and establishing various agencies like the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. These efforts helped establish a foundation and framework for conservation in America including what has become known as the North American Model for Wildlife Conservation.
From this foundation grew an organization that has been in the fray on conservation issues for over 137 years, leads the way on promoting fair chase and hunter ethics, and of course continues our well-known Records Program that is about so much more than the score.
What about Records?
Yes, the Club is known for its Records Program, but the truth is that the measurement system was established to “record” what was thought to be the vanishing North American big game species. In 1895, shortly after its founding Theodore Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell and Archibald Rogers demonstrated how to measure big game during a sportsman’s show in Madison Square Garden. Club member James Hathaway Kidder then published the first “scoring manual” in 1906. Shortly after in 1932, the Club’s first big-game record book titled, Records of North American Big Game was authored by long-time Club member, Prentiss N. Gray, in cooperation with the National Collection of Heads and Horns—an exhibit that Club members developed and dedicated “In Memory of the Vanishing Big Game of the World”.
During this time, the conservation movement began to take hold. Over the course of the first half of the 1900s, the first laws and policies governing wildlife and providing funding for conservation were enacted, and the hunting community—in particular the Boone and Crockett Club—led the charge. Thanks to these efforts and the public visibility of the National Collection of Heads and Horns, wildlife once again began to thrive.
“The nation’s awakening to the conservation crisis a century ago led to policy changes like the Lacey Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Pittman-Robertson Act, and more—and the Boone and Crockett Club helped lead the charge on many of these issues,” notes Tony A. Schoonen, chief executive officer of the Club.
Wildlife managers and others in the scientific community soon recognized that the system designed to record what was thought to be the last of certain big game species was also an effective means of tracking the success of new conservation policies and programs. The Club’s measuring system was refined and standardized in 1950 and the system is still used today.
Because the measuring techniques have remained constant since then, the Boone and Crockett Club’s records program has established a baseline and allows standardized comparisons of big game animals through time, which are used by wildlife managers as an indicator of herd and habitat health.
The Club recently published the 15th edition of Records of North American Big Game. It is now two volumes with over 1,000 pages featuring all the scores as well as stories and historic photographs. This is truly a collector’s item for anyone interested in the history of big game scoring. In addition, the 32nd Big Game Awards is being planned for the summer of 2025 at the Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium, in Springfield, Missouri—the current home of B&C’s National Collection of Heads and Horns.
Fair Chase and Hunter Ethics
The Club is also well known for its connection to fair chase and ethical hunting. By definition, Fair Chase is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper or unfair advantage over the animals. To be clear, fair chase isn’t just about what is legal or illegal—in fact, fair chase can be subjective and represent different ideals for every hunter.
The origins of the fair chase concept reach back to 1902 and President Theodore Roosevelt, who was on a bear hunt in Mississippi when his guide tied a bear to a tree. The president refused to kill the animal because he had made no effort to hunt the bear himself, nor was there any way for the bear to escape. The accompanying press covered the story, and a political cartoon depicting the event ran in the Washington Post – this also led to the creation of America’s favorite toy, the Teddy Bear.
President Roosevelt brought attention to a new kind of hunting in which sportsmen replaced killers. This event, often called “the most famous hunt to have taken place on American soil,” was the birth of fair chase.
“The concept of fair chase is just as important today as it was over 120 years ago,” Schoonen says. “Most Americans are neither pro-hunting nor anti-hunting. Most of them are on the fence. As hunters, we are all ambassadors for our sport. When we hunt ethically, we will garner more support from the general public and help ensure our hunting heritage continues for generations into the future.”
To continue to build on this legacy, the Club—in collaboration with the NRA’s Hunters’ Leadership Forum—recently released an online Fair Chase and Hunter Ethics Module. The free online course teaches students about the rich tradition of fair chase, helping them understand responsible and ethical hunting. It builds a foundation of principles, which allows students to define their own ethical standards.
So Much More than the Score
Yes, the Boone and Crockett Club is much more than just the records program, and our roots in the nation’s conservation history are deep. Conservation had a beginning, but it has no end. The Club remains in the middle of the conservation policy and hunter ethics challenges we face to this day.
If you are ready to rise to the challenge of those that rose before us, become a grassroots member of the Boone and Crockett Club today. If you join before July 10, you will be entered into our Member Giveback promotion for a chance to win a prize from one of our industry partners!