1906 Measurer's Manual Now Available!

One of two known original copies of Big Game Measurements.

Boone and Crockett Club is very excited to announce that it recently released a limited edition of the Club’s long-forgotten, very first official scoring manual titled,Big Game Measurements, which was published in 1906. This book is a must-have for B&C book collectors and those especially interested in the history of the Club’s records-keeping activities.

Little is known about the Club’s early records-keeping efforts and even less about publication of Big Game Measurements. It is known that the Club’s interest in big-game records keeping goes back to its very roots and its founding fathers Theodore Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell, and Archibald Rogers. In 1895, these three members served as big game judges for the first-ever Sportsman’s Exposition held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In 1902, the Club’s Executive Committee assigned Roosevelt, Rogers, and Caspar Whitney to a special subcommittee with a goal of creating a standard scoring procedure for native North American big game.

For decades, it was believed that the next significant event in the Club’s records-keeping activities was publication of the Club’s first records book, Records of North American Big Game, in 1932. However, the recent discovery of an extremely rare copy of Big Game Measurements has rewritten that history. It was edited by B&C Club member James H. Kidder and published in 1906 by Grinnell’s Forest and Stream Publishing Company. It was the culmination of the work performed by Roosevelt’s subcommittee.

For Boone and Crockett Club book collectors—and there are many—Big Game Measurementsreally is the “Holy Grail.” Only two copies of the original edition of this extremely rare B&C publication are known to exist. The first one, with a much deteriorated cover, sold on eBay in 2005 to a private individual. The second copy, which is in very good condition considering the age and the leather binding, was purchased by B&C in 2008 for the Club’s library from a private individual. It is believed that less than 100 copies were printed in 1906 and sold to Club members.

This ad for Big Game Measurements ran in Forest and Stream on August 16, 1910

The scoring system detailed in Big Game Measurements was very different from the Club’s current scoring system adopted in 1950. For example, no skull measurements were taken of bears. Instead, eleven different physical body measurements, such as standing height at the shoulders and gross weight, were recorded. Measurements recorded for sheep included only the length of horn, circumference of base, and the tip-to-tip spread. These are the actual measurements that were included in the first edition of Records of North American Big Game in 1932.

The new publication shown at left is smythe sewn and bound in black cow leather with three-loop closure. Shown is an inside page illustrating the original physical measurements for bears.

Club members became involved in records-keeping at the beginning of the 20th Century because they pessimistically believed that most native North American big game species were in danger of extinction. Among their goals was the need to make people aware of the plight of big game and to preserve viable statistical data so that future generations would know the sizes these animals attained should they go extinct.

Less than 50 copies of the 150 printed in this special limited and numbered edition of Big Game Measurements are left. So, don’t miss this rare opportunity to order your copy of this still extremely rare Boone and Crockett Club publication by immediately calling 888-840-4868, toll free. The cost is $200 per copy plus shipping and handling. Limited to 150 copies, this special limited edition is sure to become a collector’s item and sell out fast.