B&C Member Spotlight — John A. McGuire

By PJ DelHomme

John A. McGuire was a pioneer of outdoor journalism and an early member of the Boone and Crockett Club. As the founder of Outdoor Life magazine, he encouraged readers to ditch whatever responsibilities they had and take to the hills in search of life in the open. 

McGuire was born in 1869, but little is documented about his early life. The precise origins of his wealth—whether from inheritance or early business ventures—are uncertain. It's clear he possessed the means to establish Outdoor Life magazine and pursue extensive travels, namely to the Alaskan frontier. 

In January 1898, McGuire launched Outdoor Life magazine from Denver, Colorado. His vision was to create a magazine “for sportsmen, written by sportsmen, covering all aspects of the outdoor arena.”  The premier issue featured a letter written by Dall DeWeese to his friends in Colorado while he was hunting in Alaska. In the letter, DeWeese recounts his hunt for one of the largest moose ever killed and recorded around the turn of the 20th century. “Boys, I know that I hew close enough to the line of ‘true sportsmanship’ not to be overcome by selfishness and will say that all points considered, size, massiveness, etc., I believe I have a world beater; but be this as it may, I will be satisfied when I get it packed out and home,” he wrote. The first issue also included a feature on tiger hunting in India and a piece on cycling. 

Even though McGuire would not become a member of the Boone and Crockett Club until 1923, he still enlisted a number of its members to contribute articles. In 1901, they published Theodore Roosevelt’s account of his hunt for a Colorado cougar, which resulted in the only record-book entry from a U.S. president. Fun fact: Roosevelt is also the only hunter to kill a World’s Record with a hunting knife. Early issues of Outdoor Life featured other prominent writers like Zane Grey and Ernest Hemingway. 

In addition to sportsmen penning sporting tales, the magazine achieved a number of firsts in the publishing world. In 1903, it printed the first black and white photograph on the cover to be followed just three years later with the first color cover. McGuire served as the editor for roughly 30 years. 

McGuire founded Outdoor Life magazine, and the first issue featured Dall DeWeese's Alaska moose hunt. 

Alaska’s Impact 

In 1918, McGuire and some companions headed north to the White River country of northeastern Alaska and Yukon Territory. As a trustee of the Colorado Museum of Natural History, he, like numerous Club members, thought it was his duty to collect disappearing big game specimens and secure family groups for museum exhibits. As fellow Club member William Hornaday wrote in the introduction to McGuire’s account of that trip, “... we hold that there is no higher use to which a dead animal can be devoted than to mount it for permanent exhibition in a free public museum.” McGuire and company were hoping to collect family groups of sheep, goats, moose, and caribou for a new wing in the Colorado museum. 

From his travels, McGuire wrote In the Alaska-Yukon Gamelands, recounting his adventures from the 1918 trip. He had more than a few observations, which included urging increased financial support for Alaska’s Fish and Game Department. 

In the 'Afterthoughts' section of his book, McGuire makes clear that he is speaking to a particular segment of society. He writes: “My advice to all men, as emphasized in Outdoor Life and personally, has ever been directed toward living as much of their life in the open as possible. Learn to cultivate a participation in some outdoor hobby (if you haven’t been beguiled in that direction already) to such an extent and with such fervor that it will actually infringe on your social duties, and occasionally be allowed to upset even some of your most profitable and highly cherished business plans. Take this hobby home with you and treat it as you would your best friend; listen to its whims, answer its call, and walk with it in the open.”

Interestingly, one can see similar words and calls to action on platforms like Instagram and Facebook from various social media influencers today. As the founder of Outdoor Life, there’s no doubt that McGuire was one of the earliest influencers of modern-day hunting, fishing, and adventure.

McGuire hired his rather rambunctious son, Harry, to be an editor at the magazine in 1924. At Notre Dame University, Harry was the first to wear a coon skin cap on campus “...suspended for burlesquing the prefect of discipline, became class poet, class orator and was graduated in 1925 with the highest grades ever recorded at the University. On Commencement Day, Notre Dame’s president was heard to mutter that he was relieved to see the last of Harry McGuire.” Regardless of the president’s opinion of him, Harry increased Outdoor Life’s circulation to nearly 140,000 readers before his father sold it in 1929. 

The elder McGuire retired to California, where he died in 1942 in Los Angeles. McGuire's legacy as a pioneer of outdoor journalism is firmly rooted in his founding of Outdoor Life magazine, which revolutionized sporting media. His call to embrace outdoor hobbies and the “strenuous life” in the open is very much alive in various media today. His membership in the Boone and Crockett Club provided him with the connections needed to help spread the word on conservation issues as well. 

Member Spotlights

Boone and Crockett Club members have come from a cross-section of famous accomplished people whose lives and careers have written and recorded the history of this country since the late 19th Century. They have been naturalists, scientists, explorers and sportsmen, writers and academicians, artists, statesmen and politicians, generals, bankers, financiers, philanthropists, and industrialists. Their diversity of ideas and activities during their careers have made the Boone and Crockett Club rich in its fellowship and achievements. To read more member spotlights, just click here. 

PJ DelHomme writes and edits content from his home in western Montana. He runs Crazy Canyon Media and Crazy Canyon Journal.