The Boone and Crockett Club’s history is a 134-year long tale of measured and thoughtful commitment to wild land and wildlife conservation. This commitment balances human and wildlife needs and sees deep value in preserving the hunting tradition. It’s a commitment shaped by visionaries and a common-sense, science-based approach to natural resource management. It’s an effort that has saved many wildlife species from extinction and it’s considered one of our nation’s greatest accomplishments.
Conservation
Where Hunting Happens, Conservation Happens™
History of Boone and Crockett Club
Bison herds in North American were nearly decimated during the Era of Extermination due to unregulated market hunting. Two B&C members, Madison Grant (inset) and William T. Hornaday (far right) were integral in the creation of the National Collection. Hornaday served as the Director of the New...
Established in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell, the Boone and Crockett Club was founded by hunters who dedicated their lives to the conservation of wildlife. As the turn of the 20th century approached our nation, these men had to make a choice: stand by and watch our cherished wildlife disappear or work for the protection and propagation of our wildlife resource. Thankfully, they rose to the challenge and chose the latter.
Although the original intent of the Boone and Crockett Club was “to work for the preservation of the wild animal life of this country,” members have not confined themselves to America. Carl Akeley was an African adventurer, explorer, and conservationist who twice nearly lost his life battling African game.
The Boone and Crockett Club is joining outdoor enthusiasts across the country in commemorating the 50th Anniversary of a true milestone in conservation and one of America's best ideas - the Wilderness Act. On Sept. 3, 1964, with several Boone and Crockett Club leaders in attendance, President...
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service was created in 1940 by merging the Bureau of Biological Survey with the Bureau of Fisheries. This is the story of the early years of the Biological Survey, or, more specifically, of the Boone and Crockett Club Member who founded the bureau and guided it...
Artist, Explorer, Hunter, Writer, Mountaineer – “The game’s up: we’ve got to get down.” With these words to his two companions, Belmore Browne conceded defeat only 125 feet from the summit of Mount McKinley, North America’s highest peak at 20,335 feet. A fierce gale, 55 miles per hour, along with blinding visibility and the temperature at –15° made it impossible to continue. They came so close to the summit while setting an altitude record for climbs in North America. A short time later, as they retreated, a major earthquake rattled the mountain.
Nearly devoid of wild game, North America’s landscape in the late-1800s was a very different place. Bison, elk, and even deer were nearly wiped from the continent to supply a growing demand for meat, hides, and heads. To provide feathers for fashionable hats of high-society ladies, migratory birds were annihilated—sometimes by the hundreds with one shot from a massive “punt” gun. Only a handful of bison remained, and even whitetail deer were hard to find. Wildlife populations were spiraling toward extinction until a handful of influential hunters decided to end the slaughter.
Pioneers of Conservation, Our Legacy for Generations: The Boone and Crockett Club’s history is a 130-year long tale of measured and thoughtful commitment to wild land and wildlife conservation. This commitment balances human and wildlife needs and sees deep value in preserving the hunting tradition...
Politicians, Industrialists, Businessmen, Writers, Artists, Explorers, Scientists, Doctors, and Others Band Together to Support Hunting and Wildlife The Boone and Crockett Club is a non-profit organization founded in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt. His vision was to establish a coalition of dedicated...
Hunting usually isn’t top-of-mind conversation in America’s literary circles, but that may be changing as a book published by Boone and Crockett Club continues to garner national honors and awards.
A hunter, angler and businessman, Bill Demmer of Lansing, Mich ., has been elected president of America's first conservation organization, the Boone and Crockett Club. Theodore Roosevelt founded the Boone and Crockett Club in 1887.
December 1887 - Shortly after Theodore Roosevelt convinced his friends that they should take up the charge to put a halt to the destruction of America's wildlife, their first order of business was to name this new fraternity of sportsmen. The founders decided on Boone and Crockett—two illustrious names from the country’s frontier past, names that are synonymous with America’s pioneering vitality and with rugged individualism, the very personification of the soul of Nimrod , the hunter. Both witnessed a land of abundance stripped of its soul and lamented over the progresses of civilization, well before conservation had a name.
Eighty years ago - Aug. 22, 1934 - the first duck stamp was sold. Since then, thanks mostly to hunters, the stamps have generated more than $800 million and helped secure over 6 million acres of wetland habitat in the U.S. The Boone and Crockett Club marks that day as a major milestone in the North American conservation movement, and says the 80th anniversary is worth remembering.
Dr. James H. "Red" Duke Jr., physician, television personality, conservationist, hunter and past president of Boone and Crockett Club, died Tuesday, August 25. He was 86.
The Boone and Crockett Club is grieving the recent passing of Boone and Crockett Club Honorary Life Member Jack Ward Thomas. The former Chief of U.S. Forest Service and Boone and Crockett Professor Emeritus of Wildlife Biology at University of Montana lost his battle with cancer on May 26. Along with many environmental conservation leaders, Thomas was a close friend of the Boone and Crockett Club. Honorary Life Member is the highest bestowed by the Club.
In December 1887, Theodore Roosevelt invited George Bird Grinnell and nine other friends to a dinner party at his home in New York City. The guest list included writers, scientists, explorers, military leaders, industrialist, and political figures. The one thing that they all shared in common was...
Today the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Theodore Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch in Billings County, N.D., to its 2012 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. This annual list spotlights important examples of the nation’s architectural, cultural and natural heritage that...
In recognition of its 124-year commitment to sustainable-use conservation, the Boone and Crockett Club has received the prestigious Sporting Heritage Award of Excellence from Sporting Classics magazine. B&C Club members CJ Buck, Ben Wallace, and Marc Modavi accept the Sporting Heritage Award of...
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"The wildlife and its habitat cannot speak. So we must and we will."
-Theodore Roosevelt
Headquarters
Boone and Crockett Club250 Station Drive
Missoula, MT 59801
Hours and Phone
Weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
406.542.1888
