The Boone and Crockett Club publishes position statements to inform and educate people about conservation and hunting issues. Thus, there is no charge for personal and non-commercial use of its position statements, but reprinting or re-use of any portions of a position statement shall credit the Boone and Crockett Club as the source. Any such use shall remain subject to all rights of the Boone and Crockett Club.
Conservation
Where Hunting Happens, Conservation Happens™
About
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.
Surveys indicate that only about five percent of America’s population hunts. Those same surveys indicate that another five percent are against any kind of hunting. The 90 percent in the middle? They’re on the fence about it. Relatively few Americans understand that hunters are responsible for the lion’s share of funding for state wildlife management agencies. That’s by design. The Boone and Crockett Club’s founders were hunters who understood that conservation isn’t free. And they worked to create a system of conservation that is paid for by those who care about it most.
Chronic Wasting Disease. Migration corridors. Predation. These are hardly topics of typical household banter, but they are what keep us up at night at the Boone and Crockett Club. These issues, along with many others affecting big game conservation, form the nucleus of our research programs. Our Professional Members and B&C Fellows conduct cutting-edge research on everything from climate change to calf recruitment. And in all the aspects of this research, we believe in using sound science to guide future wildlife management.
At times, it seems the world is changing faster than we can make sense of it. When it comes to conservation, though, the Boone and Crockett Club is working to help our future leaders keep up with those changes and understand what that change means for our wildlife resources. Since 1993, the Club and its members have funded endowed chairs and fellowships at universities across the country. In addition, the Club uses our Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch as a base camp to show young adults how to embrace all aspects of the outdoors.
Boone and Crockett Club members and staff can sometimes be found on Capitol Hill where they work for permanent solutions to conservation problems. It all started with Boone and Crockett Club founder Theodore Roosevelt . He used his executive powers as the 26th U.S president to not just quadruple the amount of protected land in our nation, but plant the ideas that blossomed into the most successful wildlife conservation effort the world had ever seen. From legislation that placed limits on the amount of game one could legally take to the conception and execution of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, the Boone and Crockett Club has always been the tip of the legislative spear.
Accountants keep track of money. Jails keep rosters of inmates. And the Boone and Crockett Club keeps records of the largest specimens of North American big game. Why? Because if you’re going to measure the success of conservation and restoration efforts for an entire continent, then you’re going to need some way to keep score. And that’s what the Club’s founders did when they published the first copy of Records of North American Big Game in 1932.
The Boone and Crockett Club leads the conservation community by example. Through programs like Poach and Pay, we continue to take a stand against wanton waste of our wildlife. In addition, our support of wildlife research and conservation education ensures future generations of game managers and biologists have the tools they need. Even in the halls of Congress, you’ll find members of the Boone and Crockett Club advocating for conservation legislation. Everything we do builds upon the legacy of our founders. And with the continued support of our members and others who care about wildlife, we’ll continue to conserve well into the future. Learn more about our conservation programs and efforts below.
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.
B&C headquarters along the banks of the Clark Fork River in Missoula, Montana. The George C. "Tim" Hixon North American Conservation Summit Center The nation's oldest and most influential conservation group continues its second century of service in the heart of the Rockies in Missoula, Montana...
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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
(M-F) 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
406.542.1888
