Adventures from the Archives

The Boone and Crockett Club’s records contain more than 70,000 big game entries, from musk ox to mule deer. Among those entries are more than a few stories of adventures afield. To celebrate those trophies, their habitat, and the hunter, we’re bringing those stories back to life with each installment of Boone and Crockett’s Adventures from the Archives.

Adventures from the Archives - Dall DeWeese’s Alaska-Yukon Moose

The moose would not go down. In one last final act of desperation (or perhaps revenge), it lowered its antlers and charged at 30 yards. Dall DeWeese stood there, alone, armed with his Mannlicher, watching as the old bull closed the gap. It wasn’t leaving Cook’s Inlet without one last fight. And DeWeese was in the crosshairs.

Adventures from the Archives - Marguerite McDonald’s Grizzly Bear

Before we dive into the details of how this enormous grizzly bear met its demise, we should point out that many facts in this story are blurry. What follows is a compilation of newspaper and magazine articles, blog posts, and personal narratives that all end with one live caretaker and one dead bear. We’ve done our best to highlight the facts and note conjecture.

Adventures from the Archives - Roosevelt Luckey’s World’s Record Whitetail

In the 1930s, Roosevelt Luckey owned a Ford dealership and garage in western New York’s Allegany County. Every year, he’d drive a Ford across the state to the Adirondacks in the northeast corner to hunt deer at a cabin owned by him and a few friends. He killed his first deer there in 1926. He would make the long drive because there were relatively few places open to hunting in New York until the late 1930s. That’s when state game managers opened a short season in Allegany County.

Adventures from the Archives - Bert Riggall’s Bighorn Rams

Alberta 1906Bert Riggall was Alberta’s first Renaissance Man. He was a mountain guide, outfitter, hunter, trapper, rancher, naturalist, photographer, and writer—all wrapped up in one hell of a mustach...

Adventures from the Archives - Jack O’Connor’s Dall’s Sheep

Yukon Territory 1950Outdoor writer and legend Jack O'Connor loved the .270 and hunting North American game. His books and magazine articles singlehandedly launched a thousand hunting trips. This is th...

Adventures from the Archives - Fred Mercer’s Montana Elk

Montana 1958 — With a .270 Winchester Model 70, this dairy farm worker cut a big set of elk tracks in October. He followed that bull for at least a dozen miles using his wits and old-school hunting wisdom. At the end of the trail was the second-largest elk in the world.