"To waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed."

Theodore Roosevelt Message to Congress, Dec 1907 Founder of the Boone and Crockett Club

OUR FINEST HOUR
The concept of fair chase was born out of a desperate need to save wildlife. During the late 1800s and early 1900s our wild game populations were at their lowest levels in recorded history.

At the turn of the 19th Century there were essentially no laws or regulations related to appropriate land use or the taking of wildlife for food or for sport. Conservation was not part of our English language. This vacuum demanded that someone step up and take responsibility. Since hunters, fishermen, and trappers were among the heaviest users of these wildlife resources it only made sense that they lead the charge for recovery and conservation. But before that could happen, it was necessary that hunters evolve into "sportsmen" and those sportsmen needed to attain credibility as caretakers of wildlife to replace the image of exploiters derived during the lawless days of market hunting and unrestricted taking of wildlife.

In a unifying effort to save game populations from further decline, hunters imposed upon themselves a code of ethical conduct. This code defined the rules of behavior required to be a true sportsman. This code was - nothing fancy. It was composed of common sense guidelines. Accepting this code involved accepting hunting seasons, bag limits, and appropriate means and methods for taking game that were being established for the first time. Of the many events that set the course of conservation in North America, hunters accepting responsibility for the welfare of wildlife and a code of ethics for the taking of this wildlife in "fair chase" were among the most important.

Irwin Brothers Collection, AZ Historical Society In the late 1800s the general thinking was an abundance of wildlife meant an inexhaustible supply

Change is never easy and these new guidelines didn't settle well with the free-spirited pioneers of the day who had believed that an abundance of game meant an inexhaustible supply. As the consequences of the extinction of many species of wildlife became apparent, peer pressure and the overwhelming need for conservation won. And thanks to the new breed of sportsman and their allies, the wildlife and hunting heritage in North America was restored and passed on to future generations.

During the early 1900s sportsmen became more and more viewed as honorable members of the community. These sportsmen began to be seen as "conservationists" - those who cared enough to make sure there would always be game to hunt and wildlife for everyone to enjoy.