How Boone and Crockett’s Intervention Saved the Key Deer

A factual account of the conservation fight that saved Florida’s Key deer from extinction, centered on the decisive role of hunter-conservationists and the Boone and Crockett Club. The story details how Boone and Crockett funded and sent warden Jack C. Watson to Big Pine Key to stop poaching when laws existed but enforcement did not. Documented in the field by Chester Moore and Aptitude Outdoors, it highlights boots-on-the-ground wildlife management, the creation of the National Key Deer Refuge, and the success of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. This piece examines how enforcement, habitat protection, and stewardship preserved one of North America’s most unique deer subspecies.