THE EARLY YEARS

Jim was born and raised in Saskatchewan. “If my father didn’t get his moose every fall, we ate macaroni all winter.” At the age of 17, Jim left Saskatchewan to attend university in British Columbia on a swimming scholarship. He became an All-American and then joined the Canadian National water polo team and competed in two World Aquatic Championships (Germany and Ecuador). After, he married his soulmate, Louise, and pursued his two passions, collecting art and hunting. Before he began writing articles for hunting publications, he owned three antique stores in Vancouver.

WRITING AND OUTFITTING

In 1992, Jim purchased his first outfitting territory, Pacific Rim Guide Outfitters on Vancouver Island. In 1996, he purchased his Canadian Whitetail Adventures territory for whitetail deer in Saskatchewan, and in 2002, he began outfitting in the Yukon where he owns the famed Rogue River Outfitting Territory to this day. At the same time, he continued writing about hunting, eventually having about 1,000 articles published. But he put away his word processor in the year 2000 because, by then, he had learned to depict hunting and conservation digitally.    

TELEVISION

The outdoor television networks and the viewing public discovered and supported Jim Shockey from the start (including his humorous and wise father, Hal, his wife and supporter and narrator, Louise, his beautiful and tough daughter, Eva, and his brilliant producer-editor son, Branlin). Jim’s energetic and adventurous approach to worldwide big game hunting and conservation has made him, according to Outdoor Life magazine, the most influential hunting personality alive today. 

HAND OF MAN MUSEUM

“From the age of ten, I knew I would someday have my own museum of natural history and cultural arts.” After 50 years of hunting and collecting, Jim opened the Hand of Man Museum on Vancouver Island. It has won national acclaim in all the major newspapers across Canada, and it was created without government funding. Jim and Louise financed the entire museum from their personal bank accounts. On display are hundreds of big game mounts and skeletons (including some ancient specimens) and thousands of hand made artifacts and cultural art from around the globe. Over 26,000 visitors enjoyed touring the 17,000 square foot museum in 2022.

NOVELIST!!

Wait … there’s more. Jim has signed a two-book, commercial fiction deal with Simon and Schuster in New York, to write two novels. He actually stopped international travel back in October, 2019, to be able to have the time to sit down and complete the first one, a thriller titled “Call Me Hunter.” The release date of 125,000 copies to book stores is slated for October 2023. It is already available for pre-order on Amazon. A movie deal is being discussed!  

HUNTING AWARDS

The following were accomplished with rifle for about 1/3 of his trophies and muzzleloader or bow for about 2/3:

* The Weatherby Hunting and Conservation Award

* The only person to win all 3 of the following SCI awards: CJ McElroy Award, North American Professional Hunter of the Year, and International Hunter of the Year

* The Ovis Award from Grand Slam Club/Ovis (for “having an overwhelming passion for hunting the mountains and doing so in fair chase and with total integrity”) 

NEXT QUARTER, ANOTHER ELITE HUNTER WILL BE PROFILED. WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT OUR SELECTION COMMITTEE IS COMPOSED OF RENOWNED HUNTERS: ED YATES, REX BAKER, and

RENEE SNIDER.

For the second half of 2021 and all of 2022, 18 consecutive monthly Elite Hunter selections were made and profiled. Beginning in January, 2023, selections are being made quarterly and are published the first month of each quarter (January, April, July, and October).