Tony A. Schoonen

Tony A. Schoonen is the Chief Executive Officer of the Boone and Crockett Club.
Tony was born and raised in Butte, Montana. He grew up working on the Big Hole river for his father’s guide service, first shuttling vehicles and later as a river guide, putting himself through college. He and a couple of buddies started a production company, Stoney-Wolf Productions, and produced the first ever video on elk hunting. The company expanded rapidly, eventually producing 2,000 programs filmed on five continents. The subject matter ranged from hunting and angling to documentaries and youth education.

Tony later worked with The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, developing a corporate partners program and eventually becoming the Vice President of Marketing and Communications. In 2004, several of Tony’s friends on the Board of Directors for Wonders of Wildlife, including John L. Morris, asked Tony to move to Springfield and help out with the museum and aquarium. Tony had a passion for Wonders of Wildlife since it was built in 2001, telling the story of conservation, providing a historical home for the American hunter and angler, and engaging and educating young people in and about the great outdoors. Tony served as Executive Director of the museum until he transitioned to the Boone and Crockett Club where he served as Chief of Staff and later the Chief Executive Officer.
The Boone and Crockett Club is the nation’s oldest conservation organization. Founded in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell, the Boone and Crockett Club helped to establish the principles of wildlife and habitat conservation, hunter ethics, as well as many of the institutions, expert agencies, science, and funding mechanisms for conservation. Its contributions include enlarging and protecting Yellowstone, and establishing Glacier and Denali national parks, founding the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and National Wildlife Refuge System, the Pittman-Robertson and Lacey Acts, creating the Federal Duck Stamp program, and developing the framework for modern game laws.

Tony and his wife Jennifer are the proud parents of two girls. Tony hunts and fishes as much as time allows and includes his family whenever possible. All enjoy the great outdoors and share the same passion for wildlife and wild places.