est. 1965
About the Wisconsin Buck & Bear Club
Wisconsin’s official big-game records keeper
A nonprofit of dedicated volunteers who collect, verify, and preserve the records of Wisconsin’s finest big game — trophy whitetail deer, black bear, elk, and wolf — scored to Boone & Crockett and Pope & Young standards.
Our Story
The club was founded in 1965 by Peter Haupt, a Hayward hunting guide who noticed something that didn’t add up: Wisconsin had only five deer listed in the national Boone & Crockett record book. It wasn’t for any lack of great animals — it was that no one was keeping score. Haupt and a small group of enthusiastic sportsmen set out to change that, building a statewide measuring and records-keeping program from the ground up.
Wisconsin had only five deer in the Boone & Crockett record book when we started. Our goal was to get as many deer in the book as the other leading states had.
Peter Haupt, founder
From that beginning emerged a statewide network of certified measurers, organized today into regional chapters. In 1996, the State of Wisconsin officially recognized the Wisconsin Buck & Bear Club as its big-game records keeper — a distinction few clubs of its kind can claim.
What We Do
- Measure & verify trophies taken under fair chase, using official Boone & Crockett and Pope & Young scoring.
- Maintain Wisconsin’s official records for trophy whitetail, black bear, elk, and wolf.
- Publish the Wisconsin Trophy Records book, documenting the state’s greatest game.
- Support conservation and youth through scholarships and our “Let ’em Go, Let ’em Grow” ethic.
By the Numbers
1965
Founded
25,000+
Trophies recorded
13,000+
Pope & Young class
1st
To record wolves in N. America
Let ’em Go, Let ’em Grow
Adopted as the club motto in 1990, “Let ’em Go, Let ’em Grow” reflects a simple conservation principle: pass on the young bucks so they can mature into the trophy animals that make Wisconsin’s herd second to none.