JackAtchesonSr-obituary-December 28, 2017
LEGENDARY OUTDOORSMAN JACK ATCHESON
SENIOR PASSES
Butte, Montana: Sportsmen and women around the world lost a
friend, advocate, ally, and invaluable resource with the passing of Jack
Atcheson Sr. of Butte, Montana on December 27, 2017; at the age of 85.
Jack Atcheson Sr. was born May 9, 1932, in Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania. Son of a farmer and coal miner, he moved with his family to
Butte, Montana in the late 1930s and called Butte home for the rest of his
life. Atcheson was still a teenager when he enlisted in the Army, spending a
year in infantry combat in Korea. He suffered frostbite in the Korean winter
and had lifelong back pain from a near-miss from an enemy artillery shell.
Atcheson left the Army as a Master Sergeant and returned to
Butte, marrying his lifelong partner, Mary Claire. Together they founded Jack
Atcheson & Sons in 1955, originally a taxidermy business that developed
into an agency for organizing outdoor adventures around the world. It was Jack
Atcheson Sr. who coined the term “hunting consultant” to describe his
occupation, the term that is now commonly used—and preferred—by his competitors
and colleagues.
A dedicated Western hunter himself,
Atcheson was on the scene as North American big game rebuilt and hunting
opportunities expanded in the Western United States, Canada, and Alaska. He was
also a pioneer in hunting and conservation throughout the world, arranging some
of the first organized expeditions to Mongolia in the early 1960s, and, as the
winds of change swept traditional hunting grounds in East Africa, he was among
the first to organize safaris to Angola, Congo, Botswana, then-Rhodesia, and
then-Southwest Africa; and as Northern Rhodesia transitioned to Zambia he was
an original partner in Zambia Safaris.
The first American clients Atcheson sent to Southwest Africa
(now Namibia) were his lifelong friends Jack and Eleanor O’Connor; a few years
later he hosted Jack O’Connor on his final hunting trip, for whitetail in
Montana. During the same period, he arranged the first (of many) guided hunts,
for elk in Montana, for then-future journalist Craig Boddington, who considered
Atcheson a mentor as well as friend…as do so many of his thousands of clients
over the years.
An extremely active and experienced international hunter
himself, Atcheson was also a dedicated user of Montana’s public lands and
outspoken advocate for public land opportunity. He was one of the leaders
behind the passage of Montana’s famous Stream Access Law guaranteeing access to
fishermen…and opening up over five million “blocked” acres of Montana public
land to sportsmen and women. In 2000 he was awarded the prestigious Time/Mirror
-Outdoor Life Magizine Conservation Award for his conservation efforts. Other recipients include Aldo Leopold and
Jimmy Carter. Many of his adventures are
collected in his hunting memoir, Hunting
Adventures Worldwide (Stoneydale Press, 1995).
Jack Atcheson Sr. is survived by his wife, Mary Claire; and
by his four children: Sons Jack Jr., Keith, and Brian; and daughter Kristie.
Although remaining an active Montana sportsman until his final autumn, Atcheson
retired gradually from the family business. Jack Atcheson & Sons remains in
Butte, Montana, now operated by brothers Jack Jr. and Keith Atcheson…and
remains active in hunting and conservation throughout the world. Their father’s
motto, and their company slogan, is “Go hunting while you are physically able.”
Jack Atcheson Sr. lived that motto until the end.
