2018 - Jim Shockey, Canada
Jim Shockey (born 1957) is a Canadian outdoor writer, a professional big game outfitter and television producer and host for many hunting shows. Shockey is the producer and host of Jim Shockey’s Hunting Adventures and Jim Shockey’s Uncharted on Outdoor Channel and Jim Shockey’s The Professionals on Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel. He is an active member of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), serving the rank Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel (HLCol) of the 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group. Shockey has been called by Outdoor Life magazine “the most accomplished big-game hunter of the modern era, having taken arguably the most free-range big game species by any living hunter.” They also noted that he is “the most influential celebrity in big-game hunting.”
Jim was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Shockey was formerly an All-American swimmer in university and later played on the National waterpolo team for six years. Shockey participated in both the 1978 and 1982 world championships but did not attend the 1980 Olympics because of the international boycott against Russia. Shockey is considered to be one of the world’s foremost experts on the Ethnocentric Folk Art forms from Western Canada and is an avid collector of Tribal art and artifacts from around the world. His collections have appeared several times in publications such as Country Living and Century Home. Shockey got married in the early 1980’s to Louise, who was an actress, and the couple have two children. Branlin and Eva Shockey have both joined Shockey in his hunting and entertainment business.
He is a member of the Pro Staff or a brand ambassador for Stealth Cam, Nosler, Crosman/Benjamin, Yeti Coolers, and a partner of Bowtech. He currently has three TV series that appear on outdoor lifestyle TV networks Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel, Jim Shockey’s Hunting Adventures, Jim Shockey’s UNCHARTED, and Jim Shockey’s The Professionals. His daughter, Eva Shockey, joins him as co-host on Jim Shockey’s Hunting Adventures.
Between 2009-2015, Shockey won 15 awards at the annual Outdoor Channel “Golden Moose” Awards and won one award at Sportsman Channel’s “Sportsman Choice” Awards of 2014.
In 2016, the two networks joined forces and hosted the “Outdoor Sportsman Awards” ceremony, and in 2017 Shockey won the “Outdoor Sportsman Awards” for Best Overall TV Series. In 2018, he was bestowed two Fan Favorite awards for Best Big Game Hunting Series and Best Education/Entertainment Series.
His series are sponsored by Nosler, Leupold, Site-Lite, Havalon Knives, Cabela’s, Stealth Cam, Primos, Yeti Coolers, The Heater Body Suit, Bowtech, Rage, and ARGO.
He has received numerous accolades for his work in the outdoors. From Safari Club International he won the Fourth Pinnacle of Achievement Award in 2008; the Zenith Award, Crowning Achievement Award, Professional Hunter Award and the C.J. McElroy Award in 2009; the World Hunting Award in 2010; and was named International Hunter of the Year and received the World Conservation & Hunting Award in 2012. In 2016 he received the Conklin Award, which recognizes the world’s greatest active hunter who pursues game in the most difficult terrain and conditions while abiding by the highest standards of ethics and fair chase.
In August 2015, Shockey and his daughter Eva appeared on the cover of USA Today Hunt + Fish. The article within the Summer/Fall 2015 edition touches on the strength of their relationship, the importance of the outdoors and how Eva has become the new face of hunting. And, in November 2017, Outdoor Life featured Shockey on the cover of their “The Influencers” edition. The article within the December 2017/January 2018 issue tackled the legacy of modern hunting’s most influential celebrity — from Shockey’s humble beginnings, his 30-plus year career, his hunting philosophy (Shockey argues the “trophy hunting” terminology needs to be changed to “selective hunting.”), his thoughts on conservation (which boil down to supply-and-demand economics), and the balance he strikes in portraying hunting on TV and serving as a brand ambassador to the biggest names in the industry.
