Jack Joy Whitney: Montana’s First Bowhunter Hall of Fame Legend

By Vic Stickels

Jack Joy Whitney born Oct. 31, 1916, in Ronan, in northwest Montana. At five years old he would run down to the river with his pole to fish, this worried his mom, but she figured he would either catch fish or fall in an drown, there wasn't anything she could do to stop him. It was his grandfather who took him in the woods and taught him how not to get lost, and Woodlore. 

Wasn't long and Jack would always be gone to the woods with nothing but a string an hook surviving off what he found in the wilds. Playing where Swan River flowed into Flathead lake, where he would find arrowheads and such.  Jack was self taught to make his first bows from osage, and arrows from willows when he was just 10 years old. 

When he was in high school he set records in track but had to drop out for a while to help at home. At the age of 20 he got a football scholarship to Stanford, but chose to stay in his beloved Montana to attend the University of Montana an study art, and play football.

 A few years later he found himself in the Navy during WWII serving in the Aleutian Islands. After the war he returned to Bigfoot Montana and got married. 

Jack was a legend in his own time, widely renowned for his skill and knowledge as wood craftsman, naturalist, bow hunter, conservationist, great outdoorsman, and storyteller. He knew where every huckleberry was on his side of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Considered somewhat of an outdoor wizard, many looked to Jack for his expertise of the natural world.

Jack had a uncanny way with wildlife as he could feed animals big or small by hand. He always found time to whittle out a whistle from a dogwood branch for children, identify a bird or plant in the forest for his hiking companions, and skillfully weave a basket to present to a treasured friend.

It was Jack's wife who bought him his first bought bow one Christmas and Jack became very proficient with it. Enough so to have taken more mountain goats than anyone else, according to him. In fact he did enough over the years to land him the first Bowhunter of the year award from the Montana Bowhunter Association. And Jack was the first inductee into the Montana Bowhunter Hall of Fame. 

One Picture is Jack with one of his mountain goats taken from the Swan Mountain Range in Northwestern Montana. Using a homemade bow of 58lb at 31" made from Gordon bo- kore. Backed and faced with Bo-tuff. His arrows were micro flights tipped with Ace 4 bladed broadheads. 

Other picture is his 1959 Whitetail that won a Montana Bowmen award along with his trophies from State Archery Tournaments. 

Jacks great legacy for the outdoors was numerous contributions including a founder of the Audubon Society, which honored him with the Conservation Achievements Recognition Award.  He was the President of the Flathead Wildlife Association; with decades of efforts helping establish the Swan River Trail, the Jewel Basin Hiking Area, and the Sprunger-Whitney Nature Trail; 

He was Founder of the Montana Hunting Heritage, which later honored him with a lifetime achievement award. 

The year 2006 before Jack Whitney passed he could be found sitting in his home with the windows shutting out the roar of the river below. His deck overhanging the Swan River Nature Trail, just before it enters Bigfork Bay. The sound of the spring runoff amplifying up the canyon, cutting through the treetops surrounding his house.