Craig Willis grew up in a small town just south of Dallas, Texas with plenty of fields and creeks to play in. His father Bill Willis introduced him and his brother Troy to hunting at an early age. First it was small game and doves, then deer hunting. In the early 90s, Craig set his sights on even larger game, traveling further west to hunt elk, mule deer and pronghorn. Craig’s first big hunt outside of the US was to British Columbia in 2000 for two weeks in the wilderness in pursuit of moose, mountain goats and whatever else crossed their paths that he held a tag for. Craig has done a lot of hunting, but his first love is still an old mature mule deer buck, and he makes annual trips to hunt them each fall. He said there isn’t a particular favorite hunt he has, but rather it’s more about the memories, destinations and friends he has made along the way that are the best part about his various hunting adventures. 

Craig’s pursuit of the Pantheon and all the milestones that are required to achieve it have carried him all around the globe. He completed Grand Slam number1659, Super Slam 137, the Capra Super 30 in 2018 and finished his Ovis Super 30 in September 2024 on a multi-species hunt to Russia where he took three different snow sheep. He was presented with the SCI World Conservation and Hunting Award in 2022.

In the photo above, participants in the 2025 GSCO / SCI Pantheon presentation were (L-R): Pantheon inductees Gary Bogner, Bela Hidvegi, Alan & Barbara Sackman, Jay Link, Dr. Gerald Warnock, Lee Anderson, 2025 Pantheon inductee Al Maki, Ed Yates, 2025 Pantheon inductees Larry Higgins and Craig Willis, Renee Snider, Justin Ragazzine, Alain Smith and Archie Nesbitt.