Old guys go sheep hunting too!

[wyosteve]

Since there seems to be a theme developing here, thought I'd add to it. My friend from Maryland did a Wyo. bighorn hunt 3 years ago and took a dandy ram. He was 83 at the time. He went with me to AK. in 2023 and got a brown bear and we celebrated his 84th birthday at the Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage. Now, after 34 years of applying, he drew an AZ. desert bighorn tag and will be chasing them in December. Oh, and he turned 86 in June!!

 

[Maxhunter]

Age is just a number. Good luck on his AZ hunt.

 

[M44]

Satchel Paige once said.
Age is a case of mind over matter.
If you don't mind, it don't matter .

 

[RCL]

Best wishes to him for a great hunt in Arizona.

 

[elkguide]

My analogy is that "your body is like concrete.... as long as you keep stirring it, it stays fluid, but the instant that you stop stirring, it seizes right up!"

Have a great hunt!

 

[Trr15]

Chasing rams in your 80s is pretty damn impressive. Good for him!

 

[Weldor]

Outstanding!!!!

 

[duckcarver]

There aren't a lot of sheep hunters in Maryland, and far fewer in their 80s! Congratulations to your friend on his tag.

 

[tstowater]

The unfortunate part of sheep hunting has to do with points, money and time. Look at the pictures in Huntin Fool and Epic. Most the the hard to draw tags are old people pictures. Should be a young person's game but isn't due to the factors above. Hunting sheep at 86 is impressive.

 

[DLSJR]

I had an elderly friend who invited me to his house for lunch one day and we were going to talk about African hunting. I knew he had hunted Africa very extensively and had done a bit of sheep hunting, but he was old and I didn’t think he’d hunted sheep very much. So imagine my surprise when his wife opened the door and invited me in and the first thing I saw was 14 mounted rams in the entryway, one Mongolian Argali and 13 North American rams, 2 complete Grand Slams. He was around 85 at the time. I commented that I was surprised at the large number of rams he’d shot and he simply said it would have been a lot more if he hadn’t waited until he was 72 to start sheep hunting! He was doing 2 sheep hunts a year in his 80’s. He passed during the Covid pandemic at, IIRC, 92 years old.

We should all be so fortunate.

 

[C Bow]

Since there seems to be a theme developing here, thought I'd add to it. My friend from Maryland did a Wyo. bighorn hunt 3 years ago and took a dandy ram. He was 83 at the time. He went with me to AK. in 2023 and got a brown bear and we celebrated his 84th birthday at the Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage. Now, after 34 years of applying, he drew an AZ. desert bighorn tag and will be chasing them in December. Oh, and he turned 86 in June!!

That is AWESOME I wish him the best and never give up Old Timer

 

[wyosteve]

If he scores and gives me permission, I'll post a pic. Hunt is in December and will complete his slam if he's successful.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I would do it too if I could get a tag that didn't cost half my family fortune. I'll be 84 in a couple of weeks and I have been applying for sheep for 30 years. I did take a deer and antelope 2 years ago hunting alone here in Colorado. Biggest problem is I have outlived all my hunting partners. I hunt with 1 grandson and 1 son of my long gone best friend.

 

[AKDoc]

Those are several very impressive examples of guys that kept at it. I wish there were more studies that looked closely at the character, personality, life experiences, and values of people like that. Thank you for sharing their stories with us.

 

[wyosteve]

Talked to him last week. He’s getting excited. Leaves the day before Thanksgiving for Arizona. Hunt starts December 1!

 

[Duckhunterbrad]

Looking forward to a hunt recap in a little over a month.

 

[DLSJR]

Those are several very impressive examples of guys that kept at it. I wish there were more studies that looked closely at the character, personality, life experiences, and values of people like that. Thank you for sharing their stories with us.

AKDoc, In response to your comment, I’ll share a few more interesting details about my friend as I think many here will appreciate this...

Bill Pritchard was a very humble and modest man, but few ever built a life as accomplished as Bill. I knew him as a passionate duck hunter and knew that he hunted a fair bit in Africa, but it took a long time to really come to know him. He didn’t talk about himself very much, but wanted to know everything about those with whom he shared time. The next few details I only learned after his death…

He fought in World War II, retiring after the war as a Brigadier General from the Army Air Corps (predecessor to the US Air Force). He was highly educated, earning both a JD and passing the bar but his real passion was veterinary medicine. I knew him as a rice farmer and veterinarian, but didn’t know that he was the Dean of the school of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California at Davis, the nation’s premier Veterinary Medicine School. In fact, UC Davis named the school the William R. Pritchard school of Veterinary Medicine after his retirement. Bill developed many veterinary protocols that we’ve all benefitted from with our dogs and other animals.

As a lunch guest at his home, I learned he had been on 65 African Safaris and counting. In the 50’s through 80’s he did a lot of veterinary work with many African government veterinary and game departments, then would stay a month or longer afterward to hunt. I have no idea how much game he shot as he only had a couple dozen mounts in his study, nine of which were bushbuck! He told me that bushbuck were his favorite animal to hunt and he had one of each species mounted in a group. I’ll never forget Bill telling me that he hunted Kenya back in the days when a hunting license had everything on it, including two elephant bulls! He told me that Black Rhinos were so common then as to be a nuisance when hunting other game.

…and he decided to try sheep hunting when he was 72. He hunted sheep into his late 80’s. Bill passed during Covid.

 

[AKDoc]

AKDoc, In response to your comment, I’ll share a few more interesting details about my friend as I think many here will appreciate this...

Bill Pritchard was a very humble and modest man, but few ever built a life as accomplished as Bill. I knew him as a passionate duck hunter and knew that he hunted a fair bit in Africa, but it took a long time to really come to know him. He didn’t talk about himself very much, but wanted to know everything about those with whom he shared time. The next few details I only learned after his death…

He fought in World War II, retiring after the war as a Brigadier General from the Army Air Corps (predecessor to the US Air Force). He was highly educated, earning both a JD and passing the bar but his real passion was veterinary medicine. I knew him as a rice farmer and veterinarian, but didn’t know that he was the Dean of the school of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California at Davis, the nation’s premier Veterinary Medicine School. In fact, UC Davis named the school the William R. Pritchard school of Veterinary Medicine after his retirement. Bill developed many veterinary protocols that we’ve all benefitted from with our dogs and other animals.

As a lunch guest at his home, I learned he had been on 65 African Safaris and counting. In the 50’s through 80’s he did a lot of veterinary work with many African government veterinary and game departments, then would stay a month or longer afterward to hunt. I have no idea how much game he shot as he only had a couple dozen mounts in his study, nine of which were bushbuck! He told me that bushbuck were his favorite animal to hunt and he had one of each species mounted in a group. I’ll never forget Bill telling me that he hunted Kenya back in the days when a hunting license had everything on it, including two elephant bulls! He told me that Black Rhinos were so common then as to be a nuisance when hunting other game.

…and he decided to try sheep hunting when he was 72. He hunted sheep into his late 80’s. Bill passed during Covid.

Thank you for sharing the additional context and details of Mr/General Pritchard's life. He sure sounds like a wonderful and very representative example of his classic generation. I think you are fortunate to have spent the time to listen and learn more about him as a friend. He sounds very humble...and truly inspiring. Thank you again for sharing with us.

 

[Steve O]

Those are several very impressive examples of guys that kept at it. I wish there were more studies that looked closely at the character, personality, life experiences, and values of people like that. Thank you for sharing their stories with us.

Dr. Bob Speegle is a great example. He decided at the age of 71 to take up archery and went on to take a Super Slam to go along with the one he already had by rifle.

 

[DLSJR]

Dr. Bob Speegle is a great example. He decided at the age of 71 to take up archery and went on to take a Super Slam to go along with the one he already had by rifle.

Bob Speegle is another superb example of what ‘the very best of the best’ in America were like.