Bobby Pope: Clint Ward shares hunting tales in "Looking Back"
Local building contractor Clint Ward was a pretty good high school athlete at FPD. He was a starter in the Vikings' secondary in football, a starter in center field on the baseball team and didn't lose a race in the 100 meters as a senior while competing on the track and field squad. While he enjoyed his high school athletic experiences, his real passion always has been the outdoors as a hunter and a fisherman. He just completed his first ever book, being aided by Northway pastor Kevin Mills, entitled "Looking Back," stories of hunting, fishing, family and faith.
Ward began hunting at 11 but didn't bag his first deer, a buck, until he was 13, and he hasn't slowed down since. He chronicles that experience in "Looking Back," as well as some of the other amazing hunts that he has been on during his longtime outdoor odyssey. He is a three-quarter North American Sheep Grand Slammer meaning that he has killed three of the four animals that make up that designation. He got the Rocky Mountain Bighorn in Idaho, The Dall in Alaska and the Stone Sheep in British Columbia. What he is lacking to complete the Grand Slam is the Desert Bighorn, the smallest of the North America sheep and the one that is most difficult to get because he has never been able to draw a tag allowing him to make a hunt. Only a little more than 1,800 people have ever completed the Grand Slam.
The sheep hunts are both mentally and physically challenging as Ward explains. Months prior to embarking on those hunts, he would begin physical training to get him ready for the mountainous terrain where the sheep are located. Walking five to 10 miles up a mountain is the rule rather than the exception.
Ward has hunted in Africa, South America, Central America, Canada, Alaska and throughout the continental United States during the past three decades. He has chapters on hunting for mallard ducks in Middle Georgia, pheasant in Kansas, quail in Texas and mountain goats, bears and elk in British Columbia. He killed a black bear and an elk on the same trip shortly after graduating from college, and his success led to him getting married to his wife, Christa. He had made a vow that he wouldn't wed until he killed an elk because he didn't think his wife would allow him to go on such a hunt after he tied the knot. Shortly after returning from that successful trip, he popped the question, and she said yes.
Hunting can be a dangerous sport as Ward found out while seeking out mountain goats in Canada. After a successful kill, he went to retrieve the animal but stepped on an ice spot and began sliding down the mountain where he was hunting hitting the jagged edge of the rock face. Along the way his backpack shielded him from many of the rocks and his gun lodged between two boulders stopping his descent.
But that wasn't the end of the story. He suffered two spiral fractures of bones below the knee and had to wait on the mountain for more than 24 hours before he was rescued. He spent the next six months in a wheelchair or on crutches recovering. I also enjoyed Ward's story about his close encounter with grizzly bears while hunting for elk in British Columbia. He's not sure how close it was, but it is an entertaining tale.
Ward has three children, and two of them seem to have inherited his passion for the outdoors, and both got their first deer at an earlier age than he did. His son Stokes killed his first at age 6 while his daughter Dallas got hers at age 7. The Wards' third child, Jarrett, is not into hunting, but she does go with the family on its outdoor outings.
In addition to the hunting stories in "Looking Back," you will find chapters on Ward's fishing escapades along with numerous humorous tales from his youth, high school and college days. You also get a sense of what faith and prayer mean in his life.
Contact Bobby Pope at bobbypope428@gmail.com
This story was originally published November 2, 2015 at 9:01 PM with the headline "Bobby Pope: Clint Ward shares hunting tales in "Looking Back" ."