RIP Bill

[bearpaw]

I was deeply saddened to hear about Bill Hearnsberger. I am told that Bill passed away June 1, presumably from a heart attack. Hard to believe! He worked as a hunting guide for me for a few years in Idaho, Utah, and Washington during which time we became friends. Even though Bill moved on to other jobs we have kept in touch from time to time over the years. I wanted to share a photo of Bill with a happy hunter he guided in 2006 and the large bull elk they got. RIP Bill, you will be missed but I know you are probably busy hunting big bucks and bulls in the happy hunting grounds.

[Special T]

If you want your friends to know your friend the best way to honor thier memory is to tell a story about them.

RIP Bill

[jackelope]

Sorry for the loss of your friend, Dale.
RIP Bill.

[bearpaw]

Bill enjoyed horses and our nickname for him was "Wild Bill", he's the guy on the left in the photo. Our group of guides always jokes around quite a bit, with a fair amount of pranking and there is always a fair amount of competition between guides, especially with the group of guides I had at that time. Of course he shared in the joking and pranks as much as anyone. I can remember that whenever you got one on Bill he would just look at you with a big smile and say nothing, when Bill was speechless with that smile you knew you had gotten one on Bill. 

He lived in western Washington for a while so someone else may know him. He also worked for other outfitters in Idaho and Montana and spent some time in Louisiana. Most recently he worked as a truck driver and lived in Big Sky, Montana. Bill always dreamed about doing fun hunts and we talked about doing a sheep hunt together in Montana, I'm sorry that we never did.

The bull in the photo was our best bull that year. We had seen that bull in archery season and if I remember correctly one of our bow hunters missed an opportunity at that bull. Bill was intent on finding that bull again as were a couple of my other guides. Just before dark on their way back to camp Bill and this Amish rifle hunter from Ohio got another chance and the hunter made good on the opportunity of a lifetime. Bill dressed the big bull and worked late into the night getting it back to camp. Although the photo does not do it justice, we gross scored the bull at 352 the next day.

[Special T]