2023 AWARDS

two candidates who are equally deserving and inseparable in spirit. Neither of them ever sought this award, and neither would have ever accepted it without the other beside him. Their bond was that close. They both shared modest yet bigger-thanlife personalities that drove them to far parts of the world not to collect the most species but to sate their souls with adventure. Along the way, they each successfully hunted over 40 different kinds of wild animals.

Both were cut from the same cloth as self-made businessmen, one raised in rural Iowa, the other on the plains of western Canada. Even as young boys of humble origins, wanderlust pulsed in their veins and big dreams filled their minds.

As they became financially successful, one in the oil fields of northern Canada and the other in pizza ovens across the lower 48, they not only hunted North American wild sheep but also pioneered sheep hunting in faraway places like China, Mongolia and the Middle East before it was fashionable and accessible as it is today. They both loved the giant swooping horns of the argalis and hunted them almost 40 years ago, a time when those extreme windswept places were different worlds that will never be that wild and untouched by intruders again. In this, these two friends saw what most of us will never see. And they told the stories to inspire mountain hunter-conservationists for generations to come.

In 2002, both Ron Roderick and Ron Carey distinguished themselves by achieving the rare accomplishment of each harvesting not only a FNAWS but also 12 world species of wild sheep and 12 world species or subspecies of wild goats.

The Mountain Hunter Hall of Fame ceremony is often a crazy occasion, full of joking and banter, but this year’s award was conferred with bittersweetness and solemnity.

For only one of the two recipients was present to accept it. Ron Roderick graciously entered the Mountain Hunter Hall of Fame with the spirit of fellow inductee Ron Carey at his side.

In accepting the honor, Roderick reminded the audience that the award’s first winner was the late Chris Klineburger, the legendary mountain hunter, international travel consultant and author revered as the pioneer of Asian hunting and conservation. With Klineburger opening up the vast empire once known as the Soviet Union to international hunting, sheep hunting was forever changed. “Chris was a great influence. He’s looking down on us right now,” Roderick said.

A longtime generous donor and WSF board member, Ron Carey was an inspiration and mentor to the Wild Sheep family, a shining example to always do the right thing and not let ego or self-interest get in the way. Sadly, in November 2019, Ron was killed in a car accident while competing in a road rally in England. His wife Billi was seated beside him and was seriously injured when their vintage vehicle was struck by a truck, but she miraculously recovered. When Ron Roderick heard the tragic news, he was returning home from a hunt in Turkey, continuing his commitment to incentivizing conservation in distant, often impoverished places. Accepting the Mountain Hunter Hall of Fame honor for her husband, Billi Carey joined Ron Roderick on stage at the 2023 Sheep Show®’ before a tearful standing ovation.

“When we were facing our darkest hour, you (the Wild Sheep family) have been there for me and my family,” Billie said to the crowd. “Thank you for recognizing Ron as a great conservationist, a great sheep hunter and a great husband, father, and grandfather.” WS