Herb Hale
In 1974, when the Bowhunting Council was initially forming an awards
program, a decision was made to give the highest award to someone who had
contributed to bowhunting through the years and had shown dedication to the
sport of bowhunting and bowhunters. The Bowhunting Council was then
challenged with the naming of the award. The search led the Council to
Mr. Herb Hale of Pryor, Oklahoma.
Herb was born in Bunker Hill, Illinois. In 1906 he moved to Pryor,
Oklahoma. Herb hunted all of his life. He first hunted with a
gun and then with a bow. Herb thought he first shot a bow in the late
1930's and shot either right or left handed. Herb made the first bows
he used with the help of his Native American friends, as bows were difficult
to obtain on the commercial market. Herb ran a small archery shop from
his garage, supplying local bowhunters with equipment.
Herb did not do much field shooting, sticking mostly to hunting small game,
fish and deer. Herb has taken numerous varieties of small game,
including crows and ducks. Although, he had hunted deer over the
years, he had never harvested one.
Herb was awarded a lifetime membership in the old Oklahoma Bowhunters.
He was a former president of the organization and served on the Board of
Governors. At one time, Herb held the distinction of being the oldest
active member of the Oklahoma Bowhunters. He recieved awards from the
Boy Scouts of America for helping boys with their archery at a local boy's
home.
Herb helped numerous people get started with archery, supplying them with
equipment and encouraging them as he taught them to shoot. He
collected photographs of bowhunters of his area that stopped by his
home to show their kills. Herb always helped them weigh their harvest
and take pictures.
An old Oklahoma Bowhunters pamphlet listed Herb as a "great supporter of
bowhunting".
Herb Hale with a Stub Tail Moccasin taken at Rock Creek arm of Hudson Lake in 1964. The snake is 4' long and 6" in circumference.
Long snapping turtle is held by Herb Hale. This was the largest of eleven snappers and two creek turtles taken in 1954.
Herb Hale Award Winners
1976 Olen Neal*
1976 John Mott
1976 Royal Woolery*
1976 Miles Been*
1976 George “Pappy” Kennedy*
1981 Jim Revis*
1982 Ida Revis*
1983 John Mott
1984 Bill Murray
1986 Marion Lewis
1987 Al Herrin
1988 Pat Giulioli*
1989 Floyd Warden
1989 Charles DeLong
1990 Rob Ray
1993 Jim Dougherty
1994 Ken Meyer
1995 Jennifer Willhite
1995 J.W. Willhite
1996 Mike Miller
1997 K.P. Lehman
1998 Jeff Steele
1999 Ted Lehman
2000 Roy Moss*
2001 Don Campbell
2002 Danny Stone
2003 David Key*
2003 Leonard Wolfkill*
2004 Conrad Kleinholz
2005 Rick Berry*
2006 Johnny Pappan
2007 David Teel
2007 Becky Teel
2010 Gayle Steele
2011 Bob Bennett
*Deceased