Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/575593
A long with wisdom and experience, one of the few benefits of age is having the pleasure of saying you've known someone for a very, very long time and have the utmost respect for them. That's the case for me with sculptor, Mike Barlow. At every stop along my career, Mike has been there in one capacity or another. Back when he was a wildlife photographer and I was at Petersen's Hunting and later as editor-in-chief of Sports Afield, I purchased his remarkable images of bull elk and pronghorn antelope. As he transitioned into full-time sculpting we stayed in close contact. And when I started my company, Orion Entertainment, Mike was an easy choice as a special guest on ensemble editions of my shows, including Dangerous Game and Ruger's Adventures. His keen hunting instincts, popularity as an artist, and full-blown credibility in the wilderness make him a great guest. So, when I was putting the finishing touches on Ultimate Outdoorsman's Lodge for my series on Great American Country, Mike's incomparable bronze sculpturs were at the top of my list for something spectacular to serve as a true focal point of the lodge. The piece he chose is like nothing I've ever seen before. "It's a bronze that I call One Minute Mile. It features a herd of six pronghorns running full tilt across the prairie," he says. "The inspiration for this piece came when I flew in a helicopter with Wyoming Fish and Game agents as they herded antelope for collaring and research. I took pictures—more than six hundred of them—while hanging out the side door of the chopper and the antelope sprinted at 60 miles-per-hour as one magnificent, almost synchronized unit." The six-foot long piece is arresting to see—in person and even on his website— largely because this isn't some creature that holds passing interest for him. North America's fastest land animal is etched into the fabric of his being. "I grew up in Gillette, Wyoming, and antelope are part of the landscape there. So they're near and dear to my heart. I've hunted them since I was a small child and feel close to them in a lot of ways." It shows. And his riveting sculpture Chris Dorsey O n o c a t i o n L S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 1 8 5 Mike Barlow's sculptures bare his passion for wildlife and hunting and the skill and talent of European masters. anzanian Tango comes from a story Mike Barlow heard as a child. Below: Photographing pronghorns from a helicopter inspired One Minute Mile. T