1944 – 2014
Career
1955 – At age 11, Bob worked a newspaper route for the Fort Worth Star Telegram with a downtown route of 50 customers. Even as a young boy, Bob was confident and dependable. He grew his little route to over 500 papers that he delivered daily. Most teenage boys who had paper routes at that time only stuck with it for a couple of years at most. Bob Hood never easily let go of anything in his life and his paper route was no different. He continued to work his paper route through high school, only surrendering it upon his graduation when he was hired to write for the Sports Department of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Sept. 21, 1962 – Bob joined the Fort Worth Star Telegram full time covering high school sports, rodeos, boxing, tennis, golf and other events.
1968 – He started exclusively covering the Outdoors beat at the Fort Worth Star Telegram
2008 – Bob retired in 2008 from the Fort Worth Star Telegram but continued writing for them on a contract basis until his death in 2014.
In addition to providing outdoor news for the Star-Telegram, Bob was Hunting Editor for Texas Fish and Game Magazine. He was a contributing writer for Texas Sportsman magazine, Texas Sporting Journal magazine, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Outdoors Journal, Lone Star Outdoor News, Honey Hole Magazine, Texas Bowhunters’ Journal, and other outdoor publications.
Appointments and Awards
- Director of The Fort Worth Anglers Club
- Honorary member of the Dallas Safari Club
- Received the Texas State Bass Tournament’s Mac Payne Award for sportsmanship
- Inducted into the Falcon Lake Association Hall of Fame
- Texas Outdoor Writers Association (TOWA) board of directors and was a lifetime member
- Served on the Board Of Directors for S.M.A.R.T. (Smart Management Of Aquatic Resources Team)
- 1974 – President of Texas Outdoor Writers Association (TOWA)
- 1978 – Texas State Bass Tournament winner in the Team Division
- 1983 – Texas State Bass Tournament winner in the Team Division (2nd time to win)
- 1983 – Texas Outdoor Writers Association’s Daiwa Award for “lifetime achievements”
- 1985 – Texas State Bass Tournament winner in the Team Division (3rd time to win)
- 1998 – Inducted into the Texas State Bass Tournament Hall of Fame
- 2000 – Fort Worth Ducks Unlimited Sportsman of the year and sportsman of the decade for the 1990’s
- 2000 – Inducted into the Texas State Bass Tournament Hall of Fame, having won the event on three separate occasions.
- 2011 – Received the L.A. Wilke “Lifetime Achievements” award from Texas Outdoor Writers Association (TOWA)
- 2013 – Inducted into the Muy Grande Hall of Fame for his support of the annual Freer-Zapata-Laredo-Carrizo Springs deer contest
- 2014 – Proclamation No. 143 issued by The Senate of The State of Texas issued in honor of his achievements throughout his life.
Bob was a member and held various degrees of involvement with organizations such as Texas Association of Bass Clubs, Texas Trophy Hunters Association, American Trophy Hunters, Texas Black Bass Unlimited, as well as others.
Other accreditations:
- It’s widely recognized in many circles that it was Bob Hood to first conclude that varmints (hunted fox, coyote, bobcats, etc.) can’t see a red light. After Bob’s discovery, hunters were quick to replace their clear white lights with red-tented lenses.
- In 2002, Bob spent 32 days on a 232-mile canoe trip down the Clear Fork of the Brazos River. His series documented the river’s history, wilderness and the people who live along its watershed.
Bob Hood Quotes
” Years have passed since my dad passed, but I still have memories of a father who encouraged me to enjoy the outdoors. My dad taught me how to catch perch on a cane pole when I was barely old enough to hold one in my hands. It was my dad’s patience, though, that I remember most. He wanted to absorb life, not rush through it and he encouraged me to do the same,” Bob recalled in his 2007 remembrance of his father.
“I said this to a group recently: Give me a rod and reel or a gun and I will collect food for us and have a good time doing it. Give me a camera and I will record all that I come across in nature and share it with others. Give me a pen and I will vote against anyone and everyone who attempts to take those rights and all other individual rights away from me. If there were thousands of cliff dwellers living among us today, how do you think they would vote in the next election?”
“There were no automobiles or airplanes 100 years ago and that’s not so far in the distance when you consider that your grandmother was born in 1910 and besides being no cars or airplanes at that time, there were no radios, televisions, air-conditioners and much, much more. We have “advanced” in many technical ways, but many people today have regressed in what used to be more common ways of life including good morality, respect and kindness toward others without expecting something back and family values. I don’t think those cliff dwellers had it so bad after all.”
