Royal Wildlife Miniatures
Bill was born in Norhtern Oklahoma in the town of Aline in 1921. He was raised in Calhan Colorado elevation 6500', with a population of 300 soles on the High Plains 36 miles northeast of Colorado Springs with a grand view of the Great Pikes Peak and the whole front range of the Rockies.

Bill Bates studied Jewelry for 2 years at El Camino College under Professor Oliver.

Bill started carving solid model aeroplanes at the age of 12 and progressed from solid to rubber band models to gas powered racing models. He worked for Northrop Aircraft as a Precision Mockup and Tooling Die Builder and later worked for Douglas aircraft a s a Wind Tunnel Model Builder. He started carving big and small game & water fowl in 1971. He has 20 game heads of big and small, Snow Goose, Mallard Drake, Hen & baby duckling. His heads have U.S. copyright for 1971 and 1999.