DAN SIMMONS Sportsman's Quest MORE COLUMNS SPECIAL T0 THE PVT Don Bunch, who bagged this antelope on a recent hunt, will soon be going on an African safari. Advertisement

Wildlife Habitat Improvement of Nevada (WHIN) held its wildlife benefit banquet recently and raised a pile of money to help with their many worthy projects.

Along with a Governor's deer tag which auctioned for a whopping $32,000 there were many other interesting donated items.

I even won a basket of assorted Avon beauty products. Blondie appreciated them, but best of all I met some interesting new folks at this event, as I always seem to do.

One of these new folks is Don Bunch. He won some good stuff during the raffles and auction, the most impressive of which was an African hunting safari for two donated by Ken DuPlesse, owner of Faunafrika, in the Republic of South Africa. Don will be hunting plains game with one of his sons.

This had been a dream of his for many years and coincidently another of his sons has just returned from an African safari.

Now while this trip may seem a bit alien to Don, it won't be his first hunting experience in alien territory. In particular a pronghorn antelope hunt in Roswell, N.M., the well known area of many mysterious alien sightings and events, as well as one possible unsuccessful alien landing.

Don also had an unusual sighting on this trip. He was hunting with well-known sportsman and Las Vegas lumber dealer, Bob Houston, on one of their annual ranch hunts hosted by Bob Dodson. It was complete with a real chuck wagon and Dutch oven cooking.

They started with a big cowboy breakfast, some Bible reading and prayers, as the sun rose in that spectacular way it does in New Mexico's hill country, and then the hunt began.

Bob was the first to observe a strange critter as they drove on one of the ranch's back roads. It was about 400 yards away and as they observed it through their spotting scope, in preparation of a stalk, they noticed it had one horn protruding forward and looked as if it had been removed and put on backwards. Who knows, it could have been aliens testing something.

Don was also tested and passed as he downed the unusual trophy with one shot from his 270 caliber Remington 700.

Don also hunts regularly for Kansas pheasants at the Flint Oak Hunting Resort in Fall River, Kan., where his friend Bob Houston is a member.

This is an annual family affair where he is joined by his sons and grandsons. Then there are their fishing trips to Alaska for salmon and halibut.

Are we beginning to see a pattern here? A hunting family that enjoys travel, hunting and fishing together -- an American tradition. It looks like that travel is now reaching out to Africa and a new tradition begins.

The wildlife benefit banquets are also a tradition. Whether it's WHIN, Safari Club, The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, or the Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn, its one worth keeping or starting. Start your own; participate, make new friends and who knows perhaps win a trip, an African safari.

For more information on Faunafrika safaris go to www.faunafrika.com. For more information on the Flint Oak Hunting Resort go to www.flintoak.com.

What's new

I have tried something new recently while shooting clays. It's Limbsaver's Dead Center dual-colored fiber optic shotgun sight designed to fit all ventilated-rib shotguns. It improved my score dramatically and I am hoping that it will improve my score on opening day dove season also. If it helps me on those fast flying doves, it should be a breeze with pheasant, quail and waterfowl.

It really works and gives a bright sight tracking element. I find this especially helpful as these old eyes gain experience. For more information go to www.limbsaver.com.

Events

* The Fraternity of Desert Bighorns banquet is July 12, at South Point Hotel & Casino. Doors open at 5 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m.. The auction will start at 7:30 p.m.

For more information visit www.desertbighorn.com or call Paul Harris at 1-702-596-6849

*ICAST, International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, will hold Follow your Instincts, the world's largest sport fishing tradeshow, July 16 - 18, at the Las Vegas Convention center.

Recipe of week

Here's a recipe that is down to earth, even on a New Mexico chuck wagon experience. One could even say it's out of this world and who knows what you might see after that half cup of scotch whiskey. I'm guessing the rest of the whisky won't go to waste either. This also makes a great family repast for those special occasions when we all get together.

Roswellian

Antelope Tenderloin

One 2-3 pound tenderloin; 1 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes; 1/2 cup olive oil; 6 cloves garlic, chopped; 1 small shallot, chopped; 1/2 cup scotch whiskey; 1 cup water; 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp black pepper; 1 tsp chopped cilantro; 1/4 cup lemon juice.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven, sprinkle tenderloin with salt and pepper, place tenderloin in pot and brown on all sides; add garlic, shallot and tomatoes, cook until soft; add remaining ingredients except lemon juice, cover and cook for two hours over medium/low heat; stir in lemon juice and remove from heat; serve with buttered egg noodles.

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If you have an adventure, a story or a comment give me a call at 727-9777 or e-mail me at dansimmons@usa.net.