DAN SIMMONS Sportsman's Quest MORE COLUMNS Advertisement

We ended last week's column in the middle of a 14-day guided hunt in Northern B.C., Canada.

I was not only the guide, for a German-speaking hunter, but also the horse wrangler, packer and cook, as is typical with most wilderness hunting outfitters.

We shared great excitement with a big moose and the "hanging goat." It was now time to go for the Stone sheep, so we moved our spike camp a day's ride to a pristine hanging alpine valley, through which ran a small stream bordered with marsh marigold flowers.

A most unusual bird, the American dipper entertained us with its interesting behavior of walking on the stream bottom picking at insects. All of this with a fantastic vista was nestled in the breast of the surrounding mountains.

We started glassing for a big ram and found numerous bands of ewes and lambs which were easily visible. The groups also contained some young rams.

Our tactic was to search for ram groups on the upper slopes and circle around and above them, hoping to catch them unaware while feeding or bedded down.

At least that was the plan, but the groups of ewes and lambs, with their many eyes, made it difficult. The rams often spooked and we only saw their white butts as they went over the mountain and into the next valley.

For the first two days we climbed and found the mature rams, but not the one we were looking for, or even the full curl required by law. On the third day we found a group of five nice full curl rams, belly crawled to within 150 yards and glassed them for about an hour, but my hunter passed taking one, hoping for something larger, as we were seeing a lot of shootable rams by this time.

Fourth day: a long ride, lots of glassing, but only ewes and young rams. On day five it got worse. We were hit with a snow blizzard in the middle of August.

You know the story, those full curls we had passed on earlier would certainly be in danger on this, our final full day of hunting, but none were to be seen.

The next morning, however, during a short morning walk around a hill near camp, we came upon a lone ram, staring at us just above the trail, while perched majestically on a huge rock.

We both hit the ground and tried to make ourselves look small and non-human as we glassed him. We waited for him to turn his head at that all important angle, so that we could determine with certainty that his horns were the required "full curl."

Not that easy to do, as their size was borderline. "Could be, but I can't be sure," I whispered. "It's close and we could argue it with the authorities, but things could get very unpleasant if we were wrong and he is undersized."

So, of course, we passed once again. It was as if he knew he was safe from these two ethical sportsmen. If he were capable of thinking this, he was right -- perhaps next year.

In the end, the visiting hunter was very pleased with the huge moose, exciting mountain goat and the wilderness experience in some of God's most beautiful country. This hunter would be back.

A two-day ride later we were back at base camp. A good night's sleep, a hearty breakfast and we were off to Whitehorse, Yukon, to get my new friend on a plane back to Frankfurt, Germany. The night before the flight, however, found us at the Yukon Inn for an evening of celebration, but that's another story to tell around the campfire one day.

A few days later and I was off once again with a new hunter on a five-day Stone sheep only hunt. As luck would have it, he scored on a "second-day ram" in a nearby area; a good and successful hunt. It wasn't nearly as interesting or exciting as the former hunt, which only underscores the old sportsman's adage, "It's not the killing, but the hunt that counts."

What's new

If you don't have Jim's culinary skills, or his ample spare time, and still want to have a delicious stew, which is better than mom's, the Game Gourmet has it ready for you with an easy "bake-in-a-bag" wild game cooking system and all the savory spices needed to prepare moist, delicious wild game -- every time. It works great in camp or on the stove, but my favorite is in the slow cooker.

They also have prepared packages for venison roasts and steaks, wild water fowl, and upland game. It is the easy, foolproof way to cook wild game to perfection.

For more information call 1-800-237-7583 or log onto www.stoneywolf.com.

Events

* Wildlife and Habitat Improvement -- Nevada's 17th annual banquet is June 14, at 5:30 p.m. in the Gold Coast Hotel & Casino banquet facilities.

There will be door prizes, auctions, raffles and a special auction for Nevada Department of Wildlife Heritage Mule Deer Tag. For more information and advanced ticket orders call 702-432-6033 or 384-5006.

* The Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn 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

Ol' Jim's famous stew recipe is delicious both in camp, or served at home for a special occasion. It's always appreciated and has everyone coming back for seconds. He and this recipe are two of my favorites. When we get together with Ol' Seldom and Blondie, I am surrounded with the feel of the campfire, the smell of the deep woods and the sound of a running stream. Anyway, the grub is good.

Jim's Mutton Stew

One and a half pounds of mutton, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces; 2 tsp each, salt and pepper; flour for dredging; 3 Tbs. oil/lard for browning meat; 8 medium potatoes, cut into eight pieces each; 6 large carrots, cut into 1-inch long slices; 3 celery stalks, chopped; 1 medium onion, chopped; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 pound fresh mushrooms, cut in halves; 1 pkg.(envelope) onion soup mix; 1 small can tomato paste; 1 medium bay leaf; 2 12-oz can beef broth; 1/2 cup sherry;

Place Dutch oven or oven-safe roasting pan on stovetop. Dredge meat in salt, pepper and flour; brown meat in oil, remove from pan; add onion and garlic, cook until soft; place meat and all remaining ingredients into pan; cover and bake for 2 1/2 hours at 325 degrees; uncover and bake for an additional 1/2 hour to thicken juices (if necessary); serve with fresh biscuits.

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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.