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August 2024
2024 Night of the Hunter
Sign up now for the Night of the Hunter on Friday evening September 6, 2024 at The Venue at Westwood for our biggest event of the year - this is our annual banquet and hunting extravaganza where we celebrate you - the hunter! We are busy finalizing the details of what will be our biggest event in years with a very well-known speaker, great dinner, opportunities to win amazing prizes and the chance to bid on world class hunts from here in the US and around the world. We guarantee this will not be one of those boring banquets. It will be fun for all ages - all night long. Use the following link now to reserve your spot at this amazing event and keep watching as may more details on this tremendous event will be coming to your inbox very soon!
Keynote Speaker
Craig Boddington
Our Keynote Speaker for the Night of the Hunter is Craig Boddington, internationally renowned hunter, writer, and television host! As one of the great hunters of the modern era, Craig is entertaining, informative, and motivating. Be sure you join us September 6, 2024, at The Venue and Westwind in North Little Rock, Arkansas for our annual banquet and auction. Here is a summary of Craig’s stellar career as a hunter and journalist. Do not miss this opportunity to meet Craig and talk a little hunting!
Craig has written over 4000 published magazine articles on hunting and firearms. He is the author of 28 books and has been published in England, Australia, Scotland, Canada, Germany, Spain, and the United States. He is a regular contributor to Sports Afield magazine and Fair Chase, the Boone & Crockett Club's magazine. He is an editor at Safari magazine. His writing frequently includes technical firearms subjects and evaluation of firearms, optics, and ammunition.
Boddington has made appearances in more than 500 television episodes on Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel. He served as host of Dallas Safari Club's Tracks Across Africa on Outdoor Channel and co-hosted Hornady's The Boddington Experience alongside his daughter Brittany on the Sportsman Channel, and is also co-host of Guns & Ammo TV and Petersen's Hunting Adventures. He has been a featured speaker for numerous shows and organizations, including for the NRA's Great American Hunters Tour, International Sportsmen's Expositions, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, and Dallas Safari Club, and in many hunting videotapes, such as Boddington on Buffalo and Boddington on Elephant.
Boddington has hunted on all continents except Antarctica. His first international hunt was in British Columbia in 1973 and his first safari to Africa occurred in 1977. He completed Africa's Big Five game of elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, and buffalo in 1986 and hunted all nine principal spiral-horned antelopes. Boddington is one of two hunters reported to have taken all of these species twice. He holds the Capra Super 30; Ovis Super 20, two North American grand slams, and the North American Super Slam from Grand Slam/Ovis.
Volunteers needed
We need You! Major events like the Night of the Hunter do not happen without enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers. We are in need of volunteers for this event to help with a variety of tasks that day and evening. Some of the areas where we could use your mind and muscles are: set-up and tear down, registrations, membership, check in and checkout, live auction, silent auction, and more. If you would like to help with this important event, please call or email Lavon Winkler at 816-914-2124 or [email protected]
Members In the Field
Our hunting story comes from a long-time member (from the start of the chapter 35 years ago) and current Board Member, Bryan Fitzgerald. Bryan’s story takes us back to 1999 in British Columbia as he chases the largest of the deer species, the majestic moose. Bryan, thank you for sharing your adventure!
British Columbia Moose Hunt
By Bryan Fitzgerald
This story began when I measured a B.C. Moose for Darin Hoover, a friend and SCI member. He had guided for Mike Hammett who ran a hunting company, Sikanni River Outfitters about 120 miles north of Fort St. John, British Columbia. He said he had a 60" inch Moose. It was a beautiful animal. Unfortunately, it measured 48 inches. I was still impressed with his story. I contacted Mike and booked a ten-day moose hunt beginning September 15, 1999. This was to be prime mating season for moose. As I recall the hunt was $5,900.00 with the trophy fee for a moose.
In early January, when I returned from the Dallas Safari Show, I got a call at my office from Rick Gore. He said, “I’m going to British Columbia and hunt with you.” You said WHAT? He said he had gone to the Elk Foundation Banquet in Little Rock and booked a Mountain Goat hunt with Sikanni River Outfitters for the same time, and by the way, I bought your airline ticket with my air miles. I asked what I owed for the airline ticket. He said how about $300.00. I said I’ll be at your office in 15 minutes. This trip started one of the best friendships of my life.
I added the Mountain Goat to my trophy list for $1,000.00.
Sometime during the summer, a family of four hunters had to cancel their hunt due to a serious illness in the family. The outfitter offered discounts to anyone who could come on short notice. Our friends Henry Ketcher and Don Hill joined our hunt. Henry wanted an elk and Don wanted a moose. We all met in Vancouver and flew to Fort St. Johns together.
The next morning, we boarded a charter flight into the base camp. Henry and Don would hunt out of the base camp. Rick and I were flown individually to a remote camp via a Super Cub by Mike.
Our “remote camp” was about thirty miles from the base camp. The setting was beautiful with log cabins beside a clear stream. Towering mountains surrounded our camp. The bunk house was a log cabin with a sod roof. When we moved in, we learned the hard way that the entry door was only five feet high. You would think hitting you head on the top of the door opening once would be enough. Nope. It happened several times. Inside were three bunk beds and a wood burning stove. We were able to put our duffel bag on top and sleep on the bottom.
Since Rick and I both wanted Mountain Goat, this was the object of our hunt the first day. A young guide named Clint Collins, and a wrangler named, Trapper Walsey, led the way as we rode out of camp by horse in the early morning. Clint said his grandfather owned the ranch until Mike bought it a couple of years ago. He knew the area very well. He had spotted several goats on the mountain where we would hunt. It was a beautiful ride up the mountain. At the top was a large open meadow that stretched for about a half mile. At the end of the meadow was a towering peak with a sheer cliff about 2000 feet high at the top. That was the home of the Rocky Mountain Goat.
At the end of the meadow, we dismounted. Clint set up a spotting scope to see if the goats were home. Sure enough, in the middle of the cliff face was a tiny white dot, a goat! Our plan was to climb this very steep peak and get within 400 to 500 yards from the bottom of the cliff. We would wait until afternoon when the goats came down to feed.
We found a shelter cave along a ravine where we would wait. We ate lunch during the light snow and watched a Wolverine scamper up the ravine. Around 5:00pm, Clint slipped between boulders to see if any goats had come down. They had! Two Billy goats were feeding 380 yards from us. I asked if we could get any closer. At 350 yards, he said that the goats had seen us. They put their day packs on a square boulder. I was on the left, and Rick was on the right. I was to take the goat on the left, and Rick was to take the goat on the right. He said on the count of three, you both shoot. I laid the cross hair across the back of my goat. This was Rick’s only trophy, so I waited until Rick shot before I pulled my trigger.
Rick’s goat ran to the left. My goat humped and walked to the right. I shot again. He humped again. I shot again. As I was reloading, I noticed Rick was having trouble with his rifle. We were both shooting rifles chambered for the 7mm Remington magnum. I reloaded my rifle and handed it to Rick. His goat was crossing a shale slide to our left. When he shot his goat started rolling down the shale slide. Rick had jammed a .30 caliber bullet into his 7Mag. and could not close his bolt or open his bolt to discharge the bullet. He said that his teenage boys had helped him clean up his workshop. They must have mixed the shells. I had a problem while sighting in my rifle with some shells being hard to chamber. The ones that were hard to chamber were not accurate. I chambered all the ammunition I brought.
It was only 350 yards up the mountain to my goat, but I had to stop and catch my breath three times before I got to him. Rick was lucky. No broken horns after his goat rolled down the shale slide.
It was getting late and there was much to do before we could come down off our mountain. We had to field dress our goats and skin the animals. We brought out the cape and heads. The guides would come back in the morning and bring out the meat. The mountain was very steep. I had to butt scoot down part of it. By the time we got back to our horses, it was dark. After we left the meadow and entered the trees, it was very dark. I could barely see the horse in front of me. They told us to let the horse go, just hang on. To hang on, I was standing in the strips and leaning over the back of the horse. We got back to camp safely.
After breakfast the next morning, the guides saddled their horses and rigged the pack horses to go back up the mountain to retrieve the meat. They were concerned about the Wolverine we saw. If he had found the meat, and was guarding it, it was going to be a BIG problem.
The pack train returns safely. No Wolverine. Now that Rick was through hunting, he has become our cook. When we came through base camp, one of the guides had a falling out with the cook and went to Mike to complain. Guess who won? Mike told the guide to pack his gear and leave. When Mike flew Rick and I into our camp, he took our cook to replace the guide he ran off. Rick turned out to be a good cook. This ended a few days later when Mike flew a new goat hunter into camp. He took Rick to his ranch to hunt wolves.
The name of my moose guide was Tony Glass. He had a secret hunting spot he called Moose Valley. It was about an hour horseback ride from camp. We rode in on top of a bluff overlooking the valley. We could see the whole valley from our vantage point. On the mountain on the far side of Moose Valley we saw Mountain Goats. We stayed the whole day and did not see a moose. We went back the next day. No moose that day or the next. The fourth day we hunted in a different area. We saw an immature bull and a cow moose. We were told we would be hunting during the prime mating season. Mating season was a little late. I had been told by a friend that you will not see a moose if it is not mating season.
We went back to Moose Valley for the fourth time. This was the sixth day of the hunt. The mating season must have started. There were three big mature bulls in Moose Valley. Tony asked which bull I wanted to stalk. I said the bull in the upper end of the valley has cows with him. I think that one would probably be our best chance.
We mounted our horses and rode to the valley floor. At the bottom we dismounted and continued our stalk on foot. That nice green meadow where the bull was standing turned out to be a wet marsh with about ten inches of water. I had on 9-inch boots, and the water was cold. I followed single file behind Tony. There was a very narrow line of trees crossing the marsh between us and the bull.
Suddenly, the bull looked directly at us. I asked Tony if I could use his shoulder as a rest, and he said yes. I placed my rifle on his shoulder. The bull was facing us. I aimed just below his chin and squeezed the trigger. The moose collapsed! Tony asked if I always shot that good. I said sometimes.
We moved about 50 feet to our right to get out of the water and approached the moose. We were within 30 yards when he stood up broadside to us. I shot just behind the shoulder, and he went down for good.
This is a huge animal standing six- and one-half feet at the shoulder laying in a wet marsh. We must field dress it, skin it, quarter it and get it to dry ground before dark. Tony started at the front, and I started at the back. Together we could barely drag a hind quarter to high ground. We loaded the head and cape onto his horse and rode back to camp.
The next morning Tony and the wrangler prepared the pack train to go retrieve my moose.
Now that the hunt was over, it was time to clean up. The toilet was not in the bunk house, and neither was the shower. The shower was located next to the creek. It was about the same size as the toilet. With the attached propane tank, it had instant hot water. Not bad, but there was still cold with ice on the steps going into the shower.
When I flew out I learned that Don had taken his moose, but due to some foul-up Henry did not get an elk. Rick did a lot better. A bear had killed a colt one half mile from the ranch and wolves were feeding on the carcass. Rick got his wolf. Then he shot a beaver.
After the foul-up on the elk, Henry decided to hunt a goat. Henry, his wrangler, Tim, and guide, Betty, took a ten-hour horseback ride to a tent camp. Unfortunately, there were no tents when he got there. They had been moved. They had to sleep on the ground wrapped in a tarp that had been used to wrap an elk. With the snow that night, they woke in a mess.
There was a Mountain Goat high above them. Betty wanted to ride the horses to find another goat. Henry said I am going to shoot this goat. They climbed almost straight up a shale slide for two hours to get within 300 yards of the goat. They were in a very awkward situation. Tim told Henry to stand on his shoulders to get a better balance. The shot was straight up. The goat was hit but not dead. Henry took a second shot and the goat fell past them and stopped rolling 500 yards below. When they tried to field dress the animal, it broke loose and rolled farther down the rockslide. They had to tie the goat to a boulder to complete the field dressing. The ride back to base camp took six hours.
Slow Cooker Venison Stew
PREP TIME 30minutes MINUTES
COOK TIME 8hours HOURS
SERVINGS 8 -10
Slow cooker venison stew made with tender cuts of venison steak, fresh vegetables and herbs in a rich and flavorful red wine broth. This easy venison recipe is the perfect comfort food for dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 lb. venison bone-in steak
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt divided
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 4 Tablespoons butter divided
- 1 cup mushrooms chopped
- 1 cup white and green onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 2 cups golden potatoes chopped
- 1 cup carrot chopped
- 1 cup celery chopped
- 6 oz. tomato paste
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 cup water
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
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Chop the venison into 1-inch chunks and stir them into a bowl with the flour, 1 tsp. of salt, and cracked black pepper.
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In a stockpot or cast-iron pan, melt 3 Tablespoons of butter using medium-high heat and brown the cuts of steak on both sides until they are seared, and you have bits of browned meat on the bottom of the pan (2 minutes on each side).
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Place the browned meat into your slow cooker and melt the remaining 1 Tablespoon of butter into the stockpot. Sauté the onions, mushrooms, and garlic for a few minutes while stirring occasionally. Then add them to your slow cooker as well.
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With the heat still on, pour one cup of dry red wine into the stockpot and whisk quickly to gather up any browned bits. Allow the wine to reduce for a few minutes on medium heat.
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Add the carrots, potatoes and celery to the slow cooker along with the herbs, tomato paste, stock, water, remaining ¼ tsp. salt, and reduced red wine.
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Give it all a stir and set the slow cooker for 8 hours on LOW heat. Serve hot. Top with additional parsley if wanted.
