Jim's Blog
Cabela's, SCI and Sheep Hunting!
Just got back from a whirlwind tour of Texas and South Dakota. Was asked to speak at the Houston Safari Club banquet on Aug 13. It was a wonderful event with over 300 people in attendance I was told. I knew I was way out of my league when famed hunter, Irvin Barnhart picked Louise and I up at the airport and drove us to his home. I actually commented on the fact that he lived in a gated community in the fanciest part of Houston, but, in fact, the gate was the entrance to his estate!! Irvin is a past Weatherby Conservation Award winner, and his trophy room was a truly awesome place to wander around in ... provided you took a GPS unit so you wouldn't get lost somewhere between the Asian sheep and African duikers!! Irvin and his wife Wendy were kind enough to put Louise and I up for the duration of our stay in Houston.
Irvin and Louise in his incredible trophy room. Louise looking elegant as always!
The event was a fancy affair and was sold out, I believe. We had some issues with the fire alarm going off during my presentation, but we managed to keep everyone entertained until the curtain came down. Everyone there was very nice and treated us with the classic Texas hospitality we've come to admire and appreciate over the many times we've visited this great state.
Houston Safari Club meeting was packed for our presentation, and the people there were wonderful.
From Houston, we flew up to Rapid City, South Dakota to be a part of the new Cabela's grand opening. Our first stop was an antique store upon our arrival and it was there I learned about an antique gun sale in the nearby city of Deadwood. We visited Mount Rushmore for the Vendor Party and met with many people from the hunting industry. I had some productive talks with some of the head honchos at Cabela's, and we watched the lights fire up and light up the majestic carvings. The next day we made our way to the store and for 5 hours signed posters and talked hunting with hundreds of the area's best hunters. Again, as in Texas, everyone was really nice to us. I even told Louise that if we ever decided to move somewhere, I'd consider the Rapid City area.
The lines at the Cabela's Grand Opening in Rapid City were non-stop. We ran out of posters!
We made it to the Antique gun show late that afternoon and, believe it or not, I didn't spend a penny! There was a ton of stuff I wanted, but my pockets are about emptied from all the hunting I've been doing lately. We signed posters again the next day and flew back home late that evening ... or at least Louise and I flew back, our luggage has gone missing and we were informed that it is really, really missing and not to hold our breath. To get back by 3:00 AM, we had to fly on three different airlines and that is the kiss of luggage death.
Other than losing two suitcases full of our best clothing, it was a fun trip. In the future I plan to do more of these type of events, but for the next 18 months at least, my hunting schedule takes up just about every week. I promise though, as soon as the hunting itinerary is completed, I'll be visiting a city nearby to speak and thank all of you in person for supporting our television show by purchasing our sponsors' products!
In other news, the first two sheep hunts are going OK, but no sheep down so far. According to the sat tel reports from my right-hand head of operations, Freddie Lackie, our client and dear friend Bobby Chuisano has taken a huge black wolf, but has only seen four Dall rams, none of which were big enough to take. They've seen tens of ewes and lambs, but no big rams. They are there alright, but it's a backpack hunt and you need a little help from Mother Nature in the weather department for such a physically demanding hunt to be successful.
Our second team in the mountains hasn't found their ram yet either. Our sponsor Larry Potterfield of Midway fame is looking into an area that we know holds very few rams, but if you find one, it is usually world-class. It's an experimental hunt that will give us more knowledge of the sheep movement in that area. It's also one of the most physically demanding hunts you will ever do, and although Larry knew the odds were low going into the hunt, he's a true hunter who also knows when there's no pain, there's usually no gain!
I myself will be heading into the hills shortly to do another experimental hunt in an area that we've also never hunted. This year I'm really hitting the sheep hunting hard by having some of my toughest clients and friends delve deep into the wildest parts of my Yukon territory. It's wrong for me to ask my clients to do these tough hunts without also sweating myself, so even though I'm in the worst shape I've been in years, I'm headed in to do my part. I've always wanted to hunt Fannin sheep, sort of a light-colored cross between Dall and Stone's sheep. We'll see how it goes, but for absolute sure, by this time next week I'm going to be suffering hardships and body ache!!!! Like I said, no pain ... no gain!
Keep watching for the updates on how we make out on my back pack hunt...
8/18/2008
