SIMMONS: It’s time to create a brand new adventure
We’re all concerned and impacted by the extreme fuel prices. Airlines have added extra fees for everything from baggage to peanuts. But, overseas and foreign flights have many bargains as do local flights to some of the best outdoor destinations.
Fishing pro and friend Ron Cross, owner of Shadow Mountain Feed Store, recently found an Alaskan flight for $130, he grabbed it and with a few friends he was off for a week of fishing for giant halibut and some exciting salmon fishing. He’s just lucky that wife Patty lets him go and holds down the fort while he’s off having fun. This lady needs to be cloned.
I found a great price from Alaska Airlines, which recently bought Hawaiian Airlines, to Hawaii and on to Tahiti using air miles for a long-anticipated South Pacific fishing trip. So get on the web and search out great hunting and fishing venues, rent a car, also at great discounts, and plan your adventure.
If driving is your preferred mode of getting there, plan on a trip with a buddy or two sharing expenses and the camp chores. Forget about thinking “outside the box,” (what box?). Think outside the SUV and the way you’ve done things in the past.
These discounts apply to those Canadian fishing trips and African safaris too. It’s all about supply and demand. A lot of folks are staying home waiting to see what happens and the European sportsmen are taking advantage of the bargains. Gas, food and transportation have always been expensive there, so they travel to affordable places, while many of us seem to be paralyzed with fear of the unknown.
Ocean fishing is still active with white sea bass off the California coast and the tuna season at its peak. If you’re planning one of these, book now, or you may be left out of these popular trips. Again, go with a couple of pals and share hotel and transportation expenses.
Another money saver is to leave the bus, SUV or truck at home for those trips where you’re covering a lot of miles in a short period of time. Rent something that gives you better mileage and burn the wheels off of it. You can even leave the camper or trailer home and negotiate a great rate offered by many hotels, lodges and guest houses.
How do you find the bargains and opportunities? Go online or on the phone. Call local sporting good stores and hotels in areas where you would like to hunt or fish. Go online to Fish and Wildlife branches in other states. Many have “over-the-counter” tags. Combine a hunt with some fishing and you may still come out better than you would locally with our limited opportunities and success rates.
Other valuable resources are your local conservation organizations like the Safari Club, Fraternity of Bighorn Sheep, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, or Trout Unlimited. Give them a call, go to one of their meetings, or banquets, make new friends and discover new opportunities.
It’s also dove, upland game and waterfowl season - enjoy some of the best we’ve had in years. In our recent past these were group and social experiences, but as we’ve lost contact with friends, family and “home,” we have become isolated and often gauge our trip on kill success. Yet, all true sportsmen know, it’s not all about the kill. This is a great chance to rekindle old ties and establish new ones.
It’s called hunting and fishing for a good reason, and healthy wild meat is always a lot better than the supermarket variety. The hunter tradition from its beginning has been to go where game is plentiful, take advantage of opportunities and share. This is a great time to return to that heritage, share your experiences and thoughts.
Sportsman’s Library
Dedicated hunters and fishermen will enjoy what Sean Hemingway has done in editing hunting references from all of his grandfather’s novels and correspondence in “Hemingway on Hunting”. Nick Lyons has done the same with Ernest Hemingway’s references to fishing in “Hemingway on Fishing”. These are not literary masterpieces, but they are fascinating and contain many hours of enjoyable reading for the hunting or fishing aficionado.
From his early childhood Ernest Hemingway was a passionate hunter and fisherman. He began at his home in Michigan and his trail led him to Canada, Europe, Africa and around the world.
Both of these books will sit comfortably next to Ernest Hemingway’s novels and are published by Lyons Press, available at major book stores, online or through your local book dealer.
Upcoming Events
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is having their annual Pahrump banquet November 14, at the Pahrump Nugget Hotel. Call Dianna Ackerman for details (775) 567-8041. We’ll see you there!
Recipe of the Week
Here's a great system. By preparing precut ingredients in Zip-Loc bags and having them available on your outing, one can easily prepare quick and delicious meals for groups large or small. While this takes the work out of cooking, you still have the arduous task of catching the fish (I'll volunteer). This recipe has worked successfully in the far north on salmon and rainbow trout and equally well in warmer climates with mahi-mahi, tuna and rock fish.
This concept comes to me from trips with Ol' Seldom; his wife Blondie of course prepared everything for us, but we did catch the fish. Ol' Seldom is a pretty good cook, acknowledging that he seldom washed his hands and seldom cleaned the utensils, but there was seldom any food left at the end of a meal.
"Camping-out Fish Packets"
Eight 6-ounce fresh fish fillets of your choice; 4 Tbsp. olive oil; 4 cups sliced asparagus spears; 4 cups thinly sliced carrots; 2 cups thinly sliced green onions; 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced; 3 Tbsp. lemon juice; 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced; 8 tsp. chopped cilantro; 2 tsp. salt; 2 tsp. black pepper; 2 lemons, thinly sliced.
Tear off eight 18-inch long pieces of heavy-duty foil; brush one side of foil with olive oil; dividing ingredients between pieces of foil. Place two slices of lemon and asparagus on one half of foil, top with mushrooms; sprinkle with a little salt and pepper; layer fish fillets, green onion and carrots on mushrooms; sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper, lemon juice, garlic, cilantro and remaining lemon slices; fold other half of foil over the ingredients and crimp edges to form packets making sure they are tight and juice does not leak out. Grill over medium coals for 12 to 14 minutes, turning once.
