“While attending a MN-WI FNAWS convention in March of 2006 I met with Dennis Beattie of Wicked River Outfitters. I asked Dennis the normal questions, price , length of hunt, and then I asked the deciding question, if I was not able to kill a sheep in the allotted time would I be able to stay and keep hunting until I got my sheep and how much more? Dennis replied nothing, you paid for your hunt and I want you to kill a sheep, even if it takes longer. He also added he may run into a little guide trouble with the extra time, but he would work things out. Then I told Judi to be a good wife and write a check and she did. After the long wait for Aug. Of 07, I was finally on my way I thought. My first flight was delayed which turned a ten hour trip in to two days. Upon my arrival in Vancouver I picked up my rifle, which arrived six hours before I did. My bag with my clothes and ammo was nowhere to be found. Untied Airlines did a search and said the last time my bag was scanned was in San Francisco. They had flights arriving that night and my bag would be there the next day. That didn’t happen. When I got to Fort St. John Dennis was waiting for me, I still didn’t have clothes or ammo. Another hunter in camp was using the same caliber rifle, so I used some of his ammo and Dennis rounded up enough clothes so I could go hunting. I was finally off to sheep camp, arriving late in the day, so we stayed close to camp the rest of the day. Steve Fiarchuk was my guide. He is Dennis and Deb’s son-in-law, and he does all of Wicked River’s sheep hunts. The next morning we rode up the other side of the mountain. Twenty five minutes into the ride, Steve looked back and spotted what ended up being a 391/2 " ram and a smaller ram right above our camp. His position and the wind direction would not allow us to make a stalk, so we watched him the rest of the day. Day two was rain and two to three hundred yard visibility. Day three was sunny and warm, we had breakfast and walked up to the spot where we last saw the rams. Steve wasted no time, after five minutes of glassing he spotted the rams, two mountains away. The two rams picked up a third, we had two more eyes we had to be careful of. The wind was in our favor, and after a lengthy stalk they had moved. I had nothing to worry about, with Steve as my guide, he knew exactly where they went. Just a short walk and Steve had me within 350 yards, one shot and the ram was mine, on my birthday. What better present could a hunter ask for than a Stone sheep. This was Steve’s 84th successful sheep hunt. The next day we made our way back to base camp, which is a very comfortable place. Dennis had picked up my bag from the airport five days late. Clean shorts were welcome. The next afternoon Steve barbequed the sheep ribs over an open fire. Steve’s wife should be proud, he’s an excellent cook. I would like to give a special thanks to Steve, Tammy, and Trisha Fiarchuk, as well as Dennis and Deb Beattie, and all the staff at Wicked River Outfitters. They all helped to make my trip very enjoyable.”

Hudson, Wisconsin