In 1999 I hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, Steve Zettel’s ‘American Adrenaline Co.” as it was called back then.
It turned into a text book hunt.
After bagging my sheep on the second day of the hunt and completing my qwest for a North America Grand Slam, I went on to kill a black bear and mule deer buck.
Having no more tags to fill it was time to get home. However I still hadn’t met Steve (He was guiding an archery elk hunter at the time ). We talked briefly by two way radio and I told him he deserved a big tip! He said “Congratulations on the Sheep Slam and just make sure you bring your family up next summer for a float trip.”
Floating the Middle Fork of the Salmon with my family.
Having never really taken the family on “Real Big ” family trip, we weren’t going to waste it on Hawaii or Disneyland, and I booked with Steve a June 2000 float trip.
The very best testimonial I can imagine is that my boys still talk about this trip today (15 years later ). They were 11 and 13 years old at the time.
Fast forward to 2012, and I found myself wanting to share my experience with new friends. There were nine of us in our group this time. Every one of them wants to go back again ! I’m planning my return now !
I want to share a couple of quotes from Steve ‘ You bring it, we will pack it ‘ referring to the amount of beer we could bring along and, “You have twenty million acres to explore, this is my kitchen” meaning he doesn’t care how good of a dutch oven cooker, egg flipper or BBQ chef you think you are, they have the food handled” and ‘ Handle ‘ it they do !
Years of experience has shown them how to master the food, you WILL gain weight !
In short, while safety is paramount. a great experience is assured: the food , the scenery , the crew , the equipment and the experience is something you and your family will talk about for years while Hawaii and Disneyland would soon be forgotten except for those Visa charges.
Get those kids out of the house and into the wilderness and trade Xboxes for tackle boxes!
Kent J. Regli
Bliss, Idaho
