The Southern Okanagan Sportsmen’s Association held its annual game banquet at the Oliver Community Centre on February 7. Wild game meat included elk, moose, bear, cougar and buffalo. In top photo, a number of hunters won trophies for their prowess in the woods. From left are Sydney Wabnegger (junior mule deer), Dillon Wiens (junior high overall – mule deer), Victoria Souto (fish), Brannon Muller (mule deer and whitetail), Matt Lewis (elk), Brayden Dranchuk (whitetail), and Thomas Iannella (mule deer).
Lyonel Doherty photos
Allen Stanzel from Summerland was beside himself at the community centre in Oliver last Saturday night.
“I don’t know whether I’ll be able to finish or not. I’m breaking out in a sweat,” he said, gazing at his plate like John Candy did while eating a 96-ounce steak in “The Great Outdoors.”
“It was excellent . . . every piece was absolutely superb,” said Stanzel, referring to the Southern Okanagan Sportmen’s Association annual game banquet.
Chefs Heinz Schmid, Jim Andersen and Dennis Fillion outdid themselves as they cooked up a whirlwind menu that included smoked bear carpaccio, roasted venison stuffed cougar, white tail deer wellington, apple cider elk steak pie, white tail meatballs, bear cabbage casserole, Asian slaw with red onions and mango, moose and buffalo.
Schmid said he and his colleagues are all hunters and chefs by trade who love wild game meat.
He noted that it is inspiring to prepare meats from the natural environment while educating the public at the same time.
Schmid pointed out that all of the wild game meat was donated by hunters, adding that the buffalo prime rib is particularly hard to come by.
Schmid said it was nice to see so many people come out to support the sportsmen’s association.
There were many prize draws that evening. One lady won a flower arrangement as a door prize, and Stanzel immediately offered her $30 for it so he could give it to his wife for Valentine’s day.
Young Dillon Wiens was the big winner of the evening in the trophy category. He won the junior mule deer and junior white tail trophy, resulting in him winning the junior high overall trophy.
When asked how he became such a great hunter, he immediately responded, “Because my dad is a guide outfitter.”
Dillon’s dad teaches him everything about hunting. “I like shooting the gun . . . it gets my adrenaline up,” Dillon said.
The boy said he waited the whole year before he got his four-point “wall hanger” on the last day.
Other trophy winners included Matt Lewis for his elk, Robert Goltz for his black bear, Steve Rollison for his moose, Sydney Wabnegger for her mule deer, and Victoria Souto for her 36-inch dorado. Goltz also won the Evans Trophy for his white tail buck.
