Alaska tough Kimber: Kimber's genteel bolt gun faces the toughest terrain on the continent

Gather a group of hunters around a campfire and ask them to list the best caliber for big game hunting and you're likely to get an earful of argument. Ask the same bunch to name North America's toughest hunting challenge and you'll find little disagreement: sheep hunting.

No form of hunting in the world takes you to such remote and rugged country as sheep hunting. From the breathless heights of Mongolia to the moss-slick rocks of the Alaska Range, sheep live in the most inaccessible and dangerous terrain of any big game animal.

If it's not the sheer cliff faces to be climbed with mere fingernail holds, then it's the sharp slivers of shale that slide from under your boots. If it's not the tangled lattice of alders to break through just to reach the mountain, then it's the icy glacial runoff that rushes and crashes with a white water fury.

Hunters often train for several months -- jogging, tread milling, lifting weights -- just to get into shape to endure a sheep hunt. Stamina is part of it, muscle tone is important, but mostly men must steel their resolve to meet the mountain.

Not For The Soft

Sheep hunting is not just rough on men, it takes a toll on equipment too. "Alaska's rough on gear," observes Master Guide Jim Harrower with characteristic understatement. Harrower is a hard-bitten old salt of an outfitter who has guided professionally in the Last Frontier for over 50 years. He's seen hunters show up with all sorts of gear, and he knows that even the best gear falls apart in sheep country.

And for just this reason -- the unparalleled challenge of the mountain -- an Alaskan sheep hunt is the ultimate torture test for a rifle. On top of the rocks and shale, Alaska is constantly wet, thanks to the steady rains that are routine during sheep season.

I was discussing just how tough Alaska is on guns and gear with my good friend Dwight Van Brunt, who happens to work for Kimber. Dwight posed a question:

"Do you think you could successfully hunt Dall sheep in Alaska's most unforgiving country with a classic American hunting rifle? Not some polycoated stainless marvel of modem synthetics, hut a nicely polished blue gun in an elegant Claro walnut stock?"

"Perhaps." I allowed, "I assume you mean one of your Kimbers. But surely the cold, wet and rain, not to mention the various knocks, falls and scrapes are going to play hell with that beautiful little turn-bolt."

"I'm not talking about cosmetically damaging the rifle," Van Brunt retorted. "I'm saying that today's Kimber 84M can take anything Alaska can dish out. No loss of zero, no swollen stocks, no frozen firing pins. My point is a man can successfully hunt a sheep with a nice rifle."

"Dwight, I agree your rifle is a beauty, and it's a great choice for whitetails, but you're saying your trim little turn-bolt can withstand Alaska?" I replied.

"A Kimber is Alaska-tough," came the calm reply. "I dare you to take a Kimber to Alaska, and I'll bet you can take a Dall sheep with it."

Alaska-Tough Test

Thanks to the excellent advice of Jack Atcheson Jr., a longtime leader in the professional hunting agency business, Van Brunt's bet was soon in the making. Atcheson recommended Harrower as one of the most experienced and respected sheep outfitters in Alaska today. Deposits were paid, dates were booked, the wager was on.

Harrower operates from a most remarkable setup, the Stony River Lodge. Officially recognized as the most remote camp in the brutally rugged Alaska Range, the Stony River Lodge is a triumph of man over nature. Every single item in camp had to be flown in by bush plane.

Harrower is a seasoned pilot who contemplated a career as a professional acrobat and stunt pilot until the call of the wild brought him to Alaska. He's been flying bush planes for 42 years, so he has a mile or two behind a stick and rudder.

The lodge is a wonder to behold. A cluster of well-appointed log cabins forms the camp, and every possible creature comfort is provided, including a TV with a library of hunting videos in one of the guest lodges. The ambiance is perfect for the setting -- with beautifully taxidermied Alaskan game, a large rustic dining table and wood burning stoves throughout.

None of this is particularly unusual for a hunting camp... except when you realize that every last nail was flown in! No Home Depot here, pal -- you want it, you fly out and get it.

You need lumber to make a house. Harrower flew in a massive saw and set up his own saw mill! Trees were turned to logs and boards and rafters on his own mill.

Stony River Lodge began as a fly tent camp and grew into the diamond in a coal bin that it is today thanks to three things--30 years of hard work, Jim's love for the true Alaskan wilderness and, of course, one last vital ingredient--aviation fuel.

Wet And Wild

Using Stony River Lodge as a stepping off point, hunters fly by bush plane into Harrower's base camp and then depart for the wilds in Harrower's Piper Super Cub, the Clydesdale of Alaskan aviation. Where you get dropped is dependent on Harrower's ability to set the Super Cub's big, puffy bush tires on something vaguely resembling a make-shift runway.