With hunting clients coming back for more year after year, SNS Outfitter and the team of professional hunting guides, wranglers, camp jacks & cooks, must be doing something right! 

SNS Client, Kevin Pollock, tell us why. He has been hunting from Camp Envy for eleven consecutive years. Each season filling out his combination hunt for both antelope and deer. There is only one tag that Kevin was unable to fill on his very first visit in 2013. A blizzard moved into the area and made for very challenging hunting conditions and limited travel. He still managed to fill his antelope tag that year, however, with the help of hunting guide, Jim Barton. Kevin said, “These guys did everything they could to get me on game, even in the worst conditions possible. If that is what they are willing to do for me when it’s this snowed in and wet, I can’t wait to see what it’s like in bluebird conditions. I am coming back!” 

Kevin says he keeps returning to SNS for his yearly antelope and mule deer hunts for multiple reasons; the experienced staff, great animals, “It’s an honest, hard working group. SNS handles all the paperwork. I know when arrive to camp, my tag will be there. It’s a quality outfit from top to bottom with great leadership from Sy,” SNS Outfitter. Over time Kevin has noticed the camp evolve while maintaining its quality. “I like this camp so well because it is remote enough for great hunting, but comfortable with warm rooms, nice beds, great food and hot, hot water showers and now, I can call home right from the cook house.” 

In addition to enjoying this SNS camp all these years, Kevin has been able to get to know all of the crew and become quite close with them. “It’s like old going home week; a family reunion at hunting camp each year.” And if there is one member of the team that Kevin has really hit it off with, that would have to be, Troy Gilmore, SNS camp manager and hunting guide. Matter of fact, they are more like family at this point. With their families enjoy spending time together, Kevin and his wife have become like a bonus set of grandparents for Troy and his wife’s two daughters. When asked about Kevin, Troy will tell you, “Kevin and I just clicked right from the start. He’s a joy to take hunting. He’s one that it doesn’t matter if it’s rain, snow or shine. He just loves the whole experience; the whole hunt from start to finish. He buddies up with everyone at camp, never gets worked up and is easy going. He’s like a dream client!”

It’s easy to imagine their relationship blossoming. Along with hunting partners Curt Robinson and Doug Myers, they have had a lot of quality time together in the field after all. “Be sure you ask him about that one.” said Troy recalling their first time out mule deer hunting. They were laying in position in the sage brush, pinned down waiting for a mule deer buck to stand up, with only a glimpse of his eye and pinch of his antler in sight through a crack in the embankment. Kevin tells me, “We laid there and laid there and laid there. Troy just kept telling me ‘he’s gonna stand up’, I started to cramp up, the sun was beating down on us, Curt fell asleep behind us, we could hear him snoring… after almost three hours that deer finally decides to stand up. It was game on and I made my shot.” When I asked if he was worth the wait, “Oh, he’s on my wall too! Yes.”

This coming season (2023) will be Kevin’s 11th year coming to Camp Envy and his 12th SNS hunt. He joined us for a second time one year with Ken Decker guiding him for a Montana mule deer hunt. That makes for an awful lot of hunts to pick from, but when asked if he could pick a favorite, Kevin tells me that the year 2015 would be a tough one to beat. “We had a history with this deer.” He tells me, “having found his shed the year before, I told Troy, if we ever come across a deer like this, I want him!” They call him the “Cactus Buck”. “He was a stag, in full velvet, with wild horn growth. “He was the weirdest deer you ever saw. I had been hunting my whole life and it was the strangest feeling holding him in my hands after it was done. He is a once in a lifetime trophy.” That very deer even caught the attention of the game warden as well, who took the time to appreciate what a rare find he was. That same year, Kevin harvested an 80 inch antelope buck. “What a year it was!”

These days, Kevin enjoys retirement alongside his family & friends in northern Utah but his thoughts are never far from dreaming of his next adventure with Troy and the SNS gang. When I asked him if he plans to continue joining us for these popular combination hunts, he responded, “Oh Heather, I would rather take Christmas away from my kids than not get to go to Wyoming and hunt each fall with my friends.” An impactful statement indeed Kevin! As always, we will be looking forward to it as well. 

*If you are enjoying our ‘Tailgate Tales’ series and have your own stories of hunting with SNS that you would like to share, we would love to hear from you! Please reach out to either Sy or Heather at sns@huntwyo.com or heather@huntwyo.com 

** If you are interested in making your own hunting memories and booking a hunt with SNS, please visit the website at www.huntwyo.com or call 307-266-4229