Dennis Strong

Name: Dennis StrongOccupation: Owner of Strong Roofing and co-owner of Kim's Country KitchenAge: 55Family: Wife Kim, stepson Dustin Wooden, 24 and stepdaughter Chelsie Wooden, 22City of Residence: LincolnWhen did you start hunting?"My dad was in the logging business. Hunting wasn't a sport; it was how we ate. We were really poor. I grew up in Northern California about 70 miles from Redding, and hunting was our food for the wintertime. We took the rifles out on the Cats with us when we went to work, and if we saw a legal buck, we took it. I thought we were rich because we were always eating steak."What do you say to those who don't hunt?"I'm not here to advocate hunting. I like it but it's not for everyone. If you want more information about hunting, talk to Fish and Game or one of the hunting organizations like the Safari Club International or Ducks Unlimited. For someone who wants to learn to hunt, you've got to know gun safety. Take a hunter's safety class. The first thing is gun and bow safety."What is the most exotic place you've hunted?"I've mostly hunted in the continental U.S. but I've taken three trips up to Alaska. It's the most spectacular. It's my favorite and by far the most challenging. I've never gone to a place like Africa or anything."What was your most recent trip to Alaska like?"We had caribou and moose tags. We tracked Caribou for 168 miles over 12 days. We saw a lot of beautiful country. When we took our caribou, we had to carry them on our backs. It was a lot of hard work."What steps do hunters take to take care of the environment?"Most ethical hunters go into the wild and try to leave as little trace as possible. We like to go in and have the only evidence of our being there be the ashes of a campfire or something. There are all kinds of people, though. I don't throw trash on the ground here and I certainly wouldn't out in the wild, either. That's not being 'green,' that's being responsible."What is it you enjoy most about hunting?"I really enjoy being out in the wilderness early in the morning when the sun comes up. That's when people say they're closest to God. It's just you and Mother Nature."Have you hunted turkeys?"I have hunted turkeys. There are a lot of them out here. The foothills have an abundance. I have one in the freezer for Thanksgiving. I was able to harvest it in my back yard. I have 35 acres and it gives us some breathing space."What's work at Kim's Country Kitchen like?"I'm there in the mornings and on Tuesday nights for Taco Tuesdays. It's a great atmosphere and anyone who has any questions about hunting can come down and ask me or the other hunters who come around. It's a fun thing. We get a full range of people in there and on Tuesdays, they'll wait 45 minutes for three tacos and a beer. That says something about the atmosphere. Generally, we're meat and potatoes, biscuits and gravy."