Keeping It Real at Sweetgrass at Thunderbasin

When Deirdre Wildman and Rick Steiner cut the ribbon on their new Wyoming uber-lodge in 2023, they did it with expectations of quickly becoming one of America’s best wingshooting destinations—a feat that, even under the best circumstances, would likely take three to four years. Fast-forward one year to today, and Sweetgrass is already offering a wingshooting experience comparable to those of the most elite lodges in the world. The key to this “overnight success” has been a complete and unwavering commitment to being authentic. The result is that every aspect of the operation isn’t just of the highest quality, but also one completely devoid of window dressing. The lodge, the food, the people—you name it—are all as genuine as it gets.

The Ranch

There is no such thing as a genuine Wyoming big-ranch hunting experience without a big Wyoming ranch. With its 6,000 acres, big-sky views, cattle operation, free-range elk and innumerable square feet of lodging and outbuildings, Sweetgrass at Thunderbasin is an impressive spread indeed. The land includes classic high-desert sage flats, grassy foothills and majestic lodgepole-studded mountains, making for incredible scenery throughout the property.

Sweetgrass’s main lodge is spacious, handsome and adorned with a wealth of Western art, artifacts and furnishings. From paintings, riding saddles and Native American crafts to a library of Western and hunting books, antique firearms and a player piano, everything is in keeping with Sweetgrass’s commitment to authenticity. Even the 25-foot hand-carved bar from which coffee is served in the breakfast building is the real McCoy, having resided in an Anaconda, Montana, bar for 200 years before Rick trucked it to Sweetgrass and reassembled it.

There are simply too many interesting aspects of the ranch to list. It’s perhaps best to say that indoors or outdoors the property will surprise and delight guests at every turn.

Dining

There’s a very strong case to be made that Sweetgrass is setting a new culinary standard for upscale hunting lodges. Although Deirdre is deeply involved with all aspects of the ranch, the growing and preparing of amazing food is her greatest passion. She has established—and is constantly refining—a bona fide ranch-to-table program that includes produce, meats and dairy. To wit, 16,000 square feet of gardens feature 68 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, organic beef is from the Thunderbasin herd, and home-raised chickens and ducks produce both meat and eggs. All of these “ingredients” plus wild game are used to prepare creative, delectable dishes on par with what one would expect from a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris.

There is more to dining at Sweetgrass than just the food, however. The venues in which meals are taken are equally spectacular. Meals at the lodge are served in three dining areas, each possessing unique charm. Guests also can look forward to sitting down at exquisitely set banquet tables for gourmet field lunches in luxurious wall tents. That said, for most guests the most impressive meal is the chuckwagon dinner. For this guests are taken to an open-air dining area on a mountaintop that boasts a restored vintage chuckwagon and a wall-tent bar. The chuckwagon menu consists of a mix of Western “comfort food” and exotic international delicacies, all of which are enjoyed from seating overlooking a pristine panorama.

Hunting & Conservation

As with everything else at Sweetgrass, the hunting component was designed to be authentic. Rick wanted the shooting to be true to the luxury-wingshooting-lodge experience—meaning lots of hard-flying birds. Also, with the lodge offering so many non-shooting options, slightly shorter hunts packed with shooting allow more time to comfortably partake in them. In addition, for the ranch to be considered a genuine wingshooting destination, it had to have wild birds. Sweetgrass is able to check this box, thanks to a resident population of sharp-tailed grouse. Great care has been taken to not overshoot the sharptails, and the birds have responded by extending their range to new areas of the property. From Rick and Deirdre’s perspective, having wild birds on the property is an affirmation of their efforts to be good stewards of land. Which is why they are involved in a variety of conservation efforts, including a long-term project focussed on the propagation of sage grouse on the ranch.

sweetgrass lodge hunters posing with a landscape

The People

Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of Sweetgrass is the team of people that makes everything happen. Each person is supremely qualified for his or her respective role at the ranch. For example, Josh, who makes coffee to order at the Anaconda bar each morning, is an actual barista. The fact that the cocktail bar is stocked with bottles that will please connoisseurs of fine spirits is a reflection of bartender Phillip’s extensive history of working at some of the finest bars in California. Sweetgrass's Chef de Cuisine, Nik Zahasky, has decades of experience working in the organic farm-to-table culinary world and collaborates with the owners on curating the ranch's farm-raised selection of livestock and produce. All the way down the line, staffers are genuine pros with the credentials to prove it. This goes for the ownership, as well, with Deirdre having applied her experience in the hospitality industry to developing unparalleled lodging and dining experiences and Rick drawing on his background as a US Special Forces officer and Aerospace Executive to orchestrate an incredibly well-run shooting program.

While the shooting, lodging, dining and hospitality at Sweetgrass at Thunderbasin all rank at the highest level, what really sets the place apart is the additional effort and expense that have been devoted to making sure that everything is genuine. Sweetgrass guests aren’t just getting a great bird hunt; they’re getting the ultimate Western wingshooting experience.