cherokee_outfitters

I was curios alot of guys on here have sad they had some bad guided hunts. You don't have to mention names just how and why it went bad.

Poor performance of Guide?
Lack of game present?
Bad food or accomodations?
Lack of quality game?
Weather?
Stock was not very gental?
Hunt was too physical?
Outfitter didn't take you were promised?


Rifle blew up and killed the cook? (just kidding) Had to eat oatmeal the rest of the week.

Thanks in advance

txhunter58

Names of outfitters have to be left out or the post will be deleted.

That said, I went on a guided hunt about 15 years ago into the flat tops wilderness in Colorado. We paid for a packed in guided elk hunt. This was the first year they had a long second season and we were booked on the second half of the season. When we got to the lodge, the guides had just gotten out with the guys from the first hunt and were exhausted. They told us that there was too much snow on top and that instead of packing us in, they were going to give us a lodge hunt for the same price. The days we did hunt, there was maybe 8-12 inches of snow on top and we did not have any trouble getting in anywhere. Conclusion: they were too tired to pack us in.

The guys that had paid for a lodge hunt seem to get the prime areas to hunt, and we had to find other areas that the guides didn't seem too farmiliar with to hunt.

Guides were good cowboys, but even though I didn't know much about elk hunting, I think I knew more than they did.

Opening day we made it up to the top at daylight and just about when we were getting to the place our guide had picked out for us to hunt, he discovered a camp, so we had to go to a secondary place to hunt and didn't get there til well after shooting light. The camp looked like it had been there at least several days. Seems like they should have known about it.

2 out of 5 days, they forgot to wake us up until they were ready to go, so we got a very quick breakfast and arrived at the hunting area late. The told us not to bring alarm clocks because the guides would wake us up.

1 out of 5 days, it was snowing lightly (no wind) and most of the lodge hunters chose to stay in camp. When my buddy and I said we wanted to go, the guides drew straws in front of us to see who would "lose" and had to take us hunting. We finally got in what looked like a good place and the sun had just gone down when the guide showed up and said, "well, it is getting dark, we better head down to camp". At least 20-30 minutes of shooting light was still there when we headed down.

One night, one of the guides came into the lodge where supper was being served and seemed to be drunk and started tearing up the place. We got 6 guys to rush in and throw him down and hog tie him with him saying " I am going to kill all of you!!"

And last but not least, I saw 1 elk the whole trip, a cow.

The food and the lodge were great. Would have been a great place come for a summer get away.

sawbill

Perhaps the one feature that destroys a persons' hunt is too high an expectation of what he's paid for. This may be caused by the outfitters sales pitch or the hunters unreasonable expectation of what he is going to get. Either way, the disapointment at not getting or seeing an animal usually out weighs poor food, poor accommodations, poor preparation or poor service.

bearklr

My Father went on his first elk hunt about 8 years ago to Idaho. It was his only guided hunt. Everything started out good. The camps were nice, the guides were friendly and the trip was pretty easy. Then came the time to be guided out. Needless to say they did see numerous elk and heard numerous bugles none of which the guide wanted to pursue. Instead they just kept on walking and walking in the other direction. My father couldn't understand this and asked why they hadn't gone after the last 5x5 they saw. The guide simply said "because". Well I guess the fact that my father questioned him kind of made the guide upset so he decided to walk as far and as fast as he could to tire my father out. Well little did the guide know that my dads job requires him to walk 30 miles every day and he has been doing it for 15 years. After about 2 hours of wakling straigt up and down mountains the guide needed a little rest and asked if they could stop. My father kept walking and the guide got a little taste of his own medicine. Since then they have never gone on a guided hunt and have taken far more elk.

sawbill

The first thing I ask my hunters is how many have hunted bear before. I always take the time to show them what I've done and why I've done it. I make it their hunt, not mine. I get them involved, get them thinking about whats going on. I don't want them to just shoot an animal over a bait but want them to be part of the hunt, part of any decision making, whether they have experience or not. I think that approach is appreciated. Any guide that won't listen to his client will soon have no clients to talk to.

121553

Scarey but very good story tex. The guide I had this year hunting in West Yellowstone I could tell real quik it was his first time in the area. He pulled 3 different maps out in tring to figure out where the boundries were to state and forestery property was as he tried to avoid the boundries of private property. Elk were plentiful but mostly on private lands. Deer and antelope were all over but thats not why I drove across the state for. I had to sleep in back of my truck and eat out of a can on most occassions. Sometimes I was too tired to eat when I got back. Sometimes we were in mountain goat country and had to make a detour as I knew that the day was totally wasted on a wild goose chase. He also got us turned around on numerous occasions. I am actually surprised that I made it back. I have never worked so hard in my whole life, as I had to do most of the work. As a matter of fact I did all the work. But only because of his hard relentless effort was I succesful in filling my tag. Thats why I'm going solo (AGAIN) next year, Bobby

Grizzlybear

sawmill-

Unfortunately, there are plenty of guides who are NOT interested in involving/teaching their clients. Too bad all of them don't have your approach!

I've only been on one guided hunt and it was this past fall. The trip itself was great. Good, competant, and friendly guides and camp staff, and great food. Filled the tag with a nice bull moose and left happy. The only problem was that they, by mistake, charged my credit card twice for my initial deposit of 200 bucks. They said they'd correct it but then I never heard anything - no response to email, phone, or letter. I honestly believe it was a mistake, but I didn't appreciate having to go through the credit card to get it straightened out. I suppose it's a minor problem inthe long run.

James B

I have been on quite a few outfitter hunts and fishing trips. All in Sask. All were everything I could have hoped for. The only clich was once when the quide hit a hell of a hole in the path with the 4 wheeler and bounced me and my gun into the biggest coldest mud and water hole in Canada. I am sure he felt worse than I did. Worse but warmer.

rambopacker

One of my jobs is administering Outfitter and guides. I mostly hear good things about them. One of the things we have on our inspection list is how are the services they offer. Such as, is the client getting what was advertised, what's the condition of their livestock and camp etc. They are also expected to educate their guest on the area they are in, including Wilderness ethics. We have our O/Gs go to a Leave No Trace training and should be following these practices out on the Forest just like everyone else. We investigate complaints and if an outfitter receives too many complaints they stand to loose their permit with the Forest Service. We appreciate hearing about both good and bad outfitting services. If you feel like you've been wronged, contact the permit administrator for the Forest/District. I am very fortunate as I'm dealing with a good bunch of folks, but I have seen many complaints on this web site and that bothers me.

It is not always the O/Gs fault that things go bad or you don't get an animal. You should ask a lot of questions before hiring an outfitter so you know what to expect. You better also condition yourself for the hunt. Nothing seems more frustrating for a guide than a client who can't get around or can't hit what they shoot at. Check all of their referenes too. If you expect to get an animal every time you go hunting then you got the wrong idea of what hunting is.

Poluke

As told to me by a friend/exguide.

Hunters not ready for the shot
Hunters set up on a shot and missing after 20 or so shot.
Hunter wanting to go back to camp for lunch
Hunter wanting to drive to area as opposed to riding horse
Hunter has lots of money but no talent
Hunter moving from area without notifying guide
Hunter "I paid for this trip and by god you're going to get me a deer.

Guide wanting the money puts hunter on first buck/elk bull he sees for monitary reasons
Guide not btinging the lunch
Guide fed up with adult babysitting leaves hunter in woods takes ball and goes home.
Guide didn't bring hunters extra brick of ammo

Animal didn't cooperate by standing still
Animal thumbs nose at hunter for missing at 100 yards
Animal looks at hunter and starts laughing at scentblocker labels
Animal goes and gets buddies comes back and kicks guides a## for bringing hunter to the "hood"
The hill was too steep to climb lets get the four wheeler and sneak up on em.