Bumping into outfitters

[RemiR7]

Curious to hear how many of you DIY otc guys have run into outfitters/clients while on a hunt and curious to hear how that experience went and if it’s a frequent thing? My “plan A” (otc) this year appears to have outfitters in the general area and possibly some of the exact areas I’ve planned on hunting. I’ve come across just a couple where individuals said it wasn’t a pleasant meeting between the two, which I understand they are running a business but, at the same time it’s wilderness/NF and open to the public.

 

[Backyard]

Every year I get hold of the FS office in charge of outfitter permits for the particular area that I hunt and ask them "nicely" if there are any outfitters planned to be in the area, and exactly where are their camps to be. They will cooperate with you, but be cordial. Keeps me from planning a hunt that is for sure already too crowded.

 

[JWP58]

I run into one just about every September. Never had an unpleasant experience.

 

[Fridaythe13th]

Never ran into a bad outfitter. I should have had some pissed off campers paying all that extra cash to be a half mile off the trailhead.

 

[idahohikker]

Every year I get hold of the FS office in charge of outfitter permits for the particular area that I hunt and ask them "nicely" if there are any outfitters planned to be in the area, and exactly where are their camps to be. They will cooperate with you, but be cordial. Keeps me from planning a hunt that is for sure already too crowded.

The offices can be helpful but it's annoying when an outfitter doesn't operate out of set backcountry camps and just runs a ten by ten mile or larger area with horses. You never know where they're be and it spreads their pressure all through the area. I think the forest service should pin them down more so users can plan. In one case I called the outfitter and at least was told where their drop camps were located to avoid those.

 

[Ross]

In the corner of northwest Montana have run into one each year and never had a bad experience one outfitter packed a bull I shot in front of them for free and another offered there mules if I neeeded assistance ....in casual conversation learned a few things and we simply stayed out of each other’s way. Funny story one hillside used to be very popular prior to the wolves and I would pass a string of guided hunters on a long pull uphill opening day hours before shooting light and they would simply say morning Ross as there unfit clients gasped and pulled off too many big coatsalways smiled said good luck as I scooted on by

 

[Salmonchaser]

One bad experience, simple call to the forest service resolved the issue. Had bulls packed out for free or a small fee a couple of times by the guy who works my area. Be cordial you could learn something.

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

As far as CO depending on the Outfitter the USFS won’t know what camps they are using until after the season, may be easy with 2-3 camp locations they are almost guaranteed to use those camps. But get an outfitter with 13 that only hunts 4 a season, would be a good guess knowing where he will be. Your best option is to call the outfitters directly and be polite some will be very happy you called to see where their clients are so you can avoid that area. Outfitters are trying to run a business to and it gets tough for them.


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[jmez]

One bad experience, multiple good ones.

Hunted Terrace Mtn area in WY one year. An outfitter had his camp set up right on a horse trail. His camp was big and on both sides of the trail, intentional. You had to ride right through the middle of his camp to get up the trail, which we did. He bitched loudly every time we rode through his camp.

Other than that they have been cordial and good to talk to. I always ask the general area they are using and try to plan accordingly. Stay out of their way and they stay out of mine.

 

[Wrench]

I ran into an outfitter during the peak of the elk / wolf conflict in the locsha selway area. He was very happy to see me and offered his services since his client base was down to a number that barely kept the cook paid. We had a great talk about the trends and shared intel.

I've run into some in the William Douglas wilderness and they get pissed when you're in their area.....of course that's a 100 hour season for spikes, so it's not a time to make friends.

 

[Young Blood]

Ran into one a couple years ago while we were sitting watching an opening... 2 guides with 4 hunters came riding through with horses. We chatted for a few minutes and they went about two hundred yards down/across the hill to a spot you glass the opposite side of the canyon. They came back by about 30 minutes later and told us they had spotted 3 bulls and were going to try and get their clients on them. I went down and sure enough there were the elk. The guides were very polite and gave us some good intel on what the elk had been doing that season. The elk were mostly bunched up that year so his thought was to try and get guys to go bust them up as he said he doesn't like taking clients into large herds where it can turn into a circus with people shooting. All around a good experience with that outfitter.

 

[LongWayAround]

I ran into an outfitter on horseback coming down the trail a couple years ago. I told him about a bull with some cows below his camp and he told me he heard one up on a nearby ridge riding in that morning. I got close but missed the bull that evening... His bastard dog nipped my leg but I would call it a pretty good interaction!

 

[njdoxie]

I’ve never run into an outfitter, and the spot I’ve been hunting the last 10 years or so, I’ve been told there’s not enough elk to support an outfitter....fine by me, as it’s true there aren’t many elk.


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[RemiR7]

Glad to hear the positive responses from you all. I’m from the Midwest and live and hunt in one of the best areas for whitetail hunting in the country and the outfitters around typically get a bad name most the time just because they lease up hundreds to thousands of acres of ground that used to be hunted by the average joe off permission or working the farm for hunting rights. Unfortunately it’s become a rich mans game in the Midwest. I’ve ran into several while hunting archery antelope/deer in Wyoming over the years on BLM while they were out checking cattle on the BLM ground and most were friendly individuals and offered some good insight on the areas and thought I was crazy for going in several miles from the road in to untouched areas to hunt antelope. Wasn’t sure if it would be any different for elk being the amount of time and energy it takes to hunt them and the growing popularity of hunting them.

 

[huntinfool84]

i have a couple times, same outfitter different years. All I know is I'd be a little pissed off if i paid good money to sit in a tree stand while the outfitter pushed the elk out of the field up the draw to me. Never any bad experiences with them but i know one year the elk did not go where they wanted them to right after they pushed them to me lol. That was also the last year i "hunted" there because it wasn't much effort in that and it just wasn't fun. Now if i was just wanting the meat i know where i would be sitting every year!

 

[Marine4life]

I have had a lot of good experiences but also some bad. All the bad were in NM and the general theme was they always tried to tell me i was on private land.


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[[email protected]]

Only ever had good experiences but have heard of bad for sure.

 

[mulecreek]

Most all my elk hunting in Wyo is under Gen tags. There are 2 outfitters that run out of the same trailhead that I typically hunt. One runs a backcountry camp and one runs day hunts on horseback from the trailhead. The one that runs day hunts is a great guy. Pleasant, considerate, he even packed half a bull out for me. The other one is a horses ass. The trailhead is small and he will take the entire turnout to get gear arranged and pack his horses. Guides for both groups have never been anything but kind, considerate hunters. Never had a problem with their hunters either. Most are surprised that people hunt where they are without horses.

One thing that has helped me when trying to figure out how to hunt the same drainages they are, on public land, and trying to be considerate of them as well is that in my experience horseback hunters rarely get off a horse trail. I use this to my advantage. Their general tactic seems to be to ride trails to lookouts, sit for awhile then move to the next one, then back to camp. I simply hunt the canyons, timber patches and slides that don't have horse trails running through them. I hunt areas that they ride right by. Doesn't even have to be far. One timber patch that will always hold elk is only 50 acres in size and 90 yds from the trail. I have found elk in that timber patch every time I hunt it. Another area that is a consistent elk producer for me is a slope that has a very popular main access FS road at the bottom and a horse trail on the ridgeline at the top. The horse trails come out of the trailhead, loop up the slope, hit the ridgeline, run along it for a few miles then loop back down the slope to the road. I hunt, on foot, the area inside that circle. I have been hunting that spot almost every year since 2001 and have taken 9 bulls and 5 cows from it in that time.

For the most part, when it comes to elk, I don't sweat outfitters or any other hunters for that matter. I simply go to where the other hunters aren't. Whether they are outfitted or not. Seems the elk do the same.

 

[NV HUNTER]

2017 nevada bull elk hunt.

I scouted 8 weekends, had some good bulls located. On weekend #6 an outfitter blocked the 2 track into the drainage that was holding 2 really good bulls. I had a polite but stern talk with him and his wranglers. I did not like the feeling i received from them and hunted my back up area, still killed a 330 bull on day 5. This was all public land as well.

 

[Airborne1]

I personally love when I run into a outfitter. Never had a bad experience. As a non resident doing all e-scouting, its nice to know that if an outfitter is running his business in that area, there's got to be elk! Last year ran into two different ones, who each had 2-3 clients. We asked where they're going and since we were headed in the same direction he offered some knowledge and sent us on a path he knew and didn't plan on hunting. Ran into elk there, didn't get one on the ground but ran into em. Being polite, and a good handshake can go a ways.