Outfitter Rant

[sndmn11]

I wanted a nice bull, I still have meat in the freezer, so I could be a little picky on if I shoot or eat tag soup.

Why does it matter then if other people choose to hunt elk that are not up to your standards? You declining to hunt a bull or herd of elk shouldn't then result in complaining about people who are happy to.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

I’m glad I’m too poor to go on outfitted hunts.

 

[ElDiablito]

blm wilderness lands are public but no motorized vehicles on them, so horse or hiking only. The outfitter has a permit to put up tents and such in a set area

Of course - if it’s wilderness then no motorized vehicles would be permitted. So, sounds like he has a permit to guide on BLM, as we guessed.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

When I was a boat captain, I could be fishing 45 miles offshore and some potlicker would see my boat and bee line over to me and set anchor 100 feet apart, last time I was hunting Colorado people would see us glassing and walk over and set up 50-200 yards away, after we had hiked in the dark and settled in our area before the sun came up
Same crap pronghorn hunting New Mexico bird dogging us around the BLM
Zero curtesy now days

I’ve seen it doing fishing charters as explained. I also know that many charters have marked those same spots at different times. But if the ocean is wide open, find another spot. One reason I hate fishing the Russian River. No room.

 

[WRO]

I’ve seen it doing fishing charters as explained. I also know that many charters have marked those same spots at different times. But if the ocean is wide open, find another spot. One reason I hate fishing the Russian River. No room.

There’s places to get relatively away from people on the Russian if you’re willing to do a little walking..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

There’s places to get relatively away from people on the Russian if you’re willing to do a little walking..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s the parking more than the fishing. Lol

I just don’t find pleasure in that parking area at all.

Yet to do it. I’ll go to other places with less stress.

 

[Predator_SD]

Sorry guy you’re in the wrong. You paid to hunt the elk on that property and they paid to hunt elk on that property. Clearly you are both going to end up where the elk are that’s common sense. Both of you have equal right to those elk. They aren’t YOUR elk until you kill one.

If you want exclusive rights to a property you have to pay more. Im a public land hunter and learned long ago to outwork other people to find unmolested animals and no competition. Id think on paid hunts the mantra is outpay other people so if you don’t do that you get competition same as if you don’t outwork other people on public.

 

[Taco John]

People whith a solid grasp of wildlife, and wild places, aren't necessarily good at managing humans.


The rare guys that are good at both make the best outfitters/guides.

 

[WRO]

It’s the parking more than the fishing. Lol

I just don’t find pleasure in that parking area at all.

Yet to do it. I’ll go to other places with less stress.

We have a work around to deal with it.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

We have a work around to deal with it.

I do too. But my salmon fishing is subpar. However the moose hunting and the pike fishing. Now that’s top notch.


This summer, I’m actually going to try the Russian. I decided to give it a go vs no salmon.

 

[jtshuntstuff]

I don't agree with the majority here. If I'm guiding or being guided, I expect the logistics be worked out well enough between the guides to insure there is no stepping on toes or crowding going on. This sounds like SIL hired some buddies that didn't know the ranch and they found a repeat client that could carry the camp on his knowledge. A lot of speculation as I wasn't there, but on that size tract there is no reason the guides can't keep their hunters separated and respect the elk found by the other guides. As a guide or client, I would have spoke up sooner and definitely would have called the original outfitter and explained my frustration and why I wouldn't be back. JMO.

 

[JackButler]

Here are things I picked out.











I read this all as a client who has an understanding that success can still be had, several years' worth, even with other hunters on the same property. Elk were run into every day, the client hunter didn't kill any, so that client's conclusion is that others must be to blame.

There's zero reason another hunter cannot be within eye sight.

There's zero reason an unremarkable group of elk cannot be hunted by someone who also paid to hunt them. "We might hunt them/there later", is an open door for someone else to say, "ok, I will hunt them now", because there's no reservation system.

It sounds more like the guide was unsure of how to kill animals and it looks better when the clients are holding the optimism of seeing animals with, we will hunt them later" rather than it being demonstrated the lack in real skill and ensuing sadness. Plenty of animals, every day it seems, with no killing tells me they weren't run off and someone wanted killing rather than hunting.

Nothing untrue about anything you said, and to each their own. But what the OP described is basically public land hunting. I’m ok with several hunters within sight of me, I just don’t see any reason to pay for that.

 

[OKHunter84]

Typically, yes. Whether it’s written by the boss or an unwritten thing that just emerges naturally, you put any handful of dudes working together all day for a month or more, and living together in the same bunkhouse, and one of them is going to end up calling the shots.

OP, it’s possible that a demanding customer could’ve been in his guide’s ear, forcing action that ruined your hunt. I’ve only met maybe one or two guides in my entire life that I didn’t particularly care for, but there’s always at LEAST one or two D-bag customers in every camp. A douchey customer can easily ruin a guide’s entire week, and the guide is never going to TELL you that their customer is a grade-A certified super douche.

I don’t think I’ll ever go on a guided hunt without bringing enough trusted friends and/or family members that our group occupies the entire camp.

This made me laugh. I have definitely been in a hunt camp with a couple grade-A certified super douches. I've even met a couple guides that meet that criteria.

 

[R&RCattleCompany]

I have always DIY and done well. Once in 2007 went with outfitter. One of the guides didn't show up so head packer had us. Great guy but not a hunter. My takeaway is if you go and hunt with an outfitter you hunt his way. I prefer to do some homework, try to find some local info once you settle on an area and a plan. Then it's on me to pull it off.