Recourse for a Outfitted Hunt that was not what was advertised?

[rbutcher1234]

I will add that it’s same when chartering a boat. You book a boat in advance but then you show up day of to bad weather and can’t leave the dock. Crew makes the most of it

 

[COelk89]

I did not mean to imply you were a Karen, unless of course you did not try to rectify the situation with the involved parties before airing dirty laundry. I am not up to speed on the situation and am just here for the entertainment value. Good luck sorting things out.

It's all good, thank you. I can see how that impression came accross. I'm not sure what there is to rectify at this point other than my own attitude towards the situation.

 

[bergie]

I used to think I would love to be an outfitter. I mean what's not to like, I get to spend all my time outdoors chasing critters with like minded people? The older I get the more I am glad I took the career path I did rather than try to pursue a career as an outfitter. Has got to be a miserable experience for most of those guys.

 

[ianpadron]

Most Texan thread I've ever read, all I'm saying

 

[COelk89]

I used to think I would love to be an outfitter. I mean what's not to like, I get to spend all my time outdoors chasing critters with like minded people? The older I get the more I am glad I took the career path I did rather than try to pursue a career as an outfitter. Has got to be a miserable experience for most of those guys.

Like a house of cards ready to collapse at any time. I've wanted to invest in an outfit in the past but not sure about that anymore. Hence the reason I am not naming names as I need a full evaluation with a cleared head and a hard look in the mirror before I can do that.

FWIW the guide was awesome, and we are probably gonna put in for a draw hunt together. My beef is just feeling deceived with the expectations set by the head man.

 

[IdahoBeav]

We paid a lot of money for private access...

Yeah, but your elderly father killed a decent deer. Without private access and without points, you guys are probably not killing a deer like that unless you hit the lottery for LE.

Hanging with your dad and watching him kill a buck, it's difficult for me to see that as a bad hunt, even at the price you paid.

 

[COelk89]

Most Texan thread I've ever read, all I'm saying

I am from Texas...

 

[COelk89]

Yeah, but your elderly father killed a decent deer. Without private access and without points, you guys are probably not killing a deer like that unless you hit the lottery for LE.

Hanging with your dad and watching him kill a buck, it's difficult for me to see that as a bad hunt, even at the price you paid.

Good perspective, thank you.

 

[MosquitoCoast]

I'm 52 years old. A lot of my hunts out west or in Canada are with outfitters because as an easterner, DIY isn't always an option for me as I don't have the ability to scout. I hate to tell you this but sometimes hunting conditions suck and there's not a damn thing you or the outfitter can do about it.

I booked a Dall Sheep hunt for 2020 that got postponed to 2021 due to Covid with a very reputable outfitter who had such a high success rate if you could just withstand the torture of the physical abuse a hunt like that takes. To put it in perspective the only guys over a ten year period that didn't kill a sheep with this outfit either 1.) quit due to physical strain or 2.) were looking for a better sheep than the one they killed before. (Must be nice) Anyway, I went with the early group of about 6 people and 3 of us didn't kill a sheep. I saw 60 RAMS and not one was legal. It was brutal. There was clearly a harsh winter beforehand and/or some type of natural die off that occurred which put his numbers down in the year I went. This was after a Covid year where we were all excited because the prior year they had hardly any hunters other than local Canadians due to covid. It was very tough and soul sucking to pay that type of money and come back empty handed and literally wear myself out physically and mentally on a trip I had trained for after booking 4 years prior.

I spoke with the outfitter who wanted to have me back and while I still had to pay for a hunt the charges were reduced a lot as it still costs him to have me there. I ended up getting it done the second trip in 2023 after losing 4 days in basecamp because of the fires in Northern Canada.

Am I bitter about it? No. Its hunting. It happens. If anything it made the next hunt that much more rewarding. The outfitter is someone I would recommend in an instant. I've been on other hunts, for Mule Deer even, with outfitters where I had to eat the tag sandwich. Rarely have a I felt that they weren't trying. If you hunt long enough, shit like what you went thru happens. You have to accept that.

 

[ianpadron]

I am from Texas...

We can tell.

 

[COelk89]

I'm 52 years old. A lot of my hunts out west or in Canada are with outfitters because as an easterner, DIY isn't always an option for me as I don't have the ability to scout. I hate to tell you this but sometimes hunting conditions suck and there's not a damn thing you or the outfitter can do about it.

I booked a Dall Sheep hunt for 2020 that got postponed to 2021 due to Covid with a very reputable outfitter who had such a high success rate if you could just withstand the torture of the physical abuse a hunt like that takes. To put it in perspective the only guys over a ten year period that didn't kill a sheep with this outfit either 1.) quit due to physical strain or 2.) were looking for a better sheep than the one they killed before. (Must be nice) Anyway, I went with the early group of about 6 people and 3 of us didn't kill a sheep. I saw 60 RAMS and not one was legal. It was brutal. There was clearly a harsh winter beforehand and/or some type of natural die off that occurred which put his numbers down in the year I went. This was after a Covid year where we were all excited because the prior year they had hardly any hunters other than local Canadians due to covid. It was very tough and soul sucking to pay that type of money and come back empty handed and literally wear myself out physically and mentally on a trip I had trained for after booking 4 years prior.

I spoke with the outfitter who wanted to have me back and while I still had to pay for a hunt the charges were reduced a lot as it still costs him to have me there. I ended up getting it done the second trip in 2023 after losing 4 days in basecamp because of the fires in Northern Canada.

Am I bitter about it? No. Its hunting. It happens. If anything it made the next hunt that much more rewarding. The outfitter is someone I would recommend in an instant. I've been on other hunts, for Mule Deer even, with outfitters where I had to eat the tag sandwich. Rarely have a I felt that they weren't trying. If you hunt long enough, shit like what you went thru happens. You have to accept that.

Absolutely agree. I am moving towards the acceptance stage of grief lol. I can swallow the tag soup pill DIY, trust me I've done it plenty. I may have had expectations that were impossible to meet given the circumstances and that is on me.

 

[rbutcher1234]

We can tell.

Hey man not all Texas are like the stereotype

 

[longspeak74]

"We enjoyed spending time together which is all that really matters"

 

[EastHumboldt]

I booked a drop camp bull elk hunt about five years ago. The outfitter put us on a bench with a spring about half way up the mountain. Told us an archery guy had shot a nice bull from the door of his tent in his underwear, in that camp about a month before. Sure enough there was a stripped carcass right outside camp. We hunted hard for five days and didn’t even see a cow. Kept hearing shots across and higher up the canyon where there was big “full service” guide camp by the same outfitter. We packed up bivvy gear and went up above that camp the next day and spent the night. Sure enough next morning we saw a large herd of elk with five bulls, two of which were awesome. I put a stalk on them and ended up taking a satellite bull because it was the last day, and I had snuck in so close I was surrounded by cows and about to get made.

We paid about $3400 for that drop camp including packing out my bull. I was at first suspicious that the outfitter had put us in an inferior spot to save the better spots for his higher paying (7-10k) clients. I never said anything. I’ve since been back to that same camp on an elk hunt and a mule deer hunt, and I’m now satisfied that it’s as good a spot as the higher camp, and I was just feeling sour grapes.

I’m very glad that I never publicly expressed my feelings, which would have made me look like an a-hole. A lot of times when we get our feelings hurt it’s because of our expectations, and not necessarily others actions. As my dad used to say “Not everybody that smiles at you is your friend, and not everybody who craps on you is your enemy. It all depends on the circumstances, and time will tell.”

On my second trip to that same camp for elk, we saw quite a few decent muley bucks and dozens of does. We could have shot 3-4 good bucks, but of course we had only an elk tag. We did see a number of bulls but couldn’t get a shot. On my next trip to the same camp for mule deer we saw two small forkies and five does in eight days of hard hunting. You might book the same hunt next year and come away with two crazy wall hangers ….or zip. That’s hunting IMO.

Edit: I was born in Texas, but studiously avoid claiming to be a Texan. If anyone asks… I’m a Nevadan.

 

[flathead#2]

I ate a Brown Bear Tag once. They dont go down easy.

 

[sndmn11]

expectations set by the outfitter I hired

These statements conflict.

I made assumptions based on my past experience in the area and having my own small lease nearby

 

[cuerro viejo]

Drought for sure I suspect maybe disease outbreak, but that was not relayed to me to potentially book a different hunt or cancel altogether if the quality dropped so much. They knew things had changed since I booked and went forward with it anyways. There was no specific guarantees, as I would not expect there to be. But it was just clear the numbers were way down. It's just not how I would do business if I was in that game...

To be clear, I'm not mad I didn't kill something. I don't need to kill something to have a successful hunt. I'm mad that the hunt I paid for was misrepresented relative to the situation on the ground, and no attempt to communicate that was made.

You hunted transpecos? No disease but you can look up rain fall for the area 5 and 6 years ago.

so there where days you saw 10 plus bucks but none over 140?

how hard was the rut?

 

[sndmn11]

@wind gypsy I need to charge more for my hunts.

 

[SDHNTR]

I ate a Brown Bear Tag once. They dont go down easy.

Me too. 13 days and I only saw one small bear. I’m not mad at the outfitter. In fact, I would look with him again in a heartbeat.

 

[COelk89]

You hunted transpecos? No disease but you can look up rain fall for the area 5 and 6 years ago.

so there where days you saw 10 plus bucks but none over 140?

how hard was the rut?

Yes TP, We may have seen 10 bucks one day if you count half of them forkys. Upper age class just was not there. 3.5 yo bucks with small groups of does. There were a few off limits bucks that were not old enough running does. Not the 6.5-7.5 yo deer I would expect to see. The buck my dad killed was rutting hard.