I have hunted with a few outfitters throughout North America and enjoyed some aspects of each experience. I hunted with Tad and crew last month and enjoyed the entire experience. Work colleagues of mine had hunted with Tad the year before and raved about how great a person he was and how hard he would work to make each hunter's hunt a success. I experienced this first hand this past season.
We booked late season muzzleloader (Mid-December) with Tad. Our group accounted for eight of the ten in camp. The accommodations are top notch. Plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms and clean and spacious. The food is top notch. Tina is the cook and made enough food every night to feed 20 hunters. Great, home cooked meals.
Our hunt was four days. All the guides know their stuff and mine, Larry, was a local legend with all the giant bucks he's taken in Western KY. I was setup in pop-up, ground blind overlooking a clear cut, right-a-way the first morning. This is the only set I hunted my entire trip. Reason being is I was seeing so many deer. I saw steady stream of deer, mostly bucks every morning and evening. Mid-day would slow down but would still have deer come through and I was entertained by an abundance of turkeys. I saw one real nice buck my first evening but he wouldn't stop moving and I finally lost my shooting light.
The highlight of my trip was my second evening. The last two hours, I had 15 different bucks come through, just none were what I was looking to shoot. At one point, 5 came in together single file. I saw more bucks in 3+ days of hunting with Tad than any 3 day period of time in my 30 years of hunting. Just not the giant I was hoping to get a crack at. (Keep in mind Tad's still early on in executing his plan developing his herd and farms - It's working!)
My last day I could only hunt four hours and then had to leave. I ended up taking an old, cull 7 point a couple hours before departure. Even after shooting and waiting for my guide to arrive, four bucks immediately came through just minutes after the shot.
I would recommend Tad and his outfit to anyone. Down to earth and hard working, best describes Tad and those he has helping him. He is a genuine good guy that knows what he is doing. I have always had mindset of hunting with an outfitter once and trying somewhere else new the next year. This is the first time I will be going back to an outfitter as I have already made my deposit for 2017.
Tad, keep up the good (hard) work!
Thanks Greg, appreciate the kind comments and can't wait to get you guys back in camp next year. We do our best to make every hunter feel welcomed and part of the team, and are glad you guys have chosen us to be your hunting home in Kentucky.
Weather was cold, but not too cold. We had one day of rain.
