Bowsite.com

Unfortunately this was a very poor experience for me and the first time I have ever left an outfitter with a couple of days remaining on the hunt I paid to participate.

The outfitter has many hunters to place in blinds every day. Hunters going to blinds from the day before and insiders have preferred locations while others are placed the morning of the hunt. I waited my turn every morning to get a hunting location and consistently felt like an afterthought compared to other hunters in camp. The OnX app is used for hunters to find their assigned hunting locations. 3 out of 4 days my instructions took me to incorrect locations, locked gates, fences with no means of crossing and wasted important time getting to my assigned hunting locations. (I chose to return to the lodge and leave without hunting the 4th day.)

The hunting locations I was assigned. The first day I was in a transition area of woods with a field that included some small brassica and winter oats or rye. I saw one doe and a yearling in 12 hours of hunting. The second day I was in a stand in a transition area next to a field with pasture grass and no food in the field or in the woods. 11.5 hours with no deer sighted. The third day I was in the woods and saw two does and a small 8 all day.

Upon arriving back at camp, two out of three evenings I was not asked what I saw during my hunts. Other hunters would ask, but not the staff. I heard stories from other hunters at stands with soybeans, lush food plots, etc. with some having 8 to 10 deer around them at one time. Two bucks were harvested in three days. One 150 class and one 133” buck. A couple of hunters stated they saw 140” class or better deer but could not get a shot.

The owners parents cooked and were incredibly friendly and the bright spot of my time with the outfitter. The food was tasty but compared to other outfitters I have hunted the menu was poor and not the quality expected. Possibly due to not spending the money required to have better menus. Boxed pizza was one night.

The lodging was an old airport hanger office and my room had 6 twin beds and one bunk bed with mattresses that should have been thrown out 20 years ago. Think army barracks but less comfortable. Once again, not much money spent on making the hunters sleep well. There were two bathrooms with showers and a laundry area. There was a similar room next to mine in the main lodge. There were other buildings housing hunters but the conditions were described by these hunters as about the same. The den area was comfortable with old furniture but did have a big screen.

In summary, having hunted at many outfitters over my 62 years, this was arguably my worst outfitter experience and the only experience where I left early with two days left on my hunt. I have never left a less than positive review about an outfitter before but chose to do so this time due to the outfitter’s response to my calling him to give him feedback. The response to my concerns was simply to deny my experiences and the facts supporting them. He did offer for me to return this year for free but that will obviously not happen or in the future.

Was the outfitter notified of problems? - YES