I booked this hunt after speaking with Mark (Owner) based on him stating it was a peak of the rut and we would be hunting a farm that had not been hunted for weeks. He also stated there would be no more than 8 people in camp.
Well, this was not entirely true. I will say the weather was not helpful. It was over 72 degrees everyday and the rut was not going like it should have been. The accomadations were nice and the food was great. Mark and my guide Eric were great, friendly people.
However, Me and others in camp experienced quite a few things not as stated.
I have a few things that irked me personally but the few things that seemed to be the overall complaints in camp were:
-The amount of people in camp were 12 when everyone seemed to be told there would be no more than 8.
-Not everyone in camp saw a shooter buck but that happens, However, the stand placement was bad. Shooting lanes were not good at all.
-The farms some of us were on had just been hunted. Candy wrappers and candy were actually still in the stand. Another farm actually had people scouting on it when hunters from camp showed up to hunt.
-Stands were in bad shape. Actually had two break on me when I was in them.
-Three deer were shot. One was recovered. This sort of thing does happen though.
-One evening I saw a great buck and the next day I was moved to another farm.
Overall, due to the fun with guys at camp and getting away for a few days it was an alright trip. Not seeing deer happens but when you do see them it would be nice to move to where you may have a shot. I have a few more things that seemed to not be right.
Please, anyone can contact me at [email protected] and I will provide more details if interested.
Was the outfitter notified of problems? - NO
I would like to respond to this by first saying that Mr Pringle never once said he was unhappy as a matter of fact he told everyone in camp a different story.
When Mr Pringle booked his hunt I told him as I have told everyone that we are equipped to take up to 12 hunters.At no time was he or anyone else ever told there would only be eight in camp. Why would I do that we have 10,000 acres twelve is a very few hunters for that ammount of land.
The comment that our stands are in bad locations? I would beg to differ and so would alot of our clients that have harvested mature bucks from our stands. Our stands are very good stands and are only three years old. We check these stands for safety and pull up ropes very often. For him to make a frivolous statement that our stands are in bad shape and some broke is quite disturbing to my staff and myself. If it were me hunting somewhere and stands broke with me I would let the outfitter know.(he never said a word).
Some hunters want you to have a 360 degree field of shooting lane for them with no branches anywhere. These hunters do not understand that in doing this you are left in the open and you will get busted. We have ample shooting lanes so as not to be seen. Every area can not be cleared. We are bow hunters and have been for many years and our success rate shows we know what we are doing.
Mr Pringle failed to tell everyone that he was told that a TV show had hunted that property Three weeks before him and saw several big bucks and he and three others wanted to hunt that farm because of the bucks they had seen. Their choice they could have and would have been placed on a fresh farm if they had wanted, but they requested to hunt that farm. Also I had scouted that farm the day before and saw a booner and put him in the stan close to where I saw the buck.(that stand had never been hunted before)My guide had sat there three days prior and filmed a good buck that was shown to Mr Pringle. The first morning Mr Pringle saw the booner on the field edge and was very excited. The next day my guide placed a decoy there and he passed a shooter buck at 20 yards on the docoy.(I guess the stand placement was bad). He told everyone in camp that he wished he would have shoot the buck. The same buck that my guide had filmed. The next day I had to come get him because he said he forgot his meds and had to use the restroom? OK. I put him on another farm close to the lodge he saw another booner chasing doe on a fence line 150 yards away and was telling everyone in camp he saw the biggest buck in his life. The next day we put him back on the farm he was hunting because he had left gear in the stand and wanted to go back.
I have come to realize that in this business as any other you cant please everyone. My only wish is that if people are unhappy please let someone know so we can try to make you happy.
Mr Pringle is in the military and I would like to thank him for his service to our country and hope he has much success in the years to come.
HOT
