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Hunter Comments

We were a group of 4 hunters and Dan made some pretty big statements leading up to the hunt - he likes to say how he's got certain bucks on different farms that will score 150 or 170 or whatever and how the previous group choose to pass them for something better. This got us excited for the first two days until reality set in.

If you are an archery hunter you will be very disappointed. I will say that our best opportunity of the trip was day 1 when I did get a shot at a 140 class mule deer on a stalk from 50 yards - Dan told me to "let it fly no matter what, you never know what can happen" - not typically my style but when in Rome...the buck was standing up looking at me broadside but it was not a good situation, thankfully the arrow missed the animal completely We saw plenty of deer, but nothing that would be considered a trophy and nothing within 150 yards of the stands that were in place when we arrived. The stand situation is really very poor - I was instructed to hunt a stand that is hanging in a DEAD TREE one day (see submitted photo) where the first "step" was a 2 x 4 that is 5 feet off the ground. That was a wasted hunt. Some of my serious archery buddies have had some good comments about that stand site - none of them were complimentary.

Additionally, Dan was there to collect the check the first day, and then we didn't see him again nor did he call to check in with us - he would only speak to Tom. Tom (our guide) is a nice guy who tried everything he could to get us on some deer, but he is pretty limited by what he can do. We couldn't go into certain areas where we'd see the deer because it was either too far away or they didn't want to disturb the deer for future hunters! They advertise 10's of thousands of acres - you'd think we would have been able to hunt a different stand every day if that was the case, but each of us saw 2 different stands during the trip and we were within sight of each other every hunt. Not to mention we had to drive about an hour from the lodge for each hunt. By the way, this hunt was supposed to include transportation, apparently that means that 4 grown men are supposed to get into an extended cab pick up with the guide (a 5th grown man) to ride 1 hour down gravel roads to the hunting areas. I ended up driving over 850 miles during our 4 day hunt just to get to and from the hunting areas and had to get a new tire for my brand new truck (less than 7,000 miles on it) when I got a flat from a "rock-break" - apparently pretty common in this area of Nebraska.

If you want to go somewhere to kill a 120 class buck with a rifle, be ready to shoot out to 300 yards. If you want to go somewhere that is set-up for serious archery hunters and gives you a fair chance at getting on some quality game, you need to find someone else. Dan is in this for the money and isn't concerned with his hunter's success. I discussed some of the issues I had with Tom (the guide) and he told me that many of the pictures on the website are NOT from DD Trophy Deer - they have killed 1 mule deer with a bow so far in the entire history of the operation when we were there, yet the website had 8 or more pictures of big mulies killed with bows. Tom told me that the website has a lot of false advertising and he felt that many of the pictures and the claims of "near 100% success" should be removed. Tom stated that he is the only guide during the bow season and many of the hunters on the site were completely unfamiliar to him. Also, many of the pictures that actually did come from DD are either Dan or one of his friends - such is the case of the movie that was put on recently of a nice whitetail being shot in early season, this was Dan's buddy from Kentucky that came to help him get a new stand in place according to Tom.

This is a waste of money unless you are just looking to get out of town and see some new country. You'll see some deer, but better bring some binoculars to get a good look. Don't book with these guys until you get in touch with me - every hunter deserves to know the truth about what they are getting into when spending this kind of money - we wasted 10k on this hunt.

Was the outfitter notified of problems? - YES

Outfitter's Response

Oh Todd, I see you are still at it. Eat humble pie my friend. I usually NEVER respond to posts either good or bad. We run over a hundred hunters a year on various hunts and are very successful. About the only truth you are stating in your post is that yes, you did come out and hunt with us. You informed us this was your first paid hunt. We knew we were going to have problems with your group when you first informed me on day one that you are an experienced bow hunter and that you have shot MANY Boone and Crocket bucks. We have heard these same statements from MANY inexperienced hunters over the years. My first response is then why to you fly all the way out here to hunt if you have Boone and Croocket bucks running all over the place back home?

So the hunt starts. You and you partner sit in the stands the first morning for whitetail. After the morning hunt you stated that you had a good buck about 70 yards away. You said it went into a group of trees. I informed you that I had a stand over there as well that we took three 150 plus whitetails out of the year before. (One of those bucks was filmed and the great show has aired on the outdoor channel).You stated you would like to sit in that stand the next morning. I then informed you and your partner where I saw a 170 class mule deer buck under a tree that morning. We then all put together a ladder stand I had in my truck and put the stand up. I then stated I wanted one of you in that stand that night and you should kill the buck. As we were all driving out of the area (you, me, one of my guides, and your hunting partner) I spotted 3 mule deer bucks bedded. Two good ones and one small one. One scored 172 (we shot that buck after you left) and the other was in the 160’s. I told you that I thought we could stalk those bucks and you agreed to try. We had a great stalk. Perfect conditions. When we got to within 50 yards, I told you we now have the buck in range and that we could get about another 20 yards closer so be ready. We got you to 33 yards of the buck. I ranged him and told you the range. We were in a drainage ditch and the buck was straight in front of you with 2 inch high grass the ONLY thing in the way. The buck finally stood up and you pulled back. The buck was broadside and fully standing. You aimed for about 5 or 6 seconds and let the arrow fly. You shot right over the top! I felt bad for you. You were very disappointed and I got you to calm down and stated I thought you would get more chances on you hunt.

I then left you and your partner in the hands of my guide Tom. He set you guys up that night on the same property. You then stated you did not want to sit in the new stand because of the mosquitoes. And what happened? That big mule deer came RIGHT underneath of the stand you were not in and you were told would be a great stand. You tried to guide the guide which is always a mistake. He put you in another stand the next day were one of you stuck a deer and lost. The other two party members in your group showed up on Sunday. They were going to hunt Sunday night and all day Monday. They were going to head back on Tuesday. You guys hunted in September which is a morning and dusk hunt. VERY hot during the day with not much going on. I call all the shots for my guides and talk to them AT LEAST 10 times a day when I am not with them to make sure things are under control. I had him mover you to a ranch we had a bachelor group of mule deer coming in every night. 15 bucks. 10 shooters and 5 smaller ones. You guys then were positioned around the field they were feeding in out in the middle of the prairie. The bucks came on cue and you personally passed up on another great buck at 25 yards because you saw the nontypical you kept calling the Christmas tree buck coming behind him. That buck then turned and went right by your partner. He shot and missed the buck. My guide Tom was on the hill watching the whole thing. Both you and your partner were SURE he hit the buck. It got dark and you guys looked some. The next morning I told my guide to take the rest of the group out hunting and when it got light enough, to go back with the guy who missed the buck and look. YOU ALL decided to sleep in instead because you all wanted to go out and look and choose not to hunt that morning. As it turns out, you guys missed the buck and we ended up killing that buck with rifle. That’s when I first saw your bad review after we posted the picture of the buck somebody else killed. Never heard anything bad from you or your group when you were up here or after you left. You actually told me that first morning you already were having the time of your life and that you knew you missed your shot and knew you might not get another shot.

As for transportation, you again lied about that. You were given the option of me having a suburban there to transport you all but you asked if it would be okay if some of you got in with the guide and the other 2 guys followed in your own truck. I said this would be okay if that’s what you wanted to do. Still not sure how you came up with the distance of you driving 800 plus miles in your truck because the land is only 19 miles plus you used my guides truck for 2 days before you even used your truck. That would mean you were driving 400 plus miles a day. Seriously Todd. The best part of your statement yet comes from YOU stating how many bucks we have killed with bow on our ranches and about our success rate. We had the pro staff out here for 3 shows this year hunt with us in the SAME places you hunted. They made some great kills and those shows should be airing this summer. You are mad about that and are saying that only I and my friends kill big bucks on our properties. Todd, I have not hunted our 70,000 acres myself in over TEN YEARS! I do not hunt them because I save the game for my paid hunters. So, again, more lies. We run over 100 hunters a year on all of our hunts. Always has to be one in every crowd and you guys were it this year. Todd, to sum it all up on your hunt. You and you group missed 3 GREAT bucks and hit and lost another deer. Two of you only went out 1 morning and two nights to hunt on a 4 day hunt. Then after we had hunters harvest the deer you missed and we posted the pictures, you posted bad reviews because you WERE sure you killed that big non typical when we knew you missed. You then CALLED and THREATNED hunters of ours that have left good reviews about our operation. VERY CHILDISH! Todd, you are not an experienced archery hunter like you state. You are not made to hunt the Midwest. All true hunters except the fact that if they miss, it is their fault. MANY, MANY, MANY true outfitters will tell you that you might not even get a shot at a good buck. We provided you with several. What’s sad is that you make all of these false statement. You conveniently left out the parts of ALL your misses, the size of the bucks, that you choose to sleep in, you choose to drive your own vehicle, the distance and miles to the hunting properties you were on, and that you called and threatened hunters (that have no clue who you are) that posted reviews about us because you were jealous that they did good. Two of the hunters that you called and threatened even told me that you stated “well, it’s not fair that everybody else shot a good buck and I did not”. You also have not even contacted me. I knew NOTHING of you being upset until you left this review and then hunters called me saying you called them and threatened them. I should have known you were like this by going back to your opening words to me. “You are an experienced bow hunter that has shot many Boone and Crocket bucks. “ This was your first paid hunt and you expected a guarantee and I informed you and it is sated all over my web site, we do very well but there is no guarantee. It is a true hunt!! You want a $7000 hunt for $2400 plus want a guarantee. We do not do that and do not want people hunting with us that want that. You stated in your review comments about our rifle hunts and you have never rifled hunted with us EVERY. You make comments about 120 inch bucks at 300 plus yards the only thing out here and left out the parts of you missing 170 inch plus bucks at 3 yards. We have A LOT of fun on ALL of our hunts Todd. We do VERY well and run VERY high success on all of our hunts. We tell people to come out here and relax. You were like a young German shorthair that was over eager. You wanted to crash right into the bedding areas the deer were laying in. We had them coming out every night and you were told once you went in there once, they were gone forever. We did the right thing and let them come out every night to us. You did not close the deal. We stayed on those bucks the whole hunt because we had them pegged down. You could not hit them. For being an experienced bow hunter, 3 misses and a lost animal in my book is not considered experienced. I and my family pray EVERY night for all of our hunters. We are strong into our Christian faith and really pray everybody does well and does not get hurt. You guys did well Todd and had opportunities. Especially hunting the time of year you did with the heat. Unfortunately you did not close the deal. We hope you are blessed on your next hunt. You seemed like a nice guy when I met you. I am concerned about your lies in your review as well as you calling and threatening numerous hunters of ours. I think that shows your true personality. It is sad but I am afraid your true colors. I guess the funniest part to me about your false comments Todd is you stated that you SERIOUS archery buddies that are LOCATED 1500 miles away and have not hunted with us, stated your stand site was a poor choice to set you up. What the heck? Are you kidding me? Seriously Todd, think back about your hunt. Think of the good and bad. The bad things that happened were mostly committed on your part. The misses! I know I would NEVER shoot at a small buck the opening morning of a paid hunt. You said you shot at a 140 which was actually a 172. Tell the truth Todd. Be honest about everything, I f the hunt was not what you expected, that is fine. Tell the truth about it. Don’t leave out the parts of all your opportunities, your lost deer, and your choices to sleep in and not hunt stands we told you would be good.

Again Todd, better luck on your next hunt. I feel sorry for the outfitter that has to take your group out again but most of us outfitters deal with (the one group) every year! Lol Again, I never respond to any comments good or bad. EVERYBODY realizes there is always two sides to every story. Your story was so fetched that I just felt I had to respond. Also, you might want to consider stopping calling and harassing and threatening happy clients. You are riding the thin line of breaking the law as well as messing with slander issues. For all hunters considering a hunt with us, please call Todd. Ask him about his misses, lost deer, and his poor choices. Then, I will give you the number of the guide he was with the most and then you can compare and see who is really telling the truth! Also, all outfitters, this is (the one guy) we all talk about every year. I would not recommend this hunter or his group to any outfitter.