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Hunter Comments

My cousin booked this for us because we couldn't get in at Shiloh. We were assured we would see plenty of animals. This hunt included 2 hogs. On the first night, I saw 2 skinny sows with piglets, then a large boar came in. Started not to shoot him, 1st night, but thought better of it & took him. Really nice boar. My cousin saw the same 2 sows & piglets. He also saw another boar, but it wouldn't came in. We were hunting over feeders, but the one at my stand didn't work. The guide had poured corn on the ground after he left me. We wanted to hunt the morning, & asked the guide what he thought, ie what stand do they frequent, where should we hunt. All he said was he didn't know. No pigs on 2 morning hunts. I saw no other pigs even in the evening at 2 stands. My cousin only saw the 2 sows & piglets. We did see some cattle & a horse that would come to the feeders that worked, scaring all hogs off.

I believe this place was a good place to hunt, but has been overhunted & not restocked. I believe the outfitters rely on natural restocking. Really nice guys, but a disappointing hunt.

Was the outfitter notified of problems? - NO

Outfitter's Response

We offer free range bow hunts for wild hogs and Osceola turkeys on private property. Our properties are not high fenced, game can come and go. We do not re-stock our properties and only offer hunts every two weeks during the winter/spring months to keep hunting pressure low, less in the off season. On the hunt in question, the hunter that posted the negative rating took a very nice boar hog the first evening (185-200#) and saw other hogs. He mentioned his feeder didn't go off the second evening. Game feeders, being mechanical, never go off 100% of the time. That is why we always have clients take in a small bag of corn to pour near the feeder as insurance. I believe his friend had opportunities at small hogs and passed on them. Both seemed happy at the time with our efforts as guides. We even offered an extra evening at no charge since they both hadn't taken a hog. We have a high opportunity rate on hogs and a very high return rate with clients. We have had many hunters have multiple opportunities at hogs. Some of our clients have filmed commercial DVD's at our place specifically because we offer fair chase hunts and specialize in bowhunting (Bill Langer and Billy Berger to name two). Last spring we were approached by a national TV hunting show about filming with us, we turned them down because we were booked up with (mostly) returning customers and didn't want to put too much pressure on the game. I am sorry that the hunter in question didn't enjoy himself but I feel we did everything in our power to ensure that they both had a successful hunt. He mentioned that their previous hunt for hogs was at a stocked high fence operation so it's possible that their expectations were unrealistically high going in. We try our best to make sure every customer enjoys themself and is successful on their hunt. Thank you, Jim Dussias True South Adventures 305 766-2926