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Hunter Comments

On a fully guided hunt my friend and I took in October of 2009 with Darrell Hafford of Rocky Branch Outfitters in Southern Illinois, I can say that this was one of the worst experiences I have had on over two dozen paid hunts in the last ten years. Let's do the play by play: Day1 a.m. -Walk across a cut milo field to stand set on the edge, no deer seen, but heard running off in the dark. My friend hunted in the timber approx. 300 yards away. At 8:00 a.m. the lady in the house on adjoining property walks her dogs through the field I'm sitting on. No deer seen. Day 1 p.m.- go to stand @ 2 p.m. At 4 p.m. the neighbor walks by @60yds with a crossbow and goes to a stand 100 yards behind me. Call the guide and he admitted to knowing the neighbor's stand was there, that he knew I was on the property line but "the neighbor's stand is so low I only though he hunted during gun season. Suffice to say no deer seen. Day 2 a.m. placed in a stand 150 yards from my friend. He saw nothing, I saw 6 deer at a distance. Day 2 p.m. Friend and I placed again 100 yards apart on edge of CRP field in timber. I shot one doe of 3 seen but blood trail was lost in CRP. Guide came back next morning but trail had been rained out. Day 3 a.m. Two does seen at extremely long range. Day3 p.m. Heavy thunderstorms kept us in camp. Day 4a.m. Put back in same stand as morning before, no deer seen. Hunt was ended at this point by myself and friend with 1.5 days left remaining. The outfitter stated that he had over 7000 acres to hunt on. The properties we hunted were 30-45 minutes away from camp. It is hard for me to understand why we 2 being the only hunters in camp we were placed so close together on almost every hunt if that much land was available. He constantly spoke of farms with several 170,180,190 inch deer on them. I didn't beleive him then and I sure don't now. I also don't understand why he felt it necessary for us to be placed on the property line with that much land, especially when he was aware the neighbor had a close stand setup. Maybe he was saving ground for the 5 or 6 shows that were filming with him later. Let's talk about the guide for a minute as he was the one taking us out and selecting stand sites. He didn't even ask what we had seen after our last morning hunt, which leads me to beleive he did not care. He had very little to say for most of the time. On stand, my friend and I both saw very little sign in the way of scrapes, rubs, tracks, etc. not to mention very few deer. On one sit out of six did I have a deer in range, my friend never had any. The lodge was comfortable and the evening meals were excellent. But that was the highlight of the trip. Based on my experience I would not use this outfitter again nor would I reccomend him to anyone in the future.

Was the outfitter notified of problems? - YES

Outfitter's Response

When Jonathan (aka Big John) called me to book the hunt for the middle of October I told him we don't usually hunt the middle of October because the hunting is not very good. I tried to talk him and his partner into a later date advising him nobody else would be hunting. After being told they would be the only ones there, he said that would be OK and that he and his partner would like that.

I put them with TJ one of the best guides we have had, he hunted them 300 yards apart on food plots next to a bedding area, the hunting was typical for the middle of October, not very good- actually pretty poor. TJ moved them to another area with the same situation as far as bedding and food... It was still terrible hunting but a was typical of a mid October hunt.

Regarding the lady walking her dog, she was over 300 yards away and she walked her dog every morning on the same path which is something the wildlife aren't bothered by, it's what the wildlife get used to and expect when frequenting a populated area.

When I found out big John and his partner had left the hunt early I called them to check in and apologized for the poor hunting. They were offered a chance to come back at a later date (since mid October is NOT ideal hunting time) at no charge. They declined my offer but I told them the offer was open if he and his partner changed their mind.

As a result of this gentleman's experience, we no longer allow folks to opt for early October hunts.