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Hunter Comments

This hunt was a disaster from the very first day we arrived. Our guide was a 27 year old who didn't really have any idea of what he was doing. The first day out our guy didn't have a moose call, a pair of binoculars, or was dressed warm enough. He also use a high school book bag as a backpack so he really couldn't carry much with him, he did however have the book bag attached to a frame pack. He took us to areas that had been hunted two weeks before and complain that there were no moose because either was too windy to Sunny to cloudy too foggy to rainy and that we probably wouldn't see much. This was a hunt I was on with my son who had waited 2 years to do and saved a lot of money to go on this trip. I thought we were going with a professional Outfitter who would make this trip memorable in good ways and not bad ways. I could go on and on about how we were treated with this guide. He had no problem smoking a pack of cigarettes a day while we were in the bush hunting. One day we came back early because he was cold and he went to bed while other guides stayed out with their Hunters. My son grabbed a pack and went out to help pack another Hunters moose out while our guide slept. On the day that my son shot a five-point moose we decided to leave the guy behind and let him follow us and that's what he did. Prior to shooting the Moose are hotter got lost for 2 hours. We spotted a moose at 1 in the afternoon and tried to show to the guide but he didn't have binoculars he wanted to use ours which we let him see the Moose with our binoculars the moose disappeared and we assumed that he had bedded down and the guide wanted to go back to the camp cuz he was cold and changes clothes which was a two-hour walk away. We told him no my son was going to try to make a stalk on the area he thought the moose may have went to or bedded down according to the last place we saw him. My son proceeded to stalk the area which was half hour away and got up on the moose and shoot it in its bed. The guide was very happy and said how successful he was as a guide for getting us to the Moose. The guy had not 1% involvement in getting the moose but it looks good on his part that he had gotten the Moose with his clients. There were numerous mornings when we asked our guide what we're doing and he said he didn't know and I got very upset and told him to call the plane to come pick us up and take us to another Camp because it was b*******. When we were back at the dock when the plane drop this off I met with outfitters rep Shelly and explain all our situations to her and never once did she offer any kind of compensation for the terrible hunt that we had. If she offered me two free hunts with this guy that I would have told her no I wouldn't waste my time it was a terrible experience it would not recommend anybody going to Portland Creek Outfitters. They promised they would have an argo two boats and a four wheeler they had a four-wheeler and one boat so we were limited as where we could go and the guys did not want to travel far from Camp because they had to pack out anything we shot. Please don't use this Outfitter or you will be very disappointed in them. With travel and other expenses our hunt was around 7900 total.i rated this outfitters neg 10.

Was the outfitter notified of problems? - YES

Outfitter's Response

We have been in the Outfitting business for the past 25 years and have built a great reputation. Over half of our business is repeat clients which speaks for itself. This particular lodge was purchased in 2017 prior to the season based on pictures and information from the previous Outfitter. Upon inspection of the lodge it was discovered that a lot more work had to be done than expected. New boats were ordered for that location. Unfortunately due to the bad weather this season only one had gotten to camp at that time. This group of hunters was new to us and had been booked prior to the sale of the lodge. With respect to the guide, it was his first year working for our company but had guided at that location the previous season with the previous owner with no complaints. It was this recommendation, as well as the fact that he knew the area, the reason why we hired him. I was unaware that he did not however have a set of binoculars until I was informed by the hunter. The guide had requested prior to going to camp to pick him up a new pack board as his was old, which we did. I believe that he was unfortunately, financially unable to purchase both prior to starting employment. I believe that there are always two sides to every story and the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. In speaking with all the other clients that hunted at that location, no other complaints were received. I also spoke with all staff who in turn had felt that he had done his job. One of the hunters in this group had hunted at that location, with that same guide at camp and no mention of any issues were ever made to us. With respect to the argo, we did not know that it did not work until we got an opportunity to inspect the camp. We had been told that all equipment was in working order. Unfortunately, the part that was needed was not available on the island and had to be special ordered. Upon arrival back to base, I was informed of the issues that Chet felt should be addressed. I did offer, at that time, to fly him to another location for a few days as I hate to see anyone go home without their game or to be disappointed. Unfortunately, he was unable to stay at the time. I also told him that if he was able, he could fly back prior to the end of the season for a week with no cost to him except his flight into Newfoundland. I informed him that I would be speaking to our crew, as well as other clients to see their thoughts on the situation and that if he was interested in coming back to Newfoundland to contact me and I would see what I could do for him. That's the last thing I heard from him til this report came out. I regret that he was disappointed in his trip but feel that this report was unjust. We work hard to ensure that our clients fully enjoy their trip and want to return. Hence, the reason why we have such a large group of repeat customers. I could provide you with many names that would disagree with this complaint. Unfortunately, we are all victims of circumstance at times.

Sincerely, Portland Creek Outfitters