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ifconfig · October 17, 2006, 09:16 AM

Background:

I've hunted for many years, mostly local (in MI, where I grew up, as opposed to Chicagoland, where I live now) or regional bird hunting (Pheasant in SD, Dove in Indiana, etc). My dad's hunted Mule Deer, Elk, and Antelope out west, all unguided.

A few years ago we decided that Moose hunting sounded like fun, and started looking around for when/how/etc. My two brothers-in-law, though new to hunting, thought it might be fun to tag along.

At present, none of us can afford the $10K+ record-book hunts, so we looked for something more affordable. Last week was our hunt in Ontario, Canada.

While the experience was still enjoyable (pretty country, good company, no cellphone signal), the outfitter was terrible. We were not given critical information (like the fact that the local hunting season opened up a week before our hunt started, among others), were given misinformation on the types of hunting common to the area, and were given partial information to, near as I could tell, reduce the effort required by the outfitter. The facilities were also less than we were led to believe, and upon our calm, reasoned explanation of our complaints at the end of the hunt, the outfitter became first defensive, and ultimately dismissive.

In hindsight, there were warning signs that should have twigged us to the sort of experience towards which we were headed, but the folks were quite pleasant (on the phone), and we did REALLY want to go Moose hunting.

I accept full responsibilty for our experience. I could have done the research, or not ignored the warning signs, but I didn't.

So, then, on to the question. How do you select a good outfitter and/or guide? What are some of the warning signs that help identify bad outfitters and guides? I know that reccomends are some of the best ways, but we don't really know anybody that does guided hunts.

October 17, 2006, 09:16 AM	#1
ifconfig Junior Member Join Date: October 17, 2006 Location: 'Burbs of Chicago, IL Posts: 1	Picking a good outfitter/guide? Background: I've hunted for many years, mostly local (in MI, where I grew up, as opposed to Chicagoland, where I live now) or regional bird hunting (Pheasant in SD, Dove in Indiana, etc). My dad's hunted Mule Deer, Elk, and Antelope out west, all unguided. A few years ago we decided that Moose hunting sounded like fun, and started looking around for when/how/etc. My two brothers-in-law, though new to hunting, thought it might be fun to tag along. At present, none of us can afford the $10K+ record-book hunts, so we looked for something more affordable. Last week was our hunt in Ontario, Canada. While the experience was still enjoyable (pretty country, good company, no cellphone signal), the outfitter was terrible. We were not given critical information (like the fact that the local hunting season opened up a week before our hunt started, among others), were given misinformation on the types of hunting common to the area, and were given partial information to, near as I could tell, reduce the effort required by the outfitter. The facilities were also less than we were led to believe, and upon our calm, reasoned explanation of our complaints at the end of the hunt, the outfitter became first defensive, and ultimately dismissive. In hindsight, there were warning signs that should have twigged us to the sort of experience towards which we were headed, but the folks were quite pleasant (on the phone), and we did REALLY want to go Moose hunting. I accept full responsibilty for our experience. I could have done the research, or not ignored the warning signs, but I didn't. So, then, on to the question. How do you select a good outfitter and/or guide? What are some of the warning signs that help identify bad outfitters and guides? I know that reccomends are some of the best ways, but we don't really know anybody that does guided hunts.