This post is to give my fellow hunters here on the forum a heads up as to who to watch out for and specifics are left out on purpose in accordance of forum rules. Please do not speculate, accuse or name anyone specific in the comments as I would like the post to stay. The post is long and I apologize for that, but I wanted to get the entire ordeal out there for others to see. If you want to know the name of the "Outfitter" send me a pm and I'll be glad to provide you that information.
Back in 2013 while at the GON Blast I bought a $10 raffle ticket at one of the Outfitter Booths. Well the next day I got a phone call telling me they had drawn my name out of the hat for a 5 day Midwestern Rifle hunt. I was on cloud 9 as would be anyone. I spoke with the Outfitter by phone about my hunt and the possibility of my friend coming along and what it would cost. We worked out a number and my friend sent him a deposit. After months of planning and scheming we are packing the truck for the trip up and he calls me and informs me that because of the EHD break out he was cancelling all of his hunts. Well although disappointed, there was indeed a kill off that year and it didn't seem like any shenanigans were going on. He said we'd just reschedule and go up to a different "better" state the next year(2014).
With the hunt rescheduled we are now back in the planning and waiting stage again. So in the Summer of 2014 we spend our preference points and bought our tags for the new state. Fast forward to December and we are en route for the hunt. We leave a day early and take our time going up being it's a 13hour drive. Well we arrive at the address given on Dec 5th the afternoon before the hunt and the Outfitter was nowhere to be found. There were 4 other hunters there at Outfitter's house waiting and wondered what was going on. We called and texted multiple times and received no answers from him. One of the guys was a Dr. from Detroit and he threatened him with a lawyer and finally got a response. Evidently some of his family had got wind of hunters being in town and had gotten us a few rooms at a local Motel. We still had no land to hunt on and no guide as promised. Supposedly he was in the hospital with renal failure? I scrambled and found us some public land to hunt and did manage to take a small antlerless deer for some meat. My friend did finally get a check for his deposit back from the "Outfitters" brother, but this still didn't make up for all the expenses of the trip and the tags.
Fast forward to 1yr later EXACTLY, Dec 6, 2015 I called him and he answered and apologized over and over, he swore he was sick and near death when all this happened. Being the optimistic person I tend to be, we started communicating back and forth through texts and FB messages. He was insistent that we schedule a rifle hunt in the original state for this fall 2016 and that the hunt for both of us would be free to make up debacle from the year before. So we went ahead and lined up the hunt. So again we plan everything out, work overtime and time swaps to get the time off from work. Fast forward to Nov 10 of this fall and we leave out for the hunt. This whole time we are talking with him by phone and texting back and forth. All seems to be going well and we are excited for the upcoming hunt. When we arrive in the "south" camp and we go to the Motel to meet up with him as directed, I went to check in the clerk advised me that she did not have any rooms reserved for that Outfitter. Well as you could guess my stomach just dropped to the floor. I knew right there and then that he'd done it again. I tried calling him, but he would not answer he did send me a text when I called and told us to go to another motel in town. We arrive there and sure enough we had a room, but he was nowhere to be found. There was however 8 other hunters standing around wanting to know where this outfitter was at. I told them, "Boys he ain't coming".......... and to be frank he never did. So we just kicked back and shook our heads. We went to a local restaurant for diner and in speaking with the waitresses we found out that his name wasn't very well liked around town. The next morning being super cold and opening morning would have been the best day of the year and of course we are sitting in a motel with no where to hunt. Now let me say this we did not pay the advertised rate for the hunt as the other guys in camp did, but we still were out a lot of time and money for other expenses. At 5:27am on opening morning he sent me this exact text. "My apologies. Will be down there by lunch to get you out hunting. I will make it right with you. My guide that was supposed to meet you is not answering." We all got the same text at the same time and we all were there from 11:30-1:30 waiting for him to show up. You guessed it we never heard another word from him.
As we were all waiting a truck pulled up and this guy gets out and introduces himself. He was the owner of a local motel and Restaurant there in town and had heard about all the guys who had got screwed by this guy. He then proceeds to tell us that the Outfitter owes him over $7,000 for rooms and feeding hunters the previous fall. He also tells us the Outfitter owes the Mayor of the town $5,000 for the rental of a house in town that he supposedly uses for a "guide" house. The motel owner then arranged for 2 DNR wardens and a local Deputy to come out and take all of our information and statements. He then informed us that this was not the first time they had heard his name and that the Outfitter had actually been hunting clients on land that he had not even paid for. Some of the paid hunters had even been escorted from the properties by mad farmers for non payment.
So long story short this guy is a professional con man and will steal you blind. I'm sure he's not the only one out there, but I intend to notify as many of my hunting brothers to avoid this guy as I can. We did manage to run into some other Georgia boys while eating at the restaurant that Saturday night and secured a farm to hunt. We ended up making the best out of a bad situation and taking a couple of big does after passing some smaller bucks. We are also planning on a return trip for the late muzzleloader season and have high hopes for that hunt. If you choose to use a "Outfitter" please research and double check before sending any money.
Back in 2013 while at the GON Blast I bought a $10 raffle ticket at one of the Outfitter Booths. Well the next day I got a phone call telling me they had drawn my name out of the hat for a 5 day Midwestern Rifle hunt. I was on cloud 9 as would be anyone. I spoke with the Outfitter by phone about my hunt and the possibility of my friend coming along and what it would cost. We worked out a number and my friend sent him a deposit. After months of planning and scheming we are packing the truck for the trip up and he calls me and informs me that because of the EHD break out he was cancelling all of his hunts. Well although disappointed, there was indeed a kill off that year and it didn't seem like any shenanigans were going on. He said we'd just reschedule and go up to a different "better" state the next year(2014).
With the hunt rescheduled we are now back in the planning and waiting stage again. So in the Summer of 2014 we spend our preference points and bought our tags for the new state. Fast forward to December and we are en route for the hunt. We leave a day early and take our time going up being it's a 13hour drive. Well we arrive at the address given on Dec 5th the afternoon before the hunt and the Outfitter was nowhere to be found. There were 4 other hunters there at Outfitter's house waiting and wondered what was going on. We called and texted multiple times and received no answers from him. One of the guys was a Dr. from Detroit and he threatened him with a lawyer and finally got a response. Evidently some of his family had got wind of hunters being in town and had gotten us a few rooms at a local Motel. We still had no land to hunt on and no guide as promised. Supposedly he was in the hospital with renal failure? I scrambled and found us some public land to hunt and did manage to take a small antlerless deer for some meat. My friend did finally get a check for his deposit back from the "Outfitters" brother, but this still didn't make up for all the expenses of the trip and the tags.
Fast forward to 1yr later EXACTLY, Dec 6, 2015 I called him and he answered and apologized over and over, he swore he was sick and near death when all this happened. Being the optimistic person I tend to be, we started communicating back and forth through texts and FB messages. He was insistent that we schedule a rifle hunt in the original state for this fall 2016 and that the hunt for both of us would be free to make up debacle from the year before. So we went ahead and lined up the hunt. So again we plan everything out, work overtime and time swaps to get the time off from work. Fast forward to Nov 10 of this fall and we leave out for the hunt. This whole time we are talking with him by phone and texting back and forth. All seems to be going well and we are excited for the upcoming hunt. When we arrive in the "south" camp and we go to the Motel to meet up with him as directed, I went to check in the clerk advised me that she did not have any rooms reserved for that Outfitter. Well as you could guess my stomach just dropped to the floor. I knew right there and then that he'd done it again. I tried calling him, but he would not answer he did send me a text when I called and told us to go to another motel in town. We arrive there and sure enough we had a room, but he was nowhere to be found. There was however 8 other hunters standing around wanting to know where this outfitter was at. I told them, "Boys he ain't coming".......... and to be frank he never did. So we just kicked back and shook our heads. We went to a local restaurant for diner and in speaking with the waitresses we found out that his name wasn't very well liked around town. The next morning being super cold and opening morning would have been the best day of the year and of course we are sitting in a motel with no where to hunt. Now let me say this we did not pay the advertised rate for the hunt as the other guys in camp did, but we still were out a lot of time and money for other expenses. At 5:27am on opening morning he sent me this exact text. "My apologies. Will be down there by lunch to get you out hunting. I will make it right with you. My guide that was supposed to meet you is not answering." We all got the same text at the same time and we all were there from 11:30-1:30 waiting for him to show up. You guessed it we never heard another word from him.
As we were all waiting a truck pulled up and this guy gets out and introduces himself. He was the owner of a local motel and Restaurant there in town and had heard about all the guys who had got screwed by this guy. He then proceeds to tell us that the Outfitter owes him over $7,000 for rooms and feeding hunters the previous fall. He also tells us the Outfitter owes the Mayor of the town $5,000 for the rental of a house in town that he supposedly uses for a "guide" house. The motel owner then arranged for 2 DNR wardens and a local Deputy to come out and take all of our information and statements. He then informed us that this was not the first time they had heard his name and that the Outfitter had actually been hunting clients on land that he had not even paid for. Some of the paid hunters had even been escorted from the properties by mad farmers for non payment.
So long story short this guy is a professional con man and will steal you blind. I'm sure he's not the only one out there, but I intend to notify as many of my hunting brothers to avoid this guy as I can. We did manage to run into some other Georgia boys while eating at the restaurant that Saturday night and secured a farm to hunt. We ended up making the best out of a bad situation and taking a couple of big does after passing some smaller bucks. We are also planning on a return trip for the late muzzleloader season and have high hopes for that hunt. If you choose to use a "Outfitter" please research and double check before sending any money.
