Lost our hunt, Suggestions?

[TransPecos]

Hello to all,
I have been reading this website for about a year and have learned a lot about mule deer. Growing up in South Texas, I was always a rabid whitetail hunter. That was until last year when we got a muley lease in far west Texas and I got muley fever bad.
My Dad was hooked as well, so when planning a big hunt for his 60th birthday in 2008, we decided on booking a high-end mule deer hunt. We booked with a well respected outfitter who has a large mule deer cwmu in Utah, consistently averaging above 180. Well he just called last week and said he miscalculated and to allow for the winter kill he has to limit the hunts he does on the cwmu. Essentially our options are: 1. Let our deposit ride and cross our fingers that the winter kill is not bad and we get to hunt. We will not know until May 2008.
2. Let our deposit ride and we get a guaranteed spot for early November 2009, thus missing his 60th, which was the whole point of the hunt.
3. Cancel and book elsewhere (in a hurry).

Let me start by saying I think this is an honest outfitter who simply made a mistake. If we book someone else, I fear we will be left with the dregs. We are looking for an outfitter that consistently produces bucks over the 180 mark and has the photos to prove it for at least the last 3 years. We are both based in Texas, so we are open to other states. We elk hunted in Utah in 2005 and had a great time. We are looking in the $6K range as far as costs go and we are looking for a quality rifle hunt.

What would you guys do? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer and thanks again for all the knowledge on this site.

 

[sremim]

In option 1 when you say let your deposit ride, does that mean you will forefit your deposit if you do not get to hunt later? I would think if he is giving you the option of crossing your fingers and possibly still being able to hunt or letting you come in 2009, he would allow you to do both. Ask him if you can do option 1, and if you can't hunt do it in 2009. Otherwise, I would look for another outfitter, but do it before you cancel with this guy.








It's Bush's fault!!!

 

[Roy]

I know it is disappointing to have lost the year, but I think I would just let the deposit ride and have a good hunt the next year. If you feel you can trust him and that he just made a mistake, he will probably go that much more out of his way to make it better for you when you do go. 2009 should be a good year!

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

 

[thebuckstopshere]

Miscalculated????

I think you got outbid.

 

[deserteagle500]

i'd consider hunting northern utah with J&J outfitter. they produce some very, oh so very nice bucks. their land is prestine mule deer range. PM me if you want more details.

 

[FamilyMan]

What Roy said!!

Mark

 

[FamilyMan]

And in the mean time plan a poor-mans DIY over-the-counter hunt for 2007 to celebrate the birthday and keep the hunting blood pumping.
Mark

 

[Blanding_Boy]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-15-07 AT 02:04PM (MST)[p]Hummmmm...

Knowing a bit about the process I would have some concerns.

All CWMUs have to go through an approval process each year starting in August. They have to have their desired permit numbers for the next year by August to the UDWR. These permits #'s are then approved by the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) and then by the wildlife board. This process is typically completed by December of the year before the hunt year--ie hunts for 2008 would be approved November/December in 2007.

Once approved the outfitter knows how many permits he will have to sell or market for the following year 2008--he does not know this for sure until December. I guess that would be my fist concern--why would he be saying this now when he doesn't even know for sure how many eggs he as before they even hatch.

Winter Kill--we have not had any yet this year didn't in January--March of 2007. If he's a good weather man I guess he could predict his winter kill for this next year but I question that.

Last year there was little to know espically with the bigger bucks and 2005 was a great moisture year and not a very hard winter, in my opinion.

So I would be questioning what is going on, it seems like a red flag to me.....

Finally--to let a deposit ride when a CWMU doesn't even know if they will be approved or have x # permits the following year would make me a bit concerned but if that is how some people do business I guess that is their business.

Todd Black
BTO

 

[TransPecos]

Thanks for all the suggestions as well as the PM's. I called the outfitter back armed with some more information and turns out he is just oversold. He wants to keep slots open for his regulars, who will tell him after the hunt this year whether they will be back. So now he is saying he can give us a good idea about our 2008 slot in mid-November 2007 and can issue a contract in December 2007 or January 2008. Otherwise he guarantees us a spot in 2009 at the same price. We are checking on a couple of other options that came up as a result of my post as well as some other feelers I put out in West Texas. If we cannot duplicate the quality/price/track record of our Utah outfitter on another hunt, I figure we will just let it ride. As one poster pointed out he will probably work his butt off for us either time because he genuinely feels bad.