ELK GUIDES ARE THEY WORTH THE MONEY ????

R

randyreyn

Guest
I have been Elk hunting now for 20 plus years and try to go on a quality elk hunt every year ,i am a working guy with a family and have to save like crazy to be able to.

Several years ago i hunted in Utah cwmu elk , for the first time with an outfitter that was recommended by Carters hunting service.

The hunt cost me 8500.00 and was totally misrepresented by Carters and the Outfitter i spoke with.

I was told it was a 330 -350 class elk hunt out of a nice lodge,

in 5 days neither myself or the 3 other hunters in camp saw a
bull over a spike .

all 3 of the hunters left empty handed and all agreed it was a horrible experience.

There was no shower, and the lodge was a shack, the food was horrible and the guides were first year hunters who knew nothing about elk.elk calling , scent elimination.

I also found out i paid a 1,000 more than the others as a fee to Carters for the referal to the outfitter.

It was all about MONEY

When i asked carters they lied and said no they did not receive a fee until i pushed the issue and finally said it was a smal fee.

I finally drew my tag this year for the Wasatch but i am so gun shy what do i do ????

Does anyone know an honest outfitter ????

PLEASE HELP> THANKS
 
LAST EDITED ON May-28-08 AT 08:45PM (MST)[p]Randyreyn - if you have twenty years of elk hunting experience the only advantage going with a guide would really give you is local area knowledge. I don't think it is ethical for any guide service to "guarantee" any size bull on a public land non-high fence hunt. They should be able to help you locate a good bull and have a plan in place to do so and counsel with you as to which bull to take, know their patterns etc.

I think what the rest of these guys are saying is that this is something that has been bounced back and forth a lot on here. The general rule is check references, check references, check references.

If you are new here and not familiar with some of the terminology, PM means Personal Message. As you login to the forums on the main page at the top you will see a link that says "inbox" click on that and you will see your PM's. To send a PM to somebody, next to their name on each post, you will see four little icons the one that looks like an envelope is to send a PM.

Good luck and be patient, you will get a lot of responses to this post over the next few days.

Welcome to MM!

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)
 
There are some great outfitters in Utah that guide on the wastach. I know Jim Hiatt of AWholelottaBull outfitters personally and you would not find a more honest guide. I don't know if he has any openings but it would be worth a shot. You have a great tag that will put your CWMU hunt out of your mind real soon! You will see much more than a spike I guarantee it! Good luck on your hunt whatever you choose! Here is Jim's website.

www.awholelottabull.com

Chad
 
Thank you for your response ,i live out of town and dont have time to scout ,just want a fair shot ,i know it is hunting and i have a muzzleloader tag for the wasatch LE hunt.

Thanks
Randall
 
Does this Mr Jim have an opening ???? What does he charge and what kind of camp does he have ???


Thanks
Randall
 
Chad'
Thanks for the reply , i will try to contact this outfitter

and see what he has open as i am on a limited budget , as fuel costs are killing me.


Thanks
 
Randyreyn
, I left you a post on the other message board.

Jim Hiatt is the guy at awholelottabull outfiters check oout his website and call him he will give you some honest advice and might can help.

I have never hunted with him but , will be rifle hunting with him this year in the wasatch unit.

I have talked to him and his references and he is a first class guy.

Good Luck
Bull
 
Randyreyn-
Sorry to hear about your misfortunate guided elk hunting experience.
Unfortunately there are some outfitts that can't give you what is promised for one reason or another.
Sometimes it's lies, sometimes it's just a bad year and "huntin is huntin".

The outfitter i work for has been a solid icon in the west for both trophy mule deer and elk, our name sells it's self without even advertising and we have an excellent reputation.

Don't give up on guided hunts based on someone else ruining it for you, you can still have the hunt of a lifetime.

I will PM you our website and phone number with contact names.
Most of our elk hunts are in Utah on CWMU units, some of the very best i might add, and some really good ones in New mexico as well.

Good luck on whatever you decide!!
Slam









48288e6577d023b6.jpg
 
Randy,

Keep in mind this is a huge unit with a lot of elk. Which ever outfitter you pick, will typically help you "maximize" your tags potential. No Guarantee's, but they will definately help you find the better bulls. You could do this hunt without a guide but it takes a lot of scouting and luck to kill the better bulls. Good luck to you. Ask around and get references. I know you would get a 1st class hunt with Jim. He is a class act and knows his elk!

For a unit other than the Wasatch, Slam's unit is top notch as well! Have a great day!

Chad
 
Borrow the money!Sell whatever you can!Put the family to work!Do what ever it takes but hire yourself a guide with a good reputation & make the most out of drawing a great tag.A person waits too long to get drawn & should spend the time & money to make the hunt enjoyable.
Good luck,David
 
Just wondering where you are from? We own some private land on the wasatch. I have some trail cam pics from last year, plan to get more cameras up there this year. Two years ago a kid killed a nice bull with a bow. How big of bull were you thinking to kill? If interested, let me know. Might be able to help.
 
Randy sorry to hear about you bad luck. But you will find a great bunch of guys on this site that will try to put you in the right direction. So whatever you do keep us posted and don't forget to post your pixs and share your story after your hunt.

Good Luck


Joe E Sikora
 
a friend of mine has drawn the archerie tag in that area. his hunt is before yours if you would like I might be abel to tell you were some nice bulls are before your hunt so you could guid your self. if so email or pm me
 
>Browtine,
>
>Let me rephrase that a bit!
> Slam hunts several good
>units!! That sounds a little
>better huh?


HAHA! Much better.


buck1.gif


Later, Brandon
 
c'mon slam haha you know our family and we dont know how to hunt ;-) im seein elk all over the valley btw 20+ bulls so far biggest up to the fourths doesnt do a whole lotta good to get excited now but its fun to look.
 
Randyreyn
Hire a guide it is worth the money and time .

Jim Hiatt at awholelottabulloutfitters is the guy.


BULLMANIA
 
Randy if it doesnt work out with jim and your still lookin give me a ring. I might be able to help ya out with an elk or two ;-)
 
Garth Carter doesn't make a living recommending bad outfitters. I've gone with two that Jason has recommended over the years and they were the best outfitters you could hope for. An outfitter doesn't solve all problems, but they can take care of a lot of stuff so all you have to worry about is hunt. If you are fairly self sufficient you may not want an outfitter.
 
garth cartes paid to recommend outfitters ,it is about MONEY

I ASSURE YOU>


BULLMANIA
 

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