I have a chance to hunt a private island in 2010. They're looking for a 4 to 5 man group at $1800-$2000 a piece. Its archery only no rifle season. Does this sound about right?
i can see i still dont know how to post pix. This guy included this year's trail cam pix with his ad. ny advice on how to add pix here?
Has this place been hunted in previous seasons? If so I'd try to call all the guys who had been there the last 2 years. There are a lot of Good outfitters out there, but you can Never check one out too much. Good Luck!! Dan
I agree with MeanV. Unfortunately, I haven't been fortunate enough yet to go to an outfitter on an hunt of any kind, but all I've ever heard is to do your research prior to booking the trip. Try and speak with the owners, past hunters, etc. I've heard horror stories from some of these outfitted hunts, do all the research you can to make sure that doesn't happen to you
Is this a lease for the year or a week hunt or what? How big is the island? Where is the island? Sounds like a lot of dough to me, but then I don't own a private island either
I can tell you at least one horror story! I've also been on some great hunts, most of them were semi guided, family run outfits. I really don't care for the big outfits that are just a hunter mill so to speak. Dan
It is alot of $$$......its for the entire bow season. I believe he said theres 60 acres of food plots and 250 of wooded acreage. All he has posted was trail cam pix of what appears to be some awesome bucks....but is it really from this land or what? He also said i can take a tour of the land before i commit.
Ask TEmbry how much his AK deer hunt was... I think you could do a lot cooler things for that kind of money.
For 310 acres that is a ton of money IMO. I guess it just comes down to what is hunting those bucks worth to you? If you would be happy with it, then go for it without reservation.
To tell you the truth, i'm quite skeptical on it. Besides it being a ton of money, it was a craigslist ad to boot. The guy has replied very quickly to every email i sent and has answered every question i've had. But for that kind of money, i'll through in more money and go on a Canadien hunt and have a lifetime of memories from that one trip.
Even if you decide to go with an outfitter check references from the past couple of years. Any reputable outfitter will not hesitate to give a list of clients from past years. Dan
Most likely true. A good outfitter will give you references for both successful and unsuccessful hunters.
The only thing thats keeping me from doing this hunt is the ability to get away from camp. August and September keep me too busy with guiding bear hunters. Would be a hell of a trip.
One of the 1st questions I ask is how many archers he has had in the past couple of years. Then I ask for a list of them. I double check numbers with those I talk to, and it's soon evident if he is hiding something. There are too many hardworking, honest outfitters available to fool with a lying story teller. Dan
Is this an outfitter or a season-long lease? I'm confused. Assuming you're looking at 2K/person with a total of 4 guys it works out to around $25/acre. Compared the $40-$50/acre you can pay for some leases here in IL it's not a really a bad deal provided there's some good deer and there really is 60 acres of food plots.
For Wisconsin, that would be a good deal if it is an area that has good deer. Here I have seen managed land go a lot higher than that. It all boils down to what is important to you, and if that kind of cash is worth a place to hunt and if it holds deer, then go for it. Just do yourself a favor and get references as the other guys have suggested.
It is not an outfitter. Its private land that the guy leases out to a group of 4 or 5 bowhunters each year. This group of hunters will be the only ones on it for the entire year. Like i said he has provided me with alot of trail cam pix from this year.....and they have captured some gorgeous bucks on them. With that said....are these pix from that land??
Recent experience with an ill fated (b.s.) so called outfitter! Me and my best friends Dad decided to do a last minute Ohio late muzzle loader hunt (for next week). 1) The story starts a few weeks back when I got real busy and handed off a dozen web sites for him to research and call, then we could converse on which ones we would narrow it down too, check ref, etc... 2) My buddies Dad decided to go with a guy whom had a hunt for $1250ea., no lodging or meals, just the hunt. The kicker and excitement was this outfitter dropped the price to $500 / person., because of the economy and people backing out -blah-blah-blah... 3) Still being very busy @ work and the holidays and all, I took his "research" and re-looked at the web page and listened to his conversations with the outfitter which sounded pretty good. I figured worse case scenario I would have public land available if needed, but was optimistic with my friends decision. 4) Over the next two weeks I listen to a few more stories the outfitter conversed back to my buddies Dad. Things just weren't adding up and "sounded to good to be true". 5) So on Monday of this week I finally cleared my plate enough to sit down and do a few checks with BBB and searches for the guys name, business name, etc... 6) I found a couple different complaints with this guy and they pointed to the same ill fated service. This guy claimed to have dozens of leases available, many tree stands at all leases, 140+ bucks jumping out of the wood work. The complaints were that NONE of the outfitters words were true! As the articles stated, they had a hard time getting references to check in to, no one saw deer, the outfitter stopped returning their calls, the tree stands were 50 yards apart on a cliff style slope, just bad p/r. One of the groups left after 2-days of hunting after talking to the land owner in person and realizing that the outfitter was lying through his teeth. I could go on and on about the b.s. this guy pulled but my fingers are getting tired of typing 7) I forwarded the articles to my hunting partner and we decided to pull the plug on Monday (10-days before we were supposed to leave), eating our $250(ea.) deposit and booking with a different "family style" outfitter with all the necessary research. 8) I feel real good about our research and reference checking. I asked him to send me current pictures of his clients harvests along with this years trail cam pics, etc... We leave Jan 8th and I will let you know how we did. Buyer beware! The scoundrels in this world will tell you what you want to hear, if it's to good to be true then it is...
