Apache Park outfitters. My hunt was a private land Elk archery hunt for 3900$ with promises of all kinds. Ended up hunting in a whole different unit, with an over the counter tag. Very little elk, and no quality. When i called him after the 3rd day to ask for a partial refund so i could hunt on public land by myself he refused, and made a whole new pile of lame excuses about drought and other things. Now i know there was a drought, so i booked very late (1 mo) just because of it, to make sure the outfitter knew where the animals where feeding and watering. He used that as one excuse, "you booked this hunt late" he threw at me as one comeback. What a theif. His mentality was that the money effect of the drought should fall completely on the hunters, not him and his outfitter/cattle biz. I questioned him for over 2 hours before i booked, about pressure, quality, quantity, price, unit, landowner voucher and the works. I let him kmow this was a once in a lifetime hunt for me since i am a cancer patient in remmission and do not know if I will be hunting for too long. The end result was a total lie. I didnt recieve a reciept of downpayment, or a packing/equipment recommondation after 4 contact attempts with him about it. On the night before i flew out he finally called and I was told a bunch of conflicting info from what i was originally told. This is a big name outfitter in coloraro and Norther NM Named Apache Park Outfitters, who sends out brochures from a mailing list that he gets from fish&game depts of unlucky draw tag applicants, that i am sure many of you have seen in your mailboxes. I left my 7 day hunt after 5 days to go on my own, on public land, even though i was paying to still hunt this sh#t hole property. I met a Game warden and told him my story and he laughed,telling me this guy has so many complaints that he does not know how he keeps his outfitter status. He said that there is hardly a outfitter meeting with the F&G that this guys name does not turn up.
I checked his references , but i found out that that means nothing.
The warden advised me of something i never knew, to call the outfitters registration for the state to find out about complaints, instead of calling hunter references. references can be rigged.
He operates out of SE colorado and chama NM. He seems to have some sucsess with the gun hunters but stay away from him during the bow season!! One of the other hunters that came from Pennsilvania got very sick with a diabetes problem and left the same day i did. I called him after the hunt and he never got a call from the outfitter to find out how he got home o.k. The hunter also was supposed to stay out for an extra week to rifle hunt NM, and put down a good downpayment. He backed out before the tag was purchased but still never got a phone call from the outfitter. The guy sent out a registered letter requestiong a call, and the outfitter never called, or refunded any portion of the money, or to even find out if he could come the following year. He just never called period. There is a LOT MORE to this story, i will post more about tresspassing on the ranch next to his lease and much more in the future. But for now, Call the state outfitter registration board before you book a hunt, not references.
I had a little experience myself on a "guided" deer hunt. I hunted 3 days and never saw the first animal. the peanuts were harvested, and the deer moved off the fields in search of other food. Of course the "outfitters" didn't really care and refused to move stands or look for more recent activity. Oh well live and learn, but thanks for sharing your story.
TAKE YOUR KIDS HUNTING AND YOU WON'T BE HUNTING FOR YOUR KIDS
It is stories such as this that make me nervous about booking a guided hunt. Sorry to hear about your poor experience. Hopefully your next trip will be more rewarding.
Never trust a bow over 36 inches....<img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle>
on the big game board a guy posted a site to see comments on outfitters. I looked this joker up and guess what? more like my hunt posted on Apache park. good site to keep bookmarked
outfitter to stay away from!!!
