Alberta Hunt Update ..what should I do?
As some of you guys are aware of I traveld to Alberta last month for a whitetail hunt and came home less then happy with my outfitter ...as discussed in detail on this forum I felt he did not give us the effort that we had paid for ....well he called me today and confssed that he was wrong, that he was not prepared for the bad weather and really had no plan "B" ... he asked me what I thought would be fair on his part to make it up to us ... so here is my question ... what would be fair ? I will attach the story of my experience for those of you who have not read it ... you guys help me make the call ..I want to be fair...
dd
I'm back from my hunt in Alberta Canada where I hunted 6 days for whitetail. I want to first tell you guys who do not know me that I have hunted Canada 5 times and with this outfitter 3 times ...this was the WORST hunt I have EVER been on.... I went with a good friend of mine from North Carolina who also has hunted with this outfitter 3 different times in the last 5 years and this was the week when Rut is in full swing...we were the only two in camp ( he only hunts 6 per year ) and it cost us $4500.00 each plus Glen bought a moose tag for $500.00 ...+ airfare ...when we arrived it was cold and snowing and had been snowing for about a week with snow in the forcast for the week we would be hunting ...I had to make my trip to Alberta witout my rifle because when I arrived at the airport I could not find the key to my rifle case and they would not allow my rifle on the plane unless it was locked ...so I called Don (the outfitter) from Nashville before I flew out and told him ...he said he would have a rifle available for me when I arrived ..obviously not the best of situations but I was a victum of circumstance so I got on the plane and headed to Alberta ...once there my friend and I were very excited..this is something we had talked about and planned all year ...we had both took a nice trophy buck there in 04 and had agreed we were not going to take anything less the a 160 or larger anything less then that we were prepared to come home emptyhanded....now for the positive points of the hunt ...the outfitter had 4 stands set up for us ...very nice and comfortable with a small heater ...the food was very very good ...the accomodations were above averege ...now for the negitive points ... the first day when we were drove out to our stands we were told that we would have to hike into the blinds because the 4X4 might get stuck in the snow ...I had almost a mile to walk and Glen had about a half of mile ...now that may not sound like a long way to walk to deer hunt but try it through 2 1/2 foot of fresh snow with a loaded back pack and a rifle ...once there we were both soaking wet even though the temp was 10 degrees or less most of the hunt ... once in stand we would
sit for 11 hrs a day staring up a very narrow cut line hoping to see a monster buck cross out of the bush ... between Glen and myself we put in 120 hrs in the stand ..hiking in and out while our outfitter set in his truck all day smoking ...drinking coffee ...listning to sports radio ...and napping ...during the 120 hrs we spent on stand we saw a total of 6 deer ...thats rightONLY 6 deer between the two of us in 120 hrs...and the outfitter never offered to go try and scout out any area's that might show more activity ...he never did anything to try and help make our hunt sucessful ...there was no plan B ...just sit and watch ...needless to say we both left less then happy ..not because we did not harvest an animal but because we both felt we did not get the service we paid for ...no effort from the outfitter .... so lets just say this was a lesson learned ...and just a footnote about the rifle the outfitter furnished me with ...he wanted me to pay $100.00 for the use of it ...thats AFTER the hunt and AFTER he knew we were pretty upset...while in my stand on the 2nd day I was so bored that I decided to shoot at my decoy about 100 yards away...it shot WAY high.... so guys there it is in a nutshell ... the good Doctor is not a happy camper.
dd