Originally Posted by
kjarod
Just got back from hunting elk with an outfitter. The hunt went like this.
Day 1 was spent waiting 3 hours for the outfitter to pack horses then ride into camp another 3 hours followed by no firewood for tents so we spent 2 more hours cutting wood with 2 man saws. No hunting.
Day 2 was suppose to be 2 on 1 but had to do 3 on 1 because he was short one guide that wouldn't be in camp unitl the next day.
Day 3 hunted 2 hours in the morning then spent 3 hours going back to trailhead to meet up with extra guide. Loaded more horses with hay etc. to take back to camp.
Day 4 arrived at meadow on top of mountain over a hour after sunrise. Ran out 30 cows and a few bulls from near wooded area no shot.
Day 5 arrived at another meadow over a hour after sunrise. Spotted a few cows in corner of field. Had to stop guide from riding out into meadow in the mean time spooking the cows and a few bulls.
Day 6 still riding on trail well after daylight. Guide left binos at glassing area 45 minutes away from trailhead. Had to wait an extra hour on the last day for him to walk back and get them. rode a couple of hours to evening hunting spot with 1 1/2 hours left of daylight.
Outfitter was very nice and hospitality was great. Just didn't feel like he gave 100% on hunting elk. Not really a bad hunt just wish we could have hunted more and arrived at our hunting areas before daylight.
Please fill free to comment. Is this pretty typical for a guided hunt costing around 4800 dollars.
As an outfitter we live by a golden rule: "Take care of, what you can control." Elk hunting is full of uncontrolable issues but having a camp stocked and staff in place is very controlable. However, there are certain saftey concerns on every hunt as well. We are also only getting your side of the story, and every one has two. I have been in camps in years past where the story told online, wasn't what actually happened in camp, both from the outfitter and client.
On our first rifle base camp hunt this year we faced the possibilty of some pretty good snow as we entered camp. We decided to take a limited number of stock and split them into two trailers in the event that we had serious ice road conditions coming out. We packed one group of hunters in, then the other. They waited at the trailhead for nearly three hours, it wasn't sloppy on our part, it was a saftey concern. We did have some issues getting out with ice, but it all turned out fine, but I was dang glad we split the stock and reduced our trailer weight coming out. I did, however, explain this to all the clients before we went up the mountain.
As far as getting up to the meadows at first light, that is a couple of considerations as well, among them traveling in the dark with clients on stock. Second would be the concern of clients and staff getting an appropriate amount of sleep to work safely and effectively throughout the course of the hunt. Logisticals would also play a role, as we have areas where we blow out the herd if we try to get in at dark.