Originally Posted by tatonka

Yup.... I hear you. And with the way information flies across the internet these days with outfitter reviews, forums, etc. a bad outfitter or one who stretches things just a bit too much won't be in business very long. They know this. I contacted some references before I booked my hunt. I knew that I'd only get satisfied customers, but I had some questions for them anyway. One gal I talked to was trying to kill a big bull with her bow. She said they spotted an absolute monster on the second day of her hunt along a lake shore, but she couldn't get close enough for a shot before it slipped into the willows. She said it was at least a 65" bull (she's a big time hunter, by the way...killed a lot of animals all over the U.S. and Canada...she knows big moose). they hunted for that bull for the next 4 or 5 days and never laid eyes on it. She finally put her bow away and killed a dandy bull with her rifle...55", but nice wide paddles, etc.. That's another thing....people tend to focus on spread, but not all big bulls are wide. At the camp where I hunted they had a bull hanging outside the cabin that was 48" wide, but it had massive paddles and netted over 200" B&C. They also had what was left of a massive old bull they had found dead that was over 70" wide, but it had gone downhill so far that it really wasn't that impressive.... The paddles had gotten narrow and it didn't have many points...just an old warrior that didn't make it through the winter but he sure was wide!

The other thing is that no outfitter can guarantee anyone anything.. All we can do is ask that they work hard and give it their best shot and we have to do our best on holding up our end of things. I really don't care about the food, sleeping quarters, etc.. As long as I'm warm at night and don't go hungry, I'm good to go. I just want an experienced guide that knows what he's doing, knows the area, and whose first priority is safety. I had just that on my moose hunt. On a caribou hunt the one guide I had the first couple of says was lazy. There were a lot of caribou so it really didn't matter, but I'd spot some caribou off on a ridge and he'd kind of drag his feet and then say, "Oh, we can find some closer than that".. I didn't say anything, but the outfitter switched me to another guide on the third day and he was great...he was ready go get out and get after them. When I got home, I e-mailed the manger of the outfit and told him I'd had a great hunt, but also told him that the first guide didn't have much gumption... I must not have been the only one to mention this as I see that he no longer works for them...

Good luck on your hunt with Rogue River...I hope the "Moose God" smiles on you and you kill a whopper...plan on wanting to go back though...Once you hunt the north country it gets in your blood!!!