Outfitting
 

I hope I can put this in this section as my question is directed towards the hunters and the hunt.

Ive have been ask for a long time to guide whitetail hunts and/or outfit property and Ive always turned down the opportunity but I am finally considering it.

The thing that has kept me away is I see how some of these outfits are ran and I don't want to be that.

I'm interested in the kind of things hunters would like to see. Maybe some things some of you have experienced with outfitters you would have liked to have seen done differently or things that you thought were perfect.

I guess I'm just mainly inquiring about your experience with outfitters and the things that are really important to you.

This would be 100% fair chase.

I have hunted with 3 different outfitters (2 in SC and 1 in IL). My favorite operation (although I didn't kill a deer) was Waccamaw Hunting in SC for the following reasons;
1. The owner seemed to care. He had lunch and dinner with us everyday and he genuinely seemed to care not only about your success but in also getting to know you.
2. He only had 5 hunters a week in camp but had land to bring many more.
3. The accommodations were simple and basic yet adequate. A bed, shower, toilet and tv are all I need. I was looking for a hunting trip not a spa.
4. Most importantly he had plenty of deer on his properties.

I hunted with an outfitter twice in Pike County, IL that is now out of business. The first year I went there was great. Saw lots of deer but never could connect. The guys running the operation were great and my father and I had about 500 acres to hunt. The second time we went, there were now double the amount of hunters in camp but they didn't double the amount of hunting land. It was obvious that the areas were being hunted every week and never given a break. All they cared about at that point was making a buck. Get the hunters in and get them out seemed like their business model.

Which outfitter were you with in pike county?

My operation would be in Pike and Adams co IL

Getting guys in and getting them out has become the way it is done and that is exactly what I don't want to do and why I have stayed away this long. I'm wanting to run a much simpler operation so I can afford to give guys good hunting rather than extravagant accommodations. I reckon once you spend millions on cabins the actual hunting is what has to take a hit and I want my hunts to be about hunting.

It was called Walnut Knob Outdoors (I think it was located in a tiny town called Time, it was about 15 minutes from Quincy, IL). They had finished a huge new lodge when we returned for our second trip that was beautiful but I sure the mortgage payment required bringing in more hunters every week. For me I would rather stay in a local hotel, pay for my own meals and be able to hunt land that isn't pressured than stay in a fancy lodge but sit in a stand that was hunted the day before I arrived.

Thanks, that is exactly what I was hoping to hear. I just don't feel like its possible to have the big beautiful cabins and provide the quality of I hunting I would like to provide. The ends just don't meet.

Its a shame....Time really is world class whitetail hunting but your exactly right about how they do it. Just one hunter after another.

You are correct the town is Time. Its about an hour from quincy your probably thinking Pittsfield being 15 minutes away. That is where I went to school.

Yes it was Pittsfield not Quincy. We would go there for our meals every night. Beautiful country there and the biggest deer I've ever seen. We were given a map with the property layout (boundaries, tree stand locations, parking area, etc) when we arrived. We arrived at noon the day before our hunt started and had a couple of hours to scout and set our own stands that we brought with us.

I love it there. I had to move just to try something different but I'm more than ready to go home.

I'm down by St Louis now on the IL side but they did find the MO Monarch a few miles from where I live now.