with the economy the way it is I know I can't afford a paid/guided hunt (not that theres anything wrong with it)and am sure a lot of other members are in the same boat. then your situation is a lot different than most and if youre getting corporate sponsors I'm sure there is pressure to produce nice quality game or the $$$ will dry up, not to mention if I go out and get skunked it's only my time I'm wasting not a camera and sound crew or whatever your entourage involves. the most I ever paid to hunt was 100$ a day and that included a room/bed and 3 meals, property ( dairy farm land) and tree stands included, but that was late 90's and only when we were very pressed for time off from work.
I never paid two cents to anyone for a guided hunt. Couldn't tell you nothing about it. Try a WMA for a real hunting experience.
YA I HUNTED HIS HUNTS IN Ga. HE IS ALRIHGT. HIS HUNTS IN ARCADIA ARE OK AS WELL. MY BUDDY JUST DID HIS MONTANA HUNT AND HE IS BOOKED TO GO BACK FOR NEXT YEAR.
Thanks for the replies and here is what our group experienced this December. First off this was only a group of friends on a hunt together, no cameras, no frills and only expectation was some fun for 14 of us.
We arrived at 2:00 pm on Friday as instructed and pulled into the camp with tents and a popup camper for the weekend, Nicki was kind enough to let me park the popup in his spot so we could have electric for lights and heat. We all attended a meeting attended by the two guides as well and were given instructions on proper arrow placement and identification of boar hogs, equally we were given a sales pitch for the Georgia and Montana properties. During this pitch we were told who he had guided on film this year and then how everyone he took got a shot and hit thier deer only about 1 in 9 are recovered, this set up alarms quickly as either poorly practiced hunters or guides rushing hunters to take shots came into mind (I have seen both done). I will also state we were told nobody had hunted the property since the last group the first weekend of November (remember this). We were split up into 3 groups and three of us were told to follow the guide in my truck to our area we could/would be hunting, we found this odd that the guides were only taking and showing us 4 stands. After pointing out stands and telling us how to approach them we returned to camp and mingled about ourselves asking each other questions. Two of our friends flew in from Indiana and had a rental car, the guide took them in his truck to show stands and had to use 4 wheel drive but told them to just drive the rental car out there (they got stuck later). The two guys from Indiana were given one feeder to hunt over with two stands as one feeder was knocked over and another removed.
Time to hunt that evening and away we all went with Nicki taking one group out that was close to camp on the swamp buggy. Three of us hunted the same area (spread out far enough) and my feeder had no hog tracks under or near it, no rubs on trees and the feeder never went off. We were told that all the feeders were checked and working and would go off within a few minutes of a certain time. The other two who went out with me discovered feeders with no tracks and a lot of corn under them upon arrival, signs of no hogs visiting. We saw zero hogs that night and upon returning to camp found out that the other 11 people had seen zero hogs and there was a rental car stuck near the gate, as well a second feeder had not worked properly either. When I informed them the feeder had not gone off they quickly said the timer must have jumped time which is why I saw no hogs, which did not explain 13 other people seeing nothing either. There was a nice 125-150# boar brought into camp that evening by one of the guides who shot the pig on the way to his personal stand. When cleaning the hog another guide was talking with him and said he had shot one the night before, small one just for the grill. Remember we were told nobody had hunted the property since the last group the first weekend of November, we started to realize that may not have been entirely true (rember this).
Saturday morning I sat on a different feeder with no tracks under it and the feeder did go off on time which managed to bring in a group of Wild Turkeys which we could not shoot, was nice to watch the hen and her poults. I sat until 9:30 and then decided to stalk through the palmettos, coming upon a small pond I saw a sow about 40# with a small litter of 6-8# piglets. That was the only pig(s) spotted that morning by any of the 14 hunters. Again another hunter stated his feeder never went off and people stated that there was still corn under thier feeders from the night before, no tracks of hogs either.
Saturday evening turned somewhat eventful where we were taken out to hunt different stands and I was put on a stand guaranteed to have the feeder work, this was after a speel about how the timers are 250$ each and he goes through a lot of them because they quit working often. This might be an indication that you need to replace them all with some from Remington or another company that is simple and works like clockwork. I approached my stand they selected for me and told to make a big circle through the palmetos to avoid the road in to reduce scent, which I did. I climbed up in my stand and quickly noticed no corn was under the feeder and that there were fresh tire tracks right up and under the feeder which was hung from a tree limb. Sitting high on a stand was great and the anticipation was high as I was told hogs always hit this stand, well quickly I found out why there was no corn under the feeder when darkness came and the feeder still had not gone off, feeder number 2 for me not working out of 3 sits. Returning to camp we found out that several of the hunters saw hogs only no boars, some hogs were under feeders and others were passing through the area. We all saw this as positive that the hogs were finally moving, even though it was nice hog hunting weather that weekend temperature wise. When I informed the guide who picked me up that night from the stand that the feeder again did not work, he simply said that the timer jumped time again and to get into the back of the truck bed. When we got to camp, he got out of the truck and headed straight into his camper without so much as being hospitable to anyone.
Sunday morning we were told that we could shoot a sow without penalty so long as she did not have little ones or was "wet", which made perfect logic. I was dropped off to another stand that they personally checked the night before and it did go off on time, only corn was still on the road and around the feeder from the night before with some old tracks around it. I got down a few minutes after 9:00 am and decided to try and stalk the slew/swamp reeds in hopes of catching hogs bedded in the mud/reeds/grasses or coming into it for the days heat. Before long I saw some 4# piglets with a sow that was about 30# but not wet so I thought about shooting but never got the shot, that is hunting. About an hour later I saw one of the other folks from our group and we devised a plan to stalk and maybe push pigs to each other, we saw a group of hogs numbering 20 or so that weighed in range up to 50# or so in the distance and could never catch up to them. While stalking I had a hog growl at me and blow out of the palmettos by the swamp, I never saw the hog but knew he was there. The few hogs that were spotted by myself and other hunters were very jumpy and feeder shy, they are wild as wild comes and did not give the indication that the place was not hunted for a month (remember this).
When we all returned to camp to pack up Sunday morning nobody had taken a shot nor had seen hogs near them nor close enough to shoot. While packing up someone mentioned to the guides that a red jeep or tracker was driving the roads on the property, this is when the guides slipped and said it was the owners son. He was quickly corrected by the other guide who said it is the son of the man who has the quail hunting lease on the propery, remember we were told nobody had hunted the place for a month. Needless to say the guides hunt it at will during the month off and a man showed up with a truck load of feed for quail and corn for feeders, imagine his suprise when he saw we were still in camp. This man as we found out has the lease for quail hunting and he is an outfitter, they hunt the property every single day with paid hunters when the hog hunters are not in camp. So much for Nicki telling us nobody had hunted the property since the month before, guess he left out the part that nobody paid to hunt hogs on the property as the quail hunters and guides hunt it. When were were packed up and ready to leave Nicki was kind enough to say sorry nobody got hogs and that he was suprised, the quail outfitter said he has not seen as many as in the past out there and they blamed last years migrant workers for shooting them all. After that we were told if we wanted to come back he would offer us a discount next time, which we though hospitable but feeders are not checked and the propery is hunted nonstop.
Now please do not get me wrong as I enjoy free range hunting and most of my hunting 85% is without outfitters and conducted on private (50%) or public lands (50%) across the country. Friends and family make up the bulk of the people we hunt with and that makes hunting what it is, good friends getting together to enjoy the outdoors and each other while taking an animal is a bonus. As a group we spent over $4,000 in fees to hunt this weekend out of our own pockets, 3 people flew in from out of state, rental car expenses, food expenses, camper rental, added up to quite a bit of money out of pocket for a hunt that was not represented properly. I have zero regrets about spending 300 for a weekend hunting as it was money I saved for my personal hunting and fishing activities, my friends all feel the same way. Equally I do not mind a guide hunting while I do either, out in Texas on a ranch the guides and my group toss $5.00 into a pot for the biggest hog taken. Where we did feel slighted was being told the property was not hunted for a month before us, being given promises that feeders all work and were checked, yes a battery here and there could fade but we were told they were all changed and checked before we arrived. Not seeing hogs for most hunters on stand and feeders that had corn building under them from lack of activity said that they are not running every day as stated. We had a great time together being in the woods and camping, that was our intent and it was great to do it all together. Having zero hogs taken out of 14 hunters other than 2 the guides shot was a bit disappointing, when Nicki put a couple of our hunters on thier personal stands the corn flowed for a reported 30 seconds where the hunters feeders run for 5 seconds. Putting two people on one feeder because one did not work and another had been knocked over by the guides was poor business. Showing us feeders and expecting a rental car to get through the mud when the guide with swamp/mud tires used 4 wheel drive was poor, this was done so the guide could hunt himself with disregard for his hunters. Out of the 20 feeders we were told were on the propery 7 did not work, one was knocked over and another was broken. That left 12 feeders for 14 people to hunt coupled with quail hunters every day of the week going through the hog hunting areas and the guides hunting as they wish left a poor weekend of stand time.
I do not post this to say I can not nor did not have a grand time, we all did being together for the weekend. Misrepresentation, constant sales pitch for his Montana hunts along with Georgia were not welcomed. When they noticed that many of us were wearing Tink's hats and/or shirts the dots were connected and questions began about my hunts and to ensure that I would see and given great chances to shoot hogs, in hopes we would book an episode or two I am sure. Nicki is full of his operation, the hunting is poor as he spends many weeks/months away on his other operations and trusts the wrong people to act as care takers and guides. Allowing people to believe it is well rested property is just wrong, tell us that you hunt it heavily. Over the years I have recommended outfitters to people and warned people of them, unfortunately based upon our experience and treatment this is one outfitter that I STRONGLY RECOMMEND to stay away from.
A small group of up to 25 hunters from around the country is looking for a great place to hog hunt a weekend each year, just a group of men and women who love to be outdoors and enjoy each others friendship. Please if anyone knows a place that can accomodate us shoot me a PM, we can travel and do not need elaborate accomodations just a chance to take a few hogs for a bbq and a camp fire.
Hopefully our experience was a one time thing and as some folks have hunted with him please let me know your experiences and what time of the year you were there. Happy hunting to all and Merry Christmas.
Thanks for the report and the warning, I hope someone copies and pastes this to the outfitter, maybe it could be better for the next hunters.
