Just arrived back from a hog hunt at wild hog hunt Texas(wildhoghunttexas.com). Thet talk about how many acres of hunting area that they can hunt. They talk about pechan groves.
Well the ranch is 300 acres of amp,weeds.etc. Also on this 300 acres are at least 30 elk, 25 buffalo plus other critters. There are no poerating feeders on the ranch. They bate each morning and evening with corn(that you provide). The blinds are a close fit for one person let alone for two people. You need two people, one to shine the licht and the other to shoot. The windows are two small for scope mounted lights.
But there was a real kicker. They had domestic hogs along withe the wild hogs. If you shot one of these it was an additional $300.00 plus $100.00 for skinning.
Another problem you would spot and stalk in the morning and afternoon each day. There were 6 hunters plos 2 not hunters walking over the ranch. In the night hunting I saw two small pigs, and another hunter got one of the tame hogs for an additional $300 plus the $600 allready paid.
Just a warning about this ranch
I won't go back.

Wow, what a bummer, Charles. I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. Did you at least manage to shoot a hog? Who in the world wants to hunt domestic pigs....?

It is a shame you got into that mess. As a lot of people know some places are very commercialized. I kill most of my pigs going to the ranch and helping with odd chores then get to shoot hogs for free. Usually when I do this I am fed and sleep in a nice cabin or trailer. The only money I am out is a cold drink during the drive to the ranch then back home. I do help with the driving. Not all places are like you described.

I had one running shot but missed.
There were a lot more problems. You were required to show that you knew how to operate your rifle. The range had a tall bench with a concret block on it with a 2/4 on that. The target was a 4 inch by 12 inch length of STEEL pipe about a 1/4 inch thick wall. This was at about 30 feet. There were a lot of hits that did not penerate the pipe but had to baunc offed. This while we were all standing around.
The bigest problem was that there was no food left for the elk and buffalo except dried weeds.
Ten mins after the sites were baited the elk and buffalo were there eating the corn. When we asked about this the operaters said that the site still had the scent of the corn on the ground. Hogs are smart enough to know that there is going to be nothing for them to eat and not bother.
I saw several elk bulls that were skin and bones. There just was not enough food for them. They only feed when hunters bring corn.
Also thet told us that the state required them to skin and quarter the hogs on the web site. They then told us the reason was so they could weigh the hogs and gather info on them. Not a hog was weighed while I was there.

Sorry to hear about your experience.

While posting it on here, will not change what happened in your case, if the word gets out, it might help in getting the place closed down.

While many do not agree with me on this, I really think TP&W needs to step in and form some kind of guides/outfitters association, or develope some kind of guidelines for hunting operations so that ones like the one you described will be forced out of business.

There are some other forums that need to hear of your experience.

Hi Charles!

Be sure and post your experience on other hunting websites as well so that we can get some of these bad operations out of here! Sorry to hear about the hunt

If you know of any forums I can post this let me know.
Also is there a TX offical site that would look into the elk being under fed?

www.Texasbowhunter.com
www.Texaspredatorposse.com
www.PredatorJunction.com
www.PredatorMasters.com


Texasbowhunter will really appreciate it, as will the others

Justin

quote:

Originally posted by Charles Sievert:
If you know of any forums I can post this let me know.
Also is there a TX offical site that would look into the elk being under fed?

You could go here and contact the game warden for that region. I am not sure what they will do for exotics but you won't know if you do not try:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/warden/

You posted this as "another bad experience", and I am curious about your other bad experiences too.

I hate to hear of anyone having a bad experience hunting especially when they are spending their hard earned money for a hunt.

I would like to hear about that also. Did it also occur in Texas?

They have been ripping off hunters for some time now. I'm sorry you didn't hear about them ahead of time. They are also notorious for spam e-mailing folks about "free hog hunts". They don't care about word of mouth, they just burn 'em as they come.............

Sorry,

Bob

NO the other bad experience was in AR when I took my grandson on a hog hunt. Called the ranch two days before and asked if they had been seing any hogs. They said ther were lots of them around. Spent time checking every feeder on 1500 acres. No action at any of them. Hunted 5 differwnt water holes and no action. I didn't see any fresh sign anywhere on the ranch. The last night they set us up in a popup blind over a pasture full of cattle.
I can tell of a great place to hunt and that is with hunting with jeff (huntingwithjeff.com) They run a class operation. The reason I went with this outfit was they offer a free hunt within 7 days of your birthday. You pay for lodging and food.
I have allready send an e-mail to TX wildlife asking if anything could be done about the condition of the elk.
I will get on the other sites and add my comnents about this ranch

Nothing is free, never has been and never will be. Sorry you got stuck with these no goods. Find out if they are members of SCI. If so a complaint would get them booted out.

That's why we need to license guides and outfitters. If we had real licensing they could lose their licenses and their ability to make a living for these types of deceptive practices.

quote:

That's why we need to license guides and outfitters. If we had real licensing they could lose their licenses and their ability to make a living for these types of deceptive practices.

At one point in time, I would have been against the idea of a new license such as what you are mentioning, but I am beginning to see the benefits of having such a licensing rule in effect, if it would cull out the bad operations.

id go for the license if they cut and paste the zimbabwe ph course with changes for geography and add some animals.


sorry you got burned sucks to deal with these slobs.

Probably not much you can do about the elk unless you can show that they are being mistreated in some way. They are property, just like cattle, but Texas does have laws about the amount of feed/grass that has to be available to cattle or horses. The same rule may apply to elk as well.

Most hunting outfitter that offer a lot of "free" stuff or a lot of promotional kinds of extras are out for a quick hit, not a long term relationship with a client.

You may also post this on:
texashuntfish.com
huntingnet.com
texashuntingforums.com

Good luck and better luck next time.

Man, I was afraid these guys were scamming folks. I have read their website, and then called them, and some jackhole was an arrogant prick that was evasive about my questions

"how many acres do you have?"
"we hunt several ranches"

"do you allow stalking?"
"we don't have a high success rate from stalking"

"your hunt pricing is VERY high compared to most other places"
"you have a high kill fee in those dinky cheap places"

"okay, i can see that, but without a trophy to pay a trophy fee for, they are much lower than you. so, what do you give back to the hunter if there's no kill"

"i don't understand your question, you must not hunt pigs very much"

"why do you require several built in tips, including skinning?"

"sir, we don't have any built in tips"

"So, I can expect a one on one guide to hunter if I bring 10 people?"
"No, we would have about 3-4 guides theres for that"

"Great, so the group would only pay for the actaul guides there per day, not the rate per hunter?"
"no sir, you would pay the guide fee per day"

"Doesn't that make the guide fee just a daily rate to hunt?"
"Whatever, look, there's plenty of guys that want to come out here to shoot pigs, do you want to come or not?"

"I am trying to find out if you are a place *I* would want to hunt"
"well, i am hearing that you oprobably aren't someone I want on the ranch"

"OKay, then 2 more questions...."
"WHAT"

"Okay, on your skinning fees, which i think of as a tip...."
"SIR, damn it, that is state law"
"really? that's odd, can you tell me the statute?"
"Sir, i really don't have time to talk to you anymore.
"No, seriously, I am curious, which "LAW" do you think this is? Is it perhaps a wildlife regulation that i hadn't heard of?"
"Sir, look, you'll have to pay the skinning fee, per hog, plus a tip to the guy doing the work"
"You mean there's no law?"
"It's the law on OUR RANCHES"
"So, back to it being what i normally a tip on other places"
"Fine, sir, its a tip, but if you shoot a pig here you's pay it"

"Okay, let's talk about your "Free" hunt"
"What do you want to know?"
"Well, i read your letter, that said you are over run with pigs"
"Yessir, we have too many pigs"
"OKay, what does that mean?"
"it means we need a bunch of pigs killed to get these pigs off the ranch [notice now single ranch] as they are eating everything there"

"Ah, really, so, you do need help to get rid of these hogs"
"Yessir..... all you need to pay is (about $275bucks+skinning fees+tips)"

"really? look, since you are overrun with pigs, I tell you what, I'll bring 6 guys with me and we will only charge you gas one way and lodging"

"WHAT??!??!"

"Well, you said you needed help and had to get rid of ALOT OF hogs, and were desperate"

"click........."

"Hello???"

I also drove out and investigated
www.boarcreek.com don't even bother, its 200 acres of the thickest stuff in the world. You can NOT stalk it, it is lowfenced, but that doesn't matter, only hog can move through it.. you can NOT see 20 yards, and basically it's in a 200acre tract zone, of worthless land, that is NOT hunting, period.

Dang, Jeff -- you should get paid to investigate! Thanks for posting that up! There are a lot of shady hunting outfits, unfortunately, but we can warn as many folks as possible.

Man, I hate to see people get ripped on these pinned in hog hunts in Texas. I live in Spring Texas and got on a new Deer lease this year west of Gatesville Texas and my lease like most in Texas is all but run over with hogs. The lease I was on outside of Huntsville Tx. I killed 41 hogs on it last year bow and also rifles the biggest weighed 411 lbs. with several over 300 and most between 100 to 200 lbs.. There are alot of commerical hog hunts in Texas you just have to try everything you can to investigate them before you go and sometimes still get ripped. Anyway don't give up on Texas hunts there lots of good honest folks offering hunts here.
Rocky Woodrick

Ouch, what a mess. There have got to be some reputable hog outfits in Texas.

I have hunted hogs in TX before and had a great time. Was just trying to save a few bucks.
The outfitter I have used before is Hunting with Jeff. The last time they had 4 ranches about a 1000 acres each. Each time I was there I saw plenty of hogs. And they were not running all out like at the last ranch.

Please post on www.texasboars.com That would really get it out to the Texas hog hunting community!

I hunted that place with a group of friends this Feb and had a similar experience. I would not go for a free hunt. They advertise one price then keep on adding extras, they wanted to charge $20 to store your game in their freezer, mandatory tip for the guide plus fee for skinning.........

If you look at the website, it boasts 1,000,000.00 acres of huntable land, multiple ranches, etc. They don"t name the ranches or really say where they all are. Looks like an outfitter promising the world to me. There are much better places, reputable, with a great track record and high success rate available in texas. Hearts Bluff near Mt. Pleasant and Bigwoods near Palastine are the real deal. Me and my friends have a hunt booked again at both late Jan and early feb. We have been to both numerous times. These are large fair chase hunting ranches.

Next time book a hunt at the Langley Ranch, Langley Ranch

My son and I each killed a hog there last year, and are going back this year over the Christmas break.

quote:

Originally ....Just a warning about this ranch
I won't go back.

they are also doing business as
www.NorthAmericaOutfitters.com

Damn!!!! I have been a shooter for a long time and just decided to get into hunting. I booked a "free" hunt with them for June. I was really looking forward to it. Well at least I am only out the $75 "Booking Fee".

Chris
I'm glad I saved you the rest of your FREE hunt.
If you are a good running shot you may be able to get your money's worth. You won't be seing may at night and if you do you had better shoot fast. They even leave if you shine a red light on them. The main problem at night is that the elk and buffalo eat up the bait corn before the hogs come in to it.

I don't think I am going to waste my time. I want my first hunt to be a good experience. I live in California so flying or driving all the way to South Texas to be juiced is just throwing good money after bad. It's too bad too, I love Texas and I try to get back there as often as I can. Well I guess my hog money will be staying here in California. Anyone with any suggestions on a good hog hunt here in California? I was going to drive to Texas so travel is not a problem!

Chris - try Camp 5. They have great facilities, good hogs and you can spend the rest of the weekend shooting ground squirrels if you get your hog early. Some California guides consider the hunt over as soon as the hog is dead and skinned...often by 10 AM the first morning. I prefer to make a whole weekend out of it. Their website is under development, but it has some contact info, I think -
http://www.camp5outfitters.com/


Another place that has a very good reputation is Bryson Resort. You can stay in very nice cabins (for additional cost). Here is their website -

http://brysonresort.com/hunting.html

Thanks CH, I would love to go to a place that will let you small game hunt if you get your pig early

Chris,
Check out www.boaring.com Kyler Haman has an excellent reputation and posts here. His price list is comprehensive so you know what you're getting. He's in central Calif.

Geoff

I've heard nothing but positive feedback about Kyler Haman and his operation on the central coast. I would most definitely talk to him.