Had a great time visiting friends and hunting in NM but a Colorado outfitter SCREWED me! A good friend found a giant buck and turned me onto its location. I leased the ranch it was spending about 1/2 his time on and was told by the landowner that owned the other place he spent the rest of his time on that nobody was going to be hunting and I would have it all to myself. Anyway, it was a giant buck that grosses over 200". I know this because a Colorado outfitter poached this deer just prior to the start of my hunt. I am not going to name names just yet but he is in a world of hurt right now. He had 2 clients shoot the 2 best bucks out of the group, 200"+ gross and a mid 190's deer and thankfully he got caught. I am not going to get into too many specifics but nothing he did was legal. I was hoping to get a crack at the buck and Sunday morning I had an opportunity to take what is now the largest deer in the group as he came onto the property I had access to, he would gross in the mid 180's but decided that these deer have had enough and let him walk. To be honest my heart was not in it, I was dead set on taking the big buck or nothing at all.

I can handle coming home empty handed but this sucks. I have no idea if I would have harvested the big deer but to be cheated of an opportunity to hunt him before the season opens is BS. I hope this son of a B rots in prison. There were other laws he violated that might just get him there.

Drum

Sorry to hear about that. I'd like to know the outfitters name though. Please post it since others may be thinking about doing business with him and they need to be warned that he hunts illegally.

Consider it a customer service.

Mac

quote:

Originally posted by MAC:
Sorry to hear about that. I'd like to know the outfitters name though.

Agreed. If he is being criminally charged for his deeds, his name is a matter of public record anyway.

JMHO,

John

Smoke and mirrors... Give us the actual story and the name or drop this.

Certainly you have a right to be mad but what did the outfitter ACTUALLY do that was illegal and what was his/her name?

$bob$

Just enough info to piss off anyone who reads this...but no satisfaction in knowing who to avoid. Sorry to hear about your missed opportunity...but either fess up with a name or drop the subject. You are none the worse for wear, sounds like a fart in the wind...

The guys name is Sears.

Rick Sears with Apache Land and Cattle Company or something like that. None worse for wear? I would have to disagree, quite a bit of money was spent for an opportunity to hunt this particular deer. Sears actually leased a couple of pieces of property down where I was hunting and then forged and duplicated the permission slips from the landowner to look legit. He went in with 2 clients and shot the 2 biggest deer from the bunch. THis place was in the miffle of nowhere and he thought that he would have a window of opportunity to get them on the ground and move them up the mountain in the bed of the truck. According to the state police he had fake plates on his truck which is a felony in and of itself. When the authorities were called there just happened to be a state policeman in the area and he was able to arrest the entire hunting party. The landowner that owned the property leased him a small parcel of ground about 5 miles away and made it perfectly clear that this was off-limits. He had also only given him permission to hunt with either archery or muzzleloader equipment. The documents that were forged were from him, he only sold one hunt and Sears made multiple forged copies. The landowner is pressing charges. After doing some research this guy is a first rate asshole, he has had his license revoked in CO and now has it under either an aunts name or his wifes name. I have not heard one good thing about this guy. I hope he goes to prison! I also hope that none of you guys book with this guy.

DTH

DTH,

Thanks for the info...

Sorry you got "Screwed"...

I wonder if his fines will be nearly as great as his profits and it he can find another friend or relative to help him pull the same stunt again...

$bob$

Now that wasn't so bad, was it? Again, sorry you got swindled out of your dream deer...

Mr. Sears probably has a longer history than you know and has been a player in the game enough to have further plans...with our legal system I say they'll give him a fine, maybe probation or a few months food and lodging at state expense...that's all. He'll be out and setup somewhere else in less than a year...wanna bet? Poachers have no respect for life, yours, mine or anthing else.

Thanks for the warning and the complete information.

I would also be interested in hearing all of the facts.

Could this be him from the North American Hunting Club Member Approved Outfitters and Guides -- New Mexico - Oregon? :

NEW MEXICO (04062) Apache Park Land & Cattle Inc
Rick Sears
PO Box 777
Parker, CO 80134-0777
T: 800-235-7764, 303-699-7683
F: 719-676-2260
S: Elk, Mule Deer
R: 6

Here's some more info - you be the judge based on other hunters evals:

http://www.huntinfo.com/reviews/outfitter_reviews.php3?...er=&submit_action=Go

Sounds familiar:

quote:

I hunted with apache park, several years ago. I arrived in camp, rick was supposed to have my license waiting for me , he didn't. I spent the first day of my hunt driving 100 miles into colo. springs to get my license. I had to sleep in what was i consider to be a barn. I also found out rick sears had no outfitters license,he was operating under his wifes name, he had his taken away.I saw no elk but we heard some bugle across the creek, but our so called guide said we could not hunt them because it was a different unit, i believe he was saving them for somebody else.I shot a mule deer buck on the 2nd day the guide didnt tell me we were on somebody elses place, we got caught and turned into the game warden, the guide got fined, i was able to keep my deer.Apache Park should be put out of buisness!

Ron Gordon, rgordon@chipshot.net
2912 stephens st. vernon,texas.76384

(940)-553-1383

Life was so much simpler before CSI. Used to be you could just shoot a guy in the face for doing something like this. Oh well.

If this is the same Sears joker I am thinking, a little research into his past will reveal that this is not his first run-in with the law over this kind of illegal hunting activity.

That's funny...look at the reviews on huntinfo.com, one rates Sears as the best at everything, and "I've already booked for next year," and the next one is the total opposite. It's obvious half of those reviews are fake, put in there by Sears or somebody he paid to do it. What a joke! Hopefully he will see many years of prison time, after getting caught at this last fiasco. But I doubt it.

Sorry to hear that you got hosed.

Got any links to this guy getting apprehended for his trespasses? There is nothing posted on the Colorado Division of Wildlife's website.
They have posted other stories about cowards poaching here in CO...

as a side note, Colorado does not prosecute poachers, and other miscreints enough!! the penalities are weak and justice is never swift enough.

just for giggles read the story about the dumba$$ and the moose he poached...

http://dnr.state.co.us/news/press.asp?pressid=3659

i was in this unit on the same day, about 5 miles away as the crow flies. we ended up driving thru the same area this jackass pulled his BS stunt!

quote:

Originally posted by Washington Hunter:

That's funny...look at the reviews on huntinfo.com, one rates Sears as the best at everything, and "I've already booked for next year," and the next one is the total opposite. It's obvious half of those reviews are fake, put in there by Sears or somebody he paid to do it.

I did not look at all the ratings, but I looked at some and a pattern emerged: those from Colorado were uniformly terrible but those from New Mexico were very good to excellent. This suggests to me that there is a huge difference, for some unspecified reason, in the hunts and services offered by Sears in Colorado and those offered in New Mexico.

Maybe its because he hunts anywhere he damn well pleases in NM, LOL. I am still PISSED and hope that he never hunts again. Guys like this have no regard for anything whatsoever. He has been reprimanded MANY times over the years with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, lets hope prison is in his very near future.

DTH

DTH,

Please keep us informed on the outcome.

It is always the case with poachers, they loose their hunting righst for a few years and pay a small fine. Funny, they broke the law poaching to begin with, think they will have any issue doing it again? Many of these serious poachers never buy a tag to begin with, taking away their license is nothing to them. Some times they will loose their gun or vehicle, but in most cases that will not even happen. I don't think poaching is the same as Murder, but If A guy keeps breaking the law year after year, the penalty needs to go up!