Moose hunt disaster with Covert Outfitting

26 January 2024, 03:23

tom ferry

I booked a moose hunt with Covert Outfitting and wanted to tell you about my experience on this ordeal in November 2023. Because of the lack of contact prior to the hunt I decided to reach out to
Kiff the owner the day before I left and ask him if everything was, ok? I asked if there was anything I need to know? He responded not one thing and looking forward to seeing you. The next day upon my arrival in Canada I got notice from him that there had been a problem, and I was to take a taxi upon the arrival of my second flight to a motel which was a long distance away. He said he would pay me back for the cab fare. He said his vehicle had been stolen. I arrived at the motel and waited on his call. The next day, the first day of my hunt, after many attempts I finally got him on the phone, and he said his problem was his brakes had gone out on his truck...? Well having had a lot of employees over the years I knew something was up. Later that night I got a hold of him, and he said he was still having trouble finding someone to fix his brakes. So, on the second day of my hunt when I didn't hear from him in the morning, I made arrangements to catch a plane home. Later in the day when I sent him a text telling him I was leaving he texted me back and said it was probably the right thing to do. He said I have been doing this full time for 15 years and never had anything like this happen...perfect storm of problems...please accept my apology...obviously we will make it right financially...I ran a bit hard up north and broke to much gear.
So, I sent him a statement which included the deposit, airfare, airport parking, taxi and motel bill. I tried to be more that fair I didn't include food, mileage to and from airport, ticket change fee and more. I got a check with my deposit back along with a note that starts off as an apology then turns into all the problems, he has had and how bad covid was on his business. Then he went on to say it was kind of my fault for not giving him time to fix it!
Remember it was a 7-day hunt and I was also told and planning to use any extra days after I got a moose to hunt for other stuff as advertised and just enjoy my 7 days hunting in Canada. I will let you decide if he owes me the motel, airfare, taxi and etc. .I know this is not what I signed up for and I assume not what you want when you book a hunt.
With the shows coming up I just wanted to alert all my fellow hunters so they can avoid this disaster

26 January 2024, 06:36

medved

did you check references before booking? where the hunt was supposed to be?

did you had a tag and hunting license?
does that outfitter belongs to an outfitter assocation?

did you contact the env or mnr dept or ministry in the aera they belong to?

26 January 2024, 18:46

chilcotin hillbilly

Sorry to hear of your bad experience with Kiff.
I know Kiff quite well and what went on, seems out of character for him.
He runs one of the best Shiras moose hunts as far as quality and success rate.

26 January 2024, 22:45

tom ferry

In response to medved I don't know if I had a tag, he was supposed to bring it and since I never left the hotel area, I didn't need it.
I will be at SCI and plan on talking to the guides association there.
His emails and notes will show everything i said is true.
The hunting area is a small community, and we have an obligation to tell each other when something like this happens to help prevent it from happing to someone else.
I have been fortunate I have had over 50 hunts in my life and this is the first one where the guide never even bothered to show up.

26 January 2024, 22:57

tom ferry

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tom ferry:
In response to medved I don't know if I had a tag, he was supposed to bring it and since I never left the hotel area, I didn't need it.
I will be at SCI and plan on talking to the guides association there.
His emails and notes will show everything i said is true.
The hunting area is a small community, and we have an obligation to tell each other when something like this happens to help prevent it from happing to someone else.
I have been fortunate I have had over 50 hunts in my life and this is the first one where the guide never even bothered to show up. If you go to page 2 in the Trophy room section you can see the extent of my hunting. I just feel we have an oblgation to tell each other when something has going wrong with an outfit even if they were a good outfit at one time.

27 January 2024, 09:33

medved

quote:
Originally posted by tom ferry:
In response to medved I don't know if I had a tag, he was supposed to bring it and since I never left the hotel area, I didn't need it.
I will be at SCI and plan on talking to the guides association there.
His emails and notes will show everything i said is true.
The hunting area is a small community, and we have an obligation to tell each other when something like this happens to help prevent it from happing to someone else.
I have been fortunate I have had over 50 hunts in my life and this is the first one where the guide never even bothered to show up.

all is good but please answer some of my questions.
the reaons im asking that is very simple: great to warn others about your experience but did you do your homework before booking that specific hunt?

27 January 2024, 23:30

tom ferry

Once again in response to medved I did my research prior to the hunt. I had been with this outfit twice before and had one good experience and one not so good. This post is about my last trip. I am only trying to lay out the facts so maybe others don't get caught with an outfit that in the past had good references, but this year failed to even show up for the hunt. Remember
1. I had a signed contract.
2. the outfitter admitted he didn't show up for the first day to pick me up from the airport
3.the outfitter didn't show up on the first or second day of my hunt.
4. when I told him I was leaving over the phone he was still over 100 miles away and said it was the right thing to do and he would make it right financially.
5 .I am just trying to let others know about my experience with this outfitter so they can make an informed decision about hunting with this outfitter.

27 January 2024, 23:44

tom ferry

To Chilcotin hillbilly.
Since you know Kliff call him and ask him if
1. He failed to show up for the hunt.
2. I bet you have never not shown up for the hunt!
3. as an outfitter I am sure you know that outfitters who do not show up for their hunts are a stain on everyone's business and I bet you don't condone it when you find out its true!

28 January 2024, 07:41

medved

quote:
Originally posted by tom ferry:
Once again in response to medved I did my research prior to the hunt. I had been with this outfit twice before and had one good experience and one not so good. This post is about my last trip. I am only trying to lay out the facts so maybe others don't get caught with an outfit that in the past had good references, but this year failed to even show up for the hunt. Remember
1. I had a signed contract.
2. the outfitter admitted he didn't show up for the first day to pick me up from the airport
3.the outfitter didn't show up on the first or second day of my hunt.
4. when I told him I was leaving over the phone he was still over 100 miles away and said it was the right thing to do and he would make it right financially.
5 .I am just trying to let others know about my experience with this outfitter so they can make an informed decision about hunting with this outfitter.

im not a judge on that one you reported your poor hunt or attempt.

i was wondering what was the outcome from the goabc after you contacted them if you ever contacted as it seems he is a member.
internet trial should not be the only outcome i will say.

why did you post it on canadian and other part of the forum?

29 January 2024, 00:22

tom ferry

I am going to S.C.I. in Nashville this week and plan on taking all my paperwork to the goabc there. this way they can see all the paperwork in person.

29 January 2024, 17:26

KWT

Tom, not sure if things have changed or not, but we had the same issue with a BC moose hunt ourselves. When we contacted the GOABC they wanted $150 dollars to investigate the case. Good luck my friend.

29 January 2024, 19:31

Bill Leeper

Where is Covert Outfitting located? Bill

29 January 2024, 22:39

jjbull

quote:
Originally posted by KWT:
Tom, not sure if things have changed or not, but we had the same issue with a BC moose hunt ourselves. When we contacted the GOABC they wanted $150 dollars to investigate the case. Good luck my friend.

It's $500 now. Page 2, Item 3 Under Process for Complaints
https://www.goabc.org/wp-conte...sion.-05.23.2023.pdf

30 January 2024, 04:54

sjr

quote:
Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
Where is Covert Outfitting located? Bill

Okanagan Valley Peachland

01 February 2024, 07:15

Grizzly Adams1

quote:
Originally posted by sjr:
quote:
Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
Where is Covert Outfitting located? Bill

Okanagan Valley Peachland

Not many moose there to speak of.

02 February 2024, 02:54

sjr

quote:
Originally posted by Grizzly Adams1:
quote:
Originally posted by sjr:
quote:
Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
Where is Covert Outfitting located? Bill

Okanagan Valley Peachland

Not many moose there to speak of.

03 February 2024, 05:59

Bill Leeper

Not that many here anymore either. I can't be certain , but the decline in numbers seems to be related to access and the increase of ATV use. Regards, Bill

04 February 2024, 06:55

medved

quote:
Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
Not that many here anymore either. I can't be certain , but the decline in numbers seems to be related to access and the increase of ATV use. Regards, Bill

the increase of the wolf population (less control on them) and more people into hunting is not helping.

04 February 2024, 22:15

sjr

quote:
Originally posted by medved:
quote:
Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
Not that many here anymore either. I can't be certain , but the decline in numbers seems to be related to access and the increase of ATV use. Regards, Bill

the increase of the wolf population (less control on them) and more people into hunting is not helping.

Please don't forget about our wonderful 24/7/365 traditional FN's poachers !!!

06 February 2024, 23:27

tom ferry

I met with the guides and outfitters association in Nashville. They basically didn't want involved. I started this post so that others might learn about this outfit and not have the same disaster I had. Hopefully I accomplished this. Good luck on all your hunts!

08 February 2024, 06:01

medved

quote:
Originally posted by sjr:
quote:
Originally posted by medved:
quote:
Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
Not that many here anymore either. I can't be certain , but the decline in numbers seems to be related to access and the increase of ATV use. Regards, Bill

the increase of the wolf population (less control on them) and more people into hunting is not helping.

Please don't forget about our wonderful 24/7/365 traditional FN's poachers !!!

that one will take a revolution for any changes in canada but i doubt that even the conservatives or so called will make any move into that ...

12 February 2024, 17:57

Bivoj

“ Native “ means you can do anything

21 February 2024, 04:12

medved

quote:
Originally posted by tom ferry:
I met with the guides and outfitters association in Nashville. They basically didn't want involved. I started this post so that others might learn about this outfit and not have the same disaster I had. Hopefully I accomplished this. Good luck on all your hunts!

well a shame for that outcome but not a surprise among canadian hunters ...

22 February 2024, 04:51

larryshores

These are basically trade associations. They have no authority to award damages. They can’t make anyone do anything. About all they can do is kick someone out.

26 February 2024, 06:50

M.Shy

Thinking we was trying to do some moose hunting up north
Good to hear about bad ones so we’d take them off the list

01 March 2024, 04:00

lpankratz

I do appreciate the information. A moose hunt is a bucket list for me but I can't swing 25k+ hunt. I'm researching Canada now.

03 March 2024, 03:25

Grizzly Adams1

quote:
Originally posted by medved:
quote:
Originally posted by tom ferry:
I met with the guides and outfitters association in Nashville. They basically didn't want involved. I started this post so that others might learn about this outfit and not have the same disaster I had. Hopefully I accomplished this. Good luck on all your hunts!

Yup, APOS basically calls the shots here.

well a shame for that outcome but not a surprise among canadian hunters ...

15 January 2025, 00:10

tom ferry

With SCI coming up its once again time to give everyone fair warning