Too bad the novice hunter got burned. I think anyone with a little experience would have smelt a fish when going on a 6 day hunt for 4 different species of big game...
Guy also needs to learn how to take a neck shot!

Personally, I wouldn't have taken a shot. I'd have simply left the place and had my lawyer fight it out. Win or lose, I would not shoot. If you booked a free range hunt, you expect a free range hunt. That should have been in the contract. I'd rather give up the cash than give up my principles.

Mac

I went to Bear Valley's web page and looked for myself 9 which is what Mr. Donahue should have done) it plainly explains wild or ranch hunts with prices for both.

Call me callous but most of the blame here as I see it falls at the hands of the two bargain "hunters". The fact that they booked a 4 animal trip for 6 days should have been the first red flag ( the fact that bison was 1 of the animals to be hunted should have been a clue. Heck it sounds like a typical bison harvest to me. Even where bison roam outside of an enclosure there isn't much of a hunt to it). Mr. donahue refers to a "little" 150# whitetail yet his picture shows a respectable animal ( wild whitetails where I hunt rarely weigh more than 140#) I don't know what type of caliber he made all those neck shots on animals with especially the deer, but I highly doubt it was his 30-06. Mr. Donahue chose to shoot a smallish black bear on public land the first evening of his bear hunt. No one forced him to not wait on a larger bruin. And let us not forget that they both chose to leave all that meat behind to hurry along on their way to be home for the Holidays, rather than spend the weekend and have the matter cleared up. I know I would have after staying on the hunt for the sole purpose of collecting meat. Weren't they arriving home ahead of schedule anyway?

IMHO if Bill & Charles were truly after a hunt of a lifetime they could have done a bunch more research then come to realize that there were way too many red flags on this trip at a bargain rate to plunck down hard cash on the deposit. Surely anyone would see the difference in ranch and wild hunts pricing and question it. Not to mention after seeing the pens pay off the balance in advance of the hunts.

Sad but they got what they paid for, 4 animals. No one forced them to pull those triggers. Both chose to do so.

I wonder if Mr. Donahue and his partner Charles operate their own business the same way as they picked their outfitter then continued to make one wrong move after the other?????????????????

I've never hunted with BVO or have any connection to them. But I am a part time booking agent,seeing all types of hunters shopping for a bargain trip. Believe me they're very few and far between! Be careful choose wisely and don't blame someone else if you get what you paid for. BB

I remember reading somewhere that Manitoba doesn't allow nonresidents/aliens to hunt free ranging elk, is this true?
Whether they should have shot the animals for meat is a hard question, but I am certain that they could have negotiated some kind of refund if they had IMMEDIATELY cancelled the hunt...

found this on another forum

http://www.donahue.tv/Hobbies/Hunting.html