The Reality of Outfitted Deer Hunts

[timeout]

Interesting viewpoint and story of an Outfitted deer hunt in Buffalo County Wisconsin. I enjoyed it immensely. Perhaps because it took place in my home state, but maybe because I share the authors viewpoints?

The Reality of Outfitted Deer Hunts

I wasn’t sure I even wanted to be there. There were manicured food plots. Carefully placed tree stands and ground blinds. Strategically set trail cameras. A jaw-droppingly beautiful Midwest landscape. And, of course, big giant bucks. Who wouldn’t want to be in the middle of that? Me, it turns out...

www.themeateater.com

 

[Jr solocam]

I like Steve and enjoy his "meat eater" show. He was all over the map on this one. At the end of the day he who has his name on the deed runs the show. He acknowledged that and then said he doesn't like it. To each his own...people are welcome to spend a couple $million and run it the way they want.

 

[Charlie-NY]

I've been on an "outfitted" whitetail hunt in the Carolinas every year for as long as I can remember. I've hunted all over NC and SC with many different outfitters. I have no issue with their established treestands, bait sights, etc. Typically, I hunt over large soybean fields and don't hunt over bait. All the bait piles are placed under 100yds because " hunters miss all the time" at longer distances, according to more than one outfitter. For me, I'm mostly meat hunting, but like everyone else, I like to drop an exceptional buck now and then. An exceptional buck certainly is a rarity in the Carolinas and we have larger racked bucks right here on L.I. I take the hunt for exactly what it is and am happy with it. When I wanted a challenging and difficult hunt I went to Utah and chased mountain lions. That hunt kicked my a$$.

Be real about your expectations and you won't be disappointed. I've shot a few hogs in high fenced places and was content to take a few good eating pigs and had no illusions about the validity of the "hunt". We all had a good time and went home with some nice game meat.

 

[Jr solocam]

Ya I went on an expensive "trophy Mule deer hunt. In Northern Idaho. 190 bucks everywhere. My guide tried too get me to shoot a little 3x4 on the first day. So then I learned. I could have shot that little guy in my backyard in ND. Most are full of shi...t.

 

[Fast14riot]

Hunting mules in CA, NV, coues in AZ will make an outfitted hunt in MW and Eastern states seem like a high fence canned hunt. Just trying to get a tag in these states takes years.

 

[BORGY76]

I'd like to do a late Oct bowhunt In buffalo cty

 

[Downeast]

If you really want your hand held then go on a guided duck hunt.

 

[timeout]

I like Steve and enjoy his "meat eater" show. He was all over the map on this one. At the end of the day he who has his name on the deed runs the show. He acknowledged that and then said he doesn't like it. To each his own...people are welcome to spend a couple $million and run it the way they want.

The article was written by Mark Kenyon but posted on the Meateater website. I feel much the same as him in the matter of preferring to do my own exploring of the landscape. In my youth one could hunt most anywhere in the community and no one cared. Farms stayed in the same families and deer were not plentiful. Then came big city land buyers with money in their pocket, deer hunting started to become king, and everything changed. I guess the ability to explore the landscape in my youth, uninhibited by boundaries, brought about my desire to see what was over the next hill. If one hasn't experienced that kind of freedom to roam, I expect that you wouldn't miss it.

 

[timeout]

I'd like to do a late Oct bowhunt In buffalo cty

My wife has a nephew that lives up there. A fellow shot a giant up there with a rifle last year I think during a late antlerless season and then tried to pass it off as being shot by a bow later. May have the exact details wrong but long story short, the WDNR wound up with the buck. I'm sure they got a sack full of dollars and maybe his firearm and vehicle.

 

[Jr solocam]

The article was written by Mark Kenyon but posted on the Meateater website. I feel much the same as him in the matter of preferring to do my own exploring of the landscape. In my youth one could hunt most anywhere in the community and no one cared. Farms stayed in the same families and deer were not plentiful. Then came big city land buyers with money in their pocket, deer hunting started to become king, and everything changed. I guess the ability to explore the landscape in my youth, uninhibited by boundaries, brought about my desire to see what was over the next hill. If one hasn't experienced that kind of freedom to roam, I expect that you wouldn't miss it.

I agree with you and I also miss those days. I am not a big money city slicker but a retired, humble farmer.

 

[wboggs]

I went on one in Missouri years ago in an area known for big bucks. Too many hunters and poor guides. I got to know a farmer who was leasing land to them and he told me I would never find a big buck there. He, his brother and surrounding farmers know every buck in the area and if there is a good one they take it.
The west is different because many times you need an outfitter who supplies the horses, etc. in addition to meeting state regulations.

 

[AWS]

A lot of things in life form or opinions of what hunting is to us. My father taught me to hunt, he learned himself as a new immigrant into this country putting meat on the table. Ethics were very important to him as well as respect for the game he was harvesting (I think that comes from his rural German roots).

I like the challenge a hunt presents, for me deer hunting still hunting or tracking, challenging myself to be able to harvest a deer on his terms. I could never get in a stand and shoot a deer over bait. I'd rather not hunt.

Same with guided pheasant hunts in SD that I've seen, I couldn't do it. I love the dog work flushers or pointers doing their thing. Since I lost my last dog I haven't been on a bird hunt.

Even coyote hunting, I like to call them and the closer the better, getting one into your shoelaces is a rush, poking one at 300 yards is about as exciting as punching holes in paper. The thought of shooting one off of a bait pile, well that ain't going to happen. I'll trap them and snare them before I'd shoot them over bait.

Each of us has there own ideas of what a hunt is.

 

[David Milisock]

Interesting viewpoint and story of an Outfitted deer hunt in Buffalo County Wisconsin. I enjoyed it immensely. Perhaps because it took place in my home state, but maybe because I share the authors viewpoints?

The Reality of Outfitted Deer Hunts

I wasn’t sure I even wanted to be there. There were manicured food plots. Carefully placed tree stands and ground blinds. Strategically set trail cameras. A jaw-droppingly beautiful Midwest landscape. And, of course, big giant bucks. Who wouldn’t want to be in the middle of that? Me, it turns out...

www.themeateater.com

As a kid I worked on a regulated game farm. They served the clients needs, some wanted their johnsons held, some wanted to hunt on their own others wanted just a guide for the terrain.

As an adult I was doing some guiding for a friend and later his son, mostly as a second bannana. Same deal just 30 years later, except the dangerous game hunts.