Outfitters! LOL

[GobbleNut]

The discussion in another thread about outfitters got me to thinking about some of the ones around these parts.  Here's a quick story that somewhat reflects on the quality and qualifications of our local "turkey huntin' outfitters".  After a morning hunt several years ago, me and the huntin' buds were eating breakfast at a little hole-in-the-wall cafe in one of the small communities where we hunt.  Dressed in camo,...naturally,...we were sitting at our table when another group of hunters came in.  We eyeballed each other as they sat down at a nearby table and soon started up the turkey chat with them.

We quickly found out they were out-of-staters from somewhere back east and that they were hunting with a local "turkey guide".  Not too far into the conversation, one of them mentioned that the guide had told them they could possibly kill a Merriam's gobbler,...OR A GOULD'S GOBBLER in that area.  As I recall they were a bit shocked to hear that there were no Gould's turkeys in that mountain range, that the nearest Gould's turkey population was about 300 miles from there to the west,...and that there was no legal Gould's turkey hunting (at that time) in New Mexico. 

We left after our breakfast chuckling to ourselves about the conversation those boys were probably going to have with their illustrious turkey outfitter when they saw him.  I figured it might be best if we were not around when that happened.  Then again, maybe he convinced them that the Merriam's gobbler they killed was actually a Gould's!  Moral of the story:  Do your research on prospective outfitters before hiring one!

[Phattkopp]

Thanks!!


Phattboy

[eggshell]

Ok you opened this can of worms, let's include the video guys in some stories. Oh man, some of them are real jewels for sure.

I don't have many outfitter stories, but I have noticed that some of the biggest blowhards and self-proclaimed experts end up trying the outfitter gig. I have booked a couple outfitters doing my grand slam, and both were pretty good. On our Osceola hunt I didn't care for the outfitter, but he had good ground and birds. He put us with a young man who we enjoyed very much, as a guide. This young man had enough sense to realize he was with two senior turkey hunters and just led us to birds. It was funny, he decided to take us out on a bonus hunt the evening we arrived to get acquainted. We went to a property they had hunted pretty hard to break the ice. An hour in we had three long beards called in and doubled up on them. All the boy could say was, "damn I am out of my league". When we got back to camp the outfitter met us and was dumb-founded we killed the birds. He instantly said, That __kid___ is a heck of a guide isn't he. The boy spoke up and said, "hell I never made a call or anything, all I done was drive, I wasn't going to embarrass myself in front of these guys". We spent our hunt days with the kid hunting our second birds and had a lot of fun. He took us to see sights and hunt hogs and visit Orange groves, and never told the outfitter we weren't turkey hunting (he was going to charge us a big bonus fee if we killed a second bird) We called in a bunch of birds, but never shot any. On the last day we gave the kid a big tip. 

I got a couple good video celebrity stories too....not good

[POk3s]

I've never hired an outfitter but a couple years ago somebody came out with a video of some Wyoming turkey hunting so I figured I'd give it a watch. The video showed the guide trying his best to illustrate what he thinks turkeys might do. The calls sounded like nails on a chalkboard and of course they called one in and killed it only for the Hunter to ask how old the bird was and for him to reply with something like "we regularly kill birds around here that are 6 or 7 years old and at the end of their life span. I think this is one of those." I don't think the outfitter made it long...but who knows.

[turkeyfool]

A few years ago after I graduated college and had a little money in my pocket, I started doing a little travelling during turkey season. I decided that I wanted to hunt in Northwest Nebraska. I had always hunted public in western Illinois, which is a very low density turkey area with the exception of a few small pockets. I planned to hunt public in Nebraska, but saw a video this guy named Josh Dahlke posted at One Lazy J Ranch in Whitney Nebraska. Long story short, it was a total  show. Ever since then, I've continued to hunt only public and have had a lot of success travelling the past 2 seasons. I had a really bad taste in my mouth and felt like I got burned. Probably will never hunt with an outfitter ever again. It takes a lot of the fun out of it-even if you come up empty handed, you more than likely busted your butt to make it happen with a friend or two

[guesswho]

If the money is right I'll take any of y'all on a Goulds hunt in Alabama this year.   

[eggshell]

What's the bag limit on that Goulds hunt, guesswhoo?  Is this full service meals and lodging?

Oh yeah, I ain't shootin that bard in the coop....you got ta take him out in the cow paster. This is a goulds, right

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=domestic+turkey+image&id=46845790E31F644AA3FD49353EDA5EF6D4A01783&FORM=IQFRBA

[guesswho]

What's the bag limit on that Goulds hunt, guesswhoo?  Is this full service meals and lodging?

Bag limit is limited to how many shells you have in your bag.  Lodging depends on if anyone with a badge see's you during your hunt.   It could turn into extended meals and lodging.