I would like to share an unfortunate experience with you all concerning my third season annual hunting trip in South Park, Colorado. You see, my family has owned and hunted some of the most beautiful land in Colorado. Like most ethical hunters, I take care to respect the land and animals in that habitat. Unfortunately, there are those that abuse the land and animals that most of us consider majestic. They are more concerned with making money off of hunters and destroying good hunting areas. It is this that drove me to write to all of you. My hunting trip started as it normally does; wake up at 0430 hours, put on the warmest clothes I own, load my .270 and spray some really bad smelling fluid on my pants and coat. As I ascend Reinecker Ridge I notice that something was missing that I have seen for the past twenty years; elk tracks on three major game trails. I figured that the weather had not come in to drive the elk lower, but this was not the case. As it was the first day of the hunt I was not too concerned. I found a nice area above one of the common game trails and dug in for the day. After about half an hour I saw something else that was uncommon, another hunter heading down the trail towards me. The hunter came right up to me and said “Hey, how’s it going?” I thought “really?” A short conversation ensued in which I learned that he, along with ten other hunters on the ridge, were from Tennessee. He went on to tell me that they had all paid $1200. to an outfitter named Bob Port. I was in complete shock, and as you could imagine, I was very angry. I knew it was not this guy from Tennessee’s fault that he was there, he was just looking for a good place to hunt. In my twenty years of hunting this ridge, I have come across no more than two other hunters in one season, now there were eleven others. That day I saw several others throughout the ridge. As I stated, my family hunts this land every year. This year my father and my buddy were hunting the ridge. Scanning our radios, we heard several other hunters on the ridge. There were three other guys up there from Pennsylvania. One of them was actually walking up and down the game trails WITH A DOG that was barking his head off!!!!! On the radio, the guy with the dog says “Call Bob, these elk are running, I could take a shot but I don’t know where Bob’s property is.” I’m thinking ‘no wonder there are no elk on the ridge’, thanks a lot Bob Port!!!!!!! It should also be noted that these Pennsylvania guys had actually drove their Nissan Titan pick up half way up the ridge, that’s BLM. Reinecker Ridge is surrounded mostly by private property, therefore these guys trespassed through someones property. After seven days of hard hunting, the only thing I came home with was frustration and the drive to write a warning to all of you looking at hunting in South Park, Colorado. I came home and did some research, Bob Port operates Cowboy Camp Outfitters. If you would like to hunt somewhere that has not been over hunted due to overbooking hunting areas, look elsewhere. South Park Colorado WAS a great place to hunt, now this area has been over hunted and the elk have left. Thanks Bob Port, thanks for NOTHING!
Man, sorry to hear about that. It seems to be happening more and more these days, problems with outfitters. It seems that there are lots of "successful" hunters that think they can "sell" their knowledge, so they turn to either guiding or running a guide service. They then utilize nothing but public land, or in some worse cases, private land, to try and please their clients by any means necessary. Bummer.
It points out the need to do lots of research before picking an outfitter. I contacted quite a few before selecting my goat hunt outfitter and I was fortunate enough to meet someone on another forum who used him multiple times and even sent me homemade dvd's of his hunt so I felt pretty good about the selection. I also communicated via email and telephone before signing the contract. He was always polite and responsive and gave me the information I needed.
I think several phone calls to the outfitter are necessary to guage their attitude toward providing a good hunt and I don't think I'd hunt with one that didn't have references I could check.
Yep, hunting public land can be a pain in the butt because of what the other posts have mentioned! I don't even start to get serious about hunting until I'm a couple miles from the nearest road and it took me awhile to find a great area with no people and great hunting. Don't even ask what state it's in, LOL!!!
I only hunt public land and do see a lot of other hunters. The only complaint I have had is when some guy walks in a quarter mile and then sets up on the trail to hunt. I have had a couple of guys get furious because we continued to walk farther in to the area when they were watching the area we had to walk through. Public is public you just gotta shut up and share it.
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