Our group of 8 hunters reserved 1/15-1/17 last summer when we all sent in our deposits of $325/man. The owner, Jeff, had told us twice the week leading up to our trip that they were completely covered in mallards & geese. We were all anticipating the best.
We showed up at the meeting spot on Friday in Hobart OK and left with our guide to hunt mallards on a 1 acre tank. We hunted from 3:30 to 5:30 and halfway decoyed 2 birds during that time. We dropped the hen when the shot was called at 40 yds. The guide didn't say a word to us during the hunt.
Our gameplan to get back on track in the morning was to hunt a tank that had '2500 geese and 1000 ducks.' We caravanned to the spot through the sleet and snow that had been falling for several hours. Just before reaching our spot the guide began to slide all over the dirt road and finally buried his trailer up to the axle. There was only 1 guide for our group of 8 hunters and he did not have a gator or Polaris with him. Without a doubt, 2 guides with 2 trucks filled with blinds and decoys would've been plenty. Every hunter was willing to walk in for the hunt. We sat there until legal when we began to hear shotgun blasts ringing out from all around us from other groups dropping the hammer. We were told to wait for the owner down the road after the guide unhooked his trailer and drove off.
Jeff showed up 30 mins later and blamed the weather for ruining our morning. We mentioned that every other hunter in the area seemed to have a 'plan B' for the road conditions that particular morning. He said that based on the weather and temps, he had no way to guarantee that we could even be able to hunt Sunday morning. He decided to cancel the rest of Saturday & all of Sunday at that point. He suggested we roll our deposits over to next season and we stated that all 8 of us were meeting to eat breakfast and we would discuss that option at that point.
Via email today, several guys in our group requested that Jeff refund their deposit back to their credit card. Jeff said that wasn't going to happen. He refused to be held accountable for what happened and said that the only option was to select the dates for our hunt next season. We had a couple newbies in our group but several of us have been with dozens of outfitters both here and abroad and no one had ever seen someone so oblivious to customer service like this.

I wonder if the $2600 he pocketed for nothing was worth it?

1 guide is plenty for your group, no need for 2nd guide

a non-refundable deposit is just that, non-refundable, he offered to comp you hunts next season...thats the difference between a good outfit and and bad outfit

I bet the other side of the story is a pretty good one also

The Stanfield bunch are ALL crooks STAY AWAY

Does the beaver have an alter ego now?

I agree, it's hunting and [censored] happens. Why not roll your deposit over and give it a go next season?

Guides are like every other walk of life - some are great and some just wake up each day and try to pull a plan out of their backside. Why would anyone want to "rollover" their deposit to hunt with a loser again the next season? The odds of the same cluster occurring next season are pretty high.

I have stayed and hunted with Stanfield Outfitters on several occassions. At least 4 times, each time we went every member in our party limited out. Now, they didnt not like the fact that we were bringing our own dogs (2) and could not be grouped up with other hunters because of it. They wanted to put out twice the number of decoys, therefore needed to hunt with 2 guides and other groups of 4. we were willing to put out twice as many decoys ourselves if that meant hunting with our dogs. They werent thrilled about it, but agreed. I have recommended them to others many times. Will continue to do so. That said, I once had a crummy experience with a well known goose guide in the Eagle Lake area. We asked for at least a partial refund. He refused & offered another trip during the weekdays. I think they shouldhave refunded your money.

Why do fishing trips never get comped when the fishing is slow, but people expect a comped hunt when the birds don't fly?

Agreed! Sometimes you just can't catch them all or shoot them all! A lot of people don't consider guiding a job etc! We put in a lot of work, time and money into trying to put them on a waterfowl trip of a lifetime.

I agree that sometimes the stars just don't line up, but IF that's really how it went down I'm with the beav

yep

Well one side of the story does seem to make it sound like a bad deal, BUT we haven't heard the other side. Could that half inch of moister fallen on ground already saturated by 12 inches of rain making it travel impossible? I mean if it weren't for my tractor and wagon most of our trips would have been cancelled in Weatherford

A comped hunt?
That's your take on the facts I listed earlier?
We didn't hunt in ideal conditions for 2 days due to the incompetence of the outfitter.

So your an expert on goose hunting and driving on rural muddy roads? Why do you even need a guide then?

I'm not taking up for Jeff, I'm just saying as a guide also I know every story has two sides

Cause perhaps the guide leases the most desirable thousands of acres next to a refuge in the middle of the migration

Then maybe you should hang out your shingle

Dutchys guide service

This story reminds me of a pancake in a way

Douchys Guide Service would be a terrible name for a business, IMO

Jesters Guide Service...that's bad also really

Royal Blue Outfitters "where we treat you like a king"...that actually has a ring to it, good set up to cater to the high rollers

I bet you would be the first one in line

At royal blue? Depends on price really, I'm poor folk from down in cedar chopper country

My question is why do you ( beaver ) change guides every year?? 90% of mine have been hunting with me for years!! Some were setting in the blind with BB guns and are in college now. But you change every season

Cause i enjoy traveling and hunting different states and different species, not just ducks.

Just like playing golf, i like to play different courses. I never understood people belonging to one club and playing the same course for 20 years.

I have clients i have to meet in illinois and arkansas every year, and they take me out after business.
For the other states such as kansas and oklahoma i hire guides. I like to hunt 4 different states every year. We dont chose the expensive guides. Just average pricing.

I do not change guides every year. I hunt with the once i had the most fun with together with great success.
I prolly hunt ducks/geese or cranes a total of 45 days per year. 10 of them are guided. The rest are on my own leases.

Run n gun, muddy waters, prairie thunder, blake, and panhandles best are just a few good ones to name


I like to try different states and enjoy the road trips with some americana.

Also, these last 10 years, Texas has a lot of duck drama, too many fighting guides, too many hunters, not enough public waters, etc...You go up north, its different and usually better. Anywhere between southern oklahoma and northern nebraska is amazing, not just pondpopping. The real deal.

Well I seem to remember you bragging about him, now your burning on him

im not burning him, nor did i started this thread.
Sometimes a mild burn is good for you, helps you readjust and reset your priorities.
Like i said, 8 hunters ended up pissed off and were shocked the entire trip was cancelled at 9 am while the weather was just fine and the birds were there. Some guys made 1 phonecall to another local outfitter who took them out on sunday and they shot a limit within minutes. Other guys of my group made 1 phonecall at 10 am on saturday and we got to hunt a very successfull hunt starting at 2:30 pm, (thanks muddy waters) Thousands of hungry birds.

You not making the extra effort, im going somewhere else with my cash, Its that simple. Too bad we had to improvise on our own plan B.

I also like to hunt with the owner of the guiding service who is as passionate as myself about Bird hunting.
It usually works better that way and is usually possible if you book long in advance.

Just like in the restaurant business, the service is usually better when the owner is there every day.
Too many out fitters are just in there for the money nowadays. Follow your passion and the money will follow.
Follow the money and things like this will happen frequently.