Well the trip to the panhandle happened last week, but not without its setbacks. I got into Plainview about 8 and Marc and the other guys were already there, they got in about 4. We got settled in and drank a beer or two and then it happened, the guide called. He told us that they geese were not being predictable and that a goose hunt would be hit or miss and had been that way the last few days. His suggestion was to pheasant hunt Friday morning and do a combo hunt that afternoon for some geese, ducks and cranes. We were a bit disappointed since we had just drove 8 hours to hunt geese, on top of that only 2 of us had shells that weren�t goose loads for the pheasant hunt, but really the most disappointing thing is that I could have brought my dog if I had known about this in advance.

Got up Friday and headed out to meet the guide, weather was real foggy, misty and about 32 degrees. The guide had a �pointing lab� that was not much help, it did not find one bird and only ranged about 15-20 yards out. Before it was all over with we ended up with 5 birds between 4 of us, not great, but good enough. After lunch we were handed off to a different guide (same outfitter) for the combo hunt. We set up about 5 dozen goose silhouettes and 1 dozen duck deeks. We had a few shot opportunities early on that were blown, I think mainly from everyone being so sore from the phez hunt, I could hardly sit up to shoot.

The guide that we were with gave us the option of sitting in the spread to shoot geese and ducks or walking about 150 yards to a irrigation pivot to take passing shots at the cranes headed back to roost, so that�s where I spent most of my time. When it was all said and done we had 6 cranes and 1 goose, and all those were real high passing shots, even the goose if I remember correct. Not much would decoy.

Next morning was another combo type hunt that was to be heavy on the ducks. Got up and it was 25 degrees, wind-chill about 0 and 4� of snow on the ground. We were all pretty excited, set up 12 dozen silhouettes, 2 dozen bigfoot goose decoys and a dozen duck deeks. Nothing would decoy that day either, we only ended up with 1 crane and 2 ducks, all shot by marc since they came in on his side. To say the least we were pretty disappointed in how Saturday went.

Drove 8 hours to shoot geese and only shot 1 the whole time

Man, sorry to hear that, at least you guys got some birds, and you can chalk it up as some experiance. I want to do a gooose hunt this year, but I do not think I will book in advance, I'm just going to go when the birds are there.

The birds were there. I'll post up some pictures tomorrow...but yeah very disappointing not just with the hunt but the entire way we were handled. I had to call the guide like twice then he finally called only to tell me to call him back in two hours. So it wasnt until like 830 that he gave us the bad news about not goose hunting. I was always the one calling first other then when the hunt was over and they wanted their money, lol.

What was crazy is from our motel room we could see hundreds of canada's coming in a little roost pond in Plainview...in fact that afternoon we drove over and I took some pics...it was pretty neat and got me really pumped. So when he told me about the goose hunt I could hardly believe what he was telling me.

I mean driving all that way TO goose hunt and then being asked what I'd rather do really sucked. Me and garrett wanted to do the crane hunt but that was kind of a side hunt in addition to the crane hunt...wasnt the main reason we went.

Also another reason I wasnt all that happy was I booked his deal in August...3 hunts...$565/person...we are spending some money on this thing and because of that and the time I booked I told him I wanted him to be our guide. He guided our pheasant hunt it was ok...but not great(we tipped good) then handed us off to his C team guy.

I didnt have a problem with the guide he gave us...he was a nice guy and worked hard...but he wasnt why I booked the hunt. I wanted to hunt with the owner of the outfit for a reason. I got the feeling that we were not the important group and that we were probably the last group in order of priority. I don't know if this is true or not but it's how I felt and he didnt do much to make me feel any different. We still tipped really well and now I'm thinking maybe since we did that they think we were happy. When I tip a guide its for the effort he put in not how many birds we killed so I didnt think we should punish the guide we got just because things were not handled well.

Like I said the pheasant hunt was ok...it was my first wild pheasant hunt...it was really quick though. The combo hunt was cool but I hated how the guide gave some the option to go over and pass shoot. The only reason it was a bad idea is because one of the guys in my group was someone that hasnt hunted that often...so he would seem to pick the worst times to try to shoot at birds well out of range when we had other birds trying to come in.

GR..you forgot we also got a duck as well. In fact we should of had two ducks...as one landed like 10 yards away from Garrett...he was the only one that could shoot (unless we shot over him)...but he never saw it...it was actually pretty funny.

I'd say the highlight of that hunt was when we had a three cranes flying over and it was just me and Gr in the spread...I'm just looking at them...I look over at Gr and his gun is up...I'm like WTF is he doing?? He shoots and downs one so I say screw it I lead the crane longer than I've ever lead a bird in my life and boom one shot...I dropped that crane stone dead. Black Cloud...maybe they are worth a few extra buck, lol.

Yeah Saturday's hunt sucked balls...I'm not sure they even scouted the place. We saw very few birds...of the ones we did see some decoyed in. All in all we got maybe a total of 5 shots at birds. It was really cold...by the time we picked up some of the deeks we put in the water they we frozen back...pretty crazy.

on saturday they put us on a roost pond...now i am not the most experianced person in the world but i am thinking this was not the best place for us to set up?

Which outfitter did y'all use???

Ross...since this is a public forum I'm not going to say...I don't want to come off as bashing them.

It's hard to explain because I know if we would have ended up with a lot of birds I would have let all this stuff slide. I mean if we were not able to goose hunt but still had good hunts going after other types of birds maybe I would not be as disappointed with the way we were handled. But when you don't go on the type of hunt you traveled and paid for, are not handled well, and then have halfassed hunts...well it just doesnt add up to being satified.

I just don't want this to come off as me being pissed about not shooting more birds...I've hunted with enough places to know you are not going to limit out everytime or even half limits all the time. They are guides and if they do their job hopefully you'll have some opportunities.

Who knows....I'd love for some other guides to say what they would do in a situation like this. I'm thinking if he really thought the goose hunting was going to be bad he probably would have known before 830pm the night before...seems like he could have called me a few days before and said something and offereed to rebook...or after I'm there offer a discount or something. To me it's kind of like a tip...it's a symbol of appreciation...I would have liked him to offer of symbolic gesture at the least.

The guide on Saturday said...you really don't have to tip me for today...but we did anyway for his efforts that day.

If you are interested in hunting geese or Texas Panhandle hunting in general, check out http://highflyingoutfitters.com

I've hunted with them a number of times and this is what it usually looks like around 8:45 a.m.



One of my buddies Kelly Jones was a founding partner in the guide service. Kelly passed away way too early a few years back, but his brother Rick and his best friend Bruce Town will bust their butts to put you on a good hunt.

I guess you need to as much checking as possible prior to booking a hunt. As all of us know a lot of waterfowl hunting is locked to weather and thats tuff to predict. If you can leave your dates pen on a hunt and have a guide let you know when its hot I believe thats a great way to assure a great hunt. But then again he may have a open weekend and need some cash so he calls and off you go to be disapointed. Talk to your guide, ask lots of questions and if you have a bad feeling then don't go.....
Sorry you guys didn't hit them.....we were 120 miles or so north and pounded them. Guess we were at the right place at the right time.

I was the other guy... Sorry Marc... Didn't realize what I was doing at the time.

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Besides you had Garrett as your role model taking 200 yard shots

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dont blame me for being able to drop 'em from that far, if your good your good

I'll almost bet that the geese were working fields the outfitter didn't have access to. Goose hunting is a tricky business. Some days they work, and some days they don't. It also sounds like the outfitter was trying his best to satisfy you guys. He could have said nothing, took you out to a field and sat there and played tiddly winks, then took your money. Instead he was thinking on his feet and got you on some Pheasant. By the way, as a going rate, pheasant hunts are usually a little more pricey than a danged ol goose hunt.

The combo hunt sounds like you guys went with the intention of hunting over decoys but when that was not going good the guide chose to offer up some pass shooting. This got you guys some shots at some birds.

I think the guides probably worked harder with you guys just trying to get you on some birds than any other person. but that's my interpretation of your descriptions.

Like I said, they could have stuck you out in a field, you not fire a shot, he takes your money and goes laughing to the bank. Instead, he tried to make a tough situation into the best hunt he could make. Which to me makes him one heck of an outfitter to go as far as he did.

When you deal with outfitters, guides, or people that provide that kind of service you are not the only one calling them and in most cases they are out scouting in areas where cell signals may not be the best. Also remember that normally a guide is up a good hour before you and his day doesn't end until late in the evening. They have to scout, clean-up equipment, get things lined out for the next day(sometimes for multiple parties)
, mess with the dogs, return phone call after phone call, work with multiple clients, etc.

From your posts and descriptions you give the perception that you were completely dis-satisfied with the outfitter. You also may be dis-satisfied because you had a mis conception of what you expected. Maybe the outfitter painted that picture for you, maybe not.

You were in a field that may have been hot the day before and the birds turned off and hit a different field. He may not have known days before your hunt that the bird swere gonna freak. He may have been extremely busy trying to get you guys on some birds and thats the reason he called so late.

3 guys and you shot 7 cranes, 5 pheasant, 2 ducks, and a goose. Sounds like a pretty good hunt to me. Maybe not what you expected but pretty good considering the conditions.

Where are the pics?

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From your posts and descriptions you give the perception that you were completely dis-satisfied with the outfitter

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i wouldnt go that far, it was a good time, not as productive as we would have liked, but is it ever? the weather was goofy those 2 days, nothing the outfit or we could have done to fix that one.

We all had a blast with the guide that took us out friday afternoon and saturday morning, he was a super cool dude, we all pretty much laughed and joked the whole time. When the owner took us out friday morning, once agian it was just all laughs and jokes, good times. I thnk the bad taste comes (at least for me) on saturday afternoon when we met up with the owner to pay him, it was kinda like all he was there for was the money, which he should be, but at the same its nice to BS a little and pretend that you care.

not a word was said about not having any shoot oppertunities that morning, which i thought was strange, at least say something about it. i come from a sales background so BSing with people comes pretty easy and I know what it takes to make people feel warm and fuzzy, i just have to remember that not everyone is like that.

there is a reason we have not mentioned the name on here, we were not completely dis-satisfied and understand the amount of work that goes into a hunt....heck i dont know how guides make money, seems like a losing venture to me by the time you figure time, gas and equipment

Dan...I figured you might have a different take. It was 4 guys over 3 hunts but really the amount of birds wasnt the issue. But if you think that amount of birds over 3 hunts with 4 guys adds up to a "pretty good hunt" then I guess I just disagree. I'd say the first two hunts were ok or fair and the last one just sucked.

I agree that it's better that he switch hunts than nothing at all but I've got to think he might of had an idea about this before 830pm the night before. If he calls me a couple days before and says hey...the geese are not working for us...so would you like to try your luck or come another time...that would have been cool...cause we would have probably come anyway but at least we could have prepared and brought the right shells, Gr's dog, etc.

Also when you come all that way to goose hunt and you don't get to go goose hunting I don't think I'm unreasonable in the least to be disappointed. I can hunt ducks here. The cranes were fun...the pheasant...to be honest wasnt all that fun for me and with Gr's dog we don't need a guide to do it. It's kind of like when you are about to go to eat and you have your mouth set on a certain food from a certain place and then you find out that place is closed so you have to get something else.

The other thing that really bugged me is that I requested the person I've had all dealings with to be my guide and after that one hunt he handed us off to his C team guy. The next morning we were going to have another guide then we got switched back again.

You can see that it's not just one thing that lead me and my group to be disappointed but all of the things combined.

When you get the feeling your group isnt as important as other groups that's not a good thing. Keep in mind that's my opinion and that's how all the guys felt in my group.

Also keep in mind I'm not here to bash the guides and outfitter...I think they are all great guys and I wish them the best. I never complained to them once because I'd rather not get into it when I'm trying to have fun. I was nice to them and tipped well after each hunt...I'm not looking for anything in return I'm just letting people know my thoughts and feelings. I'm like most people who are not 100% happy with something...I don't complain...I just don't go back either.

I understand what your saying. Sometimes people need to be a little more up front and personable. Everyone takes it in differently.
If you request a certain guide you should be placed with that guide.
I guess sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. Lord knows I've had my share of the bad.
At least you guys had a good time hunting and sharing the experience.

Yeah I agree...I would not say we were completely completely dissatisfied. I mean I've never gone on a wild pheasant hunt and I've never shot a crane. So at least that was something and made things better on Friday.

I thought the crane hunt could have been better. They had crane stuffers but didnt want to get them wet so that's why they made it a combo hunt that just turned out to be a cluster. The amount of birds we got was fine on that hunt but I just didnt like how the guide had people shooting at other birds 100 yards away. Also I'm sure stuffers are great but why are we not able to do a crane hunt...they do make crane decoys as well.

We signed up for two goose hunts and one crane hunt. We got a pheasant hunt, and two combo hunts where it wasnt too clear what we were hunting.

Those cranes are smart. Store bought decoys don't usually work and the only way to get them in is with stuffers or pass shooting. Used to that was the only way to hunt them was to try to get in a flight path where they were flying within 100 yards of ya and bust'em with buckshot. If I'm not mistaken you can still shoot lead at cranes. It's a different bird for sure but super good to eat.

Combo hunts are combo hunts. Sound slike you guys had gumbo hunts...... whatever came over got shot at.

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I'm with Cajundan, outfitters are a hit and miss and they can't help the birds are not on there leased property however, they should have given you a break BUT that's why they call it hunting and not killing.

Perhaps I wasnt clear enough as to all the shortcomings. Not sure how many times I said it but the amount of birds had nothing to do with it.