A friend of mune posted this here recently, in more of a question form. . . But now I am living proof unfortunately. I'll be brief because it hurts me to relive this, but the lease is just outside of San Marcos off of RR 12, The rancher George Kenneth Gould, the FOUL was that he over leased his place. He let day hunters come on to a deer lease with yearly hunters. According to the hunters around me there were 3 stands that were shooting in my direction and my stand was in the middle of 3 other hunters 400 acre spot. So, I was placed in harms way, and after I asked for my money back he gave me 10% and is now refusing to refund my funds, which should be easy do to the number of day hunters and hog hbunters he is running in and out of the place. Needless to say I am not a happy camper and now have court in my future. Bad timing to with birthdays, christmas, and a wedding in my near future. Thanks Gould.

Sorry man, that sucks! All I can say is make sure to do your due diligence next time and make sure you have a lease agreement that says exactly how many hunters, etc. Hope you get your money back, hope it wasn't too much.

Hunted same place 3 years ago and I only saw a 3 point deer on a spike and doe hunt. Blinds and surrounding areas were full of trash showing how much traffic goes thru there. I chalked it up to that is what you get on day leases. I don't think he ever gets out of his truck either. There are other horror stories on him out there I found out after the fact.

I hunted with Gould a few years ago as well. While he didn't actually scam us, per say, I would definitely not use him again. I sat in the stand all day and saw nothing. My buddy shot a young buck, and that was the only thing that was seen all day.

Like the above poster, I just chalked it up to it being a cheap day lease. You get what you pay for.

I definitely didn't get a good vibe from the man.

Ken Gould is not a rancher. He owns no land. What he does is smooth talk landowners into allowing him to operate hunts on their property. The OP's experience is pretty standard with Gould. In times past he operated hog hunts but had no hogs. So he trapped them elsewhere and imported them to his property.

In my opinion he's a con-man and should be avoided at all costs.

Always ask around about a purchase. Do your research on line. I got burnt once doing a Bear hunt for my wife. I will research a guide or outfit until I am blue in the face. I should have taken her to the same guy I used before. But funds were tight at the time. Please,please do your research. If a guide is upset about the questions you are asking, he is not a good guide. Good luck in the future.

Sorry you went through that dk1051. We had a similar experience a couple of years ago in Colorado County. Big song and dance about how that pasture hadn't been hunted in 25 years, no one around us hunted, and so on. First morning it sounded like D-Day.

Yes, this was a horrible experience and even worse timing, but I learned a valuable lesson the hard way. Just wanted to repost this to get the word out as much as possible..

On a positive note, just got back from a good duck hunt with Ducks R US. Shot my first wood duck and ring neck and had a great time doing it.

It happened to me once with Dove hunting. A THF member that posts in the bird section season-leased a couple of properties around Haslet. We paid our season lease and went out on opening morning. Only to discover that he had day leased the same pasture to a couple of hundred guys. This ~100 acre pasture must have had 300 guys on it. I wish I'd had a camera. There was literally a hunter sitting every 20' along the whole perimeter of the property. The guy is a liar and a jerk so I won't mention his name or guide service.

I hunted twice with Gould last year talks a hell of a game but a conman is all he is...i saw a fawn the size of a chihahuaha the whole time...will never go back he is advertising again on Craigslist now i reckognize the number

anyone have the phone number? i was gonna see if he was still advertising on craigslist. maybe email him and see what he tells me about the place

I've noticed a bunch of day hunt listings for San Marcos as of late on Craig's List.

Those are the first guys you need to mention! C.A.?

Yep.

Sure do have Gould's number 512-963-8745

Would you shoot me a PM if you don't want to post the name? I don't want to get caught up in a bum deal if I can help it.

personally I have no problem exposing someone on an open forum and have done so,If they are a fraud-everyone should know about it.

man, i just googled his phone number and right away there are atleast 10 ads that are him advertising hunting. Anything from a day lease with water and electricity, to no kill no pay, to they are hunting a bunch of exsclusive ranches in West and South Texas.....i hope no one else gets caught in his crap

Well, this forum is pretty strict about personal attacks as they always turn into a "he said, she said" thing, everybody gets mad, and somebody goes to camp.

I would never resort to 'personal attacks',but there is a difference between telling the truth and lying to steal peoples money."your momma wears combat boots" is a personal attack."Your momma wears combat boots and she scre%$&d me over on a deer lease",is not a personal attack.

i looked on craiglsist in san marcos and as of two days ago he has 6 different ads for hunting. even has some advertised in Hays co, lampasas, and another place and they all share the same pics

I see you beat your money out of this guy

I'm kinda leary about doing day leases as well. I know its called hunting for a reason, but at some of the prices it's not worth the risk. I'd prefer to stick with an annual lease, you get a better idea of what game is actually available and make a decision based of that info. Keeping my eyes peeled for openings this season! Thanks for the heads up though!!!

Sounds like you got taken by the local JP. His first name wasn't Francis by any chance was it?