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Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
#5537560
01/12/15 05:16 PM
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31
Jace313
OP
Light Foot
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OP
Light Foot
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31 |
Me and 3 other guys booked a trip with Affordable Outfitter near Bryson and Jacksboro, TX this past weekend. We were looking for a cheap meat hunt. I did a search on here previously and didn't see any bad reviews for them. However, I have found a couple now and they seem to have had the same experience that we did. We paid $2,400 for the weekend. ($600 each) The website said they were under new management, it also said we were allowed a cull buck, a doe and 2 hogs each.
Everything was great leading up to the hunt. The outfitter James made good contact, told us what to expect with weather, and sent us game camera pictures the week of our hunt. Once we got close to the cabin we were staying in we were given directions from James on how to get to the cabin. We never met him in person and once we got on to the property we could not get ahold of him again. (and still haven't)
We were unloading our stuff into the cabin when the guide (Aaron) showed up and said "I believe there is a balance due" We paid him the rest of the $2,400 after our deposit and he explained that he was seeing lots of game. Told us that our cull buck was a spike only.
The cabin was decent. An old cabin with everything you could need. Not the nicest but I am not picky about that part of my hunting. (I've stayed in much worse) The guide (Aaron) explained to us that he was Harley mechanic from Montana and just showed up guiding this year at Thanksgiving. Everything is still fine at this point. All I need is someone to show me where to hunt and where to sleep and I would be perfectly happy. He explained that the ranch we were staying on was 5,000 acres. and the other ranch we would be hunting is another 5,000 acre ranch.
What he didn't know is that I am a professional land surveyor and my buddy is a land man. After our failed hunt we researched him and it turns out the property we were staying on is only 115 acres. Which would still be fine since we were not hunting there. He also told us that the 5,000 acre ranch we were hunting on, only had 6 blinds on it??
The first time he dropped us off for the Friday evening hunt. He placed us all within about 400 yards of each other. One person in my group was sitting 50-75 yards out in front of me. Right in the path of where I would be shooting since he threw the corn out there. 2 of us were put in duck hunting blinds at frozen ponds and with no feeders. Somebody threw out corn the day before we got there is what it looked like. We didn't see a single deer or pig. The next day we were all put in a box blind. They were nice blinds. some of our feeders went off, some of them didn't. We were spread out a little more, but it was more of the same. Not one single deer or pig was seen.
We asked the guide where the game cameras were. "There aren't any game cameras on this ranch" he said. So James was sending us pictures from another ranch apparently.
We asked to be taken to a different ranch but had the same luck. One of our blinds was a motor home that looked like someone was living in. I will see about getting the pictures up on here. We told him we didn't want to go hunting on the last morning. So the guide came into our cabin Saturday night while we were taking our boots off and said "I will take my tip now" We had to pay him a little cash just to get him to leave us alone.
It was a bad experience. So bad I wanted to share with everyone and hope nobody else uses them. The only deer we saw was after dark on the road back to our cabin. It goes to show, you get what you pay for. We weren't expecting to limit out, just looking for a last minute meat hunt before season was over. Hopefully, someone will learn from our mistake.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5537571
01/12/15 05:22 PM
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31
Jace313
OP
Light Foot
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OP
Light Foot
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31 |
This is one of the blinds he had us hunting out of. Again, the box blinds were nice.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5537889
01/12/15 08:02 PM
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 4,076
Stevarino
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 4,076 |
Wow.. Speachless.. and you tip'd him.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5537951
01/12/15 08:26 PM
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Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 26
MN Hunter
Light Foot
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Light Foot
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 26 |
Just about booked with that outfit. Glad I did some last minute research on line. Found 4 to 5 bad reviews and one good. Im traveling way to far to hunt roll the dice on a outfit like that. Sorry to hear your hunt didnt go well. Thanks for the report. Confirms my suspicions that I made the right choice to look else where.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5538148
01/12/15 09:58 PM
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,600
Skylar Mac
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,600 |
My goodness that is truly unfortunate.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Stevarino]
#5538453
01/13/15 12:06 AM
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31
Jace313
OP
Light Foot
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OP
Light Foot
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31 |
Wow.. Speachless.. and you tip'd him. go I told him I wasn't tip anything. Another guy in my group felt bad and decided to give him a little cash cause he wpuldnt leave us alone. They have signs posted saying it's an insult not to tip the guide.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5538623
01/13/15 01:09 AM
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 510
blackdog21
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 510 |
The insult is they call themselves professionals. Sorry this happened to you. There are lots of reputable pros on this site to turn to in the future.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5538791
01/13/15 02:08 AM
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31
Jace313
OP
Light Foot
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OP
Light Foot
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31 |
This was the 3rd hunt I've been on this year. One was a drawn hunt by tpwd. Tpwd gave us a great hunt too. Need to find a better meat hunt for next year. My family will go through at least 7 or 8 deer in a year. Lesson learned.
Last edited by Jace313; 01/13/15 02:09 AM.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5538957
01/13/15 02:59 AM
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 12,348
Simple Searcher
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 12,348 |
Sorry to hear about a bummer hunt. For me getting on animals is only part of what I expect from a guide/outfitter. I expect a good time and experience and animals/fish, although they do not always cooperate. I have stayed in single wides with sandwiches and enjoyed myself better than the a lodge with steaks. I also hate guides that are always telling you about all of the other great hunts they have done, when they cannot find you a thing.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5539114
01/13/15 03:47 AM
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 708
Mike Savoy
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 708 |
Jace, I offer a meat hunt for about the same price in Central Texas. I would be more then happy to have you down to the ranch. Sorry you had such a bad hunt. Mike 512-635-2320 michaelcsavoy@gmail.com
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5539138
01/13/15 03:52 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 35,949
txshntr
T-Rex Arms
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T-Rex Arms
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 35,949 |
Hate to hear that and glad you posted for others. Hopefully people will do their research and pick one of the more reputable outfitters on this site. Good luck next year As a side note, ain't no way in hell the "guide" would have bullied me into tipping. You either deserve it or you don't. If you want a better tip, run a better operation
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: txshntr]
#5539191
01/13/15 04:04 AM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 12,547
chital_shikari
Minor in training
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Minor in training
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 12,547 |
Hate to hear that and glad you posted for others. Hopefully people will do their research and pick one of the more reputable outfitters on this site. Good luck next year As a side note, ain't no way in hell the "guide" would have bullied me into tipping. You either deserve it or you don't. If you want a better tip, run a better operation X2 thanks for sharing and that sucks. I'd have socked him in the face and then gotten myself in a bunch of trouble lol
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5540291
01/13/15 06:25 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 107
1point
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 107 |
Sorry for the unfortunate experience, and loss of time and funds. Glad you shared so no one else is unaware. WOW is all I can say to the trailer blind.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5540868
01/13/15 10:28 PM
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,236
Gamblinman
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,236 |
Wow..just wow. Some folks have no conscience. Sorry for the bad hunt.
People like this need to be prosecuted for fraud.
Gman
" I don't hunt turkeys because I want to, I hunt turkeys because I have to."
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5541153
01/14/15 01:25 AM
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Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 36,205
Buzzsaw
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 36,205 |
Been on one of those....it stunk
been on another...we all killed GREAT deer....then found out we were trespassing . Ranch owner liked us so we stayed out of jail at least
we all cancelled our checks to the "outfitter"
SPACE FOR RENT
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5541419
01/14/15 03:23 AM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 651
vanndchi
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 651 |
Sounds like a lot of money for that hunt. Good many deer in that part of Texas. Over run by hogs. That really sucks. Was that camper a blind, lol? I lived in worse in college
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5541567
01/14/15 04:21 AM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 14,071
NDN98
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 14,071 |
Wow, that is horrible. Sorry you had such a bad experience.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5541628
01/14/15 04:51 AM
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,111
huntingbig8
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,111 |
Unfortunately, it's the same way they run their auto repair shop in Graham, Shady!
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5542300
01/14/15 04:21 PM
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 382
deedeetaylor
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 382 |
I'm glad you posted this report. I had a similar experience with that group 2 years ago. It was my first time using an outfitter and I was quiet disappointed. Thought it was just me expecting too much.
"The surest sign that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5542913
01/14/15 09:17 PM
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31
Jace313
OP
Light Foot
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OP
Light Foot
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31 |
One guy sat in the camper for an evening hunt.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5555450
01/21/15 03:22 PM
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31
Jace313
OP
Light Foot
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OP
Light Foot
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31 |
UPDATE: The outfitter contacted the guy in our group who setup the hunt. He found my reviews on here and with the BBB. He has offered to give a partial refund in an effort to resolve this. I have resolved the complaint with the BBB.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5556959
01/22/15 03:06 AM
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Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 193
ttechcolleyville
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 193 |
I was taken by that same clown last year. I provided reviews in as many places as I could to try to prevent others from getting hosed. Our experience was pretty much the same - except imagine that you walked into the accommodations you had to find two strangers bunked with you. Even though you were told you would have your own quarters.
I took my little brother and we never saw the owner either. His 14 or 15 year old son hauled us around but you could hardly call him a guide much less them an outfitter.
Pretty sure they provided pics from another location to us as well. Good for you that you got a partial refund. We got not nowhere with him and actually left early it was so bad.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5557252
01/22/15 08:48 AM
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31
Jace313
OP
Light Foot
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OP
Light Foot
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 31 |
Haven't seen a refund yet, I will post if it happens. He has only said he would, but he also said he had game to hunt.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5559428
01/23/15 04:33 AM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,734
bp3
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,734 |
The only tip I would give him is don't eat yellow snow.
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Re: Affordable Outfitter REVIEW Bryson/Jacksboro, TX
[Re: Jace313]
#5559490
01/23/15 05:01 AM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 5,409
Pittstate
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 5,409 |
Sorry about your experience and just an FYI. Just because they post on here doesn't mean they are a good outfitter. I use to do a guided hunt every year as my "veteran day" gift to myself. But, after two bad experiences from outfitters, I no longer do them. I don't like paying someone to sit and watch nature (and no game animals). I can watch nature in my backyard and have better living/eating accommodations when I come inside!
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