Wasnt there an outfitter in the past which everyone said was a scam? For some reason, I think the name was Cody?

There's scams, and then there's just half-arsed. I've been bit by the latter 2 or 3 times.

This should be a good one - following!

Am I on the list to avoid?

With your sunny demeanor? No way!

I've had a few hunters in the past that I wish would've avoided me. I can say that the few folks that I've had and have from THF are generally good people.

There are several.

Facebook is loaded with bad actors.

Scott Huggins I believe is who you are thinking of Buzz. He is well known on this forum.

My first outfitted elk hunt was with a good outfitter in a great area outside of Bozeman. It's just that I drew a young, dumb, hungover, screw-up kid as my guide. (I realize how hard it is to get someone decent to work for just a couple of weeks in the season, away from any good job in town.)

'First morning riding out just before dawn was foggy. We dropped a second guy to watch a draw and rode on down the cut. We turned left and headed up steep. The kid was in front of me and looked like he was asleep in the saddle. I looked to my left through the fog and there were 3 decent bulls, in a line, facing down hill...60 yards out...on a bald meadow, not a tree or bush between us. I whistled softly to the kid and said "Hey! I think that's what we're looking for!" Stupid kid. After a bit of a rodeo as to how I should take the shot and which one was the biggest (his binoculars were fogged up ), bang, flop, hunt over.

Courville's Outdoors has previously been well documented on THF...

Danny Courville is owner

Two Bear Outfitters, Hamilton, MT. He briefly posted on here. And I took the bait. Not a scam, just not enough capital to do it right. Didn't own enough horses to get all the hunters into camp the first trip. His area was the old BIG fire area. Shame on me for not understanding what that amount of deadfall looks like. He had no real plan for hunting the area, just "Get 'em out there." We walked, a lot, which I need, but it was a bust, then had to end the hunt early due to weather. Nobody killed anything. I think he's literally and figuratively "folded up his tent" since.

There's another elk outfitter out of Colorado Springs that if I come across his name, I'll post it here. The landowner had tried his own outfitting service, but it failed. He lived at The Broadmoor condos in town. He graced us with his and his 19-year-old, foul mouth daughter's presence one night. He moved a late 1800s mining small hotel several miles, through a couple of big canyons and that was our lodge. It was a cool place to stay, but the toilet arrangements, in this remote canyon, are a story for another day. I commented to my hunting buddy that the guy reminded me of someone, specifically how he dressed. He answered "Ralph Lauren." Spot on! I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. My guide was an old guy, nice enough, and I spent a lot of hours with him, but there just were no elk on the property. We saw one flash of one bull's horns in the thick timber...and I'm the one that spotted him. Again, nobody killed anything. $hitty hunt, but I've never laughed so hard on another hunt, anywhere, in my life.

As they say - "Live and learn."

Huggins is the worst IMO mainly because he tries to use his "Faith" to sell his crap. Courville is right behind him -

Cory Anderson?

I think Cody was the dude with the Llama that had an affinity for goats, wasn't he?

Ya but He wasn’t a guide. And was a good dude.

There was a guy that was selling Javi hunts in Refugio to out of staters, I think
His name might have been C but I would bet my life on it.


Cory A was special though

I am with Creekrunner on Two Bear Outfitters in Hamilton, Montana. I checked multiple references and felt good about the situation going in. The camp had good equipment, stock was good and food was excellent but there were just no elk and no sign in the area we were hunting. We would hike to the top of one of three ridges and sit there all day. There was no effort to move to a different location. Nobody in camp killed anything and only one guy even saw an elk which was very frustrating. Thankfully, all of my other experiences with outfitters have been very positive.

BANDERA. You wouldn't be in the same area as the Mountain Creek Hunting Club run by Upchurch??

I never heard of it or him.

Check it out on the web or google for reviews. Actually located in Medina but claim to have land access around Bandera as well They are beyond bad!!! Mountain Creek Ranches Hunting Club especially on trip advisor and several hunting forums reviews.