I don't know who you have been dealing with but all the booking agents & outfitters I know prefer contracts to avoid misunderstandings. I operated a part time booking business for many years & found it was a hard way to make a buck. There is little loyalty with successful hunters & outfitters to support the booking agent. In addition to a written contract, belonging to SCI, & subscribing to The Hunting Report, provides valuable information & a resource for appeals if a hunt goes South. I have been involved with several outfitters charged with ethics violations by a SCI member. A hearing is conducted & all sides are offered an opportunity to state their position. The Ethics Committee issues a suggestion to the board who makes the final decision. If an outfitter or booking agent is banned by SCI it usually means going out of business. The Hunting Report reviews member reports & investigates negative comments. If the outfitter or booking agent failed to perform the issue is published. Bad publicity affects the ability to book future hunts. Several years ago I filed a negative report on a SCI chapter hunt with The Hunting Report. As a result, this outfitter has been baned from several outfitter shows & lost a lot of customers. One of my friends booked a lion hunt in a great area only to find out on arrival that a severe drought had driver the game far away. With nothing to feed on the lions had left long ago. After day 5 of a 12 day hunt my friend left for home without seeing any game animals much less a lion track. Eventually with the assistance of SCI & The Hunting Report some of his money was recovered. I have no idea if Blair is at fault or not, but if it were me I would have filed reports with SCI & The Hunting Report. The bad publicity Blair is receiving is far less than reaching a settlement.
