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Well Bluefin1, you must be a regular chatterbox I'd like to hear the other side of the story. Sometimes a little chatter goes a long way..

g

I'd bet that that guide was worn out and frustrated before the client even showed up. He probably knew he was pissing up a rope with that particular outfitter and hunting in an area with not many mature rams.

Still, no excuse for the guide. He's in the customer service industry and he needs to work hard and have a good time with the client.

True! But, even less Politics and Religion goes even farther

Bluefin1 - Your experience with that outfitter is not uncommon. Good old Bill of Ram Creek Outfitters has a bad reputation around here. His son has a decent operation going with some nice areas. They don't get along due to Bill's methods I hear. Thanx for sharing the details...

What a shame is right. Sorry that happened to you. You're a better man than me......after a day and a half of that crap the ass-whippin' would have commenced, and lasted until BILL showed up.

GeoW

Well Bluefin1, you must be a regular chatterbox I'd like to hear the other side of the story. Sometimes a little chatter goes a long way..

Don't know what you mean there GeoW. If you'd like to hear the 'other side' then man-up and book a hunt with him.

The reason I posted this experience was that I googled sheep hunts for AK and realized that BILL BURWELL apparently spends a lot of money on making sure his web site stays on top. Nothing wrong with that except I want others to know what I went thru. If someone like GeoW wants to get another story then he can obviously do like I did before which was to contact the only references I could find and those were the ones BILL BURWELL provided.
A lot of the responses ya'll posted were exactly some of the things I had thought about. Sure I could have struck out on my own but that just didn't seem to be prudent in light of the fact that I don't know my way around there. And if I got hurt or broke an ankle then I'd be screwed. I could have demanded the sat phone and spoke with BILL BURWELL to get another guide. Problem there was the only other guide was a newby who was there for the upcoming moose hunters.
What it boiled down to was a complete lack of trust. I didn't trust GfH to lead me to any legal rams. I had lost all faith that the concession held any legal rams. Hard to have any when no other hunters had taken one.
And for those who question my actions, all I can tell you about me is that this year alone I'd been to:
1. BC with Tahltan Outfitters and shot a 36" Stone (406 yds)
2. AK with BILL BURWELL of RAMCREEK OUTFITTERS and didn't take a dall (never saw a legal one in 5 days)
3. back to AK for a mountain goat (Nov hunt for the better coats) with Annahootz Adventures. Took a really nice one (~250 yds)
4. Guided whitetail in N TX. (317 yds)
In 2007 I hunted AK and Africa.
This coming year I'm currently planning two more sheep hunts - desert in MX and Rocky or Dall.

I only put this up here to give you an idea of what kind of hunting I've done recently. I've hunted with a number of guides from all over the world. All have had different personalities but ALL have been professional and personable. I also push myself to get into shape for these hunts. I spent the prior 8 months before the hunt in the gym three days a week and (I know this sounds crazy) boot camp three days a week. We have no mountains here to train so it's the only thing I know of to get into shape that won't destroy your knees like constant running will.
So you can see I'm fairly serious about what I do. But I also want to keep a good balance and realize that it is hunting and I have to be prepared for anything. I also make sure I have the best equipment I can buy. That's why all of my glass is Swarovski. I'm not rich. It's taken quite a while to get the gear I have. But it also saves me a lot of unnecessary climbing.

I guess what I'm getting at is this wasn't a first time hunt where I didn't know what I was doing and when things didn't go my way I get on some forum to complain.

It's just to let anyone know that if they are planning a hunt with BILL BURWELL of RAMCREEK OUTFITTERS that they may want to do a little more research .

Well, first of all bluefin, I'm jealous of your hunting calendar and budget. With that aside, I have been on at least one guided hunt per year since 2000, and have had mostly a great time. I'm kinda of a loner and can only get along with the average guide for about a week before I'm tired of their politics/cooking/opinions on anything/attitudes towards previous "clients"/etc. There have been a few exceptions!
Your experience would have pizzed me off grandly and I probably would have done exactly what you did, so thank you for saving me the trouble of ever hunting with this outfit! Two places I've been I think I could go every year to their camp: Muskeg Excursions for goat; and Stan Stevens' McKenzie Mountain Outfitters for Dall, and even with these two outfits I take special considerations. The goat hunting you gotta schedule an extra week just to dry out after the hunt; and Stan's guide tried to kill me on a mountain (maybe I exagerate).
If you work out as hard as I do to be in shape for these types of hunts and the money ain't no small thing either, you expect satisfaction. You were screwed!
Don

Good luck on your guided hunts! Hope you get a good guide that will put you on the sheep.

Another thing, I'm hunting this next year in the Yukon with the Fink's. I've gotten the opinions of other guides, other forum members, and other hunters on their outfit, all positive. I'm hoping for the best!
Don

Why are you bluefin1 as well as bluefin? Are you two people?

g

Thanks Calvin and Doc, good luck on your hunt.
GeoW, both are me. For whatever reason, when I log on at work it doesn't recognize my home login. That's why I just added the '1' at the end of bluefin. Not trying to hide anything and those are the only sigs I have.

If one looks at another site there is a very poor review of Bill Burwell: http://www.huntinfo.com/reviews/outfitter_reviews.php3?Action=Read&areview=1176752225

I think that guide was suffering from DEPRESSION and Bill Burwell did not give a rats ass.

John/Alaska and abc,
Thanks for your posts. John, you're right next to where BILL BURWELL has his operation so you'd know quite well his and other outfitter's reputation.

GeoW,
I feel like you're just trying to call me out for whatever reason. If that's not the case then this 'chatterbox' apologizes for being a little antagonistic.
All I'm trying to do is get BILL BURWELL 's name out to the general public so that others looking to spend good money and time will think twice before signing on with him.
I know that if I had seen a post like mine I'd certainly think twice. Now that two unrelated people have added to the mix, I would definitely NOT hunt with him.
But again, GeoW, call BILL BURWELL and get that 'other side'. Call the guy who abc posted who had a similar experience. Call John/Alaska who lives right next door to his concession and see what he has to say.

My apology bluefin. It does appear as I were on your case but was not. My reply went back to a recent thread in which a certain barrel maker was bad mouthed only to find when the rest of the story was revealed the entire story turned around.

We share the same hobby, hunting, however my hunting is in the UK for relics of the past. My gun is a metal detector. Like you, I am looking for a guide right now as it is near impossible to go it alone without British friends.
Please accept my apology.
George

Bluefin - You probably should have done a background check on good old Bill. If you had you would of found that he was convicted of several Lacey Act violations by the Feds on Jan 5, 2001. He was turned in after pissing off a client. Why he is still allowed to be guiding eludes me. He lost a Super Cub in the deal. Montana has it as that is where he tried to hide it. All the details can be found in a Fairbanks NewsMiner article dated 01/19/2001 by Tim Mowry. Bet this info isn't on his website!

I once got in with an Alaskan guide (Brad Saalsaa) that seems to be one step ahead of the law also, and luckily it was on a fairly inexpensive hunt. I got a newsletter and solicitation for further business from him just last week. It seem that some guides are like a bad federal/state employee.....can't be fired! I would point out that I've had mucho grande fun with almost every Alaskan or Canadian guide I've met, and with a little more prep on my end, could have weeded out the bad one.
Don