Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Jack Atcheson & Sons are Dissapointing

A wise man tries to calm down, and not make a huge deal out of the experience, after getting hosed. And, Jack Sr. made that company a reputable service. I have a hand signed book from him that I treasure. But, after trying to give them a second chance to see if the first was a fluke, and getting lied to again...I see a pattern. And thought I would pass on a warning. Nothing more. Live and learn.

More details would do no one any good, as I'm not looking for any resolution. I just won't spend anymore of my hard earned money with a dishonest company. We've all heard it dozens of times...a father builds a business up to a great company, with an excellent reputation, and when the kids take over...they drive it into the ground.

I have had some excellent outfitted hunts in recent years. This one, and the recent one that almost happened, were not as represented. That's my [calm] wording. Most of all, the way Keith Atcheson replied to my concerns, really set me off. A little, disrespectful POS.

I, too, hope this isn't a sign of things to come, with this company. And Scott, thank you for the kind words.

I am in the opposite camp.....i booked a sheep, bear, moose hunt in the brooks range a few years ago.......i wanted horseback, .....they recommend an outfitter. great hunt.......every thing that the atcheson's told me is what happened.....they delivered.

i went on to do 2 more hunts with the outfitter , that they recommended. .......also i had put down a good sized deposit on a african hunt with them..( 10,000.00)......at the same time i had another deposit with a different booking agent.

the economy went to $hit, and i had to cancel......i gave both booking agents ample notice......the atcheson's, promptly refunded me and said they understood.......the other agent basically told me to pound sand...lost 5,000.00.

I would use them again in a heartbeat.....I will recommend them to anyone......bob

Yep. Al is top notch.

Oh, and I've been around...just in a lurker capacity.

And T...thank you as well.

Thanks. I can see the need but it does seem like an industry set up to attract failures.

Note PM, when Time allows...

Hmm, sounds like Al is a reliable source.

But it still makes more sense to disclose the issue, as to some the issue may be a NON issue, to others it may well matter.

YMMV and I don't use booking agents so I guess it doesn't really matter in the end.

Booked a BC hunt in 1978 through them..Great game country..Supposed to have horses..Good thing I was 30 and tough ( I built houses )..When I arrived I was handed a backpack for 18 days ..Myself and one Sikani Indian guide...I got a nice 60'' moose and a silver tip grizzly..No goat which I wanted bad but no big deal..Bargain by today's terms ..$4500 with trophy fee...Took my wife who stayed at main lodge and spent half her time fighting outfitter off although he had his girlfriend there..Really crude bastard and I won't say name as I'm sure some would recognize it..Indians hated him as he treated them like crap and chased their wives while guides were out....Arrogant sucker move to Ak shortly after..Been nice if was warned ahead of time..Hunt was ok but really tough.

Thanks to the [several] people from this forum that pm'd me with similar negative...ok...pizz poor experiences with, and booking thru Atchesons. Some of the stories that were related to me were worse than mine! I would have to say that they are an outfit that I could NOT recommend to anyone. Everyone has to make their own decision, but my advice would be to tread lightly if even considering them.

Been nice if was warned ahead of time.. I won't say name as I'm sure some would recognize it. ManyMoons you cannot have it both ways. You beetch about about not being warned but you don't have the balls to call him out.

You could get this straightened out if you wanted to. From what you first said, there seems to be some objective things that were of concern, and some subjective things that were of concern. The objective things are factual. Did they happen or not. No getting around that. The subjective things not so much. Once the first "you" is said in a disagreement things usually start going downhill from there.

The idea is to rise above that, realizing that you have a mission to accomplish, and that in order to accomplish it you have to rise above and ignore the behavior that the other guy is doing, whether you disagree with it or not.

One thing is for sure. Respect has to be earned equally on both sides. Apparently that didn't happen here. Instead of throwing the whole thing in the toilet, go back, say you feel bad for your end of things whether you said anything wrong or not, and ignore any rudeness or disrespect coming from the other guy. Keep your mind on the prize, which is to get a resolution of the issue. Re explain what happened and calmly present your case as to what you think should happen next. Even if you don't get the resolution you want leave on a good note and possibly try to take the case up again at a later date. See if there is anyway that you can help the other guy to help you.

Just what are you smoking?
Al got screwed - twice! And you want him to play "nicey-nicey"?

He did the right thing. He got shafted and he warned all of us so we don't. I realize you think you know more about what happened than he does, but you weren't there so your opinion doesn't amount to much.

Too bad the search tool here tends to be cumbersome, but past post history of members is a good way to find out as to whom you are dealing with...The OP is correct. He had a lousy experience and is warning us about it. Pure and simple

"Once the first "you" is said in a disagreement things usually start going downhill from there."

Another name for this would be Ad hominem argument, or appeal to personal ridicule. Its most often used by people when they run out of intelligent things to say about the issue itself, so they try to avoid the issue on its merits by instead attacking the personality of the other person.
Instead of dealing with the opponent's thesis on the merits, the fallacious argument attacks reputation and moral character; or refers to low intelligence, inferior social position, lack of education, or similar shortcomings. In the short run it sometimes works. In the long run it never works.
Here, in the short term the poster will have the satisfaction of warning other people of his difficulties. And some people will accept it. But the story is not complete. It doesn't provide the facts necessary for a disinterested person to make a factual finding of what exactly happened. And in the long run that particular business will continue on with its business, being hurt very little, if any, by what has been posted here. And the poster is left where he is, whether that is out of money, or out of a hunt, or whatever he is seeking.

A much better result would be continued negotiations based on the issue itself rather than the personalities of the parties. Maybe even a face to face meeting. Maybe with other suggestions on how the problem could be resolved. Because it sure isn't resolved now.

Me too..

Why in hell would you be interested in a future hunt with them, if they are as bad as you stated?

My guess is that there are two sides to this "disappointing" hunt. Sometimes outfitters do get overbooked and have to do some last minute shuffling. Bottom line: Did you get a shot at an elk?

BH63

Too late......

My dad did alot of business with Atchesons over the years. I remember him mentioning that he dislaiked Keith, but that Jack SR and JR wherr c
Good people. I hunted with Jack Jr. And he struck me as a standup guy.

I'm Keith Atcheson with Jack Atcheson and Sons. We are a hunting consulting business that started in 1955.

Recently, I accidentally came across this post by Al Quast from MI. As other posters mentioned there is likely more to the story. Quast made intentional, lying, and disparaging remarks about myself, our company and even brings my deceased father to the matter. Online forums are no place to resolve issues between 2 parties but it makes for good entertainment except for those involved.

It’s a year old but better late than never.

Here's the timeline. On February 29th 2016 Quast contacted me and requested information on guided MT elk hunting and northern grizzly bear hunting. I responded the same day by sending him information on a hunting area where we have been sending elk hunters for over 50 years. Its changed ownership a few times but it has been a steady producer on branch antlered bulls. It is not represented as a trophy bull elk area though it has produced many. Just a fun high success bull elk hunt. We know the operation well.

Going forward from initial contact, I never heard from Quast again on this hunt until I received the email below on December 20th 2016.


From: Al Quast
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2016 12:03 PM
To: Keith Atcheson
Subject: Re: Elk hunt





In his own words this does not sound like a guy that's unhappy or had a poor hunt. Quast booked this hunt directly with the operator. I had zero contact with him financially or on arranging this elk hunt with the outfitter. I did not even know he booked. He's not a client of Jack Atcheson & Sons, period.

This morning, I talked to the outfitter who personally guided Quast, says he shot his bull the first morning of the hunt. So did his brother later in the day. He had more comments as well.

This sets the table with Quast and my experience with him which is very little. Never met the man.

Originally, he wanted some griz hunting options as well. At his request, between the dates of June 17th 2016 and March 21st of 2018 Quast received multiple emails from us representing good bear hunt options. He never acted on any of them and I recall no phone conversations but I talk with a lot of people in this business.

On March 21st 2018 our office receives a written complaint about us not contacting him directly when a " good deal" comes up. I don't like people to be unhappy. I was literally boarding a bush flight in Alaska, gone for 10 days and could not call him. While still able, I apologized to him in a written response and told him it certainly was not intentional. I had not heard from this guy for a long time. I told him, " instead of complaining and blaming me he should consider some great hunts that were open right then and there for great pricing." My office gave him information immediately and the outfitters numbers.

Come to find out a year later, he did not like my tone but I don’t have much interest in people like this for reasons that seem obvious. Fast forward, not liking my response on entirely another issue, goes on line a year and a half later and lies to damage our reputation.

The last thing Quast wrote to me was, “ You think I'm a small fish but the pen is mightier than the sword.” Then he went to the internet.