Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Worst outfitting story I ever heard

Was talking to my butcher today and we like to swap hunting stories, he told me about a pig hunt in Florida he went on 5 yrs ago. He said when he got there he found out the hunt had been subcontracted out to another outfitter " Ron's outfitting" and that since they were hard to find they would come and get him and his friend at the airport and transport them out the middle of the okachobie(sp?) swamp where camp was. Got there was a bunch of dudes that barely spoke English except one. Took them out shot a hog and went back to camp. When they got back the english speaking guide said " I need your money" when they replied they already paid for the hunt the guide said" Don't care give me your money". Basically went downhill from there into a major shakedown, he got a black eye and stiches and his partner got a broken humerus. The guide actually called the sheriff which turned out to be in on it somehow and took more money through wires paid for "fines". They were basically held at gunpoint till they were broke. Got back up north and got in contact with the real authorities and some arrests were made in the end though many were illegals with no passports, no money back but guns that were "confiscated" were returned. The end of the story was him telling me that he thought he was dead multiple time because he was told they wouldn't be found in the middle of the okachobie if they decided to fight. I believe the guy since I've known him for a while, but have still never heard anything like this happening before. Has anybody else ever heard of this in the states? Scary to say the least.

MM

Was there any recourse to recover from the original "outfitter"?

I have a distant friend that was shaken down for trespassing. They spotted some elk in the distance, made a turn to head down a road in that direction, and suddenly came face to face with several AR's. He had to write a check to get off the property.

I once met a man who had a cousin, who knew someone, who had heard a story from a friend, who talked to a second cousin, who once knew a man, who talked to a woman, who dated a guy who's best friend, had met a girl, who had dated a guy, who once knew someone, who ALMOST shook hands with John Wayne.


Yeah, I believe that story.

Man, you are lucky to know a man who has a cousin that knew a person that heard a story from a pal that talked to the opposite sex who went out with a man, whose friend that met a female who also went out with a man who knew another man that ALMOST shook the duke's hand.

The duke pulled an AR?....

I'd cancel his check.....

The man I spoke with is a stand up guy in a small town, if he said it happened(his own experience),it happened. Posting the question because I never heard of this kind of thing in the states and wondered if anybody else had, thanks for the smart a$$ response though.

MM

'Rons Outfitting' is ran by Capt. Ron something or other. His pig hunts are cheap and you get what you pay for. I've had friends go on his 'semi guided' duck hunts that say it was a sham. The guy is a rather reputable saltwater fishing guide though. Id believe getting shaken down by some beaners but I highly doubt there was a law dog involved.....

i think that's the same guy gamo gari (leighton)got into it with over the mako he caught on a trip with them, they wanted to keep his fish.

I never head of such either and I am not in the habit of calling a stranger to me a liar out of hand.
Strange story though.

Some dim wits just can't help themselves. They normally revile where they have no knowledge. Consider the source.

this is a very bad story which reinforces my thoughts that nationwide there are more bad outfitters than good. im thinking 90% are bad. id rather go home to an empty freezer thna put up with drunk guides, doper packers, and illegals who should be shot just for being in the country illegally.

I think guides probably follow normal human standards, 90 percent are generally decent,9 percent will screw you and 1 percent will kill you if it serves a purpose and they don't think they'll get caught. If I ever go on a hunt in florida though you bet I'll be packin' full time and my eyes will be wide open.

MM

Yes because its like the wild wild west down here..... (roll eyes)....

Thanks for the info...... (takes sip of water and looks out window)

in about 2000-2001, for well over 30 years Id been driving out to Colorado, and occasionally Wyoming, to hunt elk , mostly in the white river national forest near gypsum,eagle etc but a few times in the greys river drainage in Wyoming.,. the previous year one new guy to the group having camped and hunted with us the previous year had decided that sleeping in tents and using a backpack to move meat after the kill was not to his liking, so he decided to book a hunt with an outfitter he found advertizing in a local paper in eagle for the following years hunt, he would ride out with us, get dropped off,in eagle,meet the outfitter, hunt and ride back to Florida with us after the hunt, he paid 50% up front by mail and 50% due at the start of the hunt.
we dropped him off in town at a local restaurant, next to a best western motel, the next day I get a cell phone call that he spent the night in the motel, the "outfitter" phone number turned out to be a pay phone booth and his 50% down, was long gone and the local sheriff,and the local paper, while sympathetic had not much they could do as nothing was in writing and no one seemed to know the outfitter, and he had paid by money order over 6 months previously

Quebec cariboo outfitters are notorious for screwing over clients.

1993 in in N Quebec. Fly-in cariboo archery hunt to Schefferville, Quebec. Schefferville was the main camp where hunters flew into, spent the night then were flown out to remote outpost camps.

When our plane arrived at Schefferville there was a mob of 12-15 extremely pissed off guys trying to break into a small building. I mean pitch forks and torches mad.


Being the curious individual that I am I asked one of the guys trying to kick down the door of the small building what was going on. It seems the group, I think they were from NJ, flew into camp the night before and the outfitter requested they load all of their gear into the float planes. They all loaded all of their gear including food, clothes rifles etc as directed then went to bed. When they woke up early in the morning ready to leave to fly out to their outpost camps they could not find their guides or float planes.

Seems the pilot/helper ( a local drunk) the night before left the pontoons open on the float planes and there was a storm with heavy winds on the lake where the planes were sitting. You can imagine what happened. The waves from the lake washed over and filled up the pontoons and the planes sank with all the hunters gear and food. The outfitter's response was too bad [bleep] happens and would not refund their money for the hunts which I think was around$3000 at the time. Plus they lost all of their gear. The outfitter said it would take until the following year to retrieve the planes from the lake and as wintering was approaching and they would be lucky to get back any of their gear.

That's when all hell broke lose. We flew out that day with a different outfitter and I think the RCMP had to fly up there and rescue the outfitter. I later heard none of the hunters got any of their money back.

One of many reasons I try and do DYI hunts if at all possible

IIRC some jackass tried that near Casper WY and it ended up costing him around $10,000 in fines. The hunters had a GPS and were on public land. The guy took a check (idiot) and that added to his downfall.

I have a friend from PA that had a bad experience in Canada on a caribou hunt. He is a member here so I will let him tell his own story.