PP is correct again. It's the ranchers employees fault, not the hunter, in this case, assuming the story happened as told by OP.

I don't believe it has been clearly stated yet. Yes you say you were there for a management hunt and the guide knew that. Was the guide actually in the blind with you and said yes that one? or they gave you a picture of a deer and said shoot this one?

If they told you to shoot that one and it was known you were on a management hunt then I agree with the others that they need to honor their deal.

I would certainly like to hear their side of the story. If what the OP says is true they owe him a refund.

If you go to the outfitter section it's obvious this was Frio County outfitters. He PMed Bobo about the outfitter in question so the outfitter is aware of this. If they remain silent I know who I'm gonna believe to be telling the truth about what took place.

Me too, but I sure hope we get to hear both sides.

This is the question that has to be answered to draw a conclusion

silence would be quite telling.

I assumed the guide was with OP,

Crazy if a guide gives or shows pictures in hopes a hunter shoots that exact deer. Sad this is even being discussed. I have read fine print on hunts that you owe regardless of what was pointed to be shot. Score carries final price. That is how some outfitters protect themselves. Too much fine print. Implement a plan to avoid mistakes and make fun and excitement the priority.

Sure seems like it

This. Let's not be the national press and rush to judgement after a preliminary report. There are many ways this could have gone down: the OP may be 100% right or he may be filtering some of the events. The guide may have made a mistake and been too embarrassed to man up to the property owner; the property owner might not even know about the situation; or he may just be a jerk. Let's get a bit more information before we convict anyone in absentia.

I agree and haven't noticed anyone convicting the outfitter.........yet. Let's see how long the crickets keep chirpping.......

that's [censored]. the entire point of being with a guide is that you shoot the right deer.

UNLESS it was explained to you that if you wanted to shoot a bigger deer, it came at a higher cost.

this should be black and white though. you either shot the right deer or you didn't. I've had hunters in the blind with me shoot the wrong deer, and guess what, it still was on the ranch. I've also misjudged deer that were out of the class they were shooting, and it's not even a discussion that the hunter pay the difference.

I'd still like to hear from the OP and the outfitter on this. I've hunted ranches where it was explained that "our guides will do their best to age and score deer if you'd like, but YOU are responsible for making the final decision on whether or not to shoot and for paying the fee associated with gross B&C of a deer that YOU shoot.

I've also hunted ranches with a pre-agreed price for specific range of score, say 180-190. If the deer scores more, you pay nothing. If he scores less, then you pay what the next lower class of deer would be. These are also guided hunts.

Finally, I've heard a few cases where an outfitter attempted to pull the carp like was pulled on this hunter. They're no longer in business.

The OP was hunting for a deer scoring less than 135". He killed one six inches larger. Is that worth $1,500? It's not like we're talking B&C deer.

I'm sure it isn't, and I agree that it does hurt the honest outfitter and guides on here. Also I'm not stating that this specific instance is the way that it has been suggested without hearing both sides. I'm merely saying that I personally can't afford to be put in a position like these which is why I've never gone on a hunt. I can only control myself not the events that take place around me, so, until I've been around long enough to feel like I have a good understanding of the people I doubt I'll be booking a hunt.

It's easy to give a guide or an outfitter a glowing review when everything goes right. I am most interested in reviews for when things don't go according to plan. That's when you get a much better feel for how people operate.

I was traveling for work and got back late last night to see this post, or I would have replied sooner. Bottom line, this story is absolutely FALSE and one sided. I never thought I would have to defend myself on here as we try our hardest to provide the best hunt possible, some of you know that. Here are the facts.

Matt showed up for his hunt Friday afternoon and we got him settled in and offered to let him sight in his rifle while we waited to go out to which he refused. He comes back from the hunt and went straight to his room without talking to anyone. Saturday morning, the guide gets Matt on a real nice buck that Matt missed at 80 and 100 yards consecutively. The guide then tried to get Matt back on the buck but the buck wasn�t having it. After the morning hunt, Matt checked his rifle and it was on. No big deal, everyone misses, especially me. I guess this embarrassed him as he did not socialize with anyone and just stayed over by his room looking at his phone the rest of the day. The guide took Matt out early Saturday afternoon as they were trying to get on some rutting bucks and hunted hard till dark. That evening I offered Matt anything he wanted from my ice chest and we even cooked him a big ribeye to which he refused to eat and did not want to come in the house to sit at the table with everyone. I only mention this because a pattern of angry behavior was noticed by all, to include the other hunters. We knew then that Matt was going to be a hard guy to please.

The last sit of the hunt was Sunday morning and there were two nice bucks that Matt had the option of taking. One was an 8pt that Matt was told was on the high end of the management category that he was trying to stay in, the other was the 10pt he shot. The guide told Matt the 10pt was for sure a minimum of 130 but probably bigger than what he wanted. Matt then responded by asking how much did he think the buck would cost and the guide said probably $3,000 total and confirmed that he had previously received the pricing sheet from me. Matt confirmed that he did receive the pricing sheet and then made his own decision to shoot the 10pt, even after the guide told Matt that he thought it would be an upgrade. It is very common for hunters to want to upgrade on the spot when a bigger buck comes out so the guide figured this was the usual case. Also, there was not any pressure from the guide on which buck to shoot, this was completely the hunter�s decision. This was all told to me by the guide, as I was not sitting in the blind with them. I stand by my guide�s word and always will.

The last time I saw Matt, I congratulated him on his buck and was headed back out to hunt. Matt seemed very happy with the buck and the guide was showing Matt how to score his buck. Matt was standing side by side with the guide taking the measurements down and helping hold the tape on the horns, this part boggles my mind that he would claim that we might have tried to add some inches to the score. I later received a text from the guide with the score and responded back with the appropriate price according to our pricing sheet. The guide stated that Matt was short on cash so I stated he could write a check if needed to, no biggie. Matt said he didn�t have any checks so I said that was fine and we knocked off $275. I started back to the house pretty quickly after of all this and Matt was gone before I returned. The guide stated he just threw his stuff in the truck and started driving back to Alabama without saying a word. The other hunters were boiling their skulls, as required by other state�s laws when driving through them because of the CWD issue. I just assumed that he took off because he was trying to avoid this procedure and told the guide �he would risk it� by driving back with the buck.

Not once did he call or text me on the 11 hour drive home or all of Monday. I received two angry emails late last night and that was the first I heard from him and then I see the posts. I feel worse for the guide as he hunted hard for this guy in the rain all weekend and was straight up with him to only be called a liar after this guy is halfway across the country. It is convenient that Matt found it easier to bash me online than to call me but I guess he already knows the real truth. I think CNN or the Clinton campaign might be calling him for a position in their fake news department.

For the record, we are not attorneys, no idea where he pulled that from, I think it was an attempt to get everyone riled up. I stand by our reputation and hope that all of you read our reviews. We have several nice reviews written on us on this weekend alone so I guess we are doing something right. If anyone wants to discuss it, feel free to call me.

Thank you,
Bryan Wilson
214-991-0672 cell

Thank you, Mr. Wilson. Two sides to every story.

well seminole, you got some 'splainin to do...

always two sides to a story... only thing I can say is that words like "probably", "usually" end up causing problems...

The guide told Matt the 10pt was for sure a minimum of 130 but probably bigger than what he wanted. Matt then responded by asking how much did he think the buck would cost and the guide said probably $3,000 total and confirmed that he had previously received the pricing sheet from me.


I think in these cases it has to be made clear the deer WILL or will NOT cost more. just my two cents. sounds like a miscommunication that got out of hand.

x2

Sounds like it was clear that "IF" the deer scored higher, it would cost more. There's a billion "age this one" or "what do you think he would score" posts. Hardly ever are there two answers that are the same. Sounds like in this instance that the outfitter had made it known if the deer scored higher there would be a price difference, and if the guide said "hey that deer is getting close to be out of the class you are hunting," sounds to me like that would probably be a sufficient statement at the time. Editing because I agree, it is a tough situation. If the guide says shoot that deer, price agreed should be price paid. If guide says that deer may go over what you're looking for, should indicate that it will cost more if it does. Like he said, I am sure a lot of hunters make the decision to shoot a nicer animal than they may have intended. When the right one walks out, you gonna set the rifle down and check your bank account? Probably should, but would imagine most dont.

Glad to hear the other side of the story.

Well, that changes things a bit.

That's not real practical unless you dart him and check him first.

It's too bad he shot what for many would be a buck of a lifetime and is disappointed because of $$$.