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    First time paying to dove hunt

    Was invited on a hunt in Wichita Falls. Always hunted family owned land so I was hesitant but excited to go out with an actual outfitter. Left denton at 1:30 with a buddy of mine. Boy did I learn some stuff. Now let me say these guys had prob 40 hunters at 100 bucks a pop just for an afternoon hunt. We met at Atwoods in WF at 3. Drove about maybe 2 miles out of town to a field. First thing that was really weird is they wouldn’t let us drive our vehicles to the field. Now granted it’s early to Start hunting at 3:15 imo and the hottest part of the day but whatever. Had to ride in their vehicles to hunt.

    So now this hunt has my wheels turning. We ended up never taking a
    Shot under 40 yards. Killed 6 dove and 2 pigeons and were shockingly in one of the better spots. One person apparently killed 10( he was def on the x if their was one in this horrible field)Birds out all
    The hunters. I’d bet some never shot. Sky high birds, flaring you could tell
    It’s a field that has been overused and shot to ****.

    Moral of the story is not a chance in hell being around this type of stuff my entire life this outfitter thought this was going to be even a half *** decent hunt. . He knew the field Was shot up and he knew how the hunt was going to go. When we were “picked” up 45 prior to shooting time most the other hunters had already given it up and left. I was furious but kept my mouth shut besides a few comments about how you could tell this field had been hammered. Guy looks me straight To my face and said we only had 18 hunters out here today- which was a complete lie where they forced us to park min of 25 vehicles most having 2-3 folks in them.

    Anyways just a small rant. No I’m not going to list the outfitter. I’m
    Prob just gonna stick with family property but if I ever do go I will
    Be asking a lot of questions. To take all them folks money on this garbage field- I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. I’d just do your homework instead of me
    And just go with the flow. It wasn’t anything to do with the 200
    Bucks the money ain’t a big deal and more everything to do with my personal time. Call it like it is imo. Heard another story I don’t think same outfitter had a 30 person corporate hunter opening day and they shot a total of 3 birds. Lots of outfitters out there quick to take your money knowing exactly what the expectations already are gonna be.
    Last edited by ClearcreekDC; 09-07-2021, 08:50 AM.

    #2
    dang that sounds rough. usually good hunting up there too. Theres a few outfitters up that way, hope it wasnt Dry Creek. I use them all the time for waterfowl and always top notch and always target rich properties

    Comment


      #3
      That stinks, guy I used to lease fields from has switched to large groups only. So I had to shoot at my little bow lease. Seems like a lot of these cats like the big group hunts since it may be easier for them to manage. Just stinks for father/sons who would like a dedicated spot to go a few times and not have to round up 10-20 friends.


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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        #4
        Dove huntin sure ain't what it used to be. Greedy outfitters have taken the fun out of it for the most part unless you own or lease land that has a honey hole.
        These unscrupulous outfitters should be called out and names named. Hit em where it hurts.

        Comment


          #5
          We had something happen that I have never had happen and I truly appreciated it.......My company does a big opening day dove hunt in Sealy every opening morning. The day before the season opened, the outfitter called and told us the doves were gone and were hitting a field on the south side of I-10 instead of their normal spots. He told us anyone was welcome to come but he didn't want anyone to feel obligated and the hunt wouldn't be great. Pretty much everyone decided to scrap it and a couple guys went. They killed a few birds each but they knew what they were getting into beforehand. I REALLY appreciated the outfitter giving us the heads up before we went. Lance Stancek is the outfitter we use. I have a lot of respect for the way he handled it.

          Comment


            #6
            We were supposed to hunt Friday and Saturday around Wichita Falls. The guide actually cancelled on Thursday as there were no birds gotta respect that even thought I was disappointed Will get refunds if hunt is not rescheduled....

            Comment


              #7
              Similar experience in WF this year but we were told it was going to be a tough hunt and were offered choice to reschedule a week prior, if we wanted. We had a big group so lots of time was spent at dive bar and watching football since the birds didnt really show. Aside from the waaaay down hunting, we managed to have a great time.

              Hunted out that way past 6-7 years and by far the lightest bird numbers i recall.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by ClearcreekDC View Post
                Was invited on a hunt in Wichita Falls. Always hunted family owned land so I was hesitant but excited to go out with an actual outfitter. Left denton at 1:30 with a buddy of mine. Boy did I learn some stuff. Now let me say these guys had prob 40 hunters at 100 bucks a pop just for an afternoon hunt. We met at Atwoods in WF at 3. Drove about maybe 2 miles out of town to a field. First thing that was really weird is they wouldn’t let us drive our vehicles to the field. Now granted it’s early to Start hunting at 3:15 imo and the hottest part of the day but whatever. Had to ride in their vehicles to hunt.

                So now this hunt has my wheels turning. We ended up never taking a
                Shot under 40 yards. Killed 6 dove and 2 pigeons and were shockingly in one of the better spots. One person apparently killed 10( he was def on the x if their was one in this horrible field)Birds out all
                The hunters. I’d bet some never shot. Sky high birds, flaring you could tell
                It’s a field that has been overused and shot to ****.

                Moral of the story is not a chance in hell being around this type of stuff my entire life this outfitter thought this was going to be even a half *** decent hunt. . He knew the field Was shot up and he knew how the hunt was going to go. When we were “picked” up 45 prior to shooting time most the other hunters had already given it up and left. I was furious but kept my mouth shut besides a few comments about how you could tell this field had been hammered. Guy looks me straight To my face and said we only had 18 hunters out here today- which was a complete lie where they forced us to park min of 25 vehicles most having 2-3 folks in them.

                Anyways just a small rant. No I’m not going to list the outfitter. I’m
                Prob just gonna stick with family property but if I ever do go I will
                Be asking a lot of questions. To take all them folks money on this garbage field- I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. I’d just do your homework instead of me
                And just go with the flow. It wasn’t anything to do with the 200
                Bucks the money ain’t a big deal and more everything to do with my personal time. Call it like it is imo. Heard another story I don’t think same outfitter had a 30 person corporate hunter opening day and they shot a total of 3 birds. Lots of outfitters out there quick to take your money knowing exactly what the expectations already are gonna be.
                They usually let you follow them in your truck to the field, then skidaddle, never to be seen again, so they avoid the ****** off hunters.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by TildenHunter View Post
                  We had something happen that I have never had happen and I truly appreciated it.......My company does a big opening day dove hunt in Sealy every opening morning. The day before the season opened, the outfitter called and told us the doves were gone and were hitting a field on the south side of I-10 instead of their normal spots. He told us anyone was welcome to come but he didn't want anyone to feel obligated and the hunt wouldn't be great. Pretty much everyone decided to scrap it and a couple guys went. They killed a few birds each but they knew what they were getting into beforehand. I REALLY appreciated the outfitter giving us the heads up before we went. Lance Stancek is the outfitter we use. I have a lot of respect for the way he handled it.

                  My outfitter in Hondo did they same for me. He called yesterday to give me the heads up that there weren't any birds. Saved me $125 and a long drive!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    My last outfitted hunt was a disaster!
                    About 100 hunters in a 300 acre field, but completely surrounded by subdivision ,so everyone was put in a line in the middle of the field so no one could shoot over a boundary
                    Tons of birds, lots of shooting, we knocked out a limit quickly and drove back to the house/ meeting spot.
                    Then the trouble started, about 50-75 cops and game warden swarm the place, confiscate the guns , birds, shells. Some lady claimed someone was shooting buckshot and hit her house and swimming pool
                    After much argument with police and game wardens where they checked our shells and shell bags, they kept our birds, the land owner locked himself in his house after showing his land permit, we wanted our $$ back , settled on getting our guns back and lessons learned
                    Lesson learned was never hunt near a subdivision,
                    Never trust a outfitters

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I will say I was invited by another hunter (3rd) guy and did not talk to this outfitter about expectations. I just figured you have a parking lot full of hunters staging and it’s 100 bucks for an evening that you would see a solid amount of birds. So maybe everybody knew it was gonna suck ahead of time. I just could not take folks money and put my head on a pillow afterwards after seeing the amount of dove I saw and number of hunters. Can’t control
                      Birds ever as I throw a big hunt every year for friends. You can manage expectations though and not take folks money in my opinion.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by S-3 Ranch View Post
                        My last outfitted hunt was a disaster!
                        About 100 hunters in a 300 acre field, but completely surrounded by subdivision ,so everyone was put in a line in the middle of the field so no one could shoot over a boundary
                        Tons of birds, lots of shooting, we knocked out a limit quickly and drove back to the house/ meeting spot.
                        Then the trouble started, about 50-75 cops and game warden swarm the place, confiscate the guns , birds, shells. Some lady claimed someone was shooting buckshot and hit her house and swimming pool
                        After much argument with police and game wardens where they checked our shells and shell bags, they kept our birds, the land owner locked himself in his house after showing his land permit, we wanted our $$ back , settled on getting our guns back and lessons learned
                        Lesson learned was never hunt near a subdivision,
                        Never trust a outfitters
                        Funny you mention that. We were placed prob 15 yards from a mobile
                        Home division and just told not to shoot that way lol!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Neighbors

                          Originally posted by ClearcreekDC View Post
                          Funny you mention that. We were placed prob 15 yards from a mobile
                          Home division and just told not to shoot that way lol!
                          Yeah, hunting town birds makes me Leary, never know if neighbors have a beef with someone, we don’t hunt a 50 acre property, because of one neighbor who gets freaked out when the shooting starts, cops and game warden show up and explain
                          Things are 100% legal, but it’s a PIA putting up with her

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by S-3 Ranch View Post
                            Yeah, hunting town birds makes me Leary, never know if neighbors have a beef with someone, we don’t hunt a 50 acre property, because of one neighbor who gets freaked out when the shooting starts, cops and game warden show up and explain
                            Things are 100% legal, but it’s a PIA putting up with her
                            I shot a bird and winged in. Must have been one of those head shot deals it was only 100 feet high. It flew away decent towards the mobile home and after about 10 seconds Dropped dead out of the sky and bounced off the roof. I was like whoops. Prob the highlight of the hunt.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by ultrastealth View Post
                              They usually let you follow them in your truck to the field, then skidaddle, never to be seen again, so they avoid the ****** off hunters.

                              This happened to me Saturday....they showed us where to hunt and vanished leaving us on the landowners property...we killed 3 birds between 4 of us.....we only put half down to reserve our spot and no one has bothered to call and ask to collect the remainder...

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