Having been involved in the outdoor industry for many years, I’ve been required from time to time to travel to multiple states and to hunt on properties that belonged to guides and outfitters. If you want to get a lot of deer kills on TV, you have to travel a lot and hunt a lot to do it, and you cannot accomplish this goal without the help of others. I learned a lot of good information and tactics on these hunts in other places, but I also watched the rising inflation of a trophy deer’s value and how it cause normally good people to do unethical and immoral things in the name of money.
The worst and most egregious act of any kind I ever witnessed, was at a popular outfitter’s place that is still in operation today. This outfitter is known for trophy quality bucks and his clients kill plenty of them. Under the guise of ‘donating meat,’ this outfitter would offer to accept a hunter’s deer carcass with the intention of donating it to people who could use it. The ugly truth of this special service was that he would dig a giant pit every season and chuck the deer into it. The rotting carcasses would later be covered by a bulldozer and forgotten. Not cool and yes, I did alert the appropriate authorities.
Next up, many outfitters have too many rules. All of these rules came about from a lot of hunters doing stupid things, which I totally get, but sometimes these rules are ridiculous. For example, I am a seasoned hunter and I have been involved with hundreds of animal kills. So, it really rubs me the wrong way when I am ordered not to track or trail my own animals. I don’t know about you, but I like to be involved as much as possible when it comes to killing my own game, and I don’t want some stranger doing it for me. Especially in a less efficient and thorough way. My favorite part of a hunt is finding my animal and walking up to it. I don’t like rules that prevent me from doing that.
Another pet peeve that I have is that I don’t really enjoy sharing a camp or lodge with a lot of people. I am somewhat private and I value my hunting time and if I wanted to share my hunting with someone, it would be a good friend or a family member. When you have a bunch of hunters competing with each other for prime hunting locations and hunting stories, the fun quickly fades away for me, or maybe I’ve just grown old and grouchy!
