Outfitter Review - Circle Heart Outfitters

Outfitter Information

Outfitter Name: Circle Heart Outfitters

Outfitter / Contact: James Baird

Location: NM, USA

Hunt Information

Animals Hunted: elk

Game Quality: decent

Game Quantity: poor

Accomodations: guided hunt only (own stuff)

Camp Condition: above

Food Quality: above

Guide Experience: good

Other Personal Experience: fair

Review Information

Hunter: Mike Janicki

Phone:

Email:

Would Recommend: no

Overall Impression: disapointing

Myself and 3 others hunted in Oct. 03. I was the only one to kill an elk (nice 6pt.)We hunted on private property and were told we could expect to kill 3 or 4 5pts. or better elk. The biggest problem we had was we wounded a bull one evening and spent the whole next day searching to no avail. With about a half hr. of light left my depressed buddy and I asked Mr Baird if we should sit up by this meadow, and rudely said why to shoot coyotes, your hunt is done. I DONT have a problem with a draw blood hunt over policy. But this policy was never mentioned. They asked us what we were comfortable (range) shooting at . When I said out to 200yds. they made coments those rifles are able to shoot farther then that. So It is my beleif that if we were to see a bull at 300 yds. they would expect me to shoot. FINE BUT TELL A GUY IF YOU DRAW BLOOD YOU ARE DONE! A guy might think well Ill just have to get into my comfort shooting zone before shooting. Another problem we had was we wanted and were promised the 1st weeks hunt, but got the 2nd. week instead. We put a deposit down on a draw hunt the year before. We didnt draw, Mr. baird said we were his ONLY clients who didnt draw, so he told us we were first in line for the next yr. I Told him right away(16 months before the hunt)we would like the first week he said ok. But then in the spring I called him, he said some group of return clients already had the 1st week, even though in the summer 2002 after the draw we were told we were his only booked clients for 03 and had are choice of any week to hunt. Another Huge problem was they only hunted the first and last couple hrs. And they really didnt want us to hunt in the mornings either. I understand this was about 5000 acres of private land we could hunt. So they were so worried we would spook elk off the property if we hunted during the day. Basically all they wanted to do was sneek in to a known meadow and sit no exploring or checking new areas for sign. The only elk me and my Dad saw was the the first morning (it was a large herd with a few bulls, I got mine out of this and Dad did miss a running shot), But the rest of the hunt we saw nothing. The fact is when you pay several thousands of dollars for 5 days of hunting, We wanted to hunt all day. We know it is not the best time during midday, but we knew we were not going to get them in camp. I could tell they didnt want to gamble getting an elk during miday for fear of spooking some elk. I could see they were worried about keeping elk around for up coming weeks of hunting. In my opinion to small of a ranch to be hunted every week. If they are that worried about spooking some elk that they cant hunt it the way we hunt elk. (we have been hunting elk since 84) The other buddy of mine never even seen a bull. The thing that really ticked me off was Mr. Baird is the owner of the outfit and he guided me and my Dad, no tip was given because we dont tip a owner of the outfit first off, and secondly there was the things we were unhappy about. My 2 buddies didnt tip their guide either. My buddy emailed Mr. Baird a few weeks after the hunt. He replied they were upset about the no tip deal. I then tried calling and emailing Mr. Baird to say I was sorry and try to patch this up, but he will not return my calls.

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