Outfitter Review - Hill's Twin Spruce Lodge

Outfitter Information

Outfitter Name: Hill's Twin Spruce Lodge

Outfitter / Contact: Adam Hill

Location: PA, US

Hunt Information

Animals Hunted: Whitetail

Game Quality: fair

Game Quantity: fair

Accomodations: 1/2 star

Camp Condition: 1/2 star

Food Quality: good

Guide Experience: terrible

Other Personal Experience: ok

Review Information

Hunter: Anthony Ruchak

Phone:

Email:

Would Recommend: No

Overall Impression: non-professional

I placed a deposit down for this hunt in February 05 the hunt was to take place in November 05. I booked at this time due to the fact that Mr. Hill advised me that he(hill) was only taking 11 hunters and the spots were filling up fast. The low number of hunters appealed to me, so I put down a deposit. I was not hunting, I wanted to take two guys who took me hunting when I was a teenager. I figured a nice guided hunt on private property would be welcome considering these guys have hunted mainly on public land in PA during gun season. I then scheduled a meeting with Mr. Hill in Sept. to show my buddies the lodge and property. Mr. Hill was very hospitable during this meeting. Mr. Hill also stated that only 11 hunters would be in camp. I also told Mr. Hill that I was on a previous guided hunt where the guide killed the biggest deer by far. Mr. Hill reassured me that the guides do not hunt. The time to hunt came. It was the day before the opening day of rifle season in Pa. My friends were very excited about the hunt.(The hunt is all they spoke about since Feb) I was not hunting since I hunt in Maryland and I felt I was making this hunt all about my friends, it was their hunt and they deserved it. Upon our arrival at the lodge the day before the hunt Mr. Hill was nowhere to be found. We were greeted by other paying hunters. Also, I asked where was the tv so I could catch some football.(It was Sunday in November) I was advised by the other hunters that it was broken. I then noticed that the satellite dish (pictured on the website for the lodge) was gone. Oh well, I thought as long as the hunting is good, everything would take care of itself. Mr. Hill showed a few hours later. It appeared he made a grocery run for the camp(nothing like waiting to the last moment). I paid Mr. Hill the remainder of my balance. He seemed irritated that I gave him a check, but I called two weeks prior to the hunt to ask if he wanted cash or check. When he did reply that he wanted cash I was already back in PA in vacation and did not receive the message until returning home from the hunt. So the evening before the hunt all the hunters just sat around and shot the breeze. The morning of the hunt Mr. Hill woke everyone up and served up breakfast. Mr. Hill then assigned everyone to a group. Each group had a guide take them (hunters) to their stands. I woke up with the hunters had breakfast and went back to bed after my eager friends left with a guide. At around 8:30 am a gunshot woke me up. I then saw Mr. Hill a few moments later. He advised me that he (hill) missed a bear at very short range.(That's funny he reassured me that the guides did not hunt) Later that day when it got dark and the hunting was over my friends returned back from hunting. They told me that they did not see a deer and that it was too foggy to see past 20 yards. In fact only one hunter saw a buck that was borderline legal and he(the hunter) shot it. During supper everyone else in camp did not see a buck.(keep this fact in mind for later reference) Nobody blamed Mr. Hill for a hard day hunting. Thats why it is called "hunting" and not "killing". While eating supper I noticed a different group of guys in the dining area there was seven of them. They seemed to know each other well and advised that they have been hunting here for years. After supper some of the 11 hunters that were staying in the lodge part of Hill's facility were asking each other about the extra hunters that were at summer. I told these guys that my friend who refered me to Mr. Hill said that Hill ran unguided hunts as well and that these extra hunters were probably hunting different property. Also my friends advised that one of Mr. Hill's highly profesional guides got lost and did not get my friends on stand till 7:00 am they left the cabin at 5:20 am. They(my friends) also stated that their highly profesional(check the website this term describes the service) guide also was toting a gun.(I guess professional guides in Africa tote guns, Hill's guides are "highly" profesional so they must carry guns as well. You never know when a wounded whitetail might charge a hunter in a tree stand) Anyhow alarms started going off in my head. I also found out that Hill's girlfriend was also hunting I saw her come back to the lodge wearing orange and carrying a gun so I assume that she was hunting. The next morning followed the same routine. Except at around 11:00 am Mr. Hill returned to the lodge. I asked him if I can ride with him. He said I could. He told me that he was putting on some drives. I asked if he needed some help. He provided my with some orange clothing and off we went. He than handed me off to a guide named Joe. Joe and I then proceeded to put on a drive. Joe also was carrying a rifle. I felt safer knowing that if a deer were to attack I had back up.(sarcasism) After the drive Mr. Hill called for some of the hunters to come out of the woods. I noticed it was the extra 7 hunters that were at supper the night before. These guys seemed nice enough, but there were supposed to be 11 hunters not 7 extra plus 3 guides and 1 girlfriend hunting. Now I was getting steamed. As these hunters came out and started talking I learned some of their names. After the pow wow we staged a drive for the extra 7. During the drive a smallish 11 inch spread 8 pointer was killed by a guy named Keith from NJ. For a PA deer it was a decent deer grossing a whopping75 to 80 B&C inches.(like most deer on the lodge's website) Keith was telling everyone that he was happy and that this was the first buck he has seen during the season.(the 2005 season) After the dressing of the the deer the extra seven headed back to the lodge. Mr. Hill asked me before heading back where was on of my friends ? I told him that my friend was still in the woods at another location.(that is very proffessional to not know where all your hunters are) My other friends was moved to a new location after he saw a bunch of doe and a spike.(why move when he was seeing deer all day) Day 2 was better than day 1 deer sighting wise, but I found out that everything promised was not delivered. Also during the morning of day 2 all of the hunters in the lodge complained that the water had run out that the toilets could not be flushed and showers could not be taken.(so much for scent control or hygeine) They extra 7 hunters were staying in the bed and breakfast part of the lodge and they did not complain about any lack of water. I feel the extra 7 hunters were great friends of Mr. Hill and that he took good care of them. That being said Mr. Hill should not have booked more hunters than he could handle. Hill's guides are not competent woodsman and they hunt while guiding. This is not a high level of profesionalism. The lodge is a basic hunting lodge except it does not have adequate water or t.v.(the website boasts digital tv). The odds are that a wallhanger buck is a spindly 8 pointer.(check out the website for pictures of the "Trophy potential") I felt that I was lied to. This gift to my good friends turned out to be a nightmare. Unless you are a VIP with Mr. Hill then you are out of luck. Mr. Hill got some of my money, but he won't get anymore.

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