Outfitter Review - Battle Pass Outfitting

Outfitter Information

Outfitter Name: Battle Pass Outfitting

Outfitter / Contact: Tony Carricato

Location: Wyoming, USA

Hunt Information

Animals Hunted: Elk

Game Quality: poor, saw nothing

Game Quantity: poor, saw nothing

Accomodations: fair

Camp Condition: fair

Food Quality: poor

Guide Experience: poor

Other Personal Experience: fair

Review Information

Hunter: Eric Albrecht

Phone: 773-395-0004

Email:

Would Recommend: no

Overall Impression: very poor

On to the actual hunt. We woke to a sub par breakfast and the horses were saddled and ready to go. We road for a about 40 minutes until we came to a spot where the outfitter told me to get off my horse and sit here. He said that he would be back for me sometime before dark and if I shot anything to shoot three more times and he would come back. This is where things really started to turn for the worse. I was on a fully guided hunt in a wilderness area and all the outfitter did was dropped me off to fend for myself. During this time the outfitter proceeded to guide the higher paying “Bull” hunters and covered ground and saw a couple of cow elk. Needless to say, while sitting in an unfamiliar wilderness area all day on opening day, I did not see any elk.The second day was pretty much the same as the first (dropped off at the same spot and told the same thing) with the exception that one of the guides and one of the “Bull” hunters called it quits and packed out. The “Bull” hunter decided to walk out of camp on his own and got lost in the process. This resulted in the outfitter spending most of the day looking for the lost hunter. Thankfully he was found. The outfitter phoned his wife and informed her that he was going to stay back at the ranch because his horse was too tired from looking for the lost hunter. This left us in a unique situation, no outfitter in camp, only his wife and wrangler/ guide. On the third day, the outfitter showed up in camp shortly after sun up and said that he saw elk on his way in and told me to get my stuff together. We set out on foot on the mountain to pursue the elk. About ¼ to ½ the way up the mountain, I asked the outfitter if we could stop here to rest for a while. His response was, “you can stay here, but I am going to go up the top and zig zag around, not sure if I will be coming back this way, but you can follow your tracks back to camp.” Well, this is where I reached my breaking point, with the snow coming down, fog rolling in and wind blowing (covering our tracks by the minute) I decided I had enough and I made my way, by myself, back to camp. When I arrived back to camp I was greeted by the outfitter’s wife asking, “where was Tony”? I told her, “I don’t know and I really don’t care”. The outfitter returned to camp about an hour latter around noon. We spent the rest of that day cutting and gathering firewood for the tents. After another sub par dinner I requested to be packed out in the morning. The outfitter told me that it was not possible because of the work and cost involved of packing one hunter out. Yet, on the web site and in previous conversations it was clear that if you harvested an elk you can be packed out that day. When I mentioned this to the outfitter he said that was different, because his number one priority was elk and this would have a negative impact on his numbers, I am not sure what he was talking about regarding his numbers, but I was concerned that his number one priority was not the hunter’s safety and satisfaction. After some further discussion, he left the decision to pack out or not pack out to the remaining “bull” hunter in camp. The “bull” hunter requested that I leave the tent so he and the outfitter could talk. It was then brought to my attention by the outfitter that all of us would be packing out in the morning.Needless to say, when we got back to his ranch, not even a thank you for booking a hunt.

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