Outfitter Review - Lunksoos Camps

Outfitter Information

Outfitter Name: Lunksoos Camps

Outfitter / Contact: Lee Bertsch

Location: ME, USA

Hunt Information

Animals Hunted: Bear

Game Quality: OK

Game Quantity: 3 Bear Sighted Between 11 Hunters

Accomodations: Good

Camp Condition: Good / No Electric In Camp

Food Quality: N/A We Cooked Our Own

Guide Experience: Not Good

Other Personal Experience: Only One Person & Wife Run The

Review Information

Hunter: Louie Schreiner

Phone: 718-380-4567

Email:

Would Recommend: NO / Beware Of This Outfiiter!

Overall Impression: Bad

LUNKSOOS CAMP ......WARNING !!! Current mood: angry Date Used: 9/1/07I thought I would warn all hunters about an outfitter my hunting party used in Maine called "Lunksoos Camps" link below. http://www.lunksooscamps.com/hunting.htm Our group of 6 hunters were driving from various States like: Maine, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Queens, NY and one driving 2300 mile from Detroit, Michigan to hunt with this outfitter. We were offered many different things that were supposed to be included in our hunt, like.... 1) Stands were supposed to be set/up according to the shooter being either a right handed or left handed with a rifle rest of some kind on the stand or tree branch for each hunter to lean on... Our weights were asked ( The Outfitter Also Requested No One Over 300 pounds ) We were also asked what caliber guns each hunter would be shooting & if they were scoped or not. Each hunter was asked to bring extra ammo to have extra ammo for a shooting session so, the outfitter could make sure our guns were accurate. ( Id like you all to know, he didnt even want to do this when we arrived ) I had to insist on this, that way I knew, all of the guys in my hunting parties guns were on and of course, I had to adjust 2 of the 6 hunters rifles in my group so, each rifle would hit in the bullseye.................... Good Thing I Insisted ! None of these stands were ever set/up according to any of the information I was asked for or provided to this outfitter ! Some of these tree stand were not even secured to trees before we arrived.... I was put in a stand on the second day that was not even hammered into the tree, before climbing up into it. This outfitter informed me not to worry about the hammering that the bears are used to him in the woods.....WHAT THE HECK IS THAT???? So, I wasted a day of hunting in a stand that no bear in their right mind would come to, after all that noise was made that afternoon! 2) We were also offered 2 baited sites per hunter, that would be baited starting a month before we arrived... It ended up that the owner himself informed us, he was only baiting each site, every other day........ It might have been more then that for all we know! On Tuesday I was offered a second sight because, I went and complained to the owner (The Outfitter) because we had a cabin meeting the night before and I brought all the cabins complaints to him, yet the others in my party didnt want me to use their names in the conversation with the outfitter ???? The (The Outfitter) then came to the group while I was in town asking who wanted to be in other sights and why they were upset, none spoke up so, shame on them....This outfitter then just swapped out one guy from one tree stand into a stand that another guy in my group sat in for 3 days and just rotated guys into new, old, 3 day used sites................................... Have you ever heard of such a thing? 3) We were also offered included in our price a skinner and our game quartered. Upon arrival the first thing this outfitter did was show us brochures of taxidermists in town that would skin & quarter our bears, as long as we had the taxidermy work done by one of them...... Of course, we were told 3 times at least that He ( The Outfitter) didnt make a dime off of this business transaction with the locals.............................Yea Right! 4) We were also offered included in our price the use of Canoes to fish from but, of course when we arrived we were told that Canoes were no longer included due to him not paying the insurance on them...... I ended up going into town and while talking with a local store owner he GAVE US a canoe to use for free because he felt bad that the owner did this to us. ...... No insurance was on his canoe by the way! 5) The Best Of The Best Was :The other cabin of 5 hunters from Buffalo, NY put a bad shot on a bear Tuesday Night and they returned with the outfitter around 11PM that night telling me that they had to go back out in the AM to further search for this wounded bear. So, I was woken up Wednesday morning by the outfitter, not even awake yet to him asking me if, I wanted to help him track last nights bear with him. He further added that we might not be back in time for my group to leave out for their hunts. I looked at him and declined to help him. Thats when he informed me that I might have to bait my groups sites so, they could have bait in their sites, if he wasnt back in time........ Again, has any hunters in here ever heard of such a thing, when you are a paid customer at a hunting outfitter ????? SO,I WILL WARN ALL OF MY FRIENDS TO STAY CLEAR OF THE ABOVE CAMP. THIS OUTFITTER WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY BUT, DONT EXPECT HIM TO DO THE RIGHT THING! AND BY THE WAY,AFTER WE ALL COMPLAINED TO HIM AFTER OUR CABIN MEETING, HE WENT BACK TO HIS HOME IN TOWN AND REVISED HIS WEBSITE REMOVING WHAT HE USED TO OFFER ON HIS WEBSITE PRIOR TO OUR ARRIVAL..... LITTLE DID HE KNOW, I COPIED IT BEFORE I LEFT HOME......OTHERS IN MY GROUP DID THE SAME. THIS JUST FURTHER SHOWING THIS OUTFITTERS TRUE COLORS AND WHAT KIND OF PERSON HE REALLY IS !!!! MY HUNTING PARTIES COMMENTS ON LUNKSOOS CAMP! A Letter From Stan About Lunksoos Camps Hi Louie, I paid $1,200.00 for this hunt, gave a $50.00 tip to an outfitter who didn't earn it, I drove over 2,300 miles for this hunt.I don't think I was at the camp for 30 minutes and I am told the guy who was to skin the bears can't be found.Then we are showed brochures from local taxidermist who will skin our bear for $100.00. I bought a hunt were the skinning was included I wasn't told it would cost me extra if the bear skinner couldn't be found. I was told a new tree stand would be built for me.You wanted to know my weight,height if I shot right or left handed because a gun rest was going to be built on my stand. That stand never got built! Also there was to be two hunting stands/ bait sites for each hunter, that never happened. There was to be only 6 hunters max in the camp, how many was there 12 ? I was told to bring a compass by the camp outfitter so I went and bought a compass and then we were told we weren't going to use them ( more wasted money). If you think someone was not into the hunt it was Lee,the so called outfitter. You asked him about shooting/sighting in the guns, he responded " I don't think it is necessary but we can if you want '. Lee was whining about being over worked "To much to do for one person" that was his problem not mine. He was stated he was too busy to bait the sites on the other side of the river for the next group of hunters. I believe he was too busy with the other hunters in the camp to keep our sites baited ahead of time. The bait site I had was not baited Monday, the first night in the stand I didn't see any bait in the barrel. Tuesday night Lee comes in to bait the site 2 hrs after I was in the stand and after he dumped the bait in I could see the bait above the opening in the barrel which I couldn't see on Monday. You talk about not being into the hunt when Lee came in to bait the site he didn't do anything extra to let the bears know he was there ,like bang the bucket a little or spray an attractant. I think there is more to being an outfitter than just feeding bears. I was told the roads were well maintained I could drive my car to the bait site, we both know that wasn't true. I've been waiting 30 years to go on a hunt like this. I got my divorce hearing date changed so I could make the trip, I traded work days with co-workers so I could get the days I needed for the trip.I worked overtime at work to help pay for this trip. This trip cost me a lot of money and I feel cheated.Wednesday night when I went to town I stayed at the motel and a lady there asked me how the hunt was going and I told her just what I thought of the whole deal. Thursday morning I was getting ready to return to the camp and the lady I spoke with Wednesday night told me her husband was an outfitter and he felt bad for me and said I could hunt one of his sites ( that he had been baiting daily for several weeks) for free. All he asked for was $100.00 for the bait if I got a bear. Unfortunately it started lightening and raining an hour after I got to the site ending the hunt. Later the rain stopped and I went back to the site and about prime time for the bears to move it started lightening and raining again ending my hunt in Maine. I have to admit I was a little uncomfortable sleeping at the camp but someone every morning would ask me questions like , Did you sleep all right, Does your throat hurt or tell me" you were really snoring".One morning Lee (The Outfitter) came into the cabin when I came downstairs and he said I hear you can really snore. I have sleep apena and use a breathing machine at night but it requires electricity. I stayed at the motel so the other hunters could get some sleep. I am sorry if I kept them awake. I learned to never go on a hunt where I have to sleep in the same cabin or place with other hunters. I couldn't believe John, ( One of the guys in our group) you asked him to take me out to my site and bring me back Wednesday night. When we got to the road that went back to my site ( the road that was almost a mile back to my site)he asked me if I wanted him to take me back to site. I told him it is about 86 degrees outside and a mile walk that I would appreciate it. When it was too dark to hunt any longer I started walking back towards the main road. I walked all the way back to the main road ( almost a mile ) and John was sitting there in his truck waiting for me. It would have been right neighborly of him to have drove back in and pick me up. But I cant be mad at him because it wasn't his job to take me out there in the first place. You talk about not being into the hunt, one of the other hunters in our group said to me, (shortly after I arrived at camp) " I don't know about you but I'd just as soon shoot a bear Monday night and get the f...... out of here". It's not that I wasn't into the hunt it was being lied too and being expected to accept all of the problems the outfitter was having , (like not baiting regularly) and being expected to pay extra for bear skinning,etc. I'm sorry but I don't think I got $1,200.00 worth of service. Again, I was into the hunt I stayed in the woods until I couldn't see to shot. I was hungry for a bear while I was there and I am still hungry to bag a bear. I believe I over heard Lee (The Outfitter) tell the group one morning that I was leaving the woods to early and that is why I wasn't seeing any bears. I walked that one mile trip back to the main road (in the dark) more than once and you never heard me complain or ask for someone to hold my hand. I was into the hunt not the bullshit. Nobody at that camp wanted to bag a bear more than me. I enjoyed being in the woods, full of anticipation, waiting for a bear to walk in at any time.I know a lot of the things mentioned above were out of your control. I'm glad you got a bear. Stan A Letter From Marty About Lunksoos Camps! Louie,I went with you on this hunt. It was my first "outfitted" hunt. I wasn't sure what to expect, but this was not even in the realm of possibility. We didn't even have electricity there! That certainly wasn't mentioned anywhere in his web site. To say I was dissapointed would be an understatement. The place WAS clean, the river, too. The bears, however, were non-existant! So were the "services" he offered. Obviously, he wasn't baiting daily for a month previously, as advertized. He's obviously ticked off the locals, as evedinced by his "skinner" going AWOL, and the reception we all got in town. Don't get me wrong, the town folks were nice, but they looked at us funny when we told them where we were hunting, and said "Oh, him." For the kind of money we spent, we got screwed.Marty

Outfitter Response: This report was the biggest pack of lies ever posted about me and my prior operation. I wrote you before asking to have this absolute filth removed from your site. I offered to send you names and phone numbers of others who will testify the poster is a liar, to say the least. He copied my website, pasted it on ebat and then sold hunts as if he were running the hunt. He rented my cabin for a group of men (friends and complete strangers) and duped them all into thinking I was only a guide. He lied about electricity and one of the strangers needed electricity for a machine to help he breathe while sleeping. This man had to stay at a motel and finally went home early. He wrote your poster ripping him to shreds. The poster then used that missive and said it was directed at me. Call the motel and ask about the incident. Call the game warden and ask for his opinion. Call many other hunters who will back my story. I'll gladly furnish names and numbers. Never did I do the things the poster states. He twists things behind a keyboard as a moderator to insure I can't dispute his filth. You can reach me at 207-365-4548 (leebertsch@yahoo.com) This makes me sick every time I see it.

Report this review