Outfitter Review - Pine Ranch Outfitters

Outfitter Information

Outfitter Name: Pine Ranch Outfitters

Outfitter / Contact: Scott Swenson

Location: Utah, USA

Hunt Information

Animals Hunted: Mountain Lion

Game Quality: poor - none seen

Game Quantity: zero

Accomodations: hotel - average

Camp Condition: hotel - average

Food Quality: poor

Guide Experience: poor -little mountain lion exp

Other Personal Experience: poor-unprofessional

Review Information

Hunter: Kerry Anderson

Phone: 509-375-6138

Email:

Would Recommend: NO

Overall Impression: Disasterous

I have been on 5 hunts and was appalled at the poor quality of this one. This was a total waste of time and money. Coming home with an animal is not guaranteed, but at least I expect to come home with a good experience and memories. From the start, this was a nightmare. The outfitter's partner and brother, Randy, was so intoxicated the first evening I met him that he could not even remember meeting me the next morning. We had no breakfast or lunch provided the first day, so I grabbed what I could at the gas station that morning. After that, breakfast was donuts and a piece of fruit, and lunch was a loaf of bread and sandwich meats that only lasted for the next 4 days. I had to buy some food to get through the last 2 days. We had 4 decent dinners and then Randy complained about spending too much money, so we ate at Subway one night and Taco Time the last. Randy told the hotel not to clean our rooms to save him some money. As far as the hunt was concerned, I spent most of my time sitting in a truck waiting for the guide to look for tracks. There was not sufficient transportation for both the guide and the hunter to scout together, so the guide took the one snow mobile out scouting while I sat in the truck. There were way too many hunters and outfitters hunting in the same area. My guide kept mentioning that he was primarily a bear hunter and was not as experienced in mountain lion hunting. My guide was so disgusted with the way the outfitter was treating us that he was threatening to go home, which would have left me high and dry. I had to talk him into staying. The last day I was told by Randy that we had to be checked out of the hotel by 10am. When I told him that I had paid for a 6-day hunt (and this was the 6th day) he began yelling profanities at me. I tried to talk to Scott Swanson, the outfitter, about the possibility of taking me on another hunt (at a discounted rate) to compensate me for this disaster, but he was unwilling to work with me. He was so drunk during this conversation that there was no reasoning with him. I don't want to see any other hunters deceived by this outfitter. Scott may be a good cat hunter, but he was not my guide, and my hunting trip was a disaster and very unprofessional the entire trip. I am glad this was not my first guided hunt, or I would never have gone on another one in my life after this experience.

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