Outfitter Review - Texas LTD

Outfitter Information

Outfitter Name: Texas LTD

Outfitter / Contact: Hugh Starr

Location: Texas, USA

Hunt Information

Animals Hunted: Pig

Game Quality: Extremely poor

Game Quantity: virtually non-existant

Accomodations: very good

Camp Condition: no camp

Food Quality: Sorta TV dinnerish for the mos

Guide Experience: 30+ years?

Other Personal Experience: no other personnel

Review Information

Hunter: Clint

Phone: 727-530-1129

Email:

Would Recommend: no

Overall Impression: very poor

Just to start, this hunt was a gift from a client of mine, I did not pay for it. Cliff, if you read this it is in no way show lack of appreciatetion towards you, I sincerely appreciate your gesture.This hunt started with somewhat poor directions on how to get to Texas LTD. This was overcome by the fact I can navigate to anyplace on the planet. But in a small po-dunk town clients need to know that your road is not the first left as described in the direction, and that the road sign name is no longer on your street. I was driving in after dark, it took me some orbiting around and knocking on doors at 11PM to figure out where I needed to go. Strangers aren't often appreciated knocking on doors that late this far out in the country.First morning out, was put into a blind, a stand actually. A blind is a blind to me, it was solid and well enclosed, a 4 foot tall box about 3 feet off the ground with a folding metal office chair in it and did not make any unusual noise unless I moved around, it was about 100-125 yards off of feeder. Feeder went off a bit early, but no birds around when its dark to steal it all. Saw 2 very small pigs and their string of piglets about 35 minutes after feeder went off. Feeder seemed to throw the feed away from the blind which made obstructed shots in the underbrush. I did fire on the one small pig other than the sow. Due to some rough handling on my rifle by the goons at Southwest Airlines, I found my shot went left and high(discovered later that day when I verified zero on a real target). I did fire a second shot as the pigs left, but due to zero problems and being very dark the shot was all but impossible. No joy, I'll take 50% of blame because I choose the airline. But I did get zeroed later that day.2nd time out the evening of 1rst day, was in a ground blind about 30 yards off of a feeder. All was clear and unobstructed. I had plenty of time and local materials to make the ground blind fit my needs. To me sitting behind a dead branch is not good enough when you're that close. Feeder goes off about 2-1/2 hours before sunset. I watched as the cattle and birds come to eat all the seed on the ground. Did not sight a single pig, did not hear a single pig. Did see a group of coyotes in the distance but with no clear shots.Next morning, 2nd day, was put into another ground blind, about 50 yards off of a feeder. Blind was OK, but had no chance to make it my own in the dark of pre-dawn. It consistend of a piece of plywood painted green with a pile of logs surrounded by cacti. It was OK. Feeder never went off before I was picked up about 2 hours after sunrise. Feeder was filled with corn. Hugh asked me repeatedly where all the corn went when I said the damned thing never went off, like I saw pigs and did not take a shot or had fallen asleep. He examined the feeder, then it went off. I think the thing was either not turned on or the timer was grossly off. I did not seen any tracks but cattle around the feeder, it had not been working for a long time.2nd day, evening. This time I was taken to a 'special' place, the pig farm as it was called. It was in the scrub, surrounded by old oil wells and cattle. I was in the field 4 hours before sunset. The blind was the ground type about 30 yards off the feeder with no obstructions, again it was just OK. I spent an hour making it my own so I could have better cover as it was a piece of green painted plywood to sit against with a log in front of it. Feeder goes off about 2-1/2 hours before sunset, again I watch the meadow larks, dove, and some quail dine out and consume every seed on the ground, it was done about an hour later. I did not see or hear a single pig and was picked up about a half hour after sunset. In my limited foraging for materials behind my blind, and away from the feeder, I did not see a single pig track around the place. In the dark as I walked past the feeder, there were no pig tracks, just cattle.This was a very disappointing hunt. I am not an inexperienced pig hunter, having hunted pigs in Florida for years. I am Clint Huisinga, owner of Stars & Stripes Ammunition. I use feral pigs for product field R&D. I know hunter results vary considerably and many aspects of a hunt are beyond our control in the field, nature is what she is and does what she wants. Listing my company and who I am is not an advertisement, it is putting forward who I am and from what my position is in regards to judging a hunt, the game, a guide, and other things hunting related. As such, no reader will likely know me or my qualifications, so feel free to investigate me, I am well known in the firearms and hunting communities and my credentials can be verified 100%!My opinion is that Hugh Starr is a nice man, a Texas good ole boy, he's personable, and very hospitable. You stay in his home, not a camp, and its a nice clean place not a dump.Hugh charges $700+ for one of these 2 day pig hunts, you are told there are so many hogs you can walk on them. You'll kill a pile of them. There are huge hogs, monsters. There are no limits on how many you can kill on your hunt, I know why there are no limits now, you don't see any. If you were over run by pigs on every feeder, this is an excellent price! If you use a self loading FN like I do, you could easily take 2-3 pigs if you are good on moving shots on one feeder, maybe more if they freeze and look for where the threat came from. Where this deviates is that I don't think Mr Starr is a very good guide, I certainly don't think he knows where the pigs are at as I did not see or hear any except the first morning, and they were tiny(largest an adult sow about 150 pounds at VERY BEST! The second was about 80-100 pound juvenile, then 4 fairly young piglets). I wanted a meat pig so the second pig would have been great for me. It is inexcusable to have feeders not working, and so mal-adjusted for the time of year I was there(mid March). The feeders were all set for dead of winter timing. One was not working, supposedly mechanical, but shown to work as I was standing there(timing, not turned on?). There was no sign of pigs on any feeders except the first one. Of interest here is this. Hugh also offers bobcat, coyote, deer, and turkey hunts. I did not see a single white tail EXCEPT the one night just around the corner from his house as we came back from the field, this was in town, in Albany, NOT in the field where these hunts supposedly take place. Bobcats are hard to spot in the day and I did not see any, or any signs of them. I saw a fleeting glipse of coyotes, but there are more than you can imagine out there, all I listened to were song dogs before sun up and sunset. I heard a lot of turkeys on second day in the morning and evening but did not see any.Seriously weigh your options before buying a hunt of any type from this outfit. If I had paid for this hunt, actually I did because of time away and my flight there, I would be pissed. This hunt was bought and given to me as a gift without any consolation on my part. I got to see the Milky Way, which you cannot see from light polluted Tampa Bay, Mercury was setting after sunset with an emerging crescent moon. I got to listen to 'yotes enmass, I heard turkeys. I got to see central texas landscape, which I've never seen. All of these things, except Texas, I've seen countless times, I would not pay to see them as you can do it for free in most places with a short drive.BTW, in case you don't know, every plant in Texas seems to be covered with mean throns and some like to break off under you skin, make sure you clear out your ground blinds carefully before sitting down and trying to get comfortable!!!!

Report this review