Outfitter Review - Pikes Peak Outfitters

Outfitter Information

Outfitter Name: Pikes Peak Outfitters

Outfitter / Contact: Gary Jordan

Location: CO, USA

Hunt Information

Animals Hunted: Trophy Mule Deer

Game Quality: None

Game Quantity: None

Accomodations: Excellent

Camp Condition: Excellent

Food Quality: Very Good

Guide Experience: Excellent

Other Personal Experience: Very Good

Review Information

Hunter: Gene Serafine

Phone:

Email:

Would Recommend: No

Overall Impression: Very Bad

I booked this as a Trophy Mule Deer Hunt in the Colorado Plains area. We were told we would see deer in the 170 and above class with antler widths in the 27 inch and above range. I had seen articles and testimonials about Pikes Peak Outfitters by prominent sports writers and I had a chance to talk to Jim Zumbo, who had hunted with Pikes Peak the previous year. Everything sounded great except for the steep $4500 price tag. For a hunt of a lifetime, 2 of my buddies and I decided to go for it. Owner, Gary Jordan, and 2 other guides met us at the airport and we were transported to our hotel. I rode with Jordan and asked him how the previous week of hunting had gone. He showed me photos of 2 average mule deer that were taken. They were far from the trophy deer I expected to see. When I asked him about trophy size animals he showed me some photos. They were photos of the same deer that I saw when I booked the hunt 2 years earlier. I later found out that there had not been any trophy size deer taken in our area in the past 2 years, and the ranch we were to hunt on had only a minimal size herd.In the 5-day hunt, I did not see an antlered deer. I saw a few does most days, but nothing more. Out of 6 hunters, a small 3-point buck was the only deer taken. No one saw a trophy buck. One hunter went home in disgust after 3 days. The owners of the adjacent ranch told us the deer population was dismal in the area we were hunting. It was a complete washout. Outfitters such as Pikes Peak are very good at advertising. They give sports writers and other celebrities hunts in exchange for favorable articles. The hunts these guys go on are "special" and "set-up" so that they will see and bag quality game. Don't be fooled as I was. The average guy who plops down his money doesn't get to go on the same hunt as these guys. Check out the January 2001 issue of the NRA's American Hunter Magazine. Editor John Zent was treated to a white tail deer hunt by Pikes Peak Outfitters. As a result, a 4-page article complete with great photos appears in the magazine. There is an abbreviated on-line version too, check it out at http://www.americanhunter.org/features/jan/pikes_peak3.htm. It's enough to make me want to sign up for another hunt with Gary Jordan. But I wont. I've been burned by his organization once and that was a hard to swallow $4500 lesson that I don't need to repeat.

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