Outfitter Review - High Mountain Outfitters

Outfitter Information

Outfitter Name: High Mountain Outfitters

Outfitter / Contact: Pete Trujillo

Location: New Mexico, USA

Hunt Information

Animals Hunted: Mule Deer

Game Quality: Poor

Game Quantity: Poor

Accomodations: Fair

Camp Condition: Poor

Food Quality: Poor & Quantity Poor

Guide Experience: Poor

Other Personal Experience: Poor

Review Information

Hunter: Scott Calpino

Phone: (610)929-2664

Email:

Would Recommend: Never

Overall Impression: Poor

I've been on 7 western hunts and I've never experienced anything like this one. I'm sorry that I was convinced to spend my hard earned money on this trip. The outfitter refused to refund anything or to offer a replacement hunt, citing "sour grapes" that only 1 deer was harvested out of 13+ hunters in camp. Read on and you make the call!! Day 1: Walk several miles, see small 3 point buck w/ 6 doe - guide gets upset that we won't shoot because he says this is a trophy. Buck is shielded by doe and guide says shoot anyway, don't worry if you hit a doe. We continue to walk non-stop the rest of the day. Near dusk, we ask the guide about heading back to the truck. We're told not to worry, he knows the land very well. Several minutes later, in total darkness, the guide walked us to the edge of a cliff, where we grabbed on to anything close by, to keep from falling to our death. We learned the next day that the cliff was 50+ feet down, and we found the rocks that slid from under our feet at the bottom of the canyon. An hour later, after near tragedy, we arrived back at the truck. The truck won't start, we have no food, no water, no lights, no emergency equipment, no phone, no radio, and no one back at camp knows where we are. 1/2 hr later the truck finally starts and we travel 1 1/2hrs back to camp, only to find a piece of meat 2" square and 2 cookies for supper!! Day 2: walk all day, see nothing. Day 3: Drive around for 3-4 hours in a truck w/ 3 other hunters, trying to find some place to hunt. The drive included such places as federal land where hunting is prohibited and in to the neighboring state of Colorado!! We saw nothing. Day 4: Rain - The guide says it's not worth going out, besides, "He doesn't want to get muddy". All the guides head in to town to do laundry. They return several hours later w/ clean laundry and a bloody little 3 point they shot while they were gone. After threatening the guide, he offers to take us out. We hunt hard, finding only several doe. We return to camp again, finding almost no food for supper and the food for lunches was already almost gone on day 3. We ask to talk to the outfitter and we're told he'll be in camp the next day. He's not there when we leave camp for day 5. We hunt on our own (unguided) all day and are picked up at dark. Happy that this "experience" is over, we are dropped off at the lodge to find 1 small bucket of Colonel Sanders chicken to feed everyone and all of the guides gear gone. We discuss our hunt w/ others at camp, to find out that 2 of the other hunters paid big bucks for a "trophy hunt" and were escorted off the property they were hunting at gun point, being told they would be shot if they returned. Another hunter, experiencing his 1st western hunt, was sent out on his own, told to climb to the top of a hill, and return to the road @ dark. It's a shame . . . he didn't know any better!! After several letters and phone calls to the outfitter (his wife transacted all the business) we were told that we got a hunt, and we should have voiced our displeasure when we were there. That's very difficult to do when the outfitter never shows face!!! You decide if you want to put your money down!!!

Report this review