Headwaters Highcountry Outfitting

Submitted by: Reem Ed

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Review Submitted: Jan 11, 2023

Hunt Date: Oct 19, 2016

Species Hunted: Mule Deer, Pronghorn Antelope, Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 7

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Mountain

Method: Rifle

Price Range: 4000-4999

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Submitted by: Dave Krause

Review Submitted: Jan 20, 2011

Hunt Date: not provided

Species Hunted: Elk, Mule Deer

Days Hunted: 7

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Foothills

Method: Bow

Price Range: 5000-6999

Good people!

I booked a bow hunt for elk and Mule Deer with tim Walkowiak. This was the third trip but the other 2 trips were rifle hunts for Mule Deer and Antelope. For the first time, my wife came along as a non hunter. On the second trip, 2 members of our group had issues and had to cancel after the deposit was made. Tim had no issues with the use of the past deposit being applied to the cost of this hunt. Tim also gave a discount on the fee for non hunters. How many Elk? Not an Elk was seen while hunting. How many Mule Deer? Hundreds. Even took a monster 6X6 Muley on the 4th. day of the hunt. I was able to walk some of the nicest country I've had the chance to hunt in. I would have liked to had a chance at an Elk but with wild animals there are no guarantees. This hunt is nothing like on a preserve. I will be going back to Montana and will be booking the hunt with Tim.

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note: The following reviews predate the numeric rating system and are not included in this outfitter's overall rating.

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outfitter review submitted by: Allan Olitsky on Feb 13 2010

Species Hunted: Elk

Game Quality: None Seen

Accommodation Quality: Excellent

Camp Condition: Good

Food Quality: Very Good

Guide Experience: Hard to judge

Other Personal Experience: Good

Overall Impression: The worst

Recommend: Never

Reviewer Comments: I booked this hunt 1 year ahead for archery and sent in a $1000.00 deposit as requested. The hunt was to be conducted on river bottom land as advertised on the Outfitter's web site and brochure. I confirmed this with the outfitter. 30 days prior to hunt I sent the balance of $5,000.00. This was a 10 day hunt. I never saw an elk or an elk track. I hunted dry ground. There was no water any place. We were never near river bottom land as was advertised. This was the worst hunt that I have ever experienced in over 50 years of hunting.

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outfitter review submitted by: Allan Olitsky on Dec 6 2009

Species Hunted: Elk, Mule Deer & Antelope

Game Quality: No Elk, 3 small Mule Deer, a few Antelope

Accommodation Quality: Excellent

Camp Condition: Excellent

Food Quality: Good

Guide Experience: Could not judge fairly by this

Other Personal Experience: No others

Overall Impression: The worst in over 50 years of hunting

Recommend: Never

Reviewer Comments: I am 66 years old and have been hunting for over 50 years. I have hunted all over the US and Canada. I have harvested numerous Elk, Deer from Texas to Kodiak, Turkey from Florida to Nebraska, Caribou and Moose in Alaska, and bear all over. I am saying this because I am not new to hunting. I have hunted in the past with a rifle but for the last several years my passion has been archery. Tim, the outfitter that I booked this hunt with was a guide for me 15 years ago in Montana on an Antelope hunt where I got a record book trophy. After receiving several brochures from Tim and viewing his website, I contacted him. I explained exactly what I was interested in. A combination Elk, Mule Deer and possibly Antelope hunt. Expense was not really an issue but time is starting to be since by the time of the hunt I would be almost 67. Tim assured me that what I read on the website and brochure is exactly what he had to offer. I wanted to hunt from a tree stand if possible definitely on river bottom land for the Elk. Elk was primary and I would be very content to only harvest a good Elk. I already have B&C Mule Deer and White Tails but of the 7 Elk I have gotten, none were super. With all this discussed, I told Tim I would be driving out to Montana from Pennsylvania with a freezer and generator in the back of my truck. I sent Tim the required $1,000.00 deposit and applied for my tags which I got. 30 days prior to the hunt, I sent Tim my balance in full as he requested. I practiced with my bow for weeks as I always do before a hunt. I continued my daily walking and jogging to keep in shape. The ride out to Montana was great. In the last few hours I deliberately took smaller back roads and saw a tremendous number of Elk, Deer and Antelope. At some points, I was afraid I might fill out my tags in my truck. I was really pumped for the hunt. I arrived at the lodge which was great and exactly what I had expected. I was the only hunter, there was no one else there. After greetings, Tim and I discussed the hunt at which time I again stressed my desire for a good Elk and told Tim anything else would be a bonus. We were to be up at 4 AM the next day to start. Off we went in Tim's 99 pick up. Immediately I noticed a noise from the front end. The front drive shaft sounded like it was about to go but I was assured it would be fine. Most of our 1 1/2- 2 hour drive each way was in 4 wheel drive. The noise got louder. After walking the entire day in an area that had not seen any water for weeks, I got concerned. This was not river bottom but low (4500 ft) mountainous area. We saw one small antelope all day. The next day started the same way but the front end noise was even louder. Concerned about a breakdown we headed back to get Tim's back up truck. An 86 Suburban in which some of the windows did not work. Not good in 12 degree weather when a window does not go up on a 2 hour drive. We did see a couple of Mule Deer which we spent the day following. On the ride home that night a few miles from camp a monster bull Elk crossed the road ahead of us. I asked Tim if we were in an area we could hunt and he said no. This was land near the river. The next day Tim said we would hunt over a water hole out of a tree stand. We ended up next to a little pool of water sitting in a double tree stand strapped to a power line pole. We were completely exposed and sat so close that drawing my bow back would have been almost impossible. We saw nothing. On the way back, I questioned Tim about the guarantee of hunting river bottom as I requested. He said that he had not leased any this year due to the economy. I reminded him that I had called him just prior to sending my balance and again one week before I left on my trip and had confirmed with him that the property was all taken care of and would be as described in his brochure and website. Had I known at that point, I would have put the hunt off for another year. Obviously I was deliberatly lied to in order to get my money. Not wanting to start an argument while on my 10 day hunt, I tried for two more days. The third day we went to a "great water hole" where the tripod stand had been blown over by the wind. There were a cow tracks (cow as in the farmer's cows not Elk cow)at the hole but the water was so shallow a rat couldn't drown in it. Realizing this hunt was a scam I finally packed my things and left. While loading my truck, Tim said that I might be able to get permission to hunt on someone else's lease if I would wait a few more days. My experience so far on this hunt led me to believe this was just another lie and left. I learned a valuable lesson on this hunt. I will never give an outfitter the balance due on a hunt again prior to at least arriving in camp. I have, on several of my hunts paid by personal check after the hunt was over. I really try to hunt with outfitters that I have previously hunted with. I have been on many hunts where I have not gotten game but never one like this time where the outfitter obviously deceived me just to get my money. My suggestion to those of you that are relatively new at hunting is to to check as many references as possible. Negotiate with the outfitter as to how you will be paying him. I hunted Brown Bear in Alaska once by sending the outfitter half as a deposit and bringing a certified check with me for the balance to be handed over after I had a reasonable opportunity to harvest my game. A reputable outfitter should be willing to be paid in a reasonable way, not insist on all the money up front as I did for this hunt. I have filed a legal document against this outfitter and will wait to see who the Judge thinks is in the right. Hopefully I will get some of my $10,000.00 plus in expenses back but there goes another year of my hunting career and a two week vacation I looked forward to, not to mention all the aggravation that I had. Good hunting to you all. Allan

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outfitter review submitted by: Todd Bolam on Nov 7 2005

Species Hunted: elk/muledeer /whitetail &antelope

Game Quality: excelant

Accommodation Quality: excelant

Camp Condition: good

Food Quality: good

Guide Experience: good

Other Personal Experience: good

Overall Impression: excelant

Recommend: most definetly

Reviewer Comments: My buddy"s and I have been hunting with Tim for several years. His knowledge of his leases are great. this year 6 of us went an all 6 tags were filled with shooter bucks. 1 of which was a 160 class whitetail and 180 class Mule deer. I will hunting there in the future. Nice place to hunt.

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