Miller Outdoors

Submitted by: Ryan Stockett

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Review Submitted: Nov 28, 2011

Hunt Date: Nov 10, 2011

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 3

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Mountain

Method: Rifle

Price Range: 0-499

Unhappy

I hired Miller Outdoors for scouting and placement of tree stands that would improve my hunt success rate. When I arrived, I was given the location of three stands, and then didn't see my guide again for the rest of the trip. I attempted to ask questions about scouting that had gone into the stand locations, the number of animals observed, types of animals, sizes of animals, sign of animals, times of day that are recommended for each stand, and which stands should be utilized at what times and with what prevailing winds. I recieved no answer to any of these questions - this should have been my first hint regarding the quality of scounting that was done and the hunt I was about to experience... I spent three days, from before sun-up, to after sun-down in and around the different stands and didn't see a single animal. It snowed one morning and I took a hike around to see what animals left tracks in the area and, after hiking for hours, didn't find a single track near any of the stand locations. On two of the stands, the total field of view was very limited (less than 30 yards distance, with about 10-15 degree range) such that the chance of seeing an animal cross through the field was extremely low, and the liklihood of zeroing in on that animal and firing before it was out of the field was next to nothing. One of the stands was placed just 10 yards from the only trail in the vicinity, and the prevailing wind all day long came from behind the stand before going across the trail in front of the stand - not a chance that an animal would use that trail while I was anywhere near the stand. The second stand was located in the most human-traveled location possible, with other hunters regularly passing nearby all day long. The third stand was located on an old trail that clearly hadn't seen any action in months. I summary, I thought I had paid for someone else to do the leg work and scout out an area with high potential. It looked like instead, some one looking for an easy $buck placed the stands at random in the woods (only a few miles from his home), and then took my money and ran. Maybe Miller Outdoors is OK for guided hare hunts, but I certainly cannot recommend them for deer hunting. On a side note, I also paid for a spot to park a camp trailer (fully contained, no hookups of any kind needed, and only 16 foot in lenght). The location that was purchased was so rough, I got stuck getting in and out nearly every time, and damaged my trailer in the process. In fact, I had to perform work on the road myself just so I could leave at the end of the hunt. This was after asking for recommendations in the area where I could park the trailer, to which I received the answer that there was none. After arrival and paying for the camping spot, however, I found numerous places in the woods that would have been not only free, but much better locations.

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