Trip report: Shattuck Creek Outfitters - Whitetail hunt

[ljsommer]

Trip report: Shattuck Creek Outfitters - Whitetail hunt (no success)
https://shattuckcreek.com/idaho-guided-hunts/idaho-guided-deer-hunts/guided-trophy-whitetail-deer-hunts/

From Nov 15th - Nov 19th my wife and I hunted whitetail in Elk River, ID with Shattuck Creek Outfitters. This hunt was very expensive (price listed on link above, total came to over $10k after fees and tip) but the wife and I justified it for a few reasons:
1. Life has been particularly hard the last few years and we felt we deserved a break
2. This was intended to be part of our honeymoon as we were married recently
3. We both wanted to invest in learning more about how to find success in hunting, and then getting the reward of success to fuel further hunting ambitions going forward
4. I have one deer down, she has yet to bring home any game animal

The reason we selected this hunt in particular and justified the price was the description of the hunt, which reads as follows:
"This is the trophy whitetail hunt you've been looking for! Our whitetail hunters are 90% successful, and can expect an opportunity at a 130 to 180 BC class trophy. Hunters will stay in the lodge for this 5-day hunt."

I won't make this a longwinded review, so I'll quickly state that the food and lodging were both great, and the guide (the owner's son in our case) was hard working, intelligent and polite. The landscape was beautiful and made the single digit morning sits in frozen snow much more bearable. We saw fewer than 20 deer total between myself, my wife, and the guide often sitting different spots, glassing sunup to sundown. Total buck count was 2, with one being a spike and the other being a tiny 2 point. We did not harvest any deer, and out of the camp of 6 hunters there was only one buck harvested after the entire week.

The owner and the staff were all wonderful, polite, and wholesome people who were considerate with their language and responsive. The last evening of our stay, the owner invited us into his home to have dinner with his family which was a wonderful experience and I am very appreciative of that.

The temperatures ranged from single digits (1 degree coldest morning, 9 degrees warmest morning) to high 20s. We got to ride quads quite a bit in the snow and ice, often in the morning or at night and that was a really cool adventure I'd never done before so I really enjoyed that.

I am very satisfied with every aspect of the outfitter, except the hunt description and the corresponding price. To be blunt, the outfitter simply does not have the quality or numbers of deer that they state on their website. I am not in the business of outfitting and this is my first outfitted hunt so I won't comment on the appropriateness of the price they charged, other than to say that this was a significant investment for my family and we made it after serious consideration. We are disappointed in that aspect of it.

I emailed the owner on November 21st thanking him for the week and giving similar feedback to what I shared above, reflecting how happy I was with many aspects of the hunt but that I was pretty disappointed with what was available vs what was marketed. I expected some sort of offer to return and hunt with them again, as they knew we were new hunters looking to get some deer down. I have not received a response as of this date, 12/6.

Overall I can wholeheartedly recommend this outfitter as a fun outdoor experience, but I cannot recommend them as a place where you'd go hoping to see or harvest animals.

[borntoslay]

Sounds like they need to update their expectations/success. Sounds nice other than that.

[Alan K]

It's still hunting... Those temps are pretty darn cold compared to what we often experience not too far from there during similar dates. Maybe affected deer movement/patterns.  Where my family and I hunt not far from there we average 4-5 deer seen per day, though usually a couple of those are branched bucks.

I remember the work you put in learning to hunt locally here when you first joined the forum and wish you'd have been successful on this hunt.  Glad to hear you had a good time otherwise. 

Timber whitetails are not something I'd consider for a guided hunt for relatively new hunters.  I'd think more open country such as eastern Montana if you're up for trying again in the future.  Somewhere where you will see a lot of animals to keep interest up, while also having a great chance at success, maybe even pick and choose from a few bucks.  It sounds like the lodge/guided experience was part of it (honeymoon aspect), but for the money spent in a DIY fashion you could buy solid landowner tags in some states and stay in good hotels and eat at quality restaurants. 

[buckfvr]

I would need to see reviews and results from last 5 years in order to see the trend.  My guess is wolves on the landscape and predators in general are affecting their overall deer/elk success same as everywhere else on the western range.  Decline in quality (age class of animals), quantity, and success is on going.

[HUNTIN4SIX]

Always beware of outfitters promising or guaranteeing a certain size animal.  Unless of course it is a high fence hunt.  About the best a outfitter can ever guarantee is maybe a shot at an animal.  Half of the responsibility or guarantee is on the hunter for shot placement.... .  Sounds like they at least worked hard and provided good service, that says a lot.  I guided on some of the worst years in Montana when the wolves took over.  Heck sometimes we just went wolf hunting.     We worked our arses off for the guest knowing the animal population was bleak.  It was mentally rough.  It’s hard times for outfitters in many areas.

I’ll never forget, at sport shows the number one question “well partner what’s your success rate”?  My response....How good of a shot are ya?  We never played the game or got ourselves in a corner on success rates or promises.

[dyhardhuntr]

Glad to hear you had a pretty positive experience. Like stated above it is still hunting and it can be good or not so good. One piece of advice for the future is to ask the outfitter for phone #s from successful and unsuccessful hunters. That can also help your decision making. It sounds at least that your guide put in the effort and camp was good. I worked for an outfitter in the SE corner of Idaho and he was a dirtbag but those of us that guided worked our butts off for the clients.

[ljsommer]

Thanks for the feedback folks. Absolutely, hunting is definitely still hunting. All we wanted was some opportunities, not any guarantees. I can say with certainty that the character of everyone working at this outfitter was commendable and I thought they were all genuinely good people. I honestly wish the owner would've emailed me back asking if I'd like to return for another chance, I probably would've taken him up on it.

[huntnphool]

 A well written, level headed description of your experience. I’d give the owner a chance to make it right, as you have. If a couple weeks go by without a reply, I’d contact them again with the same level headed demeanor and give them another chance to make it right.

 If nothing is resolved, I’d certainly be posting my experience on every forum I could find with multiple search engines, on every site they are listed.

[jrebel]

This is a hard one for sure.  It could have just been a tough year....or it could be all their hunters feel the same way.  I would think if the year was tougher than usual and success rate was sub 20% they would at least off a discount for the following year. 

I'm not overly familiar with guided whitetail hunts...but 10K (which included tips, etc) for two hunters on a guided 5 day hunt out of lodge, seems cheap.  That would have been the first red flag for me.  With that said, there are some really good deals out there and if you find them....stick with them year after year. 

I'm glad they worked hard for you and hope they offer a discount or a second chance next year. 

[Dan-o]

A well written, level headed description of your experience. I’d give the owner a chance to make it right, as you have. If a couple weeks go by without a reply, I’d contact them again with the same level headed demeanor and give them another chance to make it right.

 If nothing is resolved, I’d certainly be posting my experience on every forum I could find with multiple search engines, on every site they are listed.

That seems like reasonable advice.

I admire your level head about your experience.

I get that it's hunting, but it seems like you were overpromised.
I'd be disappointed if I paid that much for that experience.

[huntnnw]

little more research on whitetail deer in that area and the west woulda led to a conclusion that is BS. I dont even see a single buck barely exceeding 130 in all the harvest photos. 140" plus whitetail is hard to find and I would venture to say in a whitetails lifetime if given a full life that maybe 2 out of 10 bucks will grow antlers exceeding 140.

That area with more research woulda also led to that its hammered by hunters and wolves have a huge impact on deer there. Also that terrain is tough to hunt deer and let alone see multiple shooter bucks in a week.

[MountainWalk]

Caveat emptor.

 They can control the food, lodging, guides and area, but cannot control weather or beast.

[Chesapeake]

Some of the deer in the pics look like they would gross 140-150 to me. Of course hard to say with a long arm pic.

I can’t help but think $10k would have bought a canvas tent, stove, cots, ect.. A potlatch access permit and a few deer tags and you could have done a DIY adventure somewhere around Dworshak with maybe similar results. But you’d still have all the gear.
But maybe you already own all that stuff.

Hopefully it was a good honeymoon. Sounds better to me than some tropical vacation.

[huntnnw]

I must have a few 200"  theres maybe 1 buck that goes 130 or a little over, point is the claim on the website is a stretch for that country and with a little research you woulda known. Is there 150" bucks in that country? yup, chances of seeing 1 in 5 days and getting a shot... low to none.

The only way I would ever guide in that country is having access to primo private ground, that is tough sledding in that area.

[HntnFsh]

I know some aspects of a hunt cant be controlled. But to tell you the truth his website seems like false advertisement to me! Thats a lot of money for a trip to a bnb.

[Bareback]

Could you share what a day of hunting was? For the day, did you leave the lodge by foot, horse, quad or truck? Did you sit and wait, still hunt, spot in stalk? I was in the same area for those dates. Weather wise it was more snow and colder than normal. Top crust snow, sunny and dead calm made for tougher conditions hunting timber whitetails. We saw plenty of does everyday but the buck sightings were down a bit.

[C-Money]

I doubt you'll hear back from them. Hope I'm wrong. Sorry it didn't turn out, as that is a crap ton of money!

[Bob33]

From what I’ve read it is difficult to assess whether that was a normal year for the outfitter and he potentially misled customers, or it was an unusual year. If it was an unusual year, he could have been a little more apologetic about the experience and perhaps offered an incentive to return. Outfitters rely on having a good reputation to generate repeat business.

I don’t know how much you did, but a lesson learned might be to do more research before booking. Even though the reference names the outfitter provides will generally say positive things, you can often learn enough from them to have more realistic expectations. Knowing how long the outfitter has been in business can provide insight. Asking the local biologists and wardens about the areas you will be hunting can provide helpful information on the area and recent conditions, and possibly information about the outfitter.

Of course you can also ask the outfitter just prior to the hunt what you can expect animal wise, especially if you are looking for a particular animal or trophy size. If it tells you to expect seeing 50 deer a day and you see five, then you have a pretty good case for being upset.

In reality you paid for a hunt, not an animal. Sometimes a hunt meets expectations, and sometimes it doesn’t. It is unfortunate you had the experience you did but it sounds like other than animal numbers it was enjoyable.

[Gettin Birdie]

little more research on whitetail deer in that area and the west woulda led to a conclusion that is BS. I dont even see a single buck barely exceeding 130 in all the harvest photos. 140" plus whitetail is hard to find and I would venture to say in a whitetails lifetime if given a full life that maybe 2 out of 10 bucks will grow antlers exceeding 140.

That area with more research woulda also led to that its hammered by hunters and wolves have a huge impact on deer there. Also that terrain is tough to hunt deer and let alone see multiple shooter bucks in a week.

Unfortunately True, unless it was some great private ground.  I shot a 140-145" (rough guess by taxi, I never measured it) mountain whitey relatively close by in 2019.  My buddy who's camp I stayed at said, It was the biggest buck he's ever seen taken out of there and he's been going there for 13 years.  He horn hunts it all the time as well.  He's found bigger horn hunting but never during season.  Wolves have severely impacted the area as well.  I shot my buck ~150 yards away from a road where 2 WA residents drove by in atv's about an hour before    I was not road hunting, out walking, lesson is, walk around. 

[ljsommer]

From what I’ve read it is difficult to assess whether that was a normal year for the outfitter and he potentially misled customers, or it was an unusual year. If it was an unusual year, he could have been a little more apologetic about the experience and perhaps offered an incentive to return. Outfitters rely on having a good reputation to generate repeat business.

I don’t know how much you did, but a lesson learned might be to do more research before booking. Even though the reference names the outfitter provides will generally say positive things, you can often learn enough from them to have more realistic expectations. Knowing how long the outfitter has been in business can provide insight. Asking the local biologists and wardens about the areas you will be hunting can provide helpful information on the area and recent conditions, and possibly information about the outfitter.

Of course you can also ask the outfitter just prior to the hunt what you can expect animal wise, especially if you are looking for a particular animal or trophy size. If it tells you to expect seeing 50 deer a day and you see five, then you have a pretty good case for being upset.

In reality you paid for a hunt, not an animal. Sometimes a hunt meets expectations, and sometimes it doesn’t. It is unfortunate you had the experience you did but it sounds like other than animal numbers it was enjoyable.

Agreed. I know some folks have been suggesting I did not research it properly, and perhaps that is the case. I got the referral from a post I found on here and the user suggested it as one of the locations he had used before and was happy with. I think that gave me a bit of bias.

[ljsommer]

Could you share what a day of hunting was? For the day, did you leave the lodge by foot, horse, quad or truck? Did you sit and wait, still hunt, spot in stalk? I was in the same area for those dates. Weather wise it was more snow and colder than normal. Top crust snow, sunny and dead calm made for tougher conditions hunting timber whitetails. We saw plenty of does everyday but the buck sightings were down a bit.

Yeah the snow was all frozen, all week with no new snow to soften footsteps. It was impossible to move without everything within 500 yards hearing you.
We would have breakfast at about 4:30 and then roll out in an SUV with a trailer and two quads. We'd park and either hike in before sunlight and setup on a spot(s), or drive in somewhere on the quads and then finish the approach on foot. We'd glass for 2 hours or so, which is about all we could handle before we had to get up and move due to the cold.
We'd break for lunch at some point, which was as much about moving to generate heat as it was eating food. We'd discuss evening plans and evening sit locations and then go get set up, often in multiple locations to cover more ground. Most of my evenings I was solo, and enjoyed a handful of really nice sunsets by myself before hiking out in the dark.

I got the read that we were the only group that was doing much hiking to our spots, and a lot of the other guys were in stands or blinds, but they had as much luck as we did.

[vandeman17]

Not to thread jack but for 2023, I can send you and your wife to a few spots that you guys can likely kill deer if you are willing to sit in a stand. Hit me up in the summer if interested

[outdooraddict]

to each their own and its your $, and you justified the spending for a multitude of reasons, in addition, you seem pleased with the experience minus the harvest and deer sightings.  nobody asked my opinon, but its the internet and ill spout off anyways, but there is no way personally i would drop that $ on a whitetail hunt.  there is so much public access in idaho/ northern idaho that you could have done exactly what they had you do (ride quads and sit and glass), and you could have bought a quad, stayed in a hotel and fed yourself for that cost and got to keep the quad.  im glad your pleased with some of the experience, but 10k to me is a lot of money at this stage of my life and i personally think you got ripped off.  one thing you have going for yourself, is the outlook your giving it. you are pleased with the lodging and food, and accommodations, and it seems you know that you were hunting, not "shooting".  i wish you hunting success in the future and if you choose a guided hunt again, i hope you have a better experience

[dilleytech]

I would be really nice and polite too if I was robbing people. I’m curious do they let you actually hike and hunt at all or do they force you to sit in blinds?

[Rainier10]

Was the $10k for two hunters and the tip or one hunter and a companion? If it was a $4.5k hunt and both of you were hunting and gave a $1k tip I’m not sure you overpaid especially with your description of service provided that they could control.

[ljsommer]

Was the $10k for two hunters and the tip or one hunter and a companion? If it was a $4.5k hunt and both of you were hunting and gave a $1k tip I’m not sure you overpaid especially with your description of service provided that they could control.

That was two hunters and the tip. Thanks for validating the pricing. To answer a previous question, yes we got to hike and hunt all day.

[baldopepper]

I might add this seemed like a bit of an odd year for deer all over the northwest.  We've hunted the same basic area for over 20 years and some years the deer were there and other years they weren't. Whitetail this year were found scattered in the area and not in some areas that normally have good numbers.  I suspect it had a lot to do with the exceptionally long dry summer.  Early rifle hunt was a bust for most, with some claiming to not see a single whitetail or mulie buck. During the late hunt mule deer bucks were everywhere.  Guess what I'm implieing  is that perhaps you just had the bad luck of hitting a bad year.  Sounds like the outfitters worked hard and treated you well, but some years are just that way. Doesn't excuse the no response to your post hunt inquiry, but unless it's a high fence or ultra private property hunt there are never any guarantees of success.

[huntnfmly]

My daughters and I have done several guided hunts and the price you paid is just about the same we paid  across the board
We’ve had success and we have gone home empty handed but always enjoyed the hunt and the experience as it sounds like you did.
Sorry you feel mislead as a few on here have mentioned it sounds like a weird and unfortunate weather situation and it is hunting after all it does happen
So enjoy the next one👍

[ljsommer]

Absolutely, couldn't agree more with that sentiment. Believe me, after 5 or or so years of "hunting" (it may be a stretch to use that word but I'll use it anyway) I have grown very accustomed to not harvesting animals, but I think the idea was that I would at least get to have encounters/opportunities. I can "not see" animals at home, for free, so to drop that kind of money you want to at least see some deer. Even seeing a beautiful buck 1,000 yards away would've been nice.

But as you say, that's hunting and that's how it goes.

[huntnfmly]

Hope my post didn’t come off as oh well deal with it that was not my intention I definitely understand and have had the same frustration
The next one will be better 👍

[buckfvr]

It should be incredibly simple for an outfitter to provide current trail cam pics of the area he intends for you to hunt, complete with animals, velvet bucks etc..  Conditions change year to year and you cannot rely on things to remain the same, and its easy for me to imagine an outfitter stuck in/on past hunts from a few years ago that dont represent this year and probably not next year either.

It would take an awful lot of persuasion for me to drop 5k for an "animal less" hunt experience.

[Bob33]

Here's a review with some similar concerns expressed although they are from 15 years ago.

https://www.nexthunt.com/Shattuck-Creek-Outfitters/4745

[trophyhunt]

My moose guide was only 3,500, same with his whitetail hunts, it sure seems like you over paid by a bit.  I can see 180-200" whitetails going for over 5k but that should be guaranteeing at least you see one, an opportunity is always what a guide is after, and for that kind of money, an opportunity should happen. 

[Karl Blanchard]

Few things that's stuck out to me when I visited their website. Almost none of those bucks are over 130" and most all those pics seem very "dated".  The clothes and gear scream late 90's/early 2000's. I could be wrong but I bet I'm not.

[HntnFsh]

I think as mentioned. It was probably a bad year for deer. But the outfitter and guides had to have known that and been upfront about it. Shady to me, as far as deer expectations from their website.

I know of one well known outfitter on here that mentioned cutting trips etc. Because of low numbers. That's the right thing to do!

[Sundance]

My takeaway for what it’s worth: the guide advertised a 90% success rate, the group of 6 hunters for your stay posted a 16.6% success rate. That’s a drop of 73.4%, pretty significant in my eyes. For a shortfall that drastic I’d hope the outfitter would offer some type of return visit/discount.

[ljsommer]

Hope my post didn’t come off as oh well deal with it that was not my intention I definitely understand and have had the same frustration
The next one will be better 👍

Nope not at all and I appreciate your input! I hope I've been clear that I was very impressed by the folks that worked there and their facilities. Great group of hardworking people. I just think they need to update what they're trying to sell.

[ljsommer]

Here's a review with some similar concerns expressed although they are from 15 years ago.

https://www.nexthunt.com/Shattuck-Creek-Outfitters/4745

I can verify at least some of this.
"The so called guides drop you off at designated stands/blinds and leave you there for the day. These stands/blinds appear to be placed in the same locations year after year." - that part was accurate for most of the hunters in camp. That was definitely NOT my personal experience, as my guide was very active with us all day long. However, at dinner we'd talk about our days and almost everyone there was dropped off at a stand and just sat there all day. Again I don't know if that's typical or appropriate, just relating what I was told at dinner by the other hunters.

[ljsommer]

Few things that's stuck out to me when I visited their website. Almost none of those bucks are over 130" and most all those pics seem very "dated".  The clothes and gear scream late 90's/early 2000's. I could be wrong but I bet I'm not.

As I mentioned, my guide was the owner's son. He told us that they hadn't done any whitetail guided hunts in 5 years, and that this year they decided to update their website which drew in more traffic. Two of those pictures are of the guide's sons and their deer. Many of those pictures may indeed be old, but at least one of them is from this season, and the story isn't great:

(told to us by our guide) After dropping off a hunter at a location, the owner and his son were heading back to camp and saw a good buck walking down a fireroad and the owner told his son to shoot it. This seemed weird to me as you'd think that dropping that buck meant less opportunity for your hunters, during the hunt they'd paid for. I didn't comment as I don't know if that's normal or not.

[Buckhunter24]

Here's a review with some similar concerns expressed although they are from 15 years ago.

https://www.nexthunt.com/Shattuck-Creek-Outfitters/4745

I can verify at least some of this.
"The so called guides drop you off at designated stands/blinds and leave you there for the day. These stands/blinds appear to be placed in the same locations year after year." - that part was accurate for most of the hunters in camp. That was definitely NOT my personal experience, as my guide was very active with us all day long. However, at dinner we'd talk about our days and almost everyone there was dropped off at a stand and just sat there all day. Again I don't know if that's typical or appropriate, just relating what I was told at dinner by the other hunters.

For what its worth thats how I hunt whitetails is sit all day. Sounds boring but my success rate went way way up. I think I must be louder than I think when walking because still hunting whitetails has not produced much for me. I can see that being off putting on a guided hunt though

[huntnfmly]

Hope my post didn’t come off as oh well deal with it that was not my intention I definitely understand and have had the same frustration
The next one will be better 👍

Nope not at all and I appreciate your input! I hope I've been clear that I was very impressed by the folks that worked there and their facilities. Great group of hardworking people. I just think they need to update what they're trying to sell.

👍

[baldopepper]

So here's the dilemma I used to run salmon charters, there were periods where the fish weren't there and I knew that trips were probably going to be a bust before I ever left the dock.  It was not my sole source of income, so I was able to tell my customers before hand that fishing was very slow and gave them the option of canceling. Some went anyway because they mostly just wanted a day on the water. Some of my fellow charter captains had no other source of income and were not anxious to write off those days or weeks when fishing was poor. Not sure it was ethical, but they had bills to pay and worked hard to catch fish for their customers. They had pictures and happy customer references, but rarely any from the current time period.  Not saying for sure that this applies in this situation, but with limited seasons  I suspect some outfitters are reluctant to chase away clients even knowing hunting is very slow.  Not sure how to get around this as a client, but I'm sure it does happen

[trophyhunt]

I think as mentioned. It was probably a bad year for deer. But the outfitter and guides had to have known that and been upfront about it. Shady to me, as far as deer expectations from their website.

I know of one well known outfitter on here that mentioned cutting trips etc. Because of low numbers. That's the right thing to do!

That is exactly what our moose guide did, we were scheduled for Oct 8-14 this year. But because it was slow and hot out, he suggested coming back in mid Nov.  he said he could take our money and drive around in that early season, but he wanted us to have the best chance at killing a good bull. He had my trust after that, it was the right thing to do.

[Stein]

Whitetails aren't salmon, they have a home range of what, a square mile?  They should have a reasonable idea of what animals are on the properties they have access to long before you arrive.  Whether or not you see those is up to the deer, but for a bunch of people to all go out and hunt hard and nobody sees anything would suggest there wasn't anything to see.

I would be disappointed, but it is what it is and sounds like you had a good time.