Know Anything About Olympic Mountain Outfitters?

[Alan K]

I agree, it's amazing how many would pay to hunt in Washington.

With all the public land this state has to offer, harvesting a deer doesn't take much effort.

 

[NorthAmBigGameHuntersFoun]

I am sad to say that I just returned from a 5 day rifle hunt in November of 2011 and none of the 5 of us got an elk.  Only one person saw a bull.  One of our group never even saw an elk.  Although 4 of us paid for a fully guided hunt, we did not have a guide.  In fact, the man who drove me to my stand the first day had no clue where to park despite it being on his sister's farm.  The semi guided hunter in our group never was not even given a map and certainly had no guide.  This is more accurately described as unguided and semi guided hunt.  The facilities are deplorable and an electrical fire hazzard.  The porta-potty was so full there was a legitimate concern that the next time it was used it may be hitting you as you go.  I hunt 2 to 3 big game hunts a year.  This ranks amongst the worst 2 I have ever taken.  I would never consider returning nor would I recommend this camp to anyone.  Even if I Had tagged a trophy bull, the hunt would still have been miserable.

[bobcat]

Thanks for posting your review of this outfitter. I have read other bad reviews on them as well. This is very helpful for others who may be considering going on a guided elk hunt.

[JoeE]

Yikes! We need to spread the word about this outfit.

[mobius_ember@yahoo.com]

I went with Olympic Mountain Outfitters for a guided hunt this 2024 Elk season. It is run by Mike Vaughn, originally out of Elm, currently out of Kansas. He comes in to town for the hunting Seasons. He runs his hunts out of a local Centralia Motel(King Oscar), he provides a room, simple meals(breakfast sandwich), packed lunch, and prepares dinner each day out of a large hotel room. Simple accommodations…He has access to 100 acre lot in the Chehalis River Valley (46.49094, -123.11318), the lot has tree stands, blinds,…mixed terrain. It is bordered by private properties to the North and South, to the West is private Weyerhaeuser forest, to the East is public accessible Sierra Pacific forest. Apparently there are several herds that frequent the valley…
For guided it is 6k$, unguided 3.5k$…

I was told there was a herd of 40 Elk, with 6 shootable bulls seen in the neighbors property and headed their way. I signed up for a guided hunt, wanting the highest chance to be put on Elk and have shot opportunity…I was taken to the property pointed out the stand/blind locations, pockets and fields to check. Each day provided a motel room, breakfast, packed lunch, then essentially dropped off at the property…picked up when ready, and advised to “shoot straight”. To this guy, that was a guided hunt.

I never saw an Elk, nor Elk sign…not even in the greater valley…I asked did he have access to other leases…”No”…I asked about access or intel on other areas/opportunities…he seemed to have little to no knowledge about other opportunities…

The guy is wrapped up in his “social conquests” and conspiracy theories based, flat-earth life…which was non stop…and has no focus on contributing to the hunt success of his clients. I did not get the guided hunt experience I paid for… I expected him to know where Elk were, guide me to opportunities, and if no Elk, cover ground... BTW, if he has other hunters, you will be another hunter sharing 100 acre lot…While I was there, there was a guy with his 2 sons, and a young Marine also hunting the property…This was an expensive and disappointing experience and a mistake …it was top dollar paid, for a minimum delivered experience…

Avoid this business…avoid this person…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HntnFsh]

Wow!

[Fidelk]

There are elk in that area.......pretty much all on private land. The tipoff to the ripoff was "access to 100 acre lot". I would be very surprised if there wasn't a certain amount of poaching and trespassing going on in that area.

[HntnFsh]

92 acre spot. The timber company land in that area gets a lot of pressure. Some of the farmers used to harvest elk out of their fields in the area. You would have to hope they either got pushed into that spot or just wandered through at the right time. Just like all of S.W. Washington those herds got hammered by hoof rot and cow tags and are a shadow of what they used to be. Sucks you had to experience what you did.

Just reading his introduction on his website would make me or probably anybody else with a little knowledge about the area pretty skeptical.

[actionshooter]

Wow! That is unreal!!

[elkrack]

I thought I was reading a review of that D-bag from Graham

[MADMAX]

I thought I was reading a review of that D-bag from Graham

Does sound like the same *censored*'

[duckmen1]

I thought I was reading a review of that D-bag from Graham

Does sound like the same *censored*'

Graham unnamed guide is  even worse.

[Sundance]

Vetting guided hunts is a tough process. I was looking into a quick Texas hunt for this winter and found a guy that seemed alright. After digging for a couple hours online I found that this particular guide had two different websites and years of horrible reviews. Anymore it's hard to go on a guided hunt unless you know somebody that has used that service before or comes on a recommendation from a reputable source. Sorry to hear about your experience, tough lesson to learn. I'd suggest reaching out to Dale from Bearpaw (site owner) in the future, even if it's just for recommendations to areas he doesn't guide. Sadly, there are plenty of scam outfitters running out of WA, usually doing a deep dive into the owners name will reveal all the details you need to know.

[Stein]

Sounds like this website claim isn't true?

Our private land leases, located in areas literally infested with elk and deer

Real bummer and sorry to hear about.  I've only hired a guide once and had a similar experience although at a much lower cost. 

[Sundance]

Never really though of it until now, but is there a section on the site for reviews of outfitters? Might be nice to search hunts/locations where a fellow member has been before and able to give some insight.