Hope you find yourself well. I wanted to talk to you on the phone but we keep playing phone
tag. I understand you just got back from a hunt, hope it went well. The reason I am writing is because unfortunately I had a
very unpleasant experience hunting with Kevin's outfit. When I arrived at Whitehorse I was greeted by Katie, very nice lady
who had taken me to the hotel and later the next morning to the plane. The first day I arrived at camp with 2 other hunters
at approximately 10am, the guide I was assigned to, Dan, did not want to trail out that day, he had me waste one day of hunting
because he was just coming back from a hunt with Diana, the editor of Sports Afield, whom I had the pleasure of meeting. Because
he was just getting back, he was not ready for me. Day 1, wasted.
During conversation, Dan had commented that most hunters leave back home after 3 days of hunting because of the high physical demands
this sort of hunt requires. Total negativity on the part of my guide. On day 2, Dan had asked me what my primary hunt was, which was moose. He knew that I had tags
for sheep, black bear, and moose. He wanted me to hunt sheep first. I again made clear to him that I wanted a moose. Not listening
to my request, he took me to Cottonridge or Cottonwood, an area that was good for sheep hunting. This trailing was approximately
4 hours with 6 horses I had to help him pack and unpack every time
we set up a spike camp. I didn't buy a job, I bought a hunt that cost $20300.00. Setting up camp is no problem, it's my camp
too. But Kevin should have had a keeper to help him pack and unpack the horses, as well as feeding them. Again, all of this
wasted precious hunting time. Also, no preseason scouting was done to ensure that I would even see a moose. I'm not suggesting how an outfit should be run, but if I'm going on a moose hunt,
my guide should at least know where the moose are. Upon setting up our first spike camp, we climbed a ridge which took us approximately 45 minutes. It was
about 6:00 PM. After glassing for 15 minutes, the guide suggested we walk back to camp to start making dinner because there
was nothing there. Speaking of which, he was never informed of my special dietary request, which you, Kevin, and I agreed
upon. Dan told me that he was never made aware that I had made such a request. Right then and there, we had a problem; Dan
had packed food that I had to pass up and settle for something else. Dan should have contacted Kevin via satellite phone and
addressed the food issue and had Kevin fly in the food to base camp. Day 3, we left camp at about 6:00 AM. After riding for about 8 hours and looking for a
place to glass, Dan felt and suggested that we pick up our first spike camp and go back to base camp that night. The reason
for that was to go on the jet boat to a river that was at the end of the lake. He explained that it was good moose country.
I'm being lead along on good faith in that my guide knows what he's doing. We trailed back to base camp and arrived at 12:00
AM. I helped Dan unpack the horses and went to sleep for less than 4 hours; I was up again at 5:00 AM to help Dan pack the
horses. Day 4, the river expedition
turned out to be another physically and mentally exhausting wild goose chase that ended with us getting stuck in a sandbar
for several hours because he didn't know how shallow the water was. It was then that he confessed that he had never actually been there. He'd seen it from a distance while hunting sheep, but had never
physically been there. At this point, I had to jump out of the boat and help Dan push it off the sandbar, getting myself and
my hunting clothes soaking wet. I asked Dan to please take me back to camp, where we would discuss what our next location
would be. Prior to arriving at base camp, I asked the pilot who flew me in what areas had good moose activity. Being a pilot
myself, I knew he would have good insight on the subject since he's constantly flying over the country and can look down from
a good vantage point. The pilot mentioned Jojo Lake. Being that every other place Dan had taken me to had zero moose activity,
I suggested we go there. Day 5, 5:00 AM, we packed and trailed to out to Jojo Lake, for 10 hours.
We arrived at the southern tip of Jojo Lake, unpacked, and camped. No hunting. Again, day wasted. Day 6, 5:00 AM, we packed and trailed to Jojo North, another 6 hours. We arrived in the late afternoon, unpacked,
and set up camp. Just remember the time wasted every time we must pack the horses, this is not part of the trail ride. Day 7, 5:00 AM, we hunted! Finally! After climbing to approximately 5,000 feet, I get a chance
to sit and glass at the willows and woods below. It was then that we located some cows and a shooter bull ( maybe 50") at
about 1,500 yards. Dan and I agreed that I would attempt to take this bull. Unfortunately, Dan refused to secure the horses
at that location and take me down to stalk the bull, citing that he did not want to walk back up to retrieve the horses. He
decided to bring the horses with us on our "stalk", spooking the herd. At this point, I was so frustrated with Dan and his
guiding abilities that I completely gave up on him and the hunt and wanted to return to Whitehorse. It was at this time that
he called Kevin and stated that I requested to a plane fly in to JOJO north to pick me up. I never spoke to Kevin about this
nor have I contacted him yet. He does know that I was upset. I met up at the Westmark with one of the other hunters who had already done what I did, left camp back to
the hotel and left his son behind hunting with his guide, his words we're " Julio I'm tired of packing and unpacking horses"
That's not what I came here for. His name is Earl. He spoke very highly about Kevin and has hunted with him before, but he
said never like this. I hope his son got a sheep, I can only imagine if he didn't. All
this being said, I feel that Kevin, professional as he is, should address this issue and make amends somehow. I leave this
matter in your hands and look forward to speaking with you soon. Let me know that if you feel I should lose $20300.00 for
lack of performance and professionalism?
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