Newly Sponsoring BOWSITE
Mule Deer
Welcome Love the passion Always special if you can hunt with the guy who is laying it all on the line
Welcome and thanks. You always add a lot.
Love to see guys take a chance on themselves. Way to go!
It takes lots of guts to quit a secure job and start a business, I know, I did it myself. I had the same thoughts you did, if these guys can do it, then I can do it better.
It says a lot about your business integrity if most of your customers are repeats, because nearly everybody can find something to bitch about on a guided hunt. Good luck and welcome to Bowsite as a sponsor.
Neat story. Congrats on your success.
Congrats, you look like your living your life to the fullest. Your a lifes story should be a inspiration to others. Ed
Thanks for being a sponsor
Congratulations. Nice to see a owner operator on here who cares and is passionate
Just a quick question. Since you do all your own guiding especially in Alaska how many hunters do you take every fall up there? Do you guide bow hunters primarily?
Good for you
Welcome aboard,
Robb
What is the cost of an Alaska moose hunt these days
Cost for both.. guided and unguided and do you provide the camp for unguided hunters?
What are the moose antler restrictions on the unguided hunt? 50" + / 4 brow tines?
Can you post some pictures of the top end bulls in the area?
You certainly have some valuable time. 750 per man to sit in on a 6-8hr seminar. Pretty nice gig i guess.
$31,500 for moose?!? wowzers.
Seems to me he is staying busy and people are happy with his service . That’s what matters in business to me. Best of luck and keep hammering . Hunt
Tremendous bulls. Congrats to the hunters.
I'm with you, Hunt. Supply and demand.
I bet if he reached up and tickled that right nut in a counterclockwise direction he would have turn broadside!
They call that the “newfi nudge” Hunt. ;)
—Jim
Huh, he hangs lower on the left. Must be a lefty. On a serious note, I thinks its awesome you followed your dream of becoming a guide. Well done sir.
What is the historical success rate of those that do the one day session and those that skip it. 750 Sounds Like money well spent at that point but there should be stats to support it
Great Moose picture and information. On the Alaska hunts are you the Registered Guide in your own areas or working under another’s License. Looks like you are successful and staying busy. I went through the process of obtaining my Registered Guides License as a Non Resident years ago. Haven’t guided up there in years but great to hear the story’s good luck.
80-90% opportunity on legal unguided AK moose is fantastic. You seem to have cracked the code somehow. Quite a value.
No one got arrested for shooting a 49" bull.
There's a big difference between CITED or TICKETED and ARRESTED. Nick is right. People don't get arrested for a 49" moose if they turn themselves in unless they did something else in addition to that.
Thank you Quinn. Willy may not understand the importance of word usage when posting stuff on the internet. No one is being arrested for shooting a 49" bull as Willy suggests.
Willie If I had a great area, and was turning away hunters for it, and I was getting guys who went through the class 3X the opportunities and 5-10X the sightings honestly I would not call it optional.
I would want those guys and those stats to be my references and the heck with the cheap ass guys who wanted to save $750 and then become references who would, on average given your stats, report out 1/3 the action and only 10-20% of the sightings.
Why don't you just mandate it, make the extra $750, and have higher success rates across the board.
This thread has been very informative. I've learned a lot of things.
1. Willie is the Best mule deer and moose outfitter there is because he guides his own clients. His self calculated success rate speaks for itself. Just ask him.
2. You need to pay Willie $750 for a 6 hour course to learn why he's the best and how he thinks you should hunt moose in order to be successful on his DIY moose hunts in AK.
3. Your family gets accused of having "run-ins with the law on a frequent basis" if you happen to understand the english language and in particular the difference between being arrested and receiving a ticket. ( It's apparent to the "normal people" that Willie was simply self promoting himself in trying to scare people that don't take his class to thinking they would be ARRESTED for a 49" moose)
What if the person's family comes from law enforcement don't you think they may understand the difference between an arrest and a ticket or is it only the outlaws you make these accusations against?
4. Willie comes across as the most arrogant person I've seen on Bowsite in 18 years. At least TBM was funny.
I could be off base. Willie may be a good guy in person. It does seem that everyone who's ever hunted with him is now a return client and friend according to him.
Good luck Willie in your moose hunts. Hopefully you'll have internet access up in AK so you can educate us all even while you're putting big bulls on the ground for your return customers.
Couldn't have said it better myself!
One thing great respectable people have in common is they don’t go around telling people how great they are. TBM was a funny dude though wasn’t he!
Mule Power, does Willie know you are a guide in the state of Montana for Elk?? Are you still... if not why not?? Lets hear your story!!
Mule do you guide all your own hunters? :) If you don't you really should.
Another thing I learned about Willie's buck hunters after looking at photos on his website. They all have really long arms....
This site runs on sponsors let’s keep that in mind
This site also as an uncanny ability to sift through the BS.
And can be definitely entertaining lol
I haven’t outfitted since 2012. In the 12 years I did we had unlimited elk and deer licenses. Then came the wolves. The unit my user permit authorized me to outfit in was 250. It turned out to be the one and only unit that suffered cutbacks in licenses. First our deer went to a limited quota draw. That hurt but I could handle it. But then the number of elk tags was set at 25. With a 10% limit on non residents that meant that there was a max of 2 licenses available. No way to continue a business under those circumstances.
I loved guiding. Most guys were great people to spend a week with. I’m still friends with lots of my clients. I’m hunting with two of them in Wyoming this year. I was set to hunt bears in Saskatchewan with two next year but they can’t make it. A few of my guides are my hunting partners these days. I had a good run but the wolf huggers with the help of judge Malloy won that battle in the end.
Quinn I missed your point! Lol I dud lots of guiding myself. More before my business grew. After that I had ti be the hub of a bigger wheel so not as much. But I was always in camp. I would help guides and semi guided hunters with their plans each evening so everyone was set the next morning. Then I would take turns each say and spend a day in the field with each hunter or pair of hunters. In the beginning I wanted to be everywhere at all times. But I was lucky in getting some stand up guys to work for me and learned to have faith in them. Just because I had the outfitters license didn’t mean I was a better hunter than the next guy. Elk hunting is a demanding thing and a big part of my job was to keep spirits up and make sure everyone including my guides got what they were promised. That’s easy if you don’t make promises you can’t keep.
I second what Grant says.... but who am I!!! No need to bash a new sponsor, let the hundreds of thousand's of bowsiters and lurkers decide for themselves. Looks unprofessional.
I remember what Pat said many moons ago.... some outfitters are new to the internet. Might not know how to act or react or advertise right on the internet. Maybe not know how to handle negative reports. LOL... in 2009 I was one of them, he was probably talking about me. I finally became a sponsor in 2014. I guess you can call it initiation into Bowsite sponsorship.
Lets not act like a BUNCH OF SCHOOL GIRLS and maybe welcome and help him prosper in the New Bowsite World.
Wellcome to Bowsite Tdvorac, Bowsite is actually an AWESOME place to talk about your business!!!
Nobody is bashing anyone.
You might want to consider some paragraph breaks in your posts. I have no idea what you are talking about and have no interest in even trying to read that mess. Maybe I’m a jerk, but I know ALOT of guys on here who feel similar...
—Jim
FWIW, I'm glad your business is doing well. So well, hopefully these threads don't take up to much of your limited time.
Wow, just wow! I’m at a loss for words for once. You ARE the guide who forgot their meds!
I bet your phone is ringing off the hook with Bowsiters after that rant. LOL.
Maybe employ the 24 hour rule before posting.
Good luck and thanks for being a sponsor.
I'm out. I'll probably just find the quiet outfitter that lets his clients and trophy pics speak for themselves...
The fact willie provides every prospective client the contact info for every hunter for the prior year is truly unique and telling. you can’t make that up. Very transparent. .
Jealous guys. I’m so jealous. Of Willy.
I’m just curious, has anyone interested in one of Willie’s hunts received a list of names/numbers of the 160 clients he personally guided last year?
Willie (or Tom, I still feel like I'm missing something here),
I don't know you personally, so I make no judgments to the validity of your business claims or your guiding abilities . You and I have have shared a few back and forth emails and I've read everything you've sent. (Still waiting on the list of unguided moose clients you were to send, I'm sure its on the way)...LOTS of info, mostly detailing your abilities as a guide/outfitter, not so much about verifiable success rates of your DIY moose hunters. Would like to better understand those stats....
Aside from that, as a prospective client, I find there is a larger hole in your business plan. Your claim to "fame" is that you personally guide every single hunter that books with you. I believe you said you guided 166 last year alone. That is incredible! You must maintain an incredible level of physical conditioning and an amazingly healthy lifestyle to roll at that pace for 6 months/year!!
And that may be the biggest flag as I see it. What is your backup plan, if I am rolling in hot from the east coast to meet you for the moose hunt I've planned for 2 years, you've already spent my non refundable under any circumstances $15,750.00 deposit, I'm committed and have sacrificed 2 weeks income as I am also self employed and there is NO way to rewind at this point.......and I land in Anchorage to find out that you've come down with pneumonia, been bitten by a bear, have twisted your ankle in an alder bog, or the Alaska wilderness, as it sometimes does, has simply erased you? Since you have referred to all other guides as incompetent (see mid rant in your last post above), who will I be hunting with in your absence? Your stance on the abilities of ANY other guide has certainly alienated anyone within earshot or possessing basic literacy skills, so I feel like there may not be a vetted Plan B in place. Same would apply if I was coming in for a drop hunt with your outfit, as it seems you maintain a strangle hold on the logistical end of these trips as well, which would jeopardize my abilities to implement the wisdom and moose hunting wizardry imparted to me during the other day of income I sacrificed, when I paid $750 for my virtual moose hunting academy session.
All that to say that building your business around the fact (self proclaimed) that YOU are the only reason and option for any of your clients potential for success, is not, in the thought process of THIS business owner, the way to operate and promote a sustainable business model. I can take 2 weeks off without a hitch in my business because I have built a team of amazing, empowered people that don't need me over their shoulder or barking orders to make them (and me) successful. I don't show up, business as usual. That is simplified, but its the truth.
You sir, have NO business if you are even slightly removed from any of it. For that reason, like they say on Shark Tank, I'm Out.
Still curious if you are Registered guide outfitter in AK or operating under anothers License. It would be very important for the Bowsite Group to understand the difference. At one time I guided over 200 days a year and held my own Registered Guide Outfitter License #962. Great time in my life for sure but couldn’t imagine that pace today.
I’m trying to figure out how 1 man guides 160 clients a year- even if it’s 1:3 that is over 52 weeks of guiding.
Then wondering if he is turning away so many potential clients because he has so much return business, why does he even need to advertise?
Then, after reading his posts on here, wondering why anybody would want to hunt with this man?!
I'm trying to figure out if the deer hunters posing in those photos with South Dakota bucks also needed a North Dakota hunting license to sit that far behind them?
The fact that silly Willy provides contacts of previous hunters would be very transparent, but it doesn’t seem that that’s the case judging by the guys asking for it but not getting it. But in any case thanks much again for sponsoring the forum.
Willie....I think the biggest issue guys on here are having is with you and your posts are all of the self aggrandizement and chest thumping going on.
My Dad always told me “if there’s any bragging to be done on ya, somebody else will do it.”......Maybe you should be a little bit more like the “T” in your last name. (silent).........Good luck on your business.
Good point t-roy. Anyone else think it’s a little troublesome that of all the 160 plus hunters Willie has self guided to SUPER AWESOME UNBELIEVABLY SUCCESSFUL hunts (and that’s just in the last year, alone), none of these guys have weighed in here to support all of his self promoted “Best-In-The-World” outfitter/guide claims. ?
What we have instead is a grand total of Willie’s proclamations, and two photos; one of two hunters (no idea if they are archery?) with a big bull and a good bull, and another pic of some Moose testicles. That’s it. (Oh, a bear skull now, too. Bow kill Willie?).
On the other hand, we have at least one well known and credible long-time poster that, in considering a hunt, asked for references that Willie has promised to supply, ad nauseam, and has not delivered.
And of course, we have all of Willie’s personal attacks on anyone that dares to point out that his credibility is in question.
And this ridiculous notion of “sponsor immunity” simply does not wash. I get that the site is free for users, and sponsorship makes that possible, but sponsorship does not give someone a pass to mislead even a free/unpaid audience.
I would be very surprised if this outfitter had anywhere near the 160 plus past year client references he’s promised to supply. I don’t believe he’s being honest here and the simple fact that he’s paying Pat doesn’t make it right. In fact, it makes it worse.
So, we already have confirmation of at least one credible member who never got the promised reference list he requested, but I’ll ask my question again; has anyone received a list of names/numbers of all 160 plus clients that Willie self guided on SUPER AWESOME UNBELIEVABLE SUCCESSFUL hunts this past season?
Am I the only one getting 10 nasty messages per day? But no time to send those references.....
Never used the outfitter and dont nnow the gentlemen but im not sure why hes catching such a hard time for self promoting his own business. If your the owner and guide i think thats cool, id promote it too. Maybe he's in a kick @$$ area. If he's talking him self up that much try him out, let the bowsiters vet him out & figure out if he's selling snake oil or maybe he's that damn good. Im not sure about all the boasting etc but i dont think he's getting a fair shake on here either. Good luck this season & thanks for sponsoring bowsite.
Mule Power
I believe you BUT if that's true "Willy" has stooped to a new low
Whomever advised him on how to market his business on the internet, probably should be fired. His method is a 100% disaster
I’ve also received numerous rambling and delusional pm’s from Slick Willie. I’m actually starting to feel a little sorry for the guy. I think he needs some help.
Busta
Willie has been busy. Pathetic
I am in the same boat as Busta and Mule, several pretty strange PM's.
Multiple comical PM’s from Willie here too.
Hancock why don’t you take one for the team and book a 31K moose hunt based on his business model displayed here? Then report back please.
He is certainly doing a top rate job of painting a disturbing picture of himself.
Quinn - I wouldnt spend that on any hunt at this point in my life but i have no problem with him charging that. If thats his business model and it works thats fantastic. Ive got nothing to gain from this but im just saying theres far more assuming and guess work going on with all these posts rather than cold hard facts thru experience with this outfitter. Maybe it would have made you guys more happy if he would have come out and said my outfit sucks, im overpriced and im a bad guide. C'mon man!
By looking at the Facebook page there are far more prarie dog and buffalo hunters than anything else. I counted like 4 different moose kills in last 5 years. Not many for a expert moose guide!
I got a long rant/message too. Didn’t answer any of my questions though.
The new hot topic on bowsite
Some nice deer on the website. Interesting read
Any guided xbow hunters? I’d like some PMs
Lol, I wondered when this thread would blow up!.. ^^ I totally agree with Quinn@work’s recap of the thread.
Tdvorak, thanks again for being a sponsor.. I think your best bet at this point would be to post lots of big moose pics from all the feverishly loyal customers.. pictures speak a thousand words... and you should have lots of pics since you’re there personally for every kill!
that is an excellent buffalo
I've gotten a nasty PM too. Apparently I'm jealous.
Nick, I don't really think I have a reason to be jealous of Willies moose hunting do I?
This place is starting to act like the far left twitter mob. Bunch of fakenews & NO FACTS.
So... have a missed something, or is TBM an outfitter now???
I'm feeling awesome rowdiness...................or is it rowdy awesomeness?
How about some more moose pics?
Do you do any Alaska caribou hunts currently or is the focus just moose
That is a nice looking Buff-------->
Good luck, Robb
Gotta love the off season.....
The best part is after a hard day of hunting he can sing you Willie Nelson songs.
