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Wildside Exotic Adventures McMinnville TN

Guest Matthew

By Guest Matthew
in Hunting and Fishing

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Guest Matthew

Guest Matthew

Posted
Posted

I am leaving a personal OPINION of this place and I wanted to share MY experience with this business for the other members on the board.

I got approached by a really nice guy at work about going on a “canned†hog hunt. He said we needed to come up with $50 to get a permit to go on the land and do some hog hunting. It was $100 fee if we shot a “management hog†meaning one that was under 100 lbs. He said he had spoken to the operator and it was a good situation. My friend felt really positive about all of us being able to leave that day with a hog. After speaking with him I was convinced we were going to be able to do some good hunting and more importantly have a good time.

I decided that I was going to pay the $50 and join my group of friends on this hog hunt. This sounded good enough that the day prior I decided to drive to McMinnville and spend the night. I drove up there and spent the night in a place called the Scottish Inn. Not a bad place for a low budget type operation. The owner was nice, the rooms were clean and it was close to some dining and entertainment. I was pleased with that part of the trip.

We were supposed to meet up with the owner of the hunting preserve the next morning in the parking lot of the local Wal-Mart at 8AM. We were waiting, and waiting, and waiting. He finally showed up close to 9am. He stated that he had a blowout on the way there and had to change his tire. He might have. I can’t say for sure. I know I was a little displeased at the waiting. I figured we’d burnt the morning already and we were in for a long day.

We get to the place and I was getting a little happier about being out in the woods. The guy tells us AFTER we got there so late that hogs are more of a nocturnal animal and that they wouldn’t likely be up and moving until after 3PM but he encouraged us to be patient and stay alert. He also said if the hogs didn’t get moving he would release the dogs to get them stirred up. He started to place us in stands after we got there. I finally got into a tree stand at 9:45 AM. When he left the stand that he placed me in he said that he would be by periodically. I was a little concerned about the stand placement as well. My shots would have been cramped and at close quarters. The trees and brush were so thick that anything else I let go of would have tumbled because it would have hit tree limbs. Just not the greatest situation for trying to get a shot on a moving animal.

I waited and of course stayed alert. I saw a mockingbird and I entertained myself by watching a squirrel for a while. After that I sat and sat, and sat some more and heard and saw NOTHING. About 1PM (3 + hours on a very uncomfortable tree stand) I got tired of seeing nothing so I tracked back to the parking area and grabbed a book. I hiked back into the stand area and I ran into a few of the other hunters on the way there. I asked if they had seen or heard anything and the five I spoke with hadn’t heard a thing. I didn’t hear any gunshots during this time either. Four of the hunters were getting ready to leave at this time. They decided to pack it in and go back to the house. I decided to get back to the stand and sit some more. I regret that decision. I should have had the sense to leave at 1PM with those guys.

About 3PM I finally see our guide. He comes through and asked me if I had seen anything. I indicated that I hadn’t. He was encouraging and positive about the hogs on his property and he told me they were working the land and trying to get some hogs moving. They were beating the thickets. I started to think this guy was full of fecal material and I walked a good portion of the property. I was looking for wallows, tracks and scat. I didn’t see any. I walked probably for an hour scouting and didn’t see jack. I got into some thick brush and some other areas trying to see what I could see and……….nothing.

I decided this guy and this “hunting experience†was a bunch of porcine excrement and I packed it in. I BS’ed the guy when I first got there. Told him I had never been hog hunting because I wanted to see what he had to say and what he was going to do. The only thing that I see that he did right was TALK about getting the dogs into the property. In S. Florida we’d get dogs to get the hogs out of the palmettos and then we’d blast them at close fighting range. It’s a little risky doing that. A hog can tear up a dog pretty good and I’ve seen more then one dog get torn open. Sitting in a tree stand in the middle of the woods isn’t the way to get a hog.

It was a tough decision leaving because I still feel like I MIGHT have gotten a hog if I stayed. Much the same feeling I had about the head boats in Florida. Might have gotten a trophy fish if I went on enough trips. After a while though I guess you realize there is no sense in throwing good money after bad or wasting any more of your time.

I am sorry to say I personally cannot recommend this guy’s business or his hunting experience. :P

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Guest Matthew

Guest Matthew

Posted
Posted (edited)
Sorry about your trip. Is there a website to this place. Never mind found it on craigslist. Looks like a nice place.

Some people may have had a better experience with this outfit. I sure didn't and I was really disappointed. I wouldn't recommend him to anyone.

I left there feeling really dumb. I felt like I had wasted around $150 and a full day of my time for nothing. I got better things to do then spend money so I can feel stupid about getting screwed.

Edited by Matthew
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Guest Matthew

Guest Matthew

Posted
Posted

Well, the guy is married. His wife was there too. You're right though. His MySpace thing is totally gay looking.

The whole point of this thread is don't waste your time or money on this dude or his bull*&^% operation. 15 hunters and two hogs harvested. I could get pictures from anywhere and say I got an animal. Doesn't mean I am telling the truth.

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Guest Mugster

Guest Mugster

Posted
Posted

Sorry you had a bad experience and wasted the effort.

But, haha, I got a good laugh off it. I'm laughing with you. Brings up a whole new meaning to the phrase "trophy hunt".

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Louisb Established Contributor

Louisb

Posted
Posted

I bet Browning would not see the humor in the use of their logo. Just a guess, but I bet it is a registered trademark.

I realize this is on myspace not a real hunting ad, but it looks like an ad for gay male cowboys or cowboy wannabes.

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Guest GunTroll

Guest GunTroll

Posted
Posted
.......

I realize this is on myspace not a real hunting ad, but it looks like an ad for gay male cowboys or cowboy wannabes.

You know thats what I was thinking! He wouldn't last in WY or CO. Well maybe CO. Libs are moving here in droves and they like to play dress up.

Definitely not in WY the real cowboy state. And no broke back style goes on there. All I got to say is .......Matthew Shepard?? Broke back is more Montana style!

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Guest Ray

Guest Ray

Posted
Posted (edited)

I too, went on this Wildside exotics hunt with Mathew. But unlike Mathew I stayed till dark, being the glutton for punishment that I am. The end result 15 hunters and 3 "hogletts" at best. The largest "HOG" was 70lbs. Unlike Mathew, I have absolutely no hog hunting experience, but I had an acute sense that I was being taken for a ride upon meeting the owner, although I kept hoping for the opposite to be true.

The owner and his wife were the only guides on the 85 acre establishment, although the owner had stated to me over the phone, that he would have enough staff to have a guide with every group so as to be able to help identify which of the hogs were management hogs and which were trophy hogs. They seemed unprepared at best. Just to let you know Mathew, they never brought out the dogs as we were told they would and which is one of the reasons I had stayed so long. There were many dissappointed hunters on 07/11/09, some with guided hunt experience and without.

My personal opinion, is that the owner was looking to clean out the last of the small hogs on his property, and that would be the reasoning behind a $100.00 fee he decided on as he showed up over an hour late to meet us, because of a blowout that caused him to go back and retrieve his wifes car, for any size taken on top of the $50.00 deposit. He knew there was nothing big to be gotten.

I had personally called the owner and asked about the fees. The fees were a non-refundable $50.00 management permit for a management hog under a 100lbs. A 100lbs-200lbs was considered a trophy hog and would cost $350.00 a 200lbs and above would be considered a Presidential trophy at the discounted rate of $525.00 plus a $20.00 fee for any hog that he quarters and capes out. I saw the quartering job he did and it was terrible at best.

I will give the owner credit for working his and his wifes tail off trying to beat a hog out of the bushes. At one point the owner stated that a blond hog was at least 130lbs, well he was wrong as this blond was taken by one of our companions, this hog at best may have weighed in at 55-65lbs. His estimations seem to be off by quite a bit.

I would not personally recomend this place to anyone.

Lesson learned, If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Thanks for hearing me out,

Ray

Edited by Ray
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DaveS Postus Maximus

DaveS

Posted
Posted

Sorry you had such a bad experience on your hog hunt. I'm glad you passed this info along, as I plan on going on a hog hunt this fall, after I retire from the fire department. I want to go out to the eastern part of the state to hunt.

Dave

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Guest Ray

Guest Ray

Posted
Posted

The owner had stated that the no kill no pay policy did not include the $50.00 deposit. The $50.00 deposit is nonrefundable and was our understanding. The owner did state as we were leaving that anyone who did not get a hog, was welcome to come back and forgo the $50.00 management hog fee and hunt for a hog at the same rate of $100.00 for any size which seems fair. I do not see myself making that long trek to a place I have already experienced.

A little piece of unsolicited advice to the owner, get the hunters out in the field before daylight, that way one can stand a chance at any hog that might be on his or her way to bed down before the heat of day.

I feel that the owner and his wife are very hard workers as was evident in watching them beat the bushes most of the day. The owner was bleeding with welts from the briars he had to go through to try and find some hogs. With some more time, experience and more comunication with his clients about what he actually has on his property, I think he may have more satified hunters.

I as everyone else do understand, that it is indeed called hunting not catching, but it would have been nice to have known in advance that there were only 70-80lbs hogs to be gotten then I feel that many of the hunters would not have felt missled. Some may not have come at all, but I certainly would have felt better in making my decission to come. Thanks again for hearing me out.

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  • 2 months later...
Buzzard217 Just Getting Started

Buzzard217

Posted
Posted (edited)

Just got back from this hunt on Sunday, wish I had found this thread sooner. Same story pretty much. 5 of us had planned to go and sent in our 50$ deposit money order to reserve our spot. Day before we asked what we would need to pay and the guy said 50 for the hog and 20 to skin and quarter. Sunday morning the guy shows up late, 8:45 to an 8:00 hunt. He tells us of the “wild boar” and that they have been running people up trees lately and to be careful. As soon as we hit the gate the hogs were there as if it was chow time. By noon we had all harvested our hogs by bow. We gathered at a creek to clean the hogs where the guide Kevin did a not so stellar job skinning and quartering. Hogs come out of the wood work for the guts, close enough to pet with zero fear. I felt as if I had taken a 30 yard shot at livestock. Then the scam starts. It’s time to pay and Kevin says it’s more than the 70 that was agreed upon. He then goes on to say that he discounted our “over 100lb.” hogs that were never weighed. I could bicep curl all our pigs and I know I can’t curl 100 lbs. He whips out a fake badge of some sort and says he has all our information. Bottom line, this guy is running a shady canned/caged hunt on tame animals and try’s to scam you in the end for booking and trophy fees. I can’t recommend this place to anyone.

Edited by Buzzard217
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