Russell Pond Outfitters
Russell Pond Outfitters
Rated 5 out of 5.0 based on 9 Outfitter reviews.
Contact: Joe Cabral
Location: St. Maries, Idaho
Species Hunted: Elk, Mountain Lion, Black Bear, Wolf
State(s) Hunted: ID
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Submitted by: GARY FEMC
Review Submitted: Oct 31, 2010
Hunt Date: Oct 10, 2010
Species Hunted: Elk
Days Hunted: 6
Hunt Type: Guided
Primary Terrain: Mountain
Method: Rifle
Price Range: 3000-3999
Number of animals seen, met expectations?
Size of animals seen, met expections?
Hunting pressure in the guides area, met expectations?
Would you hunt with this Guide again?
By far the best outfitter I have hunted with
This outfitter is located in Idaho I will give credit where credit is due. The guides know the area and hunt you hard for the full 6 days, equipment provide was to notched test,cabins,mules, food,etc. I will be back.
report this reviewnote: The following reviews predate the numeric rating system and are not included in this outfitter's overall rating.
outfitter review submitted by: Peter E. MacGillivray on Mar 4 2009
Species Hunted: Black Bear
Game Quality: Great
Accommodation Quality: Warm and dry - hot showers
Camp Condition: Average
Food Quality: Excellent and plenty
Guide Experience: Hard working and knowledgable
Other Personal Experience: All friendly and helpful
Overall Impression: I'd go back in a heartbeat
Recommend: Without reservation
Reviewer Comments: A large camp with 400 square miles of woods. Well located and roomy tree stands. Baited each day and again while we got into the stand. I saw bears every day, usually 2 or 3 and just had to wait for the right one. Guides were very helpful in telling how to judge size and when to wait. Hope to go again this year or next.
outfitter review submitted by: Brett Sauder on Feb 20 2009
Species Hunted: Black Bear
Game Quality: Great
Accommodation Quality: Great
Camp Condition: good
Food Quality: GOOD
Guide Experience: Excellent
Other Personal Experience: Excellent
Overall Impression: I loved it
Recommend: Definitely
Reviewer Comments: I went on this hunt in 2007 and took a nice 300+ Lbs. Black bear in my first 3 hours out in the woods and spooked another 200+ chocolate walking out. My friend shot one in the first hour and our other friend shot one the next day. There were six guy in camp and we all got a bear. These are some big woods so you need to get in shape and exercise before you head out. The guides were excellent and fun to hang out with. They will put you on game but its up to you to make the shot.
outfitter review submitted by: Greg Raymond on Oct 23 2008
Species Hunted: ELK
Game Quality: GOOD
Accommodation Quality: EXCELLENT
Camp Condition: EXCELLENT
Food Quality: AWESOME
Guide Experience: GREAT
Other Personal Experience: GREAT
Overall Impression: FANTASTIC
Recommend: YES
Reviewer Comments: This was t true wilderness hunt for Elk in Idaho's Unit 10. Rode mules several hours back into the boonies from base camp. Tent camp was setup in a fantastic spot which allowed several drainages to be accessed from it. No shooting was heard the whole trip except from members of our hunting party. There were wolves in the area, but only found tracks of one pair the whole time. I can't emphasize enough how much being in shape can make a difference on a hunt of this type. Everything is either up or down, with hardly a flat place to be found. We saw lots of game, & the guides were very knowledgeable on how to get to them once they were located. I was unable to seal the deal on an Elk myself, but this was the hunt of a lifetime. Defintiely not for the faint of heart! My buddies & I skipped out on getting Deer tags this time, so wouldn't you know, several keeper Mule Deer bucks were spotted well within gun range, & one of my buddies had a 5x5 28-30 inch buck bedded 150 yards from him for a couple of hours! Next time WE WILL purchase Deer tags also.
outfitter review submitted by: John E Mello on Sep 6 2008
Species Hunted: Bear
Game Quality: fair
Accommodation Quality: poor
Camp Condition: poor
Food Quality: excellent
Guide Experience: average
Other Personal Experience: excellent
Overall Impression: average
Recommend: possibly with reservations
Reviewer Comments: Buildings are in poor condition; exposed wiring, kinked twisted gas lines and cabin walls held together with steel cable. Outhouse set on log supports over trench; just overall run down appearance of what must have been a really nice lodge in its time. Food was great and plentiful and staff was friendly and courteous. Missed a shot at a nice bear on the first day, was then moved to another site where I spent the next three days over the same bait that had no signs of bear activity.
outfitter review submitted by: Joe on Aug 4 2008
Species Hunted: Bear
Game Quality: great
Accommodation Quality: good
Camp Condition: great
Food Quality: edible
Guide Experience: great
Other Personal Experience: great
Overall Impression: loved it
Recommend: yes
Reviewer Comments: I went in 2007 with 2 other guys and shot my bear the hour on the stand. A friend shot his 3 hours on the stand, and my uncle shot his on Monday. This was our first trip there. There were 6 guys in camp everyone got a bear. Four color phase and two black. Great trip with great people. I would recommend them to everyone.
outfitter review submitted by: Greg Raymond on Jul 7 2006
Species Hunted: ELK/DEER
Game Quality: FAIR
Accommodation Quality: EXCELLENT
Camp Condition: EXCELLENT
Food Quality: EXCELLENT
Guide Experience: VERY GOOD
Other Personal Experience: VERY GOOD
Overall Impression: EXCELLENT
Recommend: DEFINITELY
Reviewer Comments: This was my first Elk hunt so I had nothing to gauge the hunt by in comparison to other Outfitters, except my own awesome experience during the hunt, & the assurance of other hunters in camp,who had been on guided hunts before, that this was a top notch outfit. Unfortunately,this was a muzzleloader hunt in late November, & the weather didn't cooperate, & dump enough snow to drive the big bulls down from their hidey holes. I felt that everyone on the staff worked as hard as possible to find animals. I had a cow w/calf close enough to spit on,& it was awesome. Elk in camp during the night. We moved extensively trying to locate Bulls, & I feel that the utmost effort was put forth by all the staff in camp to make this a great hunt. I have already booked a rifle hunt for Oct.,2008, with the gentlemen who shared camp w/me. One of them shot his first Elk, a 4x3 Raghorn, but nonetheless, an awesome critter, & a trophy to him.
outfitter review submitted by: Brandt Williams on Feb 4 2006
Species Hunted: Whitetail
Game Quality: Good
Accommodation Quality: Very Good
Camp Condition: Good
Food Quality: I gained too much weight
Guide Experience: Excellent
Other Personal Experience: Very Good
Overall Impression: Top Drawer
Recommend: Without Reservation
Reviewer Comments: Maine is not exactly known for an overpopulation of deer, but they put me on my deer (stand) on at 6:30 AM first day and I was done at 7:10 AM. Certainly the exception not the norm. Have hunted bear and now deer with them. Great place to go and get away from the city. Can't say enough good things about them, except anybody wanting a quality experience for bear or deer at a reasonable price should check out Russell Pond Outfitters. They also own an Idaho camp under the name of B Bar C that is bigger and better.
outfitter review submitted by: Tim Whitehouse on Jun 12 2002
Species Hunted: black bear
Game Quality: 0
Accommodation Quality: fair
Camp Condition: fair
Food Quality: good
Guide Experience: questionable
Other Personal Experience: good
Overall Impression: poor
Recommend: no
Reviewer Comments: I and a hunting partner booked bear hunts(archery) over bait.I was told that we were guaranteed to be put on hot baits.A total of (7) hunters in camp for a six day hunt(3 were repeat big $$$ customers).Booked a 2x1 guided hunt,most times we were taken to the stands 4 or 5 at a time in one truck.The guide did walk you in to your stand(while everyone else waited in the truck). 3:00 pm left camp for stands it was dark at 9:30 pm wasn't picked up until 11:00 or 11:30 pm and the funny thing was the big$$$ hunters were allways picked up first even if it was out of the way to their stand.In three evenings of hunting with 7 hunter on stand 0 bears were sighted,some baits were never hit by a bear to their knowledge.So my partner and I CUT OUR LOSSES AND LEFT EARLY.Four hounds kept everyone up but were never used to find any animals,I even asked if I could pay extra to use them but was told I would have to ok it through joe the owner but he left camp after the first morning and never saw him agian.Told our supposid guige that we were unhappy and were thinking about leaving but he didn't seem to care.out of the whole six day hunt only one bear was taken.
Contact: J. Paul Taylor
Location: Midway, Alabama
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer, Turkey, Quail
State(s) Hunted: AL
Illinois Hunting Information
Illinois is widely known as a top trophy whitetail destination. Illinois also has some great waterfowl hunting, especially in southern portions of the state.
Yukon Territory Hunting Information
The Yukon Territory is a legendary hunting destination. Hunters from all over the world travel to the Yukon for wilderness adventure hunting at its finest. This rugged, remote and beautiful province is nearly untouched by man. It is similar in size to the state of California but with a population of only about 30,000 residents. The Yukon is a vast, pristine wilderness that holds a tremendous variety of trophy game species. You should be in excellent physical condition to maximize your success and to enjoy the Yukon experience.
Utah Hunting Information
Utah has recently been outstanding for trophy elk, but the best tags take many years to draw. Utah does have conservation tags available for purchase that allow hunters to bypass the drawing. Given the high demand for these premium tags prices can be high. In the past Utah has been a top trophy mule deer state but recently only a handful of units consistently produce B&C caliber deer.
