Carey Outfitters LLC

Submitted by: B. J. Pickerrell

Review Submitted: Nov 27, 2010

Hunt Date: Sep 20, 2009

Species Hunted: Black Bear

Days Hunted: 6

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Mountain

Method: Rifle

Price Range: 1000-1999

maine bear hunt over bait

I went on my first bear hunting trip with five friends with david carey outfitters the last week of bait season (september 2010). When we arrived we were taken to a cabin which was very unlike the one we had seen in the brochure, but we kept a positive attitude and tried to make the best of the situation. We tried to ask Mr. Carey several questions about the hunting and fishing in the area on the first day, but he sort of avoided our questions and told us to ask the local sporting goods shop when we bought our licences. Our bait sites looked good, but after all six of us sitting from noon until dark for six straight days none of us had even seen a bear. I knew not to expect a kill by any means, but many of the guys on this trip were experienced bear hunters with several past bears on the wall, so I figured someone should at least see a bear. Mr. Carey did move three of us halfway through the week to new baits, but we had the same outcome. Other than moving us, Mr Carey would not respond to any of our phone messages throughout the week. Also, we found out at the end of the week that Mr. Carey was running hounds at our bait sites in the mornings because we went into our stands early one morning and caught one of his employees and a group of hunters, which he denied even though we caught them. He claimed he takes his hounds with him to bait the sites, but they were not actually running the hounds. This explained alot about the lack of bear. Also, we were told our sites had not been hunted that year, but found very fresh shell casings on the ground at one of the sites, again, Mr. Carey said he couldn't explain that. I am sure Mr. Carey does a good job with some clients, but I could not recommend him to anyone based on my experience. Maybe you have to buy the more expensive package and stay in the main lodge to actually see bear?

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Submitted by: Chris Wilson

Review Submitted: Sep 19, 2010

Hunt Date: Sep 14, 2009

Species Hunted: Black Bear

Days Hunted: 5

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Mountain

Method: Rifle

Price Range: 1000-1999

first bear hunt

My friend and I went on our first bear hunt with Carey Outfitters. We went during the first week of the hound season. The lodge is wonderful, the food is excellant "thanks Donna." Our guide Mark Carey and Houndsman John Proud were two great guys. We had a blast aggravating John. Since we we were hound hunting we started at daylight checking to see if baits had been hit from the day before when we baited them with the Mark and John and if they had a strike hound was sent in and if the scent was good the rest of the hounds were sent in. We both took a bear (mine 135lbs. and my buddy's was 120 lbs.). David Carey skinned andquartered the bears and my taxidermy said he did a good job. Rangeley is a beautiful place. This is tough country, "thanks John for toting my rifle on that last run." Great people here, will definately be back if I ever draw a moose tag, they are some HUGE BULLS here, I saw them.Epected to see more bears but the weather was warm and dry which is not good tracking weather for the dogs but they worked hard when they got on the scent. We even had some guys come into camp mid week wanting to go hunting saying their outfitter they were with turned out to be a joke. Dave had to turn them away because he was booked up but said he would if he had not been. Great people, Great lodge, Great food! See ya again soon my friends, THE GEORGIA BOYS.

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note: The following reviews predate the numeric rating system and are not included in this outfitter's overall rating.

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outfitter review submitted by: Craig Duncan on Dec 21 2008

Species Hunted: Whitetail

Game Quality: Good

Accommodation Quality: Excellant

Camp Condition: Excellant

Food Quality: Excellant

Guide Experience: Good

Other Personal Experience: Good

Overall Impression: Great

Recommend: Yes

Reviewer Comments: Don't be fooled by the poor comments\ above. We went on a whitetail hunt with Dave and we knew in advance that it would be a tough hunt for deer, we had a great time at Dave's camp. The first 5 minutes of the first hunt I had a chance at a Maine spike horn. I passed it up. You will need to be in good physical condition and know how to move around in unfamiliar woods. Dave and Mark did what they could to put deer in front of us, but the weather (no snow) was against us. I did see a lot of buck sign and was very pleased with the hunt overall. 4 of us had a great time, the food was excellent and the hospitality was unbeatable. The camp was a welcome site after a long days hunt! Like I said, if you are there for deer, there is not one behind every tree and you will work for one, if your lucky, you could shoot a Maine bruiser! Thanks for a great and affordable trip Dave. I look forward to visiting you this summer. One poster said Dave was not a fisherman, I dont think that is totally true as he told me he would take me fishing if I visited in the summer. This is not a "take me to them and I will shoot them" hunt, you can do whatever you want once in the woods, sit all day, walk, whatever YOU want to do, just make sure you know how to navigate BIG woods or you will be thee for a few days.

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outfitter review submitted by: Dick Bielecki on Sep 22 2005

Species Hunted: Black Bear

Game Quality: 0

Accommodation Quality: 1st Class

Camp Condition: Excellent

Food Quality: Gourmet Quality

Guide Experience: Young but knowing

Other Personal Experience: new what to do

Overall Impression: Relaxing week

Recommend: Yes I would !

Reviewer Comments: I just returned from Maine after my second hunt at Dave Carey's camp and couldn't have enjoyed myself more. No, I didn't harvest a bear but that is why they call it hunting and not killing. I'd like to make a couple of points in regards to the previous two postings: #1 They opted to hunt and cok for themselves, i.e., the discounted price which calls for minimum accomodations. #2 There is more to bear hunting than just sitting in a tree. The weather plays a mojor factor as does movement, noise, and smell. Do either of these fellows smoke? Can they sit still for hours at a time? Can they supress a cough? All factors to be considered. Had they opted to stay at the main lodge they would have been treated to 1st class accomodations and treated to menu worthy of a 5 star restauraunt. I managed to gain 5 lbs. despite taking a 2-2 1/2 mile hike each morning. As stated earlier, this was my second hunt with Dave and I am making plans for next year with Carey Outfitters.

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outfitter review submitted by: TOM WATSON on Sep 13 2005

Species Hunted: Black Bear

Game Quality: NONE

Accommodation Quality: POOR

Camp Condition: POOR

Food Quality: N/A

Guide Experience: POOR

Other Personal Experience: FAIR

Overall Impression: POOR

Recommend: NOT AT ALL

Reviewer Comments: THIS OUTFITTERS IS ONLY IN IT TO TAKE YOUR MONEY. HE OFFERS TWO PLANS ONE WITH MEALS AT HIS LODGE AND THE OTHER NO MEALS AT A SEPRATE CAMP. WE WERE UNDER THE NO MEALS PLAN. HE ACTED LIKE HE DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO TALK TO US FROM THE MOMENT WE PULLED INTO CAMP. THE HUNTING SITE WAS OVER AN HOURS DRIVE AWAY AND THE STANDS WERE OLD NOT VERY STERDY. MOST OF OUR GROUP EITHER HAD TO FIX THE STAND THEMSELFS OR HUNT FROM THIER OWN PORTABLE STAND. WE NEVER SAW A BEAR OR EVEN FELT LIKE ONE WAS IN THE AREA. MOST BAIT WERE NEVER HIT OVER 5 DAYS. TWO BAITS WERE HIT OVER NIGHT ONE DAY. THE WEATHER WAS TOO WARM FOR GOOD BEAR HUNING, BUT THIS OUTFITTER JUST ROLLED OVER AND QUIT TRING, NOT THAT IT EVER SEEMED LIKE HE CARED.

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outfitter review submitted by: Dennis Hamm on Sep 13 2005

Species Hunted: Bear

Game Quality: None Sighted

Accommodation Quality: Poor

Camp Condition: Poor

Food Quality: N/A

Guide Experience: Fair

Other Personal Experience: Fair

Overall Impression: Poor

Recommend: No

Reviewer Comments: THIS OUTFITTER APPREARS TO ONLY BE IN THE BUSINESS TO COLLECT YOUR MONEY. HE CERTAINLY DOESN'T HAVE ANY CUSTOMER FOCUS. HE OFFERS TWO PLANS, ONE WITH MEALS AT HIS LODGE AND THE OTHER NO MEALS AT A SEPRATE CAMP. WE WERE UNDER THE NO MEALS PLAN, OFFSITE. FROM THE TIME WE PULLED IN WE WERE TREATED LIKE "LEPERS". MAYBE BECAUSE WE OPTED FOR THE CHEAPER "OFFSITE/NO MEALS" PLAN. WE ONLY SAW HIM A FEW TIMES DURING THE ENTIRE WEEK AND ONE OF THOSE WAS WHEN WE WENT DIRECTLY TO HIM TO VOICE OUR CONCERN. THE HUNTING SITE WAS OVER AN HOUR DRIVE AWAY AND THE STANDS WERE OLD AND NOT VERY STURDY AND VERY UNCOMFORTABLE AT BEST. MOST OF OUR GROUP EITHER HAD TO FIX THE STAND OR HUNT FROM THEIR OWN PORTABLE STAND. ONE PERSON HAD REQUESTED TO BE SETUP FOR ARCHERY HUNTING BUT NEVER WAS ABLE TO DO SO. HE WAS TOLD TO JUST TAKE HIS PORTABLE STAND IN AND FIND A SPOT......NO ASSISTANCE OFFERED AT ALL!!!! ALSO DON'T BE MISLEAD BY THE WEBSITE, THEY SHOW "VERY NICE" LODGING, HOWEVER WE WERE IN VERY OLD RUSTIC CABINS WHICH APPEARED TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN THE 30's. THIS WASN'T TERRIBLE BUT WE WERE TOLD THAT OUR LODGING WOULD BE SIMILAR TO WHAT APPEARED ON THE WEBSITE. WHAT WE HAD AND WHAT WE WERE TOLD WE WOULD HAVE WERE TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT TYPES OF CABIN. CLASSIC CASE OF "BAIT AND SWITCH". WE HAD 3 HUNTERS IN OUR GROUP WHO WERE ON BAITS THAT WERE NEVER TOUCHED THE ENTIRE WEEK. THEY ADVERTISE THAT THEY'LL SHOW YOU PICTURES OF BEAR VISTING YOUR BAIT SITE BEFORE YOU START YOUR HUNT.......THIS NEVER HAPPENED. WE HAD TO ASK FOR THE PICTURES AND WHEN THEY WERE PRESENTED ALL OF THEM WERE AT LEAST TWO YEARS OLD!!! THIS OUTFIT APPEARED TO CARE LESS ABOUT OUR CONCERNS AND WE WERE TOLD BY THEM "THAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY" AND "THAT EVERYONE ELSE THERE HAD NO ISSUES". WE KNOW THIS WASN'T THE CASE! TWO OTHER GROUPS IN THE SAME CAMP EXPRESSED THE SAME LEVEL OF CONCERN WHEN WE TALKED WITH THEM AND THEY MENTIONED EXACTLY THE SAME THINGS THAT CONCERNED US!!!!

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outfitter review submitted by: H Martin on Sep 12 2005

Species Hunted: black bear

Game Quality: 0

Accommodation Quality: 2

Camp Condition: 2

Food Quality: na

Guide Experience: 2

Other Personal Experience: 4

Overall Impression: poor

Recommend: no

Reviewer Comments: As an outfitter and Guide Dave Carey sucks!!!! From the time we checked in he treated our group of 5 like redheaded stepchild. Lodging was nothing like the web page. Cabin was circa 1920 no heat 2 days, no water day and half, electric was hit or miss. Tolet was clogged more often than not. Almost feel thought the porch floor , had to step on the joists to feel safe. The stairs to loft were so weak only the real lite weights in our group dared to go up. On the up side the refrig. turned everything in to a solid block of ice. I fell throught my stand the first day and it never was fixed while I was there. The other guys had to buy ratch straps in town to steady there stands to the tree. 3 out of five baits were never hit and after we put our own trail timers on the other two they were active only at night. I was using my bow and never really got set-up right until the last night. The bait was crap mostly bread and bagels, very little chocolate if any most days. After a day or two we just started doctoring it with our own stuff. Dave moved us to new stand on day 4, 1 out 5 was active and the timer had it at night also. The hunt site was over 50 miles hard top road oneway from camp. In 5 days of hunting i put over 800 miles on my truck. His hunting land looks good but the 4 wheels and campers run all over it at will. We did see moose most every day mostly cows and calfs but thier were a few 50" plus bulls. When we asked dave about fishing he referred us the the local bait shop as he dosn't fish. He also commented that he can't set in a stand all afternoon and didn't know how we could do it. The guide he put us with "John" was a nice guy that is a fishing guide most of the time but dave never told us that. John did a fair job but far from a great job. One of the other groups shot a bear on day two and after tracking for about 200 yards John and Dave quite the blood trail saying it must be a poor hit. The hunters trailed it for @ 700 yards, never found it but were afraid of getting lost so they quit. Out of 20+- hunts @ 6 saw or bagged a bear. Dave site claims you'll see picture of your bear before you every hunt. We saw these pictures on day 4 of our hunt most were night pic's and most were 2-3 years old. Hope this helps someone else from wasting their trip / money....

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outfitter review submitted by: Bill Docchio on Nov 8 2003

Species Hunted: bear/deer

Game Quality: poor

Accommodation Quality: good

Camp Condition: good

Food Quality: poor

Guide Experience: poor

Other Personal Experience: poor

Overall Impression: poor

Recommend: not at all

Reviewer Comments: The biggest problem with this outfitter was that because the weather was bad for bear hunting he just basically gave up. Didnt want to hunt hard at all. Also he said he had been scouting for deer and would have archery deer stands set up for me when i arrived. Not at all. He told me to hang my portable stand on the corner of a field and basically that was the extent of it. And one day he tells me that there is an apple tree that usually produces apples and the deer go there to feed but this year there havent been any apples off the tree so the deer havent gone there. That afternoon the other guide put me in my stand over the apple tree. What a joke

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