Creek Bottom Whitetails
Creek Bottom Whitetails
Rated 3 out of 5.0 based on 4 Outfitter reviews.
Contact: Sam Martell
Location: Grant City, Missouri
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer
State(s) Hunted: MO
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Submitted by: Adam Smith
Review Submitted: Nov 30, 2017
Hunt Date: Nov 17, 2017
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer
Days Hunted: 3
Hunt Type: Guided
Primary Terrain: Farmland
Method: Rifle
Price Range: 2000-2999
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?
A Real Class Act
I will begin by saying the only reason I gave “1 Star” on this rating is because the “guide” wife was extremely nice, and one hell of a cook. Other than that, this place doesn’t deserve a star. Before I present you with the facts about this outfitter, I would like to give a little background about myself, which should help anyone fully understand why I feel so strongly about my review. I am an Active Duty Service member with 15 years of service. I am not fortunate enough to have a 6 figure salary, and I had to burn 7 days of my leave (days off) for this hunting opportunity. I manage a 3600 acre lease along with 9 other members. I am also a lifelong hunter and the vice president of a Wounded Warrior Organization (100% non-profit) known as “Texas Hero Hunts”, which can be found on Face Book for validation. For the last 7 years we have sponsored and guided deer/turkey hunts for the Veterans of our Armed Forces. I feed them breakfast, hunt with them, scout for them while they break for lunch, and move them to better locations if I locate game in a better area. My clients get to relax the entire time they are with me, and I ensure they know that they are my #1 priority. To say the least, I know a thing or two about guiding and taking care of my hunters. Upon arrival to Creek Bottom Whitetails (630pm), my father and I were greeted by our “guide”, and shown to our sleeping quarters. This wasn’t a lodge, just a room located in his basement. We were obviously hungry after our 14 hour drive, and to our surprise there was nothing to eat. Dinner had already been served/put away, and we were told “I figured y’all would have stopped and grabbed something to eat prior to arrival.” Needless to say we went to bed hungry our first night. Day 1 Began with a 4am wakeup call. After paying just under $3K and starving, we rushed upstairs for breakfast. Anyone can imagine our surprise when we were offered a cup of coffee and a bagel. After our breakfast we were handed our lunch (a paper bag containing a bottle of water, sandwich, cookies) and rushed out the door. From that point forward, we began to wonder what we had gotten ourselves into. There wasn’t any guiding involved when it came to our stands. We were dropped off at the edge of a field, and given directions on where/how to find our stands. Most 11/2 a mile across a field. We were told to call if we killed (there was no phone service), and informed we would be picked up at dark. From there, our “guide” went hunting himself to fill his own tag (strange I thought). At the end of the day, our “guide” picked us up and bragged about how many trophy deer he saw throughout the day while he was out riding roads on his farm. Rather than placing his paid hunters in the areas he saw these deer, he chose to hunt them for himself. Once we got back to his home, we were FINALLY fed the first hot meal we’d had in 24 hours. Day 2 The second day started out the same as the first. Rushed breakfast, bagged lunch, and off we went. My father requested to hunt the edge of a corn field our second day, hoping he’d see deer coming to the food source. Our “guide” informed my father that the wind was wrong and stand located on the edge of the field would be a waste of time, because the deer would smell him and not come out. My father was then placed in a thicket 400yrds away from the corn field and told “no one has hunted this stand this season, it’s a great spot, etc”. Upon arrival my father quickly realized that he’d been lied too. There were fresh snack wrappers under the stand, as well as shot bullet casings (probably from hunters the week before). Aside of his discouragement, he hunted the stand all day where he was only able to see in a pocket about 40yrds wide. As the sun went down my father heard a shot that came from the corn field he requested to hunt earlier that day. To his surprise it was our “guide” who was hunting the field and shot/missed a trophy deer. I’ll remind you this is the same stand my father was denied due to the wind being wrong. Disgusted with the situation, my father confronted our “guide” and was met with only laughter and excuses. It was at this point we realized we didn’t pay $3K to kill a trophy deer, we actually paid to watch our guide kill one. Day 3 Before setting out for the day’s hunt, we specifically stated we wanted to hunt corn fields. We made it clear we weren’t concerned with the wind, we had rifles/not bows, and scent lock gear. We wanted to be with a food source where we knew deer would be. I was fortunate enough to be placed in a corn field, my father wasn’t so lucky. It probably had something to do with the disagreement the night before. My father was placed in a “non-hunted box stand” which again he found fresh snack wrappers, located on a jeep trail 600yrs away from a corn field. Once 730am rolled around and he hadn’t seen a deer, he decided to walk down the road and get closer to the field. There he found 2 more stands our “guide” owned, and began seeing deer. Beyond frustrated, my father notified me that he was ready to leave. It was the first time I’d ever seen him so defeated and disappointed knowing that we’d been conned out of roughly $6K dollars. Upon getting his text (we were finally in stands with service), I shot the next legal deer I saw, and contacted our “guide” to pick me up, about 815am. Our guide didn’t show up until 1030am because he was “chasing a giant” out in his back pasture. He made it very clear his priority was himself, rather than his paid hunters. The real drama began when he picked up my father. Our “guide” became furious at the fact my dad walked 150yrds down the rd to switch stands. He yelled and cursed at the both of us, called us “liars”, and told us “we didn’t know how to hunt.” We requested that he take us home for us to gather our things and be on our way. Once we got home, our “guide” quickly skinned my deer, threw the meat in trash bags, and left with his buddy to return to his hunt. That was the last time we saw him. There was one other gentleman in camp hunting with us, who was just as discouraged as we were. I won’t tell his entire story, but I will share one piece of it just to put the “icing on the cake,” so to speak. Sunday while we were getting yelled at, this other hunter saw a trophy deer that he couldn’t get a shot on. That evening he informed our “guide” of what he saw and requested to hunt the same stand the following morning (which happened to be his last day). Not to his surprise, the “guide” refused to take him back to that location, and placed him in the exact same stand I shot my deer the day before. My guess as well as his was our “guide” went hunt that field and tried to kill it himself. I hope this review sheds some light on this establishment and paints a better picture of what you’ll be getting into if you choose to hunt here. This gentleman made $8250 in 4 days, with little to no effort on his part.
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Submitted by: John Kytle
Review Submitted: Nov 17, 2014
Hunt Date: Dec 24, 2012
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer
Days Hunted: 4
Hunt Type: Guided
Primary Terrain: Farmland
Method: Muzzleloader
Price Range: 1000-1999
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?
A great outfitter
Hunted with Sam at creek bottom outfitters great food great lodge great guides saw plenty good whitetails been on plenty hunts with outfitters Sam at creek bottom is the best I've ever been on anything I ask for he did for our group!!!! I would recommend anyone to book a hunt with creek bottom Sam is a great guy and outfitter!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by: Tim OSako
Review Submitted: Mar 6, 2013
Hunt Date: Sep 15, 2012
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer
Days Hunted: 5
Hunt Type: Guided
Primary Terrain: Farmland
Method: Bow
Price Range: 1000-1999
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?
Good hunt
Good deer, good guide, good food. I spent all 5 days hunting in quality stands and saw many bucks. No question that Sam put me on good deer. I have actually hunted 2 years in a row with Sam and found both trips to be the same: Sam is very knowledgable, there were quality bucks, had an enjoyable camp and the food was excellent. I have hunted in multiple states and have decided that this corner of Missouri is a great value with quality deer and I have no hesitation in saying Sam can put you on a good buck.
Submitted by: Ken Meis
Review Submitted: Jan 3, 2012
Hunt Date: Oct 22, 2011
Species Hunted:
Days Hunted: 5
Hunt Type: Guided
Primary Terrain: Farmland
Method: Bow
Price Range: 1000-1999
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?
Guided Hunt
Do your homework with this outfitter,nothing like the website shows, nothing like he tells you on the phone. Money would be well spent somewhere else.
Contact: Justin Johns and Ben Harris
Location: Hotchkiss, Colorado
Species Hunted: Elk, Mule Deer, Black Bear, Bobcat, Mountain Lion
State(s) Hunted: CO
New Mexico Hunting Information
New Mexico is one of the top destinations for trophy Elk and Antelope hunting. Draw odds can be tough depending on the unit but landowner tags are also available for those who don't draw. Mule Deer are plentiful but generally of average size. Only a couple of units and reservations consistently produce big muleys.
Wyoming Hunting Information
Wyoming is a great state for hunters! It offers a wide variety of good big game, turkey, small game, upland and predator hunting.
Kansas Hunting Information
Kansas is one of the top producing monster whitetail buck states in the country. It also has some excellent turkey hunting and a few big mule deer in the western part of the state. Kansas has an excellent reputation as a top notch destination for upland birds. It has excellent populations of pheasant and quail due to the vast expanse of suitable prairie and grassland type habitat.
