Hickory Creek Outfitters

Review Submitted: Dec 16, 2014

Hunt Date: Nov 17, 2014

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 5

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Praire

Method: Bow

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?

Great Trip with the crew at Hickory Creek Outfitte

Hunting with the crew at Hickory Creek Outfitters was my best hunting experience I have ever had in the past 16 years of hunting. I have never hunted out of Pennsylvania before and this was a heck of trip to break that seal. The amount of deer that I saw was amazing. I saw a shooter buck every day which their standard is 135" or bigger with 3 of the days having them within bow range however shots were blocked by trees and the buck would be off chasing doe instead of just taking that extra two steps I needed to connect. The second to last day of the hunt I did connect with a nice 10 point. The meals that were prepared every night were excellent and all of the guides were awesome to be around. The guides were willing to do about anything for you. If you wanted a sandwich or a cup of coffee mid day no problem (None of our crew actually did this but they were willing to do so). I would highly recommend hunting with these guys and plan to do it again in the next couple years.

Submitted by: Bryan Johnson

Review Submitted: Jul 28, 2014

Hunt Date: May 8, 2014

Species Hunted: Turkey Rio Grande

Days Hunted: 4

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Shotgun

Price Range: 500-999

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?

Hunt of a Lifetime

Submitted by: Bryan Johnson

Review Submitted: Jul 28, 2014

Hunt Date: May 8, 2014

Species Hunted: Turkey

Days Hunted: 4

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Shotgun

Price Range: 500-999

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?

Hunt of a Lifetime

Bryan Johnson Palmetto, Florida - To begin, I would like to thank Jeff, Lorie, Joe and Matt for a fun and successful hunt. I began speaking with Jeff in 2012 when I was looking for an outfitter to hunt Deer. Jeff answered the first time I called and was willing to speak to me as long as I wanted. Since the first time I contacted him, he has been there to answer every call. Being more of Turkey hunter, I changed my reservation to a turkey hunt for this past Spring(2014). From the moment we arrived in camp, we were treated as if we had been friends for years. We stayed at the main lodge in Howard, Ks. The main lodge is a large house with an upstairs dining room and kitchen as well as a living room with a flat screen TV. Downstairs there are 4 bedrooms, a bathroom and a large living space to wind down after a long day of hunting. There are a few other lodges as well. I got to see a few of them and they are all awesome places. Breakfast is continental with donuts, cereal, pastries, bagels, etc. Lunch was sandwiches either taken into the field with you or you could go back to camp and eat there. Dinner was waiting for us each night after the hunt when we arrived back at camp. Everything was delicious. Our guide was Joe. Joe also heads up the waterfowl diversion of Hickory Creek and really knows the woods. Not only is he a first class waterfowl guide but the man knows turkeys as well as anyone I know. Joe was awesome; we had as much fun riding around with Joe as we did hunting. The time spent with him was not only fun but extremely informative on how to hunt Rio Grande Turkeys. The fellowship and knowledge we gained through Joe and Jeff was worth more than the trip it-self. Hickory Creek hunts around 30,000 acres and they are covered up in Turkeys and Deer. The first morning we hunted beside a deep creek bed lined in Blackjack Oaks and Cotton Wood Trees. The first time we owl hooted the woods came alive and there must have been 8 Gobblers roosted along that creek. My buddy had never been turkey hunting before so he was up first. Within five minutes after those birds flew down we had one that wanted to play. He was on a string but flanked us at the last second and ended popping out about 15 yards from where we were sitting. We couldn’t get a shot on him because he was behind us. We ended up moving down in the creek bottom but had a hung up bird. From there we moved to a blind that we set up on our way in. Birds gobbled all day. Being from Florida, having turkeys gobbling all day was a different experience for me. After about an hour of calling we had a bird come in. Unfortunately my buddy had a clean miss on that bird at about 40 yards. Joe came and picked us up and took us back to the lodge for lunch. He told about a bird that he had been trying to kill all season. He said it was one of the biggest and baddest Rio Grande’s he had ever seen. Of course, we were just getting to know Joe and we weren’t sure if he was just playing it up. We went over to the area he had been seeing him and we set up the blind. Since it was my friend’s first hunting, we just hunted together the whole trip. After that first morning we were positive we could get the job done. We sat in the blind for a few hours when the turkeys started coming out into the field. We could hear the gobbler but didn’t see him yet. When he came over that hill, we knew Joe wasn’t exaggerating. This thing was a monarch. Pat looked at me and said, “It looks like the logo for Thanksgiving in that field”. The hen’s worked our decoys but he hung up at about 80 yards and just wouldn’t break. He ended up strutting that field for a good hour before they flew up for the night. The next day we spent the whole day on that field. He came in and out all day but just didn’t like what he saw. Over the course of the next few days I used a few different decoy set ups but still couldn’t get him to come in. We nicknamed this bird Tony Soprano since he was such a boss. His group consisted of at least 15 hens and the jakes wouldn’t even step out into his sight. The last morning we tried something a bit different. We each sat on the opposite side of the field about 200 yards apart. That was where they were flying down each day. After trying him with a loan Jake decoy, hen and a Jake, and hen and a full strut with no luck I switched to a loan hen. When they flew down, the first set of hens worked in my decoy for a few minutes before moving on. Then out to my right, I saw him hit the ground with two other hens. They walked right in front of Pat but out of range. They made their way to my decoy and old Tony hit the brakes at about 75 yards and started gobbling like crazy. The two hens were at 15 yards but weren’t moving. I then realized how smart this turkey was. He knew what a decoy was. All of a sudden he took off running to the other side of the field. When I stood up to see why, there was another group of about 20 turkeys and he was fighting with the jakes and running them off. Just as that was going on, something spooked them and they ran out of the field. At this point I was mad and frustrated and ready to go home. Instead of going after more birds on different property’s we hunted this bird basically the whole time. After hearing about some of the previous hunters after this bird, we knew if we could kill that we would have accomplished something great. Pat talked me into going back to the blind and waiting. They had been feeding around the blind every day and they hadn’t made it down there yet so we hoped they would come back out to the field after they regrouped. Sure enough, they did. This time, I didn’t use any decoys. The hens circled the field once and walked right back in front of the blind. Tony followed them and I put a #5 in his brain. We watched this bird for 4 days and killed him on the final day with about an hour left in our trip. It was the most fun and best experience I have ever had on a hunting trip. I can’t say enough about Hickory Creek Outfitters. Everything was more than perfect. We didn’t get our limit but we got one of the biggest Turkeys ever harvested on their land. He had an 11” beard and 1-1/2 spurs. He is currently being mounted and will be on my wall so I can tell the story of my greatest 4 days of hunting for the rest of my life. I will continue to hunt at Hickory Creek for as long as I am able to. The friendships we made are fantastic and I am so great full to everyone who made it possible. The Lord has blessed me with many good hunting experiences but this is by far the best. The birds are plentiful and the service and hospitality was top notch. We are already booked to go back in the spring of 2015 and hopefully I will be writing a review for a deer hunt sometime in the near future. I will tell you this, though. Jeff is a very skilled and knowledgeable deer hunter and there is no doubt that he will be able to put you on a buck of a lifetime. Jeff has my info so call him up and ask for my email address or phone number and I will be happy to give him a great reference. Don’t forget to contact Joe Summer about hunting waterfowl. That part of Kansas is right in the middle of the central flyway and gets very little pressure. He will put you on them!

Submitted by: Craig Clendenin

Review Submitted: Feb 19, 2014

Hunt Date: Nov 11, 2014

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 6

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Prairie

Method: Bow

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?

Good hunt. Great price.

Admittedly, I hunted hard - in the stand at 5:00 a.m. until 5:45 p.m. I saw a lot of deer and am happy with my deer. The other hunters in camp (6 others) were all great as was the food. The only complaint I heard was that the deer that were seen were not as big (generally in 130 - 140 class) as expected. I was also a bit surprised that the guides didn't cape your deer, though my guide did because I left it there for him to mount. As far as recommendations, the fact that I am already signed up for next November should say it all.

Submitted by: Joel Herrera

Review Submitted: Jan 31, 2012

Hunt Date: Nov 21, 2011

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 6

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Foothills

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?

Kansas Hunt

Had a great hunt with Jeff. Place was very nice, clean and everything available to you. Cooking was great. With plenty of food. Game sighting were great and we both took nice bucks

Submitted by: Mark Kellenberger

Review Submitted: Jan 16, 2012

Hunt Date: Nov 30, 2011

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 6

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Praire

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?

Hunt with Hickory Creek

I was very happy with my experience with Jeff Brondige and Hickory Creek Outfitters. A friend and I booked this hunt together. Both of us were looking for large Whitetails. I passed one on the first day (first 15 minutes of light) that would be a proud addition to any wall. It was just too early in the hunt. On the third day I missed my opportunity on a very large buck (150+) only to see it at sunset two days later about 500 yards away. Several of the hunters in camp took very nice animals in the 140-150 range. While I did not fill my tag the experience, accommodations, food and guide (Wes) were all high quality. I would not hesitate to go back or recommend Jeff and Hickory Creek to a fellow hunter.

Submitted by: Harold Bobo

hunt trophy Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge

Review Submitted: Dec 19, 2011

Hunt Date: Sep 19, 2011

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 6

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Foothills

Method: Muzzleloader

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?

Kansas Muzzle loader hunt with Hickory Creek

This was my first hunt with an outfitter. I was impressed with the organization and accommodations provided by Jeff. I seen numerous bucks daily and at least one exceptional buck every day, although they did not always present a shot it was exciting to know they were there. I did shoot a nice buck on my 3rd day. I will hunt again at Hickory Creek and would recommend Jeff to anyone interested in an affordable hunt with a chance for a buck of a lifetime.

Submitted by: Harold Bobo

Review Submitted: Dec 19, 2011

Hunt Date: Sep 19, 2011

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 6

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Foothills

Method: Muzzleloader

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?

Kansas Muzzle loader hunt with Hickory Creek

Submitted by: Harold Bobo

Review Submitted: Dec 19, 2011

Hunt Date: Sep 19, 2011

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 6

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Foothills

Method: Muzzleloader

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?

Kansas Muzzle loader hunt with Hickory Creek

Submitted by: Bryan Wallace

Review Submitted: Dec 18, 2011

Hunt Date: Nov 14, 2011

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 6

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Foothills

Method: Bow

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?

Great hunt

Hunted with Jeff in SE Kansas, had a real great hunt and lodging was great too. Three out of four of us had shooter class bucks within bow range. Did not experience any rutting activity during our week three rut hunt, but still saw a good amount of deer. The rut was really late this year.