Higher Ground Outfitters

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: Robert Cota on Mar 12 2010

Species Hunted: Bull Elk

Game Quality: Poor

Accommodation Quality: Provided Our Own

Camp Condition: Provided Our Own

Food Quality: Provided Our Own

Guide Experience: N/A Spike Camp

Other Personal Experience: Poor

Overall Impression: Poor

Recommend: NEVER!

Reviewer Comments: We hired Higher Ground Outfitters for a bull elk hunt in October of 2004. We were supposed to meet our guide at 9am to be packed 10 miles into the Gila Wilderness to Unit 16B. Our guide didn't even show up until 4pm. Not only did we have to ride most of the way in the pitch dark, the mules spooked 3 times and damaged multiple pieces of our equipment. During the ride in my wife's saddle slipped underneath the horse in pitch darkness. Thankfully she was not badly hurt. My horse, however, slipped and fell into a ravine during the trip in. By the grace of God, neither one of us was badly hurt! As long as I was in charge, things went very well. At the end of the hunt, our guide was a day and a half LATE! Thankfully both of us had taken extra days off from work to relax after the hunt. We could have both lost our jobs. The hunt was unsuccessful. No effort was made to replace our damaged equipment or to refund any of our money even though many of the services promised were not provided. The Worst Experience of my Hunting Life!

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outfitter review submitted by: Jim Bredy on Oct 4 2009

Species Hunted: pronghorn

Game Quality: Excellent

Accommodation Quality: Excellent

Camp Condition: Excellent

Food Quality: Excellent

Guide Experience: Excellent

Other Personal Experience: Excellent

Overall Impression: Excellent

Recommend: Yes

Reviewer Comments: Doc provided me an incredible pronghorn hunt this weekend. If I had to bet on him vs a billy goat going up a mountain, I would bet on him. He has twice the strength and stamina of those half his age. He worked incredibly hard to get me a good "goat". I saw something I never thought was possible. I was absolutely stunned when he called my pronghorn to within 40 yards, using his mouth only, and no other mechanical device! And when he realized that neither of us brought a camera for photos after our long stalk on the pronghorn, he gutted the animal, and threw it over his back and carried it down the mountain so that we could get some pictures. He is truly customer oriented; truly cares about his clients and the animals; and truly loves his job, as I heard him mention numerous times. I consider him a good friend, and hope our paths continue to cross in the future, both in the field and out of the filed.

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outfitter review submitted by: Dustin Lamb on May 4 2009

Species Hunted: Elk

Game Quality: Good

Accommodation Quality: Great

Camp Condition: Great

Food Quality: Great

Guide Experience: Great

Other Personal Experience: Great

Overall Impression: cant wait to do it again

Recommend: Yes!!!!

Reviewer Comments: I worked for Doc in the 2007 elk season he realy nows his stuff! I wasn hunting but he was teaching me everythig he knows about calling in and hunting big bulls.he gives it 100% all the time at what he does and he got all of his hunters a chance at a good mature bull! I would recommend anybody to go give him a try!!!

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outfitter review submitted by: Dan Hahlbohm on Jan 8 2006

Species Hunted: elk

Game Quality: poor

Accommodation Quality: fair

Camp Condition: good

Food Quality: poor

Guide Experience: good

Other Personal Experience: poor

Overall Impression: poor

Recommend: never

Reviewer Comments: We scheduled a Semi-guided (4 hunters, 1 guide) elk hunt with Higher Ground outfitters in 2004. He advised me to apply for area 23 and described it as an up and coming area adjacent to areas 15 and 16. He also indicated that his guides would have the elk pinpointed and put us right on them. Doc Rolston indicated that we could realisticly expect a 50% harvest rate. We hunted 5 days and saw one spike bull. The reality is that the elk cross the border into Arizona or into an adjacent district as soon as the shooting starts. We were in camp for 5 days and the outfitter never even showed up. In all fairness the guide did work hard, but the elk were pressured out of the area after a couple of days. I would never recommend Higher Ground outfitters as I felt Doc Rolston was misleading in his answers to specific questions.

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