Southern Ohio Outfitters

Submitted by: Scott Huffman

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Review Submitted: Nov 11, 2017

Hunt Date: Oct 21, 2017

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 4

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Bow

Price Range: 1000-1999

Best in Ohio, hands down!

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Submitted by: Scott Huffman

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Review Submitted: Nov 11, 2017

Hunt Date: Oct 21, 2017

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 4

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Bow

Price Range: 1000-1999

Best in Ohio, hands down!

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Submitted by: Mike Petti

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Review Submitted: Nov 10, 2017

Hunt Date: Nov 7, 2017

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 5

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Bow

Price Range: 2000-2999

Excellent experience

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Submitted by: Billy Thomas

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Review Submitted: Nov 10, 2017

Hunt Date: Nov 1, 2017

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 5

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Bow

Price Range: 2000-2999

Hunt the Barn

I had a great time hunting with Dave Lusk and his staff. The lodging was good and the hunting was great. Passed on several deer and saw several with great potential. Plan on returning next year. Great folks and great farms.

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Submitted by: Adam Gibson

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Review Submitted: Nov 10, 2017

Hunt Date: Nov 5, 2017

Species Hunted:

Days Hunted: 3

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Bow

Price Range: 1000-1999

November Rut Hunt at S.O.O.

I booked at 3 day hunt in the beginning of November, I was tagged out on the 1st morning on an fantastic buck. Guides are very knowledgeable and helpful to the client. Wanted to leave early to get back home since I tagged out so soon and the Guides assisted me in getting my deer back from the processor as soon as possible and went above what was expected from them. Properties are well managed and the amount of quality deer is what impressed me the most. Fantastic client focused operation.

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Submitted by: Rob Patterson

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Review Submitted: Oct 31, 2017

Hunt Date: Oct 31, 2017

Species Hunted:

Days Hunted: 3

Hunt Type: Semi-Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Bow

Price Range: 1000-1999

Top notch outfitter !

Hunted last year with these guys and seen tons of deer . Seen even more this year including 2 nice shooters . The food was incredible and I would actually consider some of the guides friends .One of the guys in our group this year shot an absolute giant !! We already booked for the opener next year and plan on doing hunts with these guys for a long time !

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Submitted by: Keith Eksterowicz

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Review Submitted: Aug 30, 2016

Hunt Date: Nov 19, 2015

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 3

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Bow

Price Range: 1000-1999

Southern Ohio Outfitters = The Real Deal

I've never hunted Ohio before so when my hunting partner asked if I wanted to go I said yes with some hesitation. We reached out to Dave Lusk at SOO and his responses were quick and informative. As I started to follow the outfit on Facebook my hesitation started to reside as I saw the quality of the bucks Dave was posting from trail cams and the positive reviews posted by other hunters. We were going up for a short 3 day hunt in November and hoping to catch some of rut with a cold snap. Every hunter knows that you can't control the weather so we had our fingers crossed. We arrived the day before our hunt around mid day and immediately met the Dave Lusk, the owner. He was on his way to pick up hunters to bring em back for lunch so we got the scoop from him a little bit later. We unpacked our bags in our room, looked around a bit and met some of the other guys in our group from Louisianna. We grabbed our gear and started double checking our equipment out on the archery range. After lunch we spoke with Dave and some of the guides to get the scope of what was to come. One thing you have to do is LISTEN to your guides and the owner. They've spent all year planning and plotting the deer movement. They know what's in the area you're hunting and will put you in the right spot as best they can. If things are slow they'll move you and if you request to be move they'll move you. My advice, stay in the spot as long as you can. These bucks will circle back and hit your stand hopefully during your hunt. They have a great deer herd w/ 15,000 acres and growing. The deer aren't over pressured and there are plenty of stands to limit over use. My hunt was short and sweet.... In my stand by 5am, dozed a bit until sunrise and then around 715 there was first movement. A doe came out followed by a buck which was being followed by yet another buck who's rack I could see from about 230 yards away. This last buck was then follow by a half rack 5 minutes later. 3 bucks chasing 1 doe. The first 2 bucks fought in the thicket and the loser (buck 1) was chased off. The remaining bucks chased the doe around for the next 45 minutes and things got a little quiet. 30 minutes later a yearling came up to my stand, fed a bit and bedded 40yds from my stand. I started to get a feeling that something was going to happen, just a gut feeling, so I decided to grab my bow. Not 20 minutes later leaves rustled and the bigger buck I saw came up the hill and started scent checking and chasing the yearling around. She ran off and he gave me a show I'll never forget that morning. He stood still long enough for about 15 seconds for me to place sights on him, I shot as he turned to leave. My arrow went in behind the back ribs and came out his opposite shoulder. The rage did its job and I've never seen a blood trail like that in my life. The crew at SOO loves what they do,PERIOD! They get so much satisfaction when their hunters are successful and it shows. Dave and I tracked the buck and he was literally smiling ear to ear when we found him. In about 4 hours I harvested a nice buck with crossing mainbeams. The food is prepared by Dave's wife and is great. Full lunches if you come back to the lodge and there's more than enough dinner to eat twice. The guides will bust their butts making sure you're happy and they don't hunt until all of the hunters are gone from camp. Everyone is a straight shooter and will tell you like it is. If you sit still, be quiet and maintain scent control you'll see deer. I can't say enough about my experience at SOO. I work hard for my money and there's a lot of places that offer hunts. I'm spending it at SOO and I've already rebooked for this year. Please don't hesitate to book with SOO. You won't regret it and you'll have a great time with great people that you'll leave calling friends.

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Submitted by: Matthew Lawhead

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Review Submitted: Aug 28, 2016

Hunt Date: Nov 17, 2015

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 3

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Bow

Price Range: 1000-1999

Nov16 Bow Hunt

Had the pleasure of bowhunting with SOO this past November, and have already rebooked to hunt this November as well, in addition to booking a youth turkey and Pheasent hunt. To say that I am a satisfied customer, would be the understatement of the year. It all started when I reached out to SOO for more info. I jokingly left a voicemail that I was working midnights, and the best time to call would be between midnight and 7am, while I was at work. Much to my surprise, I received a call from owner Dave Lusk, shortly after midnight and we spoke for over an hour. After that, he answered every email and voicemail, with every question I had. He essentially did everything but pack my bag. We arrived in camp, and were greeted by Dave and a few of his guides. (most were out in the field) It was amazing how we were treated as friends right away, and not just clients. I was like bumping into a friend that you haven't seen in a few years. After getting settled, checking our bows, and a safety briefing, we all settled into an amazing meal, which was prepared by Dave's wife, Carlyn. her and their kids were around most of the trip, which added an awesome family atmosphere. Following dinner, Dave and the guides met to "draw" clients, to decide who was taking who, where. My buddy and I ended up on Dave's list. On the first morning of the hunt, Dave drove us out to our spots and provided us with details on what to expect. Five minutes prior to dark, I connected on what would be my biggest bow kill. It was after seeing 2 other shooters, 2 smaller bucks and a handful of does. I went to Ohio with hopes of seeing a monster and I saw three on the first day, not including the dozen that I had seen on the ride into camp. Its easy for the successful hunter to write a good review of a business, but for as amazing of an experience I had while hunting, what truly sold me was what happened in the following days. The following day, I had the opportunity to see Dave and his crew work. They literally put in twenty hour days and did everything possible, to get clients on deer. Checking hundreds of cameras and comparing deer movement, getting guys in and out of the woods, and keeping up with the regular farm chores. It was amazing to see how hard they worked, and still made sure we had a good time after! I was amazed when we went to pick up our deer from the butcher shop the third day, when Dave whipped out a money roll and paid our butcher fees. I thought it was because he liked us, but a guide said he does that for everyone. WHO DOES THAT? So in the end, Amazing owner, Amazing crew, Amazing accomodations, Amazing property, AMAZING experience.

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Submitted by: Dave Richmond

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Review Submitted: Aug 25, 2016

Hunt Date: Oct 4, 2010

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 5

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Bow

Price Range: 2000-2999

Would never recommend to anyone!

Just found this site and decided to write a review on this place. It's been a long time since I been there at least 6 years maybe longer. Anyway we booked with Dave after reading some things and hunting with another outfitter in Ohio with no luck. We found one bad thing on line at that time about one of his guides not showing up on time and that he was a drunk. You could see on that site where Dave actually replied to it and said it wasn't true. So after talking with Dave before the hunt be recommended us to come out the first week of the season which was first week of October. His words was "it's just as good as the rut" We arrive that Sunday the lodge was great nice staff and food was great. They go over some rules and show trail cam pics of the bucks and things like that. Our guide was Mike which was a very cool dude was always on time and ready to take us out. So long story short we hunted everyday never saw a single deer the stands sucked they were crooked in the stand leaning sideways making noise none of them had seat pads. Which would of been nice to know before hand! We met the one guide that was called a drunk I think his name was Kevin. Well he had like 2-3 people he was taking out and sure enough he showed up 2 morning late as hell to take his hunters out because he was pounding beers all night and I know this because he was hanging out in the lodge doing it! The hunters were pissed. 4 people left early that were fed up becusee of the poor hunting. Then they give us some BS about hunting mid day that's the best times well we did that and saw nothing. Mid way though the week Dave the owner! Left and went out of state to some hunting show which I found was very disrespectful to leave all his guest that paid tons of money to have a potential to kill a good buck. The morning we left never saw any guides to say thanks for coming or anything. By the way no one in camp saw a buck I think someone saw a doe that was it. The evening we get back dave sends us a email Saying sorry we didn't see anything bla bla bla we would like to have you return next year free of charge becusee he felt bad. Well that felt great hearing that. Can't remember how much time Before the planned trip but we had a death in the family ans wanted to rebook for the following year. Well we never heard from Dave again we tried calling him and no phone calls back. Way to be professional about it. So we never did get the free trip. I just wanted to make averyone aware of the experience we had. Can't please everyone and that's just the way it goes. Only positive thing I would say is the food was pretty good and the cool we had worked her but off and did a great job. As far as the hunting goes it sucked and Dave just seems like another scammer that money hungry and doesn't care about customer service!

Outfitter Response: Unfortunately for Dave I have all records showing our conversations back and forth and there are numerous things that Dave is not being honest about. I can provide anyone emails from our exchange. Mind you this was 6 years ago, 6 years ago and Dave was the only one too have something bad too say out of the camp. Dave Richmond is a hunter that jumps from outfitter too outfitter leaving his bad mark and we are not the first. What Dave Doesn't know too this day, until he reads this reply, is that after his first day hunting we seen where he was already bad mouthing us on facebook. So, having been told by Dave about the "really bad experience" at the other ohio outfitter, we called that ohio outfitter who we won't name, because it doesn't take long too put two and two together when people come too camp in this fashion. He literally told me everything Dave Richmond did at his place and what Dave would do at ours, and Dave lived up to it. The owner literally told me to kick them Out of camp because that's what he should have done but we didn't ..... Dave walked around with A huge chip on his shoulder , wouldn't speak to anyone hardly except for very little and would go stand on the back porch away from everyone else. There were not 4 hunters who left early and that were pissed At us, total lie.... And Dave saying that NO ONE seen a deer is a complete and utter lie as well and anyone who has been too our place on a 5 day hunt will tell you so. Dave jumped from spot to spot to spot against our better judgement and nothing made him happy even though we tried to accommodate him. With that being said, deer movement is out of our control when it's in the low 90's..... We can't help it. Also, many bucks get up when they are bedded close for mid day to eat then go back to bed in the early season.... Most educated Bowhunters know this especially when we have pics to back it up. It's also not Dave's fault that the deer wasn't moving well either so I felt bad because I want people to have a positive experience at our operation. In an attempt to win them over and show our honesty, I then offered them 4600$ in free hunts WITHOUT HIM ASKING, I EMAILED THEM FIRST and this was Dave's response ( these are the complete email exchange in reference too this) ----- ""Hey Dave Thanks for being a man of your word oct. 23rd is a wednesday and 26th is Saturday ,do we arrive Tuesday and leave sunday? thanks Bill"" Then On 10/10/13, Only 7 days before their hunt they cancel saying this, mind you no mention of a death -- ""Dave, Unfortunately me and my uncle bill will not be able to make are trip this year. Bill is sick with cellulitis/staff infection and with some personal issues on my end. This year just won't work for us. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you guys. We appreciate the (free) trip offer very much we were looking forward to it. Hopefully we can still be in good standing to use the offer next year? If not completely understandable. Thanks again, Dave Richmond! "" So, unfortunately for SOO we did practice excellent customer service, giving away hunts and it cost us 4600$ because we had zero time to book someone in their place. It's not our responsibility too honor free hunts after you've cancelled on short notice costing us money. Dave Richmond did not accidentally find this website.... Liked our SOO facebook page on August 22nd, 2016 wanting too leave us a bad review there and wrote this review on August 25th, 2016..... And has done nothing but send us emails each year telling us how bad of people we are?!? Kevin Ray was let go from SOO and has now tried starting an Outfit of his own. We do not tolerate drugs, alcohol, laziness, etc... You will be fired on the spot and we definitely don't tolerate it. Our team is stellar, our hunting is 2nd to none and that's why we are one of the most popular outfitters in North America . As an owner it's my job too promote SOO... So I'm not sure what Dave wanted with having 6 hunters in camp and 3 guides not counting myself. I can't be there literally every day. I would never get any other business done with SOO and there was never any promises that I would be there all 5 days guiding them. As an owner, being there 4 out of the 5 days is pretty dang good. Too say that we are a "scammer" is hurtful.... We have 168,000 likes on our Facebook page, and bust tail everyday posting our every move on there. We have a huge following, we get bragged on non stop. As Dave said, you can't make everyone happy, especially when they are looking too drawl in confrontation.

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Submitted by: Jeff Sanderson

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Review Submitted: Nov 19, 2015

Hunt Date: Nov 13, 2015

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Days Hunted: 3

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Farmland

Method: Bow

Price Range: 1000-1999

Southern Ohio Outfitters

My feedback on My 3 day hunt I booked with Southern Ohio Outfitters to whom it may concern: The communication between owner Dave Lusk and myself after payment of the hunt was poor at best. I tried to contact Dave several times with questions regarding directions, rules at camp, etc. and each time there was a failure to pick up the phone or answer emails & text messages. Myself and at least one other hunter didn't find out the specific location of where we were going until 10:30 the morning before we arrived. Dave never had the common courtesy of stopping by the lodge to greet us, shake our hands, get our feedback, or check on concerns. He was actually at the Lodge after everyone had arrived the first night, and never bothered to even come inside the lodge. My father and I stayed over the third night so we were well rested to leave early the next morning, and Dave did stop in with his return customers that were checking in. Again, there was not a hand shake, and hardly an acknowledgment of me by Dave as I walked by to leave as he sat on the couch. Four hunters, one of which was me were put in stands and each of us couldn't have been more than 150 yds away from the next hunter. When we questioned the guide why we were so close to one another he explained he knew there was a 160 class buck in the area and he just wanted one of us to get a shot at him. The stands had very poor shooting lanes, & when questioned our guide told us it was for concealment. All hunters there expressed concerned about the overgrowth and the inability to get a shot off, & I’m speaking for everyone when I say that in my opinion the stands are just not maintained well. At the end of the first two days in my stand at approximately 4:00 – 4:30 I would hear a UTV motor down to the property line and glass us while we were in our stand. The last morning the neighboring property decided at 7:30 am to fire his pistol about a shot every couple minutes for about 20 minutes. They then decided to blast Christmas music, at that point my thought was these actions must be intentional. We insisted on all four of us to be moved to another spot. I also asked if the neighbors had a problem with the outfitter, and our guide said yes he has “beef” with Dave. So, he knew there were issues and still stuck us here. All four of us had to go back to the lodge to see where Dave was going to allow his guides to put us. We were taken by another guide, Austin, to a different location. In my opinion, Austin is a stand up young man passionate about the profession he has chosen. I didn't see a deer at that location, which is OK that's hunting, however there were nice buck in the area. I was wondering why we didn't start out there in the first place. I can deal with not taking home a trophy, however in my opinion I believe there were some good spots being saved for returning clients. The kill rate in our camp was 0%, that is 12 hunters no kills. In fairness there was two gentlemen that did pass on buck. Overall the lodge was decent, however there were quite a few small details that had been overlooked. There was trim that hadn't been finished yet. There was painting that hadn't been finished yet. In one of the rooms there was no door on the bathroom. There was no true heat source installed yet. A vertical electric heater was there for our heat source. The coffee pot didn't work the first morning. There was maybe one or two working smoke alarms in the place. The loft didn't have one, and in the other room there was a case for an alarm, but it was empty. In conclusion, I would love to go back to Ohio to hunt whitetail, but Southern Ohio Outfitters will never get another penny from me. To all the men I met from Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, & Nevada, It was a pleasure to have been at the same lodge as you! I wish you all the best & perhaps we may meet again, at another outfitter of course.

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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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