Winterhawk Outfitters

Submitted by: Billy Wilson Jr

Review Submitted: Sep 15, 2011

Hunt Date: Aug 31, 2010

Species Hunted: Elk

Days Hunted: 7

Hunt Type: Guided

Primary Terrain: Mountain

Method: Bow

Price Range: 4000-4999

Liar Larry

Get your money back if you can. Outfitter has pending forest service violations. Pull up their record of all the violations it speaks for itself. LARRY AMOS d/b/a WINTERHAWK OUTFITTERS, INC VS U S FORREST SERVICE. Larry and wife are a disgrace to outfitting business. They do not pay their employees as well.

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Submitted by: Wayne Klinkhammer

Review Submitted: Aug 28, 2011

Hunt Date: Sep 3, 2010

Species Hunted: Elk

Days Hunted: 7

Hunt Type: Drop Camp

Primary Terrain: Mountain

Method: Bow

Price Range: 1000-1999

Dirty Larry

If you give Ole Larry money; you have just completed his part of the contractual obligation.I spent 30 years in the Military and always take a man at his word... Can't do that with Larry; he WILL bite you!! My brothers-in-law, their hunting buddies, my son, and I, signed up for an early 2010 drop camp elk hunt. Right after I sent Larry my deposit and paperwork. I was hospitalized with a perforated colon. I informed Larry's wife, Laura, of the situation and that it was doubtful that I would be able to make the hunt. It took all summer to heal with surgery during hunting season. We met the minimal manning criteria for the hunt and at that time my son asked Larry about my deposit. Larry stated that it would depend on how good HIS season was. Apparently it was not very good as he has never offered to put it toward another hunt or even partial repayment after his expenses. There were few elk seen and even fewer heard and they were told it was "THE HEART OF THE RUT!!". After the season I sent Larry a letter along with a letter from my surgeon and included the discharges from my hospital stays via certified mail. Larry would not sign for it, and it was ultimately returned. I then sent it regular mail, it never came back, and I never heard from Larry. Now ole Larry probably considers himself a hardnosed businessman; BUT, if I were one of his neighbors, I would be counting my livestock on a regular basis.

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Submitted by: Rob Strauss

Review Submitted: Feb 8, 2011

Hunt Date: Oct 1, 2010

Species Hunted: Elk

Days Hunted: 10

Hunt Type: Drop Camp

Primary Terrain: Mountain

Method: Bow

Price Range: 2000-2999

i have been hunting elk for the last 23 years and recently decided to take my son on a drop camp hunt with winterhawk outfitters in colorado. i had hunted with larry and laura amos on a previous occasion and decided to go back with my 14 year old.while my son did not kill a elk we did have opportunity that will be in my sons memory for a lifetime.Nothing makes a impression like like a bull elk at 12 yards! What made this trip a success was how Larry and his crew accomodated us for our hunt. i know this was just a drop camp but i am talking about the whole experience and winterhawk truly delivered.The ride to camp was great with the safety of my son being my first concern and they did a excellent job.they provided us with one of the best drop camps i have seen and really busted there ass to make sure we were happy.the camp was as good as it gets and there was plenty of game in the area,just none tied to the trees at camp.i have hunted and spent a week just finding some elk to hunt and this was not the case here. this is just elk hunting, no sure things. i passed a couple of bulls and while my son never released a arrow this will always be one of the best hunts i have ever been on,ELK HUNTING IS DEEPLY WOVEN INTO MY DNA and winterhawk did not dissapoint,just the opposit. Larry and Laura are regular good hard woking people who run a great operation who i would recommend to anyone looking for a great high country experience

Outfitter Response: Thank you Rob Strauss.

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Submitted by: Matthew O

Review Submitted: Nov 20, 2010

Hunt Date: not provided

Species Hunted: Elk, Mule Deer

Days Hunted: 0

Hunt Type: Drop Camp

Primary Terrain: Praire

Method: Rifle

Price Range: 1000-1999

3RD SEASON DROP CAMP IN fLATTOPS

if I can save 1 group from falling victim to winterhawk outfitters i'll feel that this review was worthwhile,the only honest thing Larry said was he was going to steal the rest of our money.We booked our hunt in March,after sending our deposit communication failed to exist,when inquiring as to where we might be huntig as to purchase maps.we were told that larry needed to wait so as to best place us due to the weather and the tags that we had.We were pigeon holed in the back of the valley with 2 ft.of crunchy snow after the animals in the area had already migrated to lower elevation areas where they had drop camps that were removed as to make another area for his guided hunts or higher paying customers.we had to make our own fire wood with a bow saw that you'd use to trim fruit trees &a axe with a broken head,not a nice prospect when it's snowing &freezing.To top it off there was another drop camp less than a mile from ours, he talks about all the area that he outfits on and the camps from 11,000ft to 9000ft to deal with the conditions,but I didn't see anything but other hunters.There were 5 hunters w/11 tags 5 bull tags 4 buck tags & 2 cow tags,we hunted hard for six days and onlythe hunters with cow tags were able to have any success,while 2 of us never even saw an animal,only 1 bull was spotted but was never close enough for an encounter.

Outfitter Response: This is Larry Amos, owner of Winterhawk Outfitters. I just become aware of this website last week. It is very clear that a few novis hunters use it for there wining. As for this group of drop camp hunters. They were one of the last groups to book for the 2010 season. As you can see by ther statement they booked in March. They requested the 3rd. rifle season to hunt. Anyone that has hunted in Colorado knows that if you hunt the 3rd. Season, you will have snow and you need to come prepared to hunt in these conditions. As far as maps for them, thay were told what maps to get and they were given Maps at base Camp and I did go over the maps with them and explained the area in detail with them. They were the type of hunters that should be on a guides hunt, not a do-it-yourself Drop Camp. His statement was that the lower drop camps was removed to have room for the guided hunters. Well there were no drop camps near where the guided hunters were hunting. There camp was at the head of a huge drainage with lots of country to hunt. There was another camp about 2 miles from there camp with 2 hunters in it and they did not have any problems like these people. They said there saw and axe were broke. If they were broke that is because they broke them. That is one of the reasons that all my camps have Radios in them, should the hunters need something they are told to call the Base Camp and someone will bring what they need to them. No calls were ever made to the Base Camp by them about this. There was no comments or complaints made by these hunters while they were in camp. I was in Base Camp at all times and when they were packed out and none of them had anything to say about these things when they left Base Camp. 2 of my packers rode by there camp the second day of the hunt at around 9:00 AM and they were still in camp. If you look at the top of his complaint where it says Primary Terrain: Praire, this should tell you something about this guy, he did not know he was in the Rocky Mountains. Also where it says Days Hunted: he put 0,well that is probably correct to. I sometimes do not know what th say about people like this. We have been in business for 29 years in the Flat Tops Wilderness and we do have 250 square miles of country to hunt. We see all types of self proclaimed hunters. Most are great outdoorspeople and are Great to have them in Camp. Please take a look at our website and you will see we are not a fly by night outfit that has over 300 names on our reference list. Thank You and Good Hunting Larry Amos www.winterhawk.com

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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: Dean J. Daniels on Feb 29 2008

Species Hunted: Elk

Game Quality: Poor

Accommodation Quality: Fair

Camp Condition: Fair

Food Quality: Good

Guide Experience: Little if any

Other Personal Experience: Fair

Overall Impression: A waste of hard earned Money

Recommend: Never !

Reviewer Comments: I broke a couple of ribs the very first day because my horse bolted when they jammed all hunters (3 parties ) together at 1 gate. Mr. Amos never even asked if I needed any assistance, preferring instead to hope the week past and I would simply leave without problems. Also we only hunted about 1 1/2 hour in the morning and much the same in the evening. WINTERHAWK was hosting a televised rifle hunt in 2 weeks and I think they preferred to ruin our hunt to keep the Elk around for their professional acting careers. All in all? Pretty Country, abysmal hunt and a completely disinterested owner. Don't waste your time and hard earned money

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outfitter review submitted by: Ron Vermost on Dec 17 2007

Species Hunted: Elk

Game Quality: Very Poor

Accommodation Quality: Horrible

Camp Condition: Ok

Food Quality: Very Poor

Guide Experience: None

Other Personal Experience: None

Overall Impression: Worst I Have Been On

Recommend: Not Way

Reviewer Comments: Paid for 2 on 1 hunt. Had a 3 on one. Cook had never been a camp cook. Chicken was served raw. She got sick. We refused to eat it. Ran out food, had to eat elk just killed. Larry would not send up more food. No wood for fires. Guide got lost in snow storm on way back to camp. Thankfully we had GPS with. Place was overrun with hunters. Larry had over 60 up there himself, plus public hunters. Larry will not even respond to email or letters. His reputation is know all the way to Denver as being horrible.

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outfitter review submitted by: Gary Robidoux on Mar 10 2007

Species Hunted: Elk

Game Quality: N/A

Accommodation Quality: N/A

Camp Condition: N/A

Food Quality: N/A

Guide Experience: N/A

Other Personal Experience: N/A

Overall Impression: N/A

Recommend: Absolutely Not

Reviewer Comments: The reason for so many N/A's is that our hunt never materialized as planned. We placed a $900.00 deposit for a fall muzzleloader hunt for this past year 2006. They payment was non refundable by contract and that was clearly understood.The payment was made in spring of 2005. Our group leader who made the arrangements with Larry the owner ended up having serious and unavoidable back surgery. In addition his wifes employer move the company to New Jersey unexpectedly.Needless to say they had to deal with the surgery and sell off most of their assets and move 3 states away while in recovery. This prevented my good friend from physically being able to participate in our scheduled hunt.When presented with our situation the owner of Winter Hawk (Larry) Stated that if he could re-book our slots he would refund our deposits. He further indicated that it shouldn't be a problem.As time went on we heard nothing. E-Mails recieved no response, and letters un answered. At the show in Penn.outside of Harrisburg I was surprise to see Winter Hawk there. I was informed by the representative that they had a fully booked and fairly successful muzzleloader season in the fall of 2006. When we identified ourselves and presented our situation the rep had no answers. He took down my address and information and promised a reply.As usual there has been no response. I guess the integrity of a mans word in Colorado is worth about $2700.00. In Massachusetts a mans word is "free" and when given it is "KEPT". We understand what the contract says, and realize we are contractually owed nothing. If he had offered a portion of the deposit we would have considered that very honorable.If he admitted making the offer by mistake or without thinking it through would at least be somewhat honorable.Contracts are one thing but in life bad things happen when you don't expect it. To blow smoke up our backside and show no compassion for unexpected misfortunes for a man who is still recovering from surgery is just plain shameful especially when there were no finacial losses.I find no honor in this outfit.

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outfitter review submitted by: Jim Brandt on Jul 1 2001

Species Hunted: Elk, Mule Deer

Game Quality: Poor

Accommodation Quality: Good

Camp Condition: Good

Food Quality: Good

Guide Experience: EXTREMELY POOR

Other Personal Experience: Poor

Overall Impression: EXTREMELY POOR

Recommend: NEVER!

Reviewer Comments: When Larry say's he promises to cash your check and take your money, believe him. This was the poorest run outfit I have ever seen. Most guides in our camp were on their first hunt. Two had been camp jacks until the week we arrived. Larry is as lazy as they come. We ran low on supplies, but Larry couldn't seem to find time for someone to bring the pack horses in. 7 hunters, 1 spike seen in 9 days. The area was crowded and not at all as promised. If you want to go on a good hunt, don't go here. If you want someone to cash your check, you found the place.

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outfitter review submitted by: Mark Trusock on Oct 18 1999

Species Hunted: Elk, Mule Deer

Game Quality: good

Accommodation Quality: First Class

Camp Condition: great

Food Quality: excellent

Guide Experience: good

Other Personal Experience: good

Overall Impression: outstanding

Recommend: yes!!!!!

Reviewer Comments: My son and I went for the first gun season in Oct of 1999. It was the hunt of a lifetime. The people were great. The area was outstanding. Our cook made prime rib, roast stuffed turkey, ham, and cheesecake. He baked homemade bread everyday. We had a 2 on 1 hunt. Our guide was great. The campjack would start our fire a hour before they woke us up to warm our tent. We hunted from sunup to sundown. We did not take an animal but missed a few and had a wonderful time.

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outfitter review submitted by: Tim Knight on Oct 4 1999

Species Hunted: Elk

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: My father and i completed a 2 on 1 guided archery elk hunt during the first week of the 1999 season. Larry Amos and the whole crew at winterhawk outfitters provided us with a first class hunt. We seening 40+ elk every day for the first three days until the rain started and drove them into the dark timber. My father and i both had opportunities on bulls. Billy was the name of our guide and what a character. He was an excellent guide and became more of a buddy through the hunt which made the rainy days much more tolerable. I would recommend this outfit to anyone wanting a fun and fulfilling hunt.

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