Bear Paw Hunts Truth

06/01/2020

I was contacted by an individual that had hired this “Outfitter” last elk season and he was sold the premiere hunting trip and experience, only to end up at the same camp with Larry. Needless to say, he experienced the same scam. Please help spread the word to avoid this outfit. Since my experience, we have purchased 132 acres around Anaconda, MT and will do all we can to stop all dishonest outfitters we hear about. Good luck this upcoming season.

02/10/2020

You need to be able to look clients in the eye and lie to them without hesitation. You need to know when to put the knife in their back.

02/27/2017

When a business operates in fraudulant practices over a long period of time and damages it reputation and integrity, it will eventually start doing business under a new name.
Montana Outfing Company is now in business and emailing potential clients. Beware, it is the same people who run Bear Paw Hunts. They are in the development stages of their website at montanaoutfittingcompany.com

02/14/2017

I made a demand for a refund for the sham of a hunt, but have not received any response. So, it looks like I will be filing a complaint against Bear Paw Hunts with the Montana Wildlife outfitters division. I will also file a lawsuit for not only the fee paid for services not received, but also all expenses incurred.

01/30/2017

If anyone else has experienced the bait and switch or bad service with this guide service, feel free to post your story. There is no need for any other hunters to be ripped off.

01/14/2017

Go to bearpawhunts.com to see the sales pitch and then you can compare it to the actual camp conditions that are acceptable to the owner.

Hunt The Bear Paw Mountains! The stunning Bear Paw’s is almost entirely private land made up of big ranches. This is some of the most breathtaking landscape in the world in a very remote part of Montana. The Bear Paw’s reach 7000 feet and the drainages empty into the Milk River Valley to the north a...

01/14/2017

I have started this page to not only warn the hunting community of the "Bait and Switch" that is being done by Bear Paw Hunts, but to provide a forum for other hunters that have been ripped off by this guide service. When I contacted the owner, he said there is niothing he would change and offered me a discounted hunt next yaer. I respectfully declined.

01/14/2017

01/14/2017

To: Bear Paw Hunts November 30, 2016 Box 765 1641 Juniper Drive Havre, MT. 59501
Attn.: Brian Hansen
Brian,
The following is our activities for each day.

11/22 - Day 1;
We met our guides in Boulder at 1 p.m. We drove to a gravel pit and confirmed that my 7 mag and 270 cal. are shooting on. We arrived at the camp at 2:30 pm. We immediately got dressed for an evening hunt, grab our gear and left in a side by side OHV with our guide Kim. We went to the upper quantince park and posted in some rocks and trees to watch the park. We did not see any signs, tracks or animals. We left at dark and drove back to the camp. We finished unloading or gear into the cabin, ate dinner and went to bed.
11/23 – Day 2
Up at 4:50 am and ate breakfast at 5:30. Left camp in the OHV with Kraig at 6:30 and drove to upper brady park. We walked a complete circle around the park and mountain and back to the OHV. We got word that Larry had shot an elk and drove down to the East lower elevation to help Larry with his elk. We helped him load the elk onto another OHV and get it down to camp. We drove behind the camp into the next canyon and I was dropped off by myself. It started snowing while I walked up the backside of the mountain and glassed the entire canyon for approximately 45 minutes. I then continued over the top and down to the camp arriving at 1:20 pm. We ate lunch and left for the evening hunt at 3:00pm. We went with Kraig to the top of the mountain above where Larry had shot his elk. We walked the top of the ridges for 2 ½ hours at which time it got dark. We descended off the hill and met Kim in his vehicle after an hour as the snow got heavier. We did not see any signs, tracks or animals. Ate dinner at 7:45 and went to bed.
11/24 – Day 3
Up ate 4:45, ate breakfast at 5:30. We went with Kraig in the OHV to the same area that we went to the previous evening. We repeated the same walk as the previous evening. We did not see any signs, tracks or animals. Back at camp at 12:30 and ate lunch. We left the camp at 3:20 with Kim in the OHV to the area where Larry shot his elk. We sat on the hillside until dark. We got back to camp at 6:30, at dinner and went to bed.
11/25 – Day 4
Up ate 4:45, ate breakfast at 5:30. Larry’s Son and Grandson arrived late in the night and joined us for breakfast. Larry and his son will now be using both OHV’s, so we will be using Kim’s Blazer for transportation. Left at 6 am to the upper quantince park where we had hunted the first night. We saw 4 cow elk on the opposite canyon hillside at over 1250 yards, as they moved into the trees. We heard to shots from the lower canyon after the first hour of hunting. The grandson had shot at a cow elk at 400 yards in the same area that Larry had shot his elk. We went back to camp at 10:30, then Kim left to help Larry with his OHV at the site where the grandson had shot. We went in for lunch, Lee was gone in town so we made our own lunch with leftovers. We discussed seeing the cows with Larry and decided we would not disturb them today and get up there before sunrise to maybe see a bull or get a shot at one of the cows. Left camp at 3 pm to the canyon behind the camp. Hiked up the hill, and then walked to the North slope to sit and glass the mountain that we had walked twice. While we were sitting, the Son and grandson drove into the canyon behind the camp, made a loop and left. They then drove the entire ranch, including the area where we were going in the morning. We sat there until dark and descended down the hill to the main road where Kim picked us up and drove us to camp at 5:40 pm. Ate dinner at 6:30 and went to bed.

11/26 – Day 5
Up at 4:10 am for the early start. We dressed with the light of our flashlights. I went outside at 4:30, no one was awake at that time. I gassed up our generator and started it around 4:45. That woke everyone up. We ate breakfast at 5:25 and left camp with Kim and Kraig at 6:30. We walked out to the ridge where we had seen the cows the previous morning and sat until 9:45. During that time we heard two shots down in the same rea the Larry had shot his elk. We got back to camp around 11 am. We asked Larry and his son about the shots and they said it wasn’t them. When I saw the grandson, I asked him if he got any shooting this morning, He looked at his dad and grandfather as they shook their heads. He sheepishly said no, but clearly was being forced to say no. That’s when they said we were going to the hot springs about an hour away to bath instead of the evening hunt. They had their towels, but did not have any towels for us. That is when I had had enough of the 3rd rate accommodations, meals and guide services.
During the hunt on each day, there were at least 3 to 6 vehicles with hunters either road hunting or on foot hunt the surrounding areas. We never had an animal within 1250 yards of us, yet on the first day of Larry’s and his grandson’s they we shooting at 200 and 400 yards. I felt as if I was an inconvenient necessity, the necessity of me paying for their family hunt.
Sincerely,
James K. Matson
James K. Matson

Cc: Chris Faber

01/14/2017

To:Bear Paw Hunts November 28,2016 Box765 1641 Juniper Drive Havre, MT. 59501
Attn.: Brian Hansen

Brian,
It was with deep regrets that I felt I needed to leave the Bear Paw Hunts facility on Saturday at noon, therefore ending my hunt. I was truly excited about the upcoming hunt for months after reviewing the Bear Paw Hunts website and corresponding with you. The quality of the game and the facilities, along with the testimonials of former clients confirmed that Bear Paw Hunts was the correct choice.
The facility conditions at the Boulder location, lodging, meals and hunting coordination were the worst I have ever encountered in my 40+ years of guided hunting in 6 states and 2 countries. None of the aforementioned items were anywhere near how they were portrayed on the website.
When I spoke with Larry on 11/14/16, he told me that my son should bring a firearm and we both should purchase wolf, bear and cougar tags, seeing that there were many wolves, two bears and a cougar on the ranch. We did purchase wolf tags and figured that if we needed to, we could drive down to Butte and purchase the bear and cougar tags after I filled the elk and deer tags. We never saw any signs or animals in the area. Seeing that all of the food was stored in coolers on the deck and elk parts were lying within yards of the cabin and never disturbed, indicated that there were no bears in the area. I was also informed that he had two guides, (brothers) coming in that would be my guides for the duration of the hunt. This was because he would be hunting along with his son and grandson.
It was upon our arrival that I was informed that the camp was a “dry camp”. I had not received any previous type of correspondence informing me that I would not be staying at one of the lodges listed on the website. We were shown our cabin and given 2 small containers, one roll of paper towels and a 1 liter bottle of water in place of shower facilities. We were given 2 mattress bottom sheets only for the twin bed and futon. That was the full extent of the fully made beds. Fortunately I had 2 youth sleeping bags and 2 blankets in my truck from my grandchildren’s visit that previous weekend. We were shown 3 porta potties approximately 20 yards from our cabin for our restroom needs. The porta potties did not have sufficient toilet paper, but were given a small pack of baby wipes when I inquired about obtaining a roll of toilet paper. We were assured, that Larry would use the sticks, (that leaned against the porta potties) to stir/knock down the contents if the contents built up to high. We were also given directions on how to operate the Coleman gas heater to provide heat in our cabin. We were also instructed to leave the windows open a bit so as not to take any chances on carbon monoxide poisoning. It was an all-night attempt to balance the temperature of the cabin.
The cabin itself was an interior and exterior unfinished structure. The exterior had two elevations that did not have the moisture barrier or metal sheathing installed. That allowed for a constant draft from the blowing wind during the night. The interior consisted of an 18’ x 9’room, untaped and unfinished drywall ceilings and walls. The electricity was supplied by a generator that was located outside next to the building. We were shown how to operate that also.
The main cabin consisted of a log structure that was approximately 18’ x 10’, with a 9’ x 10’ loft, where the two guides slept and eventually Larry’s son and grandson would sleep. The cabin also had the kitchen which was two small tables with a two burner Coleman gas stove and microwave. The cabin also was utilized for storage. It had a wood stove and also the electricity was supplied by a generator. By Thursday night, this would be where all 8 of us would be to eat our meals.
We would meet in the main cabin around 5 am to eat and discuss where we were hunting that morning. We were then transported to the general areas we were hunting via a Honda side by machine until the arrival, Thursday evening, of Larry’s son and grandson. Then the transportation became the guide’s blazer for our transportation.
Our meals were as follows;
11/22, Day 1:
Dinner – Pre-processed shrimp meat frozen battered shrimp sticks, frozen packaged sage and cheese won-tons and a pre-packaged Asian salad.
11/23, Day 2;
Breakfast – Toasted English muffin with a fried egg and a slice of cheese, coffee and orange juice. Lunch – Pre-package frozen beef fajitas mix cooked on flour tortilla. Dinner – Salmon that was purchased for an earlier client and “needed to eat before it goes bad”, pre-packaged salad, wheat bread with butter.
11/24, Day 3;
Breakfast – 2 eggs, toast, orange juice and coffee. Lunch – Pre-packaged shredded barbeque chicken on a toast sandwich role. Dinner – BBQ pork loin steaks, coleslaw, stove top stuffing and pumpkin pie.
11/25, Day 5;
Breakfast – 2 eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice and coffee. Lunch – Larry and Lee were in town (took his elk in to processer who were closed, then hit the casino where Lee hit a jackpot for a couple of hundred dollars. So my son and I went through the ice chest outside and made a left over pork loin, mustard and mayo sandwich. Dinner – Steaks, mash potatoes, green beans and mushrooms.
11/26, Day 6
Breakfast – 2 French toast, link sausage, toast, orange juice and coffee. Lunch – No lunch was made, we left camp.
My calorie intake was not sufficient enough to meet or exceed my calorie output. Therefore after the first night’s hunt and the second day’s hunt, the lack of good and plentiful food and the lack of a good night’s sleep, extremely stressed my body. I maintained my positive attitude and continued to push myself to hunt as I always have, with 100% effort.
Before we left, my son and I shook everyone’s hand and thanked them for their time and thanked Craig especially for his effort with sincere gratitude. As we were getting in our truck, Larry approached me and handed me his Guide Service business card and explained that I was subbed out to him and if I was to want to hunt anywhere in Montana or Idaho, to contact him direct, not Bear Paw Hunts. Being a business owner, I have had former employees who had basically done the same thing. I did not appreciate it when it was done behind my back, and I was thoroughly disgusted when I was solicited behind Bear Paw Hunts’ back.
As a hunter of 50+ years, I completely understand that there are many variables that can influence the outcome of every hunt. The attitude, effort and the ability of the individual, is just as important as the weather, hunting pressure and environment of the game one is pursuing. So, I will be outlining our daily activities in my next letter in order for you to see why my disappointment and disgust with the situation lead me to walk away from a hunt for the first time.

Sincerely,
James K. Matson
James K. Matson

Cc: Chris Faber