Some things to think about when booking with an outfitter. Rules I go by when booking an out west hunt....
Rule #1, cheaper is not always better. Sure you may be saving $500, but if your sitting in over hunted stands, areas with no food left and hunting with an outfitter whom just doesn't care if you kill or not, you're not saving anything. Iowa is a tough draw, don't risk your hunt to just anyone.
Rule #2, can they provide references of clients in the past. The best person to tell you how the operation is run, is not the guide. It's the guy who was just there. Find out through them first hand how they were treated, and what they thought of the operation. Be very wise of outfits that can't offer atleast a dozen references, and that only offer them upon request. Contact atleast 4 former clients.
Rule #3, the pictures can lie. Make sure the photos of kills are actual clients and not friends or relatives. Cross reference the kill shots with the references you are calling. Ask them " are you on the website and which deer did you kill?" Some outfitters will post pics of giant deer that were not even killed on any farms they hunt just to sucker you in. Make sure that what you see is what they get.....
Rule #4, Food Plots! Gun season is all about food plots and holding deer. I can't tell you how many clients we have had that have had nightmare experiences with other outfitters whom claimed to have food plots. Then when they show up to hunt, they are perched over a nice plot of grass! We spend all summer and fall putting in acres and acres of food plots. Our deer stay around and stay healthy well into the next year. Food is the #1 thing in the gun seasons.
Rule #5, Personal service. Yes sometimes it's the little things that make or break a hunt. You could hire the cheapest outfitter who has the biggest deer and if you have to sit in a homemade wooden stand that leans forward all day, you will never enjoy your hunt. We use only top quality blinds, stands and equipment during and all through the season.
Rule #6, We don't do Pre-Rut hunts. Let's face it, you got 5 days to make it happen. Do you want to put all your marbles into a week that could be highs in the 80's and mosquitos everywhere. Soaking with sweat walking to your stand? Also another downside to the pre rut discount is it just puts more people in stands prior to that golden month. Thunder Ridge starts hunting the first week of November every year. We don't try and squeeze in an extra group or two hunters at a cheaper rate that we know have very minimal chances to kill a trophy buck. The middle part of October just has too many variables...
2010 Gun season near full. With a strict limit of 8 hunters per season (that's right you won't end up in camp with 20-30 hunters all crowding the spots at Thunder Ridge. We are a low pressure outfit. The less pressure we inflict on our hunting ground the better your chances are to score. Before you buy into all the hoopla of big time advertisers, States over pressured with hunting, and places that promise what they can't produce. You better check into TRO-We are the real deal...We provide references, actual kill photos of clients, and an all around great hunt!!!!
For the Hunter who has everything, next time when buying him a gift consider either a Thunder Ridge Gift certificate, or a hand made custom Trappers Cabin. With over 40 painstaking hours put into each custom hand made cabin. The no two alike cabins are a symbol of the outdoorsman in your life. Each cabin can be made to your likeing or you can simply order an already in stock one. Great for birthdays, retirement gifts, or other special occasions. Click on the cabin to see an example.
Late Muzzleloader season sees record snow fall and well below average temps. What can we say, with snow falls totalling in the 30-40 inch category along with gail force winds blowing drifts as much as 5 feet high, late muzzleloader season was a difficult hunt. Not only was getting anywhere difficult but walking was a complete different story. But we trekked on and even with a tore up transmission, and a few other stuck vehicles, we still had a very successfull ending to the year. Of the nine hunters in LM season5 harvested good bucks, two missed, and 2 went without. Two that went without were looking for bucks over the 170 category and passed several mid 150"s deer. We would like to congratulate all of ourlate muzzleloader guys for braving the snow and temps at times well below zero.
Big Bucks Dropping like Flies in November and December. Wow talk about a year for whoppers dropping. From a 178" 14ptr with split G2's to two
mammoth 8 pointers. This year is going very well into the Late Muzzleloader season. Check out some of the Kill pics posted in the Selected Seasons to the left.
2008 Was Riddled With Misses, Wounds, And Woes!!!!! If I had a deposit sent for every call that asked what was your percentage rate last year and I could give an explanation for all
the things I saw that went wrong and happend, I'd still be on the beaches of Playa Del Carmen, and probably have the swine flu by now. This year the Deer were lucky enough to be spared by branches,
misfires, bad shots, and just plane no shots. We had more bad luck running through the timber than we dare speak about. Many giants were spared and we are very eagerly awaiting the camera season.
Luckily with 7 bucks wounded only 2 were found dead. We scoured for the others during shed season and did not find them, so we are very confident they made it. But yes if we could post the pics of all
the guys with there hands up and there smiles turned upside down, there would be many new pics for 09.
New Minimum Installation for 2007!!! Yes it's time and it only benefits everyone. This year we are going to place a min. inch on all kills both gun and bow. In an effort to keep 2 and 3 year olds from getting taken too early. We've talked to several clients and this will be a very effective way to make clients take the time to think before they shoot and be sure this is the deer they wish to go home with. All of the penalty proceeds will go towards stand upgrades and more food plots for the following year......
Country Singer Craig Morgan Scores on a great Buck! We were fortunate enough to have another Celebrity hunt with us this year. Country music recording artist Craig Morgan hunted with us during the month of November. He shot a great buck with his bow. He was hunting for the Hunter Specialties PrimeTime Bucks 12 video which will be released next year. The hunt was Filmed by Wade so that added some more excitement to the hunt.....PHOTOS.
214" Pig goes down!!!! Hillary Bates of Minn. shot a 26 point nontypical buck in November, Sitting through wind gusts of over 40 mph this wise old hog came sneaking right under his stand and met his maker. Congrats to Hillary!!!! See Photos...
Check out the Trail Camera Photos for This Year! WoW! have we got some bruisers on film this year. We have told all of you whom have called that several deer were seen and missed last year and the proof is on this page. Just look at all the Shooters on this page that are going to be walking our woods this fall. All I can say is if you are hunting with us this fall and aren't practicing right now, you are making the hunters for 2008 really happy.....
Watch for Codi's hunt and other Thunder Ridge Hunts on PrimeTime bucks 11. Co-Owner Wade Sehman's daughter Codi took her first buck this year with a muzzleloader and with her father videoing made the moment even more special. Make Sure you purchase the new PrimeTime Bucks 11 to see a snipit of her hunt along with several other Giants killed in Iowa. It is by far their most amazing DVD released to date....
Cabela's Outdoor Adventures In November Erik Pawlak was with us for a week to film a show with Cabela's. And after seeing several giants and shooting just in front of a complete monster. He was able to take a really nice buck. Watch for this hunt comming up on Cabela's Outdoor Adventures....
The 2006 Season Pleases both Guides and Clients. Throughout the start of bow season and well into the end of muzzle
loader season our guides put clients on big buck after big buck. With and ending success rate of 72% we were very pleased with this years
season, and are very optimistic about what is to come in 2007. With the cold weather comming in late after the seasons end. Wade and I
both viewed several bucks that already and will be over 150". Applications and deposits are already rolling in....
Michael Waddell stops in at Thunder Ridge
Thunder Ridge had the pleasure of entertaining Realtree Roadtrips Michael Waddell a few months back, although he can hunt and play guitar, his texas hold em needs some work. Photos
2005 Hunters
Score on 4 bucks that gross over 170"
-Check
the impressive photos on the site of both archery and gun 1 of these
giant bucks
taken at Thunder Ridge.
Thunder
Ridge Clients go 100% in 2004 and set an
all-time inches of rack record.
-In
2004 we had a total of 13 clients
with a total of 13 kills. The total inch count
of these kills came
up to a whopping 2,036 inches of antlers. And the good news for our 2005 clients is there were plenty left and passed
on.
Thunder
Ridge to be seen on the Outdoor Channel.
-This
past fall we were privilaged to have several TV host join us on hunts. In November Matt Morrett from Hunter
Specialties killed a 147",10 point on
one of our best farms, where he saw plenty of other bucks
which just wouldn't come close enough to close the deal on. In December North
America Whitetail's Pat Reeve
joined us for a Gun Season 1 hunt. Pat had a Monster 160+
10 point narrowly escape his muzzleloader bullet by a mear half inch. Then
the second day of Late Muzzleloader season
Rick White filled his tag in which
was a very warm week for our late season on a beautiful 8
pointer. We
finished up the season with H.S. Phillip Vanderpool taking a nice
management buck. After having so many monster bucks come in
with nothing but bad
luck Phillip helped out our
deer herd a little. So keep an eye out for us this Summer
on The Outdoor Channel
and on H.S. Primetime Bucks 9.
Cabela's makes
Thunder Ridge one of their Outdoor
Adventure
Destinations.
-Wow, what
an honor. We have just been chosen as Iowa's Whitetail
Spot for Cabela's Outdoor Adventures. Cabela's, known for its years
of leading the hunting and outdoor
outfitting industry. Has teamed up with Thunder Ridge, to make it
one of their destinations
for Trophy Whitetails. For assistance in drawing a
tag for our unit either contact us, or Cabelas
and ask about their T.A.G.S. program. When applying for a tag remember we are located in
Zones 4. Place Zone 4 as your zone on the application.
Spring
Shed Hunt Shows Sign of Things Yet to Come.
-The weekend
of March 5th Pat Reeve from Driven 24/7 came back to join Wade and Tony at the Iowa Deer Classic.
While back for this, We spent the whole weekend scouring through our
leased woods for shed antlers. Pat really gave Wade and I several
tips on where to look, and how to look for sheds. As you
can see in the Photographs, with Pat finding
most of the sheds, he really knows his shed hunting.
