[mcqude]

That's an awesome program. Free guiding service .its about time someone's doing something about these lame guide services aka rip offs. False advertising,false bird averages, People just bounce from one poor guide service to another hoping for a better outcome then the last,,if you were lucky enough to get a good hunt with these rip offs they make sure your on a super dead field the next. We found birds real early in the season and got. Permission to hunt for the day,then a junkie guide service found them and asked permission from all the farms around to lock up the entire area and not hunt but one field for 2 weeks straight.i talked to the farmer last year and said the guide ran people through there nonstop and offered nothing but some griping that he chopped his corn too high and it wrecked a bunch of his decoys. He won't be hunting there ever again...had a guide block the section road with 2 trucks in the dark. We had been hunting there the previous 2 days,We walked around them and got all the shooting that morning...I'm a non res.and if they cause me this much grief I can only imagine how mad I would be if I lived there in so. Dak..maybe some anti guide service signs the likes of wall drug would work? Pitty the fools who hire these lamos they know not what they do.

 

[Midwestduckhunter]

Just an update on Northern Skies. Talked to two groups that had the nightmare of hunting with these clowns last spring. Both groups killed less than 20 birds in 3 days of hunting. Said one of the worst waterfowl experiences they have ever had.

 

[jpallen14]

Just an update on Northern Skies. Talked to two groups that had the nightmare of hunting with these clowns last spring. Both groups killed less than 20 birds in 3 days of hunting. Said one of the worst waterfowl experiences they have ever had.

Sounds like a common occurrence with Northern Skies Outfitters. Good thing there is bunch better out there

 

[J.D.]

Just an update on Northern Skies. Talked to two groups that had the nightmare of hunting with these clowns last spring. Both groups killed less than 20 birds in 3 days of hunting. Said one of the worst waterfowl experiences they have ever had.

They hunted Nebraska last spring and I heard nothing but bad things....

 

[PJ]

All guides suck. :down:

 

[snow]

JD,Here say doesn't account for much other than idle conversation or someone blowin their own horn.Spring hunts are never easy and there is NO guarentees of a good shoot,its hunting,spring or fall its a crap shoot,with that said I have hunted with northern skies a few times,some days were really good,others...so-so,no regrets.

I will say these guyz bust *** getting on birds,they have a huge network of farms and folks in the field they feed off of,one of the best outfits I've hunted with in my 40+ years of waterfowing.

My .02.

 

[juviesoup]

JD,Here say doesn't account for much other than idle conversation or someone blowin their own horn.Spring hunts are never easy and there is NO guarentees of a good shoot,its hunting,spring or fall its a crap shoot,with that said I have hunted with northern skies a few times,some days were really good,others...so-so,no regrets.

I will say these guyz bust a$$ getting on birds,they have a huge network of farms and folks in the field they feed off of,one of the best outfits I've hunted with in my 40+ years of waterfowing.

My .02.

If you are just a client, how do you know how hard they work to get on birds? You hunt, go back to your motel, repeat. If setting up a few spreads in an area and running clients through them day after day is working hard, then every snow goose hunter in the country is the hardest hunter on the planet. That last comment..... apparently you haven't hunted with other guides. Or another guide for that matter as 98% of the remaining guides are better at killing birds than NSKO.

 

[BROWNDOG]

All guides suck. :down:

The guys that use them SUCK more

 

[snow]

juvi,been around the block the few times myself solo,I've been on hand when the guyz scouting come back with info for the following day,Matt has guyz running in different directions while his other guyz are in the field,also his contacts will call with info,sometimes we'll run 50 to 100 miles from the last stand to get on birds,they do a great job in my opinion,and yes I tried others in Missouri and Nebraska,okay shoots in loaded fields with 10 or more shooters,not my deal,northen skies has it goin on,either private groups or small groups of guyz,he doesn't load the field with shooters.

Like I said,if you haven't hunted with them, its just conversation and doesn't account for much other than conversation.

 

[the professor]

northen skies has it goin on,either private groups or small groups of guyz,he doesn't load the field with shooters.

Social media posts from last spring from NS guides and clients would dispute that claim.

 

[prairie hunter]

Think about it ... you and your buddies are under or unemployed.

Buy trailer and decoys ... business expense
Fuel ... business expense
Meals and Lodging ... business expense

Internet Site or Craig's list posting ... cheap.

Average pulling say 6 guys @ $900 total per day for say 5 days per week for say 10 weeks ... $45K in revenue ... Cover AR, MO, NE, SD

ND requires guide certification so you stop at the SD border just in time for fishing to start up.

 

[Midwestduckhunter]

juvi,been around the block the few times myself solo,I've been on hand when the guyz scouting come back with info for the following day,Matt has guyz running in different directions while his other guyz are in the field,also his contacts will call with info,sometimes we'll run 50 to 100 miles from the last stand to get on birds,they do a great job in my opinion,and yes I tried others in Missouri and Nebraska,okay shoots in loaded fields with 10 or more shooters,not my deal,northen skies has it goin on,either private groups or small groups of guyz,he doesn't load the field with shooters.

Like I said,if you haven't hunted with them, its just conversation and doesn't account for much other than conversation.

Haha this is some funny stuff!! You know for a fact "snow" that everything you stated is complete BS. I have hunted with these guys for a few days a couple years back and it was a total joke. So I know first hand. Talked to countless others that had terrible experience with them also. They run clients thru the ringer, it is all about money in the pocket. Hunt stale birds in stale areas and are not willing to move to get onto birds. They put a blindfold on, pick a spot on a map, set 8 spreads and hunt the same spreads for the next 2 weeks while just rotating guys to new spreads each day. The guide we hunted with a couple years ago said they hadn't moved a spread in 5 days and had not killed more than 10 birds in any spread over that same 5 days. Guide was a nice guy but basically said the once the owner picks a spot they will not move for a couple weeks. This works if you are killing birds but these guys don't kill anything. Based from social media and guys I have talked to NSO has averaged less than 10 birds per day per spread in Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota over the last 3 years

 

[snow]

I must say it sounds like your full of BS,I suspect your one of these wanna be guides that hunts your daddys farm trying to make a name for yourself or down wind a group hunting with a outfitter,that or just a punk spouting off.I have no reason to imbilish the time I have spent with this crew and stand by my statement whether you like it or not,I know better, been there done that and you don't speak truth.

 

[J.D.]

JD,Here say doesn't account for much other than idle conversation or someone blowin their own horn.Spring hunts are never easy and there is NO guarentees of a good shoot,its hunting,spring or fall its a crap shoot,with that said I have hunted with northern skies a few times,some days were really good,others...so-so,no regrets.

I will say these guyz bust a$$ getting on birds,they have a huge network of farms and folks in the field they feed off of,one of the best outfits I've hunted with in my 40+ years of waterfowing.

My .02.

It wasnt all second hand reports - I stayed at the same hotel as them and Matt's guides first hand told me how poor the hunting was. Two said they would never step foot in the state of Nebraska again it had been so bad all spring.....

I dont think it is a coincidence that clients up and down the flyway report the same thing:
- stale birds
- stale fields
- consistent single digit hunts

:beer:

 

[KEN W]

With the poor hatch this summer in the arctic.....There will be a whole lot of grumbling. The last few years have seen a lot of young. With good shoots.Not next year.

 

[the professor]

I must say it sounds like your full of BS,I suspect your one of these wanna be guides that hunts your daddys farm trying to make a name for yourself or down wind a group hunting with a outfitter,that or just a punk spouting off.I have no reason to imbilish the time I have spent with this crew and stand by my statement whether you like it or not,I know better, been there done that and you don't speak truth.

Where did you hunt with them last spring? How many times did you witness the guides pulling and relocating the spread? How many birds did you shoot on each hunt with them?
NS has a couple of great guides, one in particular that goes above and beyond being a guide, sharing his knowledge and passion for waterfowl and wildlife, but that doesn't change the fact that they do the same things many other guide services do, set up in traffic areas and run guys through the spreads.
There are plenty of reasons to do that of course, some good, some bad. lodging access, long term success years past, lease costs, guides burnt out, clients not wanting to move, birds staged in large numbers at latitudes south of the traffic fields... The gamble is shooting 5, 6, maybe 10 birds for 6-8 clients day after day, with the chance that maybe conditions are perfect and the birds do it right and they have a 40 or 50+ shoot if the birds work good.
Every client is quick to get all over the web when they just had a successful 50-60 bird shoot, and talk about how great their outfitter was. Most don't say much publicly when their trip was less than stellar, because "well that's snow goose hunting." Is it? Is setting up semi permanent spreads the answer as a guide? Could be, as long as clients are told from the get go and have realistic expectations. Is chasing the X the answer? not always, but those guides doing such convey a presence of "do what it takes to stay on birds" and appear to be earning their money rather than running guys through a stale field and taking the money.

 

[juviesoup]

juvi,been around the block the few times myself solo,I've been on hand when the guyz scouting come back with info for the following day,Matt has guyz running in different directions while his other guyz are in the field,also his contacts will call with info,sometimes we'll run 50 to 100 miles from the last stand to get on birds,they do a great job in my opinion,and yes I tried others in Missouri and Nebraska,okay shoots in loaded fields with 10 or more shooters,not my deal,northen skies has it goin on,either private groups or small groups of guyz,he doesn't load the field with shooters.

Like I said,if you haven't hunted with them, its just conversation and doesn't account for much other than conversation.

Apparently you've never hunted with Eagle Head Outdoors, Habitat Flats, Top Gun, Waterfowl Junkie, or Neu Outdoors to name 5 off the top of my head that have more success in one morning than Northern Skies has an entire season. Whether I have hunted with them or not is completely irrelevant. I have personally witnessed their spreads sitting in an area for 2 even 3 weeks at a time without moving, with clients in them almost every day. The owner doesn't step foot in a field all season, I have heard that from more people than I can count on two hands. They hunted Nebraska this year the same time we were down there and nothing but bad things were said about them from clients you ran into at gas stations or locals talking about them. Guess if you want to be a poster boy for someone you pay by all means go ahead, just find it hilarious you think they are even a mediocre guide. Thank god they stop guiding in South Dakota, don't need their cookie cutter spreads sitting out in 10 fields in every state we hunt the entire flyway.

 

[snow]

Really juvie?,funny as I was staying in a small town when topgun came rolling in,they chatted with us and I did hunt one time with topgun as John(GUIDE) is a friend of mine,top gun was on a 3 days run and gun spree w/o any shots fired when they came upon us WITH CLIENTS IN TOW as we dressedoutour 74snows unless unless something happened to Matt I can't believe he moved from sodak,I'll check into your claim

For what its worth,anyone interested in northen skies please visit they're website,I was with them when Migration Nation showed up for a hunt with Northern Skies great video,fordays,and I think the Fowl Life hunted with them as well after we left or so they said.

Its a crap shoot hunting snows as we all know,lots of guides out there,or doing it yourself in one or two days,take a few extra days hunt with whoever or on your own,the handful of guides I've hunted with over the years northen skies did me well than the others.

 

[snow]

juvi,

I talked with Matt today,he's still going strong and expanding his business,not sure where you get your info from but like a couiple other folks on this thread your info is incorrect,I suspect some of you naysayers here are confused with another outfitter for spring hunts called "northern flight" entirely different operation compared to northern skies.He did say some local sodak boyz are upset here on nodak outdoors because he leased up some of their hunting land,which I can understand,its happened to me a a free lance waterfowler.But spreading false rumors won't help ya any.He also said he built a lodge in Arkansas and opened a place north of quill lakes Sasak,so he must be doing something right.

 

[snow]

j