Branch, Michigan · One-to-One With A Guide
Nobody is born knowing how to do this. Spend a night and a day with one of our guides and learn the whole thing properly — the woods, the stand, the shot, and what happens after.
Ask About DatesWho This Is For
Most people who want to hunt never start, because there's no obvious way in. Nobody in the family hunts. You don't want to be the one asking basic questions in front of a group. So it stays on the list of things you'll get to.
This is the way in. One guide, one hunter, no audience, and no question too basic. Whether you're forty-five and have never carried a rifle, or you've hunted a few times and never once seen the animal broken down afterward.
What You'll Actually Learn
Most outfitters take your deer away and hand it back wrapped in paper. You never see how any of it is done. Here you do all of it yourself, with somebody showing you how.
What deer are actually doing out there, and why. Sign, travel, feed, bedding. Why the wind decides everything and how to plan a sit around it.
Getting in without being noticed, how to sit still and stay warm, what to watch and what to ignore. How to sight in at our range so you trust your rifle before it matters.
Where to aim and, more importantly, when not to shoot. How to know a good shot from one you should let pass, and why waiting is usually the right answer.
What to do in the minutes after. How to read the sign, how long to wait, and how to track and find the animal.
Hands on the animal, start to finish. What every organ is, what to keep, what to check, how to do it cleanly and quickly and without ruining meat.
Breaking the animal down properly. Backstraps, tenderloins, the hams, the shoulders, the trim. What each cut is for and how to handle it so it's worth eating.
What It Costs
The Standard
Everything above, start to finish
One night in the lodge, three meals, your guide to yourself, the hunt, and the full walk-through of field dressing and every cut.
If You'd Rather
Same teaching, buck of your class
Same one-to-one learning, hunting a buck instead. Priced from the trophy class you choose — see Hunts & Pricing.
Take Your Time
Unhurried, more ground covered
A second night means no rushing the hunt or the processing, and time to cover more than the basics. Tell us what you want out of it and we'll build it around that.
Availability is limited and generally midweek — this takes a guide's full attention, so we only run a few each season. Tell us what you're hoping to learn and we'll go from there.
Included
One to one the whole time. Not a group, not shared attention.
A private room and three home-cooked meals a day at the table with everyone.
Field dressing and breaking the animal down, done by you with your guide walking you through it.
Your meat kept in our walk-in cooler until you head home.
Time on our range beforehand so you know exactly where your rifle is hitting.
Walleye, bass and bluegill on our own water, if there's daylight left.
Before You Ask
No. That's who this is built for. You'll have one guide to yourself for the whole thing and there's nobody else around to perform for. Ask anything.
Bring one if you have one and we'll sight you in at the range. If you don't, tell us when you book and we'll sort it out with you.
Yes, if you want to. Your guide talks you through every step and steps in when you want him to. Some people want their hands on all of it, some want to watch the first one. Either is fine — just say so.
Yes. A parent and child learning this together is one of the better reasons to do it. Tell us their age when you reach out and we'll plan the day around it.
Yes. You'll have broken it down yourself and it goes in our walk-in cooler until you leave. We'll talk through storage and what to do with it once you're home.
It happens, and it's part of it. You'll still spend the time on the ground learning, and we'll make sure the trip is worth what you paid. We'll talk it through honestly when you call.
Season runs August through December. This one is generally midweek because it takes a guide's full attention for a day and a half, so dates are limited. Reach out early.
Limited Dates Each Season
Send us a note about where you're starting from and what you're hoping to get out of it. Chris will call you back and we'll build the day around it.