Complaint Review: Florida Wildlife Adventure / OMM Outfitter Nathan Theriault - Nationwide

  I would like to start this review on Florida Wildlife Adventures and Nathan Theriault "Nate" by saying that I have never in my life, felt it necessary to leave a negative review on any company or hunting outfitter. I booked a hunting trip with Nathan to hunt Osceola Turkey in Florida after being promised “high Success rates” and loads of turkey. When we first spoke with Nathan he seemed like a legitimately nice guy and easy to work with. After we booked the hunt everything changed, including Nathan’s eager to please attitude. The very first issue we noticed was NOTHING about this outfit looked even close to what they had listed on his website. When you arrive there, the first thing you see is their so called “Lodge”. It is a steel building that looks possibly like a cheap kit barn. Nothing like the site at all. Then after traveling for hours and hours if you end up getting there a little early you will be locked out! They do not open the doors of their “Lodge” until a certain time and until then you will be stuck outside. Once they decided to let us in that is when the confusion really began started with a really horrible run down. Nate seemed irritated and really flustered almost like he did not even expect us. After spending over $3000.00 for this Turkey hunt needless to say I was pretty disappointed with the way this hunt was going. I was also told by Nate, that “he has over 7000 acres”. What he failed to mention was most of the property was open pasture with a long narrow strip woods and thickets. There was MAYBE a few hundred acres of decent looking hunting terrain total. The website also states there is “Horseback riding” and “ATV riding” I never seen one ATV that we could use or one single horse at any time. The rental cabins were again nothing like the website, they are very small and basic. It became clear to me very quickly that he had no intention of delivering the type of service he claims to have on his website and there was no doubt that we had been taken for a ride. Now let us talk about the food. The cook was a nice lady and is one of the guide’s mothers. The meals mainly consisted of Chicken, Rice and potato. Most of the time everything was decent except for a few times the meat was under cooked so I had to throw away most of my food and leave the table hungry. Arcadia was about 40 minutes away and was the nearest place to eat so make sure you bring snacks. What bothered me the most about this outfit was being stuck between an uncomfortable situation between the Guides and Nate. There seemed to be a lot of animosity and behind the scenes feuding between the guys. One of the main guides they call “Big Jay” really seemed like he was trying to do right by everyone and was also unhappy with the way the place is being ran. He even mentioned that “Nate” sold way too many turkey hunts and their property was over hunted so the success rates were very low. I also heard him mention that the property was owned by someone else and they were conned into letting “Nate” run it. So basically he does not own anything there or even lease it. Nate also runs Bear and Moose hunting Guide service in Maine OMM Outfitters. I can only imagine that operation is just as much as a mess and his Florida Hunting Ranch. Before the end of my hunt I made several attempts to calmly speak with Nate but he did a very good job avoiding me and made it very clear that he did not care if we were happy or not. I am not the kind of person that would get upset or confrontational, so I left it at that. When my terrible adventure was about over I was directly approached and forced to tip! I always tip even when service is poor so this offended me and made me extremely concerned. Obviously Nate is very accustomed to his hunters being disgruntled and not tipping so he must have felt that I would not tip and that is not the case. After I paid the tip I could clearly see the guides were fighting amongst themselves over the money. One of the guides even asked me “how much did you tip?” I could tell he had been cheated of his share in the past. After spending a few days there it became very evident to me that Nate is struggling with issues. I don’t know if its financial, drugs, alcohol induced or just his nature but I hope for his own sake that he gets whatever his issue is under control. The other people we met there were all actually very nice and seemed as unhappy with the situation as we were. Big Jay seemed to be a decent guy and I would Hunt with him again in a different situation. Success was closer to 20% we did see a few birds but nothing close to what we expected. I decided it would be best to remain anonymous due to Nate's nature. There are many more places I can leave reviews but as long as I have no further aggravations I will stop here. This review is strictly based upon my personal opinion and experience. I learned my lesson and I will make sure I do my research better before I book with another Outfitter.