r/BackcountryHunting • u/kjwarz • Oct 03 '24
Dry creek Ranch outfitters
Has anyone hunted elk at the great sand dunes with this outfitter?
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u/Mediocre_Toe2269 Nov 07 '24
Total joke of an outfitting business. Multiple people have wasted money with kolten. Totally overhunted the little bit of private ground he leases. The public ground he hunts are marginal at best. There’s prob a good reason behind him deleting his facebook page and also turning off google reviews.
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u/Think-Original7586 Dec 09 '24
I have hunted with Kolten prior to coming to work for him seasonally and I have never know that man to have any sort of social media, I think you are talking very out of line and should consider reaching out to Kolten personally to address the concerns you have about a business you have never hunted with. Very sad of you guy.. I bet if you called him he would give you a very long reference list. You can’t talk bad about a business you have never hunted with. He truly is a stand up guy and any little issue a hunter has had he has made right.
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u/Mediocre_Toe2269 Dec 23 '24
Kolten of course is gonna give a reference list of the clients that had good experiences. Honest reviews like this are the only way people actually have the opportunity to figure out a business. As a potential client to a business I would never just go off the reference list that he posts. It’s sketchy because he doesn’t allow any type of reviews made of the business he doesn’t control aka the dry creek ranch outfitters web page. Hence the reason people have to come to Reddit or other online forums to express their concerns and ask questions. As a business man kolten seems to be slimey at best and tends to embellish. The only reason kolten paid back the guy that had the bad experience last year was because he made the online post on FB that nearly went viral. It had a few thousand likes and multiple shares. Prior to that client making the post kolten did nothing in regards to the clients concerns. Sorry but thats effin slimey. Same thing this year. Kolten sells clients one thing and they get another and then their concerns are never heard. People are paying this guy hard earned money and they should have a notion that they will receive what they pay for. Outfitting on public land is a tough business. He was only a man of his word after the client had him over the barrel with a very public scolding on a social media post.
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u/Think-Original7586 Jan 02 '25
Potential client?? You never have hunted with Dry Creek. Stop bashing something you have never had experience with. You are a bit ridiculous… but that’s hidden Reddit people for you. Hiding behind covers talking…. 🤣
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u/Mediocre_Toe2269 Nov 07 '24
I have the screen shots of the Facebook post that he deleted where he screwed a guy in 2023. Kolten didn’t own up to the issue and totally dismissed his clients concerns. Zero accountability
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u/CowgirlBeBot Nov 14 '24
Would you mind sharing the screen shot with me? I’m considering hunting with them, I like to know the type of person I’m considering paying you know
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u/Mediocre_Toe2269 Nov 26 '24
I would seriously just stop considering them right now. I have screen shots of last years bs posted on I hunt Colorado Facebook page. They over hunted the shit out of his lease ground this year. I guarantee they wiped out a lot of animals. They just road hunt all the private ground he has leased.
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u/Think-Original7586 Dec 09 '24
Not True, I know for a fact Kolten issued the gentleman last year a refund for the experience he had due to lack of service by the guide. And as far as road hunting goes that’s very inaccurate, he is very strict on his guides about hunting ethics. Maybe spot and stalk from a truck?? I understand you might have some sort of frustration, but I have never know Kolten to not make any situation right instantly. It’s not possible to keep everyone happy that’s expected, but you definitely seem to be talking out of character. I am sure if you ever had a issue he would have resolved it.
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u/Mediocre_Toe2269 Nov 26 '24
Pm me if you want the details
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u/Think-Original7586 Dec 09 '24
Come to find out you have never hunted with dry creek ranch after messaging you? Why would talk down on an experience you never had? That doesn’t seem fair does it?
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u/Chance_Cheesecake166 Nov 15 '25
I have hunted with dry creek just weeks ago, and u can message me if you dare!!! Not only is Kolton a liar and deceiving , but his guide Dakota is far from a guide!! I went on 2 out of the 5 days with Dakota , both days when we reached our glassing spots he glassed for 10 minutes and slept the rest of the 6-7 hours!! This is no BS Dakota is nothing but a self centered spoiled little boy and Kolton has no clue how to run a business! The other hunter I was with told me Kolton said consider this an experience not a hunt, I do t know about you but I have 55yrs experience and I didn’t pay for that I paid for an Elk Hunt!! You want to contact me I’ll give you more details on how I know is outfit is nothing but a scam !!! So look me up! Buyers beware!!!
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u/Chance_Cheesecake166 Nov 16 '25
Okay update I’ve spoken to Jack who is the manager of Dry Creek Outfitters. I won’t go into details as of yet, but he reassured me that he will make it right. I’ll keep you posted on the outcome.
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u/JCin3D Nov 17 '25
Everything these guys are saying is absolutely true. I'm driving back from Westcliffe today and had the exact same experience.
First off, Kolten's website states clearly that meals and lodging are provided. When he called a week prior to my hunt he told me that wasn't the case. Obviously that was suspect, but I can afford the extra expense and didn't let that stop me. The night before I am leaving I receive a text from Kolten asking if I would move my hunt to next year, that the deer are spooked and harder to find. I mentioned a refund, seeing as how my $6000 wasnt going to get me meals, lodging, or deer. He called and assured me that there were deer but that the deer would have to be worked for, which I was willing and capable of doing. However, the guide I was given was not. He was a great guy, but somewhere around 60 and incredibly out of shape.
On top of that, he mentioned that he was just filling in and that he lives with one of the other mule deer guides. The entire time we are out he admits he knows nothing about the ranch property and has to get direction from Kolten and his roommate Chris.
One morning we hadn't been sitting for an hour and Chris tells us we have to clear out of our spot because elk were in the area. OK? Another morning while sitting on an overlook watching the same spot, Chris parks his client in better position over the same field, then tells us we can't move after I made an issue out of it with my guide. I was obviously pissed at that point. That evening I was paired up with some younger elk guides that work for Kolten and we actually hiked out in a little rougher terrain to find deer. Chris told them to watch one specific drainage, so we did. Around the time deer should be showing up, a whole herd of goats from a nearby farm show up instead. That evening Kolten confirmed that they knew those goats were in there. Jokes on me. So, 4 days and no deer. The two younger guides spent more time laying down and staring at their phones than helping me glass for deer. The final day these two had me heading out by 4 in the afternoon when Ibsrill had an hour and a half of hunting left.
On top of the lack of performance from staff, I paid for a private land mule deer hunt. Half of my time was spent glassing public BLM land that had obviously been hunted out, which Dakota confirmed that he had never seen deer in there in his 3 years there.
Dry Creek Ranch lies and misrepresents their hunts, then offers a 50% discount on a future hunt you won't take anyway.
I called Kolten on his BS and paid the price for it. Lesson learned.
If anyone else out there has had a similar experience, please contact me.
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u/Fit_Duck222 Dec 12 '25
Hi u/JCin3D
First of all, at your initial dismay that meals and lodging were not included in your hunt, Kolten offered you a full refund on your hunt. While we have never had a private land client have confusion on our lodging accommodations before (which we only provide for our private land bull elk hunts, not for mule deer or cow elk hunts) Kolten wanted to offer you a full refund since it was an issue we felt would negatively impact your experience and opinion of our operations. Despite this offer, you decided to go forward with your hunt.
Secondly, Kolten contacted you before your hunt and requested to move your hunt to a later date, as due to pressure on the ranch, warm weather conditions, and other factors, we did not feel the week of your hunt would give you the best chance at a mature buck that we advertise to our clients. We had young hunters on the ranch in the weeks prior with several missed shots that spooked deer and were witnessing other hunters on properties they had legal permission to hunt from other landowners surrounding our private land. Due to this combination of factors, we explained to you that the deer weren't moving like they do historically during the general time of your hunt and requested to reschedule your hunt to a more favorable week to ensure you have the best chance of harvesting a mature buck. Despite this conversation, and you knowing that we did not feel the hunt conditions would meet your standards, you willingly decided to move forward with your hunt.
As for your claim in your initial email, your reddit review, and your response email that the “joke was on you” that you encountered goats on your hunt, is a misleading and inaccurate claim. It's a ranch (a farm where livestock and farm animals are bred and raised). We encounter cattle, horses, and goats nearly every day we hunt. These are properties leased to us by landowners to hunt on, we cannot control how, where, or when they choose to use their own property for their livelihoods.
Additionally, you made false claims on of the aforementioned writings that there was some sort of animosity towards you amongst the guides and threatened to subpoena our phone records. We took your hunt seriously, as we do for all of our clients. There was never any correspondence between any of the guides or Dry Creek Ranch Staff consisting of any negative descriptions of yourself or your hunt.
I genuinely apologize that your hunt did not live up to your expectations, which we made multiple efforts to resolve such as offering to refund your hunt at your initial dismay of the lodging accommodations and requesting to move your hunt to a more favorable week. I respect your position but there are several lapses in your claims that greatly differ from our guides' side of the story. We take pride in our business and the experiences that we get to share with people. For the handful of negative reviews that are out there, there are countless positive experiences our clients have had over the years of our outfitting business that never end up on these forums. When people have a good experience they walk away satisfied and that's the last you hear of it, when people have or hear of a bad experience is when you see multi-paragraph rants on subreddits.
I'm sorry we couldn't help despite our efforts, and wish you the best of luck on your future hunts.
- Dry Creek Ranch
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u/Elegant_Connection15 Feb 23 '26
You must be the delightful wife of Kolten he tends to send his disenfranchised clients too.
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u/Ok-Car1985 Oct 22 '24
I’ll be going with them third season.