Hunting report / summary (the good, bad & ugly)
for Nakoda Runners Outfitters, owner Randy Pooyak
Target game: mule deer / whitetail combo hunt
Date of hunt: Nov. 4-9, 2023
Area: North Battleford, Saskatchewan Little Pine, Poundmaker & Sweetgrass First Nations reserves
Good / OK:
Price - $6500 US for 6-day combo hunt. Keep in mind that tags & lodging / food is not included. This adds another ~$2000 us to the cost. Total cost of $8500 US plus your travel cost into Saskatoon.
My guide was friendly and as a lifelong resident of the reserve knew the area well.
Staying in a hotel was a little inefficient for travel to and from the hunting areas but was very comfortable. I was also able to “compare notes” with other hunters outfitted with Nakoda Runners every morning at breakfast.
Process to bring hunting rifle into Canada is very simple and streamlined
Bad:
Quality of game. On a 6 day hunt I saw mainly does and a few small bucks. I shot a 141” mule deer on day 3. Of course, no one forced me to pull the trigger on this smallish buck but he was THE ONLY mule deer buck I saw! I spent the next 3 days hunting whitetail, the best buck I saw was a 120” 8 point which I passed. Over several months of phone and text conversations with the outfitter I was led to believe that 170+” mule deer and 150+” whitetail was a reasonable expectation on trophy quality. His advertisement on bookyourhunt.com made the same statements (he has subsequently been removed from this site due to client complaints). In the outfitters defense, the weather was less than perfect during my hunt BUT it was not bad either. Average weather with far less than average opportunity.
After hunting a few days, it became obvious that the areas were over pressured and basically “shot out”. The outfitter did not have exclusive access to the hunting areas which he shared with several other outfitters. Additionally, all residents of the reserve can hunt any species at any time.
The outfitter advertised heated, baited blinds. There were none set up, I hunted out of one of my guides friends blinds for a few days but as stated above – very little game. The “spot and stalk” hunting was not what one would traditionally expect. A better description would be “jump out of the truck and shoot”. As you can imagine, this method does not lead to much success or satisfaction of hunting ethically.
When I arrived in North Battleford for meet and greet the outfitter handed me off to his nephew who he had subcontracted to help with his hunts. His nephew paired me with a guide who it turns out was another one of his uncles. This was a bit unexpected.
Ugly:
While my guide was a “nice guy” he was late 2x to pick me up for the morning hunts and also had a “day job” grading roads on the reserve. In my opinion, he should have been scouting rather than grading the roads during the day when I was sitting in an unproductive blind. We also had to cut the first evening hunt short and take an extended break hunting mid-day the following day so he could get his brakes fixed. Turns out the issues existed long before I came, not a last-minute development. In his defense, I do believe he tried but the hunting areas were just not productive enough to be successful – I did give him a tip for his efforts as the poor hunting areas were beyond his control.
There were fellow hunters in my hotel booked with Nakoda Runners that reported their guides did not know the area and that their guides encouraged them to shoot at animals that were across the fence on private property. After speaking with some of the locals it turns out it is common practice for reserve residents to “poach” deer on private land surrounding the reserve as once they get the carcass onto the reserve, they are immune to enforcement. It turns out that many of the larger bucks bragged about are taken in this manner by some reserve residents.
Pricing of tags and the hunt. The hunt contract stated clearly that tags were $500 each and that baited stands were included in the hunt. My subcontracted outfitter tried to charge me $700 for the tag. When I refused the price went back to the original $500! One of the other groups hunting with this outfitter was offered “premium” baited stands on another reserve but it would cost an additional $300 per day per hunter!
The outfitter (Randy Pooyak) showed several of us a picture of an absolutely huge whitetail he stated was taken by one of his hunters that day. When I asked where, he replied that he saved his best spots for return clients and that if I returned next year, he would take me to the better spots. (I knew without a doubt that he was a con artist at this point).
I did contact several references given to me by the outfitter prior to booking. He has several that had positive reviews. In retrospect, it seems plausible that no outfitter would give you a contact that had not been satisfied and if you book 15 -20 hunts per season you are bound to have a few successes over the years. If I were to do this again, I would ask for last season’s references only and see how many he could produce.
These next 2 points may be trivial in nature but here they are: A. The guides routinely threw trash out of the window which I found very disturbing. B. While I am not offended by profanity it becomes a bit tedious when every sentence on any subject starts and ends with an F bomb.
This one is hard to describe: Apparently it is common practice on the reserve to “run down” a deer if it is caught out in an open field. While I did not personally see this it was a practice described to me by my guide and another hunter that I visited with at the hotel did experience this behavior from his guide.
Final comments: this hunt / outfitter appears to be OK on the surface but do not be lured into booking thinking you have found a bargain. It is my opinion that you will not only be disappointed but more than a little disgusted as well. For many of us Saskatchewan is a “dream hunt”, if you decide to go there my advice is to avoid Nakoda Runners outfitters and its owner Randy Pooyak. My motivation for writing this extensive review is to warn fellow hunters concerning this outfitter. My opinions concerning this hunt / outfitter are a result of my direct experience.
for Nakoda Runners Outfitters, owner Randy Pooyak
Target game: mule deer / whitetail combo hunt
Date of hunt: Nov. 4-9, 2023
Area: North Battleford, Saskatchewan Little Pine, Poundmaker & Sweetgrass First Nations reserves
Good / OK:
Price - $6500 US for 6-day combo hunt. Keep in mind that tags & lodging / food is not included. This adds another ~$2000 us to the cost. Total cost of $8500 US plus your travel cost into Saskatoon.
My guide was friendly and as a lifelong resident of the reserve knew the area well.
Staying in a hotel was a little inefficient for travel to and from the hunting areas but was very comfortable. I was also able to “compare notes” with other hunters outfitted with Nakoda Runners every morning at breakfast.
Process to bring hunting rifle into Canada is very simple and streamlined
Bad:
Quality of game. On a 6 day hunt I saw mainly does and a few small bucks. I shot a 141” mule deer on day 3. Of course, no one forced me to pull the trigger on this smallish buck but he was THE ONLY mule deer buck I saw! I spent the next 3 days hunting whitetail, the best buck I saw was a 120” 8 point which I passed. Over several months of phone and text conversations with the outfitter I was led to believe that 170+” mule deer and 150+” whitetail was a reasonable expectation on trophy quality. His advertisement on bookyourhunt.com made the same statements (he has subsequently been removed from this site due to client complaints). In the outfitters defense, the weather was less than perfect during my hunt BUT it was not bad either. Average weather with far less than average opportunity.
After hunting a few days, it became obvious that the areas were over pressured and basically “shot out”. The outfitter did not have exclusive access to the hunting areas which he shared with several other outfitters. Additionally, all residents of the reserve can hunt any species at any time.
The outfitter advertised heated, baited blinds. There were none set up, I hunted out of one of my guides friends blinds for a few days but as stated above – very little game. The “spot and stalk” hunting was not what one would traditionally expect. A better description would be “jump out of the truck and shoot”. As you can imagine, this method does not lead to much success or satisfaction of hunting ethically.
When I arrived in North Battleford for meet and greet the outfitter handed me off to his nephew who he had subcontracted to help with his hunts. His nephew paired me with a guide who it turns out was another one of his uncles. This was a bit unexpected.
Ugly:
While my guide was a “nice guy” he was late 2x to pick me up for the morning hunts and also had a “day job” grading roads on the reserve. In my opinion, he should have been scouting rather than grading the roads during the day when I was sitting in an unproductive blind. We also had to cut the first evening hunt short and take an extended break hunting mid-day the following day so he could get his brakes fixed. Turns out the issues existed long before I came, not a last-minute development. In his defense, I do believe he tried but the hunting areas were just not productive enough to be successful – I did give him a tip for his efforts as the poor hunting areas were beyond his control.
There were fellow hunters in my hotel booked with Nakoda Runners that reported their guides did not know the area and that their guides encouraged them to shoot at animals that were across the fence on private property. After speaking with some of the locals it turns out it is common practice for reserve residents to “poach” deer on private land surrounding the reserve as once they get the carcass onto the reserve, they are immune to enforcement. It turns out that many of the larger bucks bragged about are taken in this manner by some reserve residents.
Pricing of tags and the hunt. The hunt contract stated clearly that tags were $500 each and that baited stands were included in the hunt. My subcontracted outfitter tried to charge me $700 for the tag. When I refused the price went back to the original $500! One of the other groups hunting with this outfitter was offered “premium” baited stands on another reserve but it would cost an additional $300 per day per hunter!
The outfitter (Randy Pooyak) showed several of us a picture of an absolutely huge whitetail he stated was taken by one of his hunters that day. When I asked where, he replied that he saved his best spots for return clients and that if I returned next year, he would take me to the better spots. (I knew without a doubt that he was a con artist at this point).
I did contact several references given to me by the outfitter prior to booking. He has several that had positive reviews. In retrospect, it seems plausible that no outfitter would give you a contact that had not been satisfied and if you book 15 -20 hunts per season you are bound to have a few successes over the years. If I were to do this again, I would ask for last season’s references only and see how many he could produce.
These next 2 points may be trivial in nature but here they are: A. The guides routinely threw trash out of the window which I found very disturbing. B. While I am not offended by profanity it becomes a bit tedious when every sentence on any subject starts and ends with an F bomb.
This one is hard to describe: Apparently it is common practice on the reserve to “run down” a deer if it is caught out in an open field. While I did not personally see this it was a practice described to me by my guide and another hunter that I visited with at the hotel did experience this behavior from his guide.
Final comments: this hunt / outfitter appears to be OK on the surface but do not be lured into booking thinking you have found a bargain. It is my opinion that you will not only be disappointed but more than a little disgusted as well. For many of us Saskatchewan is a “dream hunt”, if you decide to go there my advice is to avoid Nakoda Runners outfitters and its owner Randy Pooyak. My motivation for writing this extensive review is to warn fellow hunters concerning this outfitter. My opinions concerning this hunt / outfitter are a result of my direct experience.
