Complaint Review: Black Creek Plantation

Black Creek lodge Black Creek Plantation
McIntyre, Georgia / 478-387-5650

690 Carl Smith Road
McIntyre, GA 31054-2582
http://www.blackcreeklodge.com/
 
I purchased a hog hunt as a Christmas gift for my 70 year old father-in-law. My father-in-law, like myself, is an avid hunter. He has never had the opportunity to hunt for hogs though. Being 70 years old, he was not interested in using dogs, nor did night vision hog hunting seem reasonable for a man of his age. As such, I researched plantations in the Georgia area that offered still or stand hunting for wild hogs. In my research I came across Black Creek Plantation (www.blackcreeklodge.com). I called the number on the site and spoke with Erik, the owner. He informed me it would be best to wait until after deer season was over. This way he could properly bait the fields (not legal to do during deer season). This would obviously increase our odds of seeing hogs. I agreed. We set the hunt date for February 8th. The cost is $850 per person. Not cheap! But I figured the lodge looked really nice and home cooked meals were included. Since this was a Christmas gift, I decided to splurge.

Fast forward to February. I called 4 days prior to our scheduled hunt and spoke with Erik. I could tell from the conversation he was not aware of our arrival date. This caused concern. He had previously stated he needed a few weeks after deer season to place the bait and allow the hogs to locate it. If he was unaware of our arrival, he obviously wasnt placing the bait out.  As anyone with hog hunting experience knows, hogs are not loyal to location. They are constantly on the move and looking for food. It also takes time for hogs to locate the bait and establish routine visits. The chances of a hog walking by a stand without bait nearby are vastly decreased. Thus, the reason baiting is so important and the reason Erik stated he would bait prior to the hunt. In retrospect, I should have cancelled there and then. Unfortunately, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. You see, I own my own business and am fortunate enough to have time and money to dedicate to my passion of hunting. I have hunted at least 20 plantations throughout the south. With the exception of this experience, I have found the owners to be VERY honest people. They love their livelihood and have great passion for hunting. They also have mutual respect for fellow hunters that also happen to be their customers. Erik and Black Creek Lodge do not have these same ethics Ive experienced elsewhere.  At the time I was unaware of this.  

We arrived for our hunt on Tuesday February the 8th. We unpacked our stuff and prepared for an evening hunt. The deal was we would hunt Tuesday evening, both morning and evening of Wednesday, and the last hunt would be Thursday morning. Thats a total of 4 separate sittings. Erik, the owner, had a young man take us to our spot. As we arrived at the location, maybe 10-15 minutes from the house, the young man opened the gate and we drove down a muddy red clay road. We had had storms in the area about 4-5 days prior to the hunt. With the cool weather the roads were still very muddy. The first thing I noticed is there we absolutely NO tire tracks on this road. Meaning, the location we were headed to had not been visited for a minimum of several days. That was a big red flag. Typically a good plantation would check the bait and trail cameras to make sure there was activity in the area prior to having customers sit for hours. We arrived at the first stand. This was the stand my father-in-law was to use. As we walked him the tripod stand we realized in had been blown over and appeared to be in that position for some time. We lifted it up and made sure it was secure. As my father-in-law climbed in, the young man and I started to walk back to the truck. We passed the trail cam and the young man took out the memory card. He also spun the corn feed wheel to make sure it wasnt jammed. To my surprise and his, nothing came out. He quickly moved on hoping I didnt notice. As I walked by the feeder I applied pressure to it with my hand, it was empty!!!!  I immediately felt my blood start to boil. We were being placed in an area to hunt hogs that had been unattended for who know how long. My father-in-law was sitting over an empty feeder!

We then moved to my location about 600 yards down the road. As we walked to my spot on a very muddy path, I could see deer tracks everywhere, but no hog tracks. I was pointed to my fold out chair, on the ground, that was off to the side of a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing was the feeder. The setup was horrible. My only cover was a few old logs placed in front of the chair. If the hogs were to approach from my rear, they would have had a good chuckle and they starred at my back. But none the less I setup the chair and started the wait. Of course the only thought going thru my head was how unprepared this Black Creek Plantation was and how I was being taken for a fool. I was very tempted to break from my spot and check the feeder. However, I didnt want to scent the area and figured I was stuck there anyway. I decided Id check the feeder on the way out. Well I didnt have to wait that long. At 5pm the feeder goes off. Sure enough not one kernel of corn was ejected. It too was empty!!!!  I was furious! I also later learned my father-in-laws feeder didnt even go off. Obviously the batteries were long dead. It wouldnt have mattered anyway, the feeder was empty.

When it was dark and time to meet the truck for the return drive I approached the feeder. There were no tracks near it. Not deer not hog. I tipped the feeder and it was of course empty. I walked to my meeting place and the young man picked me up. I let him have it. He apologized profusely. Understanding this was not his fault I laid off and tried to keep my cool. When we returned to the lodge, Erik the owner was inside cooking dinner. The young man immediately went in as my father-in-law and I took off our muddy gear. He obviously was updating the owner of my dissatisfaction. When I walked in I expected Erik to address the situation. Instead he didnt say a word. He wouldnt even look at us. This goes to show his character. He knew he was in the wrong and took us for amateur hunters from Atlanta. He was cold busted and instead of addressing the issue, he chose to ignore it.


Then to add insult to injury, the young man takes the chip he had pulled from the trail cam that resided over my father-in-laws spot and placed it in the laptop sitting on the table. Guess what? It was blank! Why? Because the trail cam battery was dead! Could it get any worse? Yes!
When Erik was done cooking, he placed the meal on the table and started to leave. This is unusual. Most plantation owners break bread with you to establish a bond. Erik was not interested in this. He stated he was going to place bait in another area to help ensure success. Hed pick us up in the morning and take us to the spot.

Morning comes, we eat and Im packing my gear thinking were going to another spot on the 2500 acres he claims to have. Instead, he tells me were walking to the location he baited last night. I was shocked. We literally walked about 300 yards from the Black Creek Plantation lodge. I was placed in a box stand and waiting for daylight. When daylight breaks I can see a feeder about 75 yards out with corn all over the ground. Not good! It takes time for hogs to find bait and obviously this bait was not found. To make matter worse, once again the feeder goes off around 7:30am and not a kernel was ejected, again! He obviously thru the corn on the ground, under the feeder, the night before. This feeder was dead. My father-in-law was taken to spot about a mile from the house and placed over a spot with no feeder. It doesnt take a genius to figure out we didnt see a thing!

I then take my short walk back to the house where I meet my father-in-law. By this time we are both livid at the unprofessional hunt we had the displeasure of experiencing. Of course Erik is nowhere to be found. And as for our home cooked meal that was promised for lunch; well there were two Subway 12 subs and a bag of chips on the table waiting for us. Talk about value for my $850 per hunter.

To sum up this disastrous story, like fools we sat two more times with the same result. Nothing! No wildlife other than the birds and squirrels. Finally Erik gathered up the guts to talk to us. He promised a free hunt. I was told he would bait properly and when he picked up activity hed call us. He asked us to give him 2-3 weeks. I knew he was lying as did my father-in-law. I just wanted out of his lodge, gave him my number and told him we were flexible and only needed a day or two advance notice. As expected, he stayed true to his nature and never called. When a man cant look you in the eye, you know what to expect.

Anyway, Im posting this wherever I can in hopes that other hunters are not taken like I was. I can of course accept not seeing any wildlife. It happens. Thats part of hunting. However, this goes way beyond not seeing a hog. Black Creek Plantation did not at all deliver on what was promised. Furthermore, Black Creek Plantation put forth no effort and to make things worse, deliberately lied. In my opinion you should STAY AWAY and spend your money at a plantation that actually takes pride in their livelihood.