Necromancer

I had a terrible experience hunting 'wild' boar on a preserve in Hancock, NY and I wanted to share my experience so NO ONE else has to go through anything like this. Pond Ridge Hunts of Bethel, NY is absolutely, positively the kind of operation you should avoid at all costs. They are dishonest and unfair. Here's the skinny; Two of us went up to Bethel to hunt these boars. We found a review online at Wild Hog Hunters website that was glowing, so we figured they were a decent operation. Although we also found info online describing escaping pigs, damaged property, etc., we decided to give it a try. NY State law will force the closure of boar hunting in the State as of September, 2015, so we figured it was now or never. Upon booking the hunt, we are told the costs: $500 for a 200 lb. boar and $600 for a 300 lb. boar, etc. Additionally, he charges $90 to skin it out and quarter it. Non-hunting spectators are $45.00. On the day of the hunt, we arrive at the property. We hike up the hill and enter a large gate into the fenced 200+ acres. We are greeted by piles of garbage (food for the pigs) and about 30 pigs. I fully understand that pigs have to eat, and eat a lot, but the garbage piles are disturbing and the amount of trash (cardboard boxes, plastic bags, produce crates, etc., etc.) would disgust anyone who loves the outdoors as I do. Perhaps more than 100 plastic crates are strewn all around the property and have clearly been there for an extended period of time. Plastic bags (from loaves of bread and other baked goods containers) are scattered EVERYWHERE, smooshed into the mud, blowing in the wind and washing down the streams. The property is filthy. In hindsight, I should have turned around and left but I felt committed at that point to get my pig. So, the property is supposedly 200+ acres. We walked a total of about 300 yards beyond the garbage piles and bagged two pigs. We had made it VERY clear to the guide, Franco Neves, that I wanted to spend $500 and my friend 'Mike' wanted to spend $600. Franco pointed out pigs that, in his infinite experience, were the size equal to the price we wanted to spend. We shot our pigs and they took care of the gutting and used a tractor to get them down the hill for us. When we arrive at the parking area, the owner eyeballs the pigs and decides to charge us both $600!!! We argue, but he is unwilling to budge. The guide defends himself saying "their size is deceiving." I'm wondering who's being deceived. So, before we go any further we ask; "where's the scale to weigh the pigs?" HA! They found that question funny, since there is NO SCALE! The weight is determined by the owner's eye! That's when we realized this was getting bad and I'm still questioning myself: why didn't I take my pig right then and there and leave? But I didn't. Ziggy, the owner, lives near our homes in NJ and he offers for $90 each to skin out and quarter the pigs. At this point it's a matter of convenience because I've never skinned out a pig and I don't think my deer butcher ever has either, so we agree. This is like mistake #25 for me at this point! We proceed at this point to the guide's house because he's also a taxidermist. He has some nice mounts there, but it's far to inconvenient to use him two hours away from home. So we thank him for the tour and decide to use our own taxidermist at home in NJ. Perhaps this created some hard feelings, I can't be certain. Nevertheless, when we took delivery of our pigs two days later, Ziggy now demands $100 each for the skinning and quartering!!! We are disgusted at this point, so we pay him and take our pigs home. Upon arriving home, I pull the two heads, with full hides attached, out of the Hefty bags that Ziggy had put them in. One of them had a 5"-6" cut right across the face, and the corner of the mouth had been cut as well. WTF! I couldn't help but believe that this was done out of spite since we did not choose to use his taxidermist. As we dig further, we examine the meat we'd been given. The animals were not simply 'quartered' as had been agreed to; they were partially butchered. All the belly meat was missing...that's the bacon for crying out loud! That's all I really wanted and it was gone!!! The tenderloins, the most tender pieces of meat on the animal, were left in place when the pig was quartered; both of them were cut in half!!! The ribs were cut all wrong, the hams were a mess, and there was less than 80 lbs of meat, including bones. How could that be if I was charged for a 300 lb. pig???? This experience was just bad all around. I'm not typically so naive, and I'm still questioning myself "why didn't you trust your instincts?" I suppose we were caught up in the moment; a couple of guys hunting pigs for the first time, it was a beautiful day, and we were having fun. We didn't want to believe we were being 'had', but that is absolutely, clearly what happened. We were robbed and we paid them to rob us!!! I'm the fool here, I know that. But I sure hope no one else has to experience what we did. STAY AWAY from Pond Ridge Hunts in Bethel, NY. Other bad elements: On the company brochure are a few images, one of a hunter with a revolver kneeling over his dead pig. This surprised me and I asked Ziggy a couple of weeks before the hunt "what weapons can we use?" and he said to bring anything we wanted. Huh. Although he has nothing to lose by suggesting that, any hunter bringing weapons into NY State could become a felon very quickly, depending upon the weapons. Bringing a handgun into NY State could have earned me silver bracelets and long vacation. Coincidently, NY State game wardens were on the property, in the parking area, to greet us at the conclusion of our hunt. That was a surprise. Had I been carrying a revolver, or AR-15 for example, I wouldn't be spending Christmas with my kids this year, that's for sure. Know the law: it's your responsibility. A third friend came along as a non-hunting spectator. We discussed that with the guide and Ziggy, the owner, BEFORE we proceeded into the woods. $45 is the cost for a spectator. This was all VERY clear. I asked this third friend to carry my shotgun up the hill for me, as a backup to the crossbow I was carrying. At the end of the hunt, Ziggy demanded $100 from my friend as the standard fee for an 'unsuccessful hunter' on the grounds that he was carrying a weapon but didn't shoot anything. Total bull@#*&. STAY AWAY, STAY AWAY, STAY AWAY. And tell everyone you know to STAY AWAY from Pond Ridge Hunts, based out of Bethel, NY with hunting grounds in Hancock, NY.