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TESTIMONIALS NOTE:
The following references are provided as a courtesy to potential clients
of OutWest Guides, Marble, Colorado. Their contact information is not to
be used for solicitations or other invasions of their privacy.
Dear Gary,
I just wanted to thank you again for a wonderful trip to the Colorado high
country. I couldn't have asked for more, as the guide, the horses, the dogs,
the birds, the accommodations, et al were first rate. I'm still in awe over
the breathtaking (literally) scenery, as I never thought anything could make
our Maine seascapes seem ho-hum. I also enjoyed meeting John, Brad, Dan,
Dave and Joel, and I can't thank you, Doris, Reed and Jake enough for
welcoming me into your home for meals. (You have a very special family.) The
whole trip was truly unforgettable, and I'm already scheming about how I can
get back to chase those mountaintop muleys.
Please keep in touch, and send pictures of the mega-racked elk and mule deer
your clients take this season.
Again, thank you for your hospitality and for putting so much effort into
running a quality operation. You truly have a slice of heaven.
All the best,
Ralph
Ralph P. Stuart
Editor in Chief
Shooting Sportsman Magazine
  Hi, Gary
I wanted to let you know what a great time we had and how happy we were with the hunting. The hunt turned out to be everything that you said it would. I've attached photos of both deer. Let me know when you got the photos. I hope you have good hunting for the rest of the season. Thanks again for setting us up with a great hunt.
Glenn Sosebee, DDS
Atlanta, GA
 Dear Gary;
Just a note to thank you and your team – Doris, Michael, Brian and Dan for a terrific adventure during our high country mule deer hunt earlier this month. The quality of every aspect of the experience exceeded what I had anticipated – the controllables: hospitality, enthusiasm & skill of the guides, camp accommodations, food, equipment, horses - as well as the uncontrollables: number/age/condition of the deer population , spectacular scenery, weather were all outstanding. The fact that I connected on a very respectable mature buck at 11,800 feet elevation was icing on the cake! It was a wonderful hunt and while I can’t make my calendar revert to August so I could do it all over again, I can at least summon the feel of parts of the experience through the many photographs we took.
Please feel free to use my name as a reference for prospective clients. If they can stand hearing me go on about my week in the Snowmass – Maroon Bells Wilderness Area, I’d love to revisit the adventure.
Thanks again Gary for a totally enjoyable time.
Sincerely,
Peter T. Funke
8329 Elliston Drive
Wyndmoor, PA 19038
(215) 836-9249
pfunke@verizon.net
 Gary,
What an awesome experience! My first hunt out west and on opening morning I was very fortunate to kill a big 4x5 bull elk within a mile or so of camp. As the snow peppered down that morning I was amazed by the beauty of the area as we rode high into the mountains. It is a good thing that I was able to rely on your great horses to get into the mountains since I would have been unable to hike on my own as the altitude made it a challenge. I cannot say enough about your “first-class” service shown to me and my hunting friends Richard and Ossie. From accommodating us upon short notice to seeing that my elk was processed and shipped out to me quickly. We certainly plan on returning to your camp next year for another great time.
Johnny Coleman
Mid-State Construction Co.
Livingston, TN
931-823-7345
Gary,
I just wanted to thank you and your crew for a wonderful time. Your hospitality was gracious, the horses were excellent and the camp well stocked. We saw a lot of elk, and had our chances. For a drop camp hunt, we got everything we could have asked for and more. Looking forward to next time,
Preston Pate, MD
Abilene, TX Lung Pysicians, P.A.
(First rifle season drop camp elk hunt, 2005)
Gary & Doris:
I just wanted to let you know what a great trip I had. I still haven’t stopped talking to friends and family about all the adventures. Thanks for taking care to get the elk processed. I already made a good spaghetti with the hot and sweet Italian sausage. Tonight is burgers. Thanks again for everything!
Stewart Seeligson
Houston, TX
(Second rifle season fully guided lodge hunt 2005)
Photos for 2005
Dear Gary,
  I
wanted to thank you, Doris, Bear, and Mike for the trip of a lifetime! The
meals were great, and the accommodations were like home. The scenery was
something you had to see. Pictures don't do it justice.
It will always be etched in my mind.
We were treated like family and not like clients, and I really appreciate
that.
The whole trip was awesome! This is a
word that I hardly ever use because it is used too frequently and loses
its value. Thanks for a memorable time.
Vernon Ferguson
4th season 5x6 bull, 2004
(610) 383 6945
cell (484) 459-1178
 Nov. 2, 2004
To hunt with Mr. Hubbell and his guides at OutWest Guides, LLC, at Marble,
CO is a real privilege. He has an excellent selection of horses in good
health and his guides will match the horse and rider so both are safe and
comfortable. His guides are very knowledgeable and will work very hard to
get you into game and at as reasonable a distance as possible. My guide
got me into a herd of elk after riding less than an hour from the lodge.
Here I harvested a beautiful 600-pound cow on my 78th birthday. You can do
it, too.
Harvey A. Smith
Box 207
Schaefferstown, PA 17088
717 949 3687
  I can't say enough good things about Out West Guides! This year was the
16th time my buddies and I have been elk hunting and we all agree that
this was the BEST trip we ever took! Not only is Gary a great person but
his equipment is great, his horses are great, his guides are great, and
the area we hunted was great! They checked on us every day (we were on a
drop camp) and we could talk to them by radio. They showed up when they
said they would. We have been on hunts when the wranglers have been hours
and hours late, or not shown up at all. Gary does not overcommit which is
a problem that some other outfitters have. Some others just take on more
than they can handle! I will definitely be hunting with Gary again! To top
it all off, he hunts in the most beautiful place that I have ever been.
It's just breathtaking!!! I have no problem at all recommending Out West
Guides highly!! I know you won't be
  disappointed!!! Now I will say that if
nothing will satisfy you but a 340 class bull, you would be better off
going to New Mexico, not that they aren't around the Maroon Bells area,
but being public land, they are somewhat scarce and very smart. Don't get
me wrong, we saw some nice bulls, but they aren't overrun with them. But
this area has lots of elk and mule deer and you will have a great time!
Kent Callahan
kentc56@yahoo.com
“I hunted with another outfitter and here’s what happened” For purposes of discretion, we’re going to keep this hunter’s name (and
the outfitter’s name!) confidential, but it’s a true narrative as related
to us in Marble. This is exactly how we DON’T like to do things. We
service our camps as soon as possible, we work hard to set up your camps
in a comfortable, safe spot, and we keep our camps clean, tidy, and well
equipped! With clean dishes!
“If you would have ridden into that basin and said, ‘Pick out the worst
possible place to put the camp’, that’s exactly where they put it. They
could have put the tent 30 feet uphill on a flat spot, sheltered by
evergreens, but no. They put it where all the rainfall and snowmelt
drained right into the two tents. The tents were collapsed because it had
snowed since they put them up and no one had been into the camp to check.
We put the tents back up and they were soggy and wet, and they stayed that
way the whole week. There was a little firewood and we tried to get a fire
started in one tent, but it wouldn’t go, so we moved over to the other
tent. It was a good thing that we couldn’t get the fire started in the
first tent, however, because there was barely enough firewood for four
days. We don’t mind cutting wood, mind you, but there was no saw—only an
axe—and it’s very hard to chop enough wood for a consistent fire with an
axe, not to mention the noise spooking game. The outfitter told us he
wouldn’t ride in to check our camp, and if we killed anything, we’d have
to pack it back to camp and wait until he came to pack us out after five
days. It gets pretty warm during first rifle season. After we went out to
scout that first evening, we came back in to make some dinner and
discovered that the dishes were filthy. So we had to boil a pot of water
and wash dishes before we could even cook dinner, because the dishes
hadn’t been washed since the year before.”
Gary,
Well, the 2002 elk season is now well behind us, but great memories will
be
forever etched in my mind. I continue to review the six or seven rolls of
pictures I shot and feel as if we were there only yesterday. I want to
offer
this testimonial for you to use so that others might be encouraged to use
your
services in the future.
My hunting partner, Scott Keith, and I researched the web and hunting
magazines
to find an outfitter that seemed to meet our desires. We were looking for
a
high-country, Colorado outfitter that would be able to increase our
chances of
success by knowing the country we were going to hunt. We wanted to camp
in the
wilderness, and we wanted to be able to save ourselves (physically) for
the
hunt by being able to access the high country by horseback.
 Outwest Guides delivered in spades. You and your team clearly worked VERY
hard
in making preparations for our hunt. You provided excellent horses that
were
in condition for the climb and were very well behaved. ("Bear" was the
best!
:-)
The guides, cooks and wranglers bent over backwards to make the trip
enjoyable. They were all friendly, courteous and professional. Bo Jones
and
Adam Sahnow, our camp's two guides, were the greatest! Our camp cook,
John
Hansen, besides being a great cook, was just a very nice person. (His
passion
was clearly fly fishing for trout. Anyone who fishes with John as their
guide
will be getting a very knowledgeable, enthusiastic guide. What a joy that
would be!) I cannot explain in a few short words how hard each of these
young
men worked to make our stay one of the best life's experiences I have been
privileged to enjoy.
The country you hunt is purely spectacular. I must admit that everything
you
say in your website is true - there aren't any false claims.
 I think the value of the hunt far exceeds the cost you charge. If anyone
watches how hard you work prior to the hunt, during the hunt and after the
hunt
to make the stay there enjoyable, I think they would have to admit that
the
cost is VERY reasonable.
I wish to thank you, your wife Doris (who works as hard as any of the
guys) and
all your guides, cooks and wranglers for giving us a such great hunt. I
would
say this unequivocally even if we had come back empty handed.
The taxidermist you recommended to me, Dan French, just delivered my head
mount today. He did a great job. What service, delivering the mount all
the way across the country to me. I’m pleased with the quality of his work
and his service.
Wishing you the best in the New Year and continued success. Thanks for the
hunt and the awesome memories! I look forward to coming back.
Tim
Timothy J. Kriewall, Ph. D.
Vice President of Research and Development
Medtronic, Inc.
5 November 2004
For the past three years I have had the pleasure of trail rides and
fishing with Gary Hubbell and OutWest Guides. I only wish I could
participate in some of the other activities, especially the high country
bird hunting. I have been on
 occasional fishing trips to the high
country, guided or unguided, for over 35 years, in Colorado around Vail,
Eleven Mile Canyon, and the Crystal Valley, and in the surrounding
wilderness areas. I have horse packed in Wyoming, and wandered on foot or
by horse through a great deal of the Snowmass-Maroon Bells-Raggeds
Wilderness Areas for two weeks each summer. I have trout fished the White
River and Norfork in Arkansas, the Current in Missouri, and Slate Run in
Pennsylvania. My son-in-law is an expert fisherman who has guided on the
South Platte and the Arkansas; I have fished with him. But never have I so
thoroughly enjoyed fishing with anyone more that with Gary for the past
two years, and one of his guides three years ago. Guides naturally want to
catch fish, or they wouldn’t be guiding for a living. Every other place I
have been, the guides spent as much time fishing as teaching me-and I
still have a lot to learn. At OutWest Guides, the emphasis is on having
the CLIENT LEARN how to catch fish, and then catch them. The guides help
YOU fish. Teach a man to fish and he is your friend for life, whether you
need feeding or not!
Phil Corlew
Consulting Engineer & Land Surveyor
Edwardsville, IL
“Everything on our hunt
was first-rate. We saw a lot of animals, the horses were excellent, the
food was great, and my grandson got a nice 6x6 for his first elk.”
Bill Barrass, Willits,
California
.
 I hunted this past season with Gary and his great team during the
second season at a drop camp with two other hunters. The accommodations,
tent, cots, stoves and other misc. supplies were great. We had a three
hour ride in on great and very stable horses. Means a lot to us "city
slickers". The country was beautiful and game was all around us. I will
say that the country is very rugged where we camped and only for those
who are in great shape. Basically, straight up and down. However, we had
shots at two mule deer and my brother had a shot at a very nice bull
elk. Only one of the shots connected on a mule deer. Gary showed us many
other areas where the country is not as rugged, so he has it all types
of country available based on how hard you want to work to see animals.
On Friday, scouting the area, we saw a herd of over 100 elk in it. They
were two miles away and standing right on top of the mountain. Quite a
site!
We had a great time and would highly recommend Gary's services to
anyone. Already planning next years trip. Anyone wants to call me for a
recommendation or ask questions, please call me at 813-713-0057.
Kyle Wiggs
Managing Director, Membership Sales
813-289-5040
kwiggs@aaasouth.com
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My first Elk Hunt came after twenty years of dreaming
and two years of planning. I made a great choice of hunting with Out
West Guides in Marble, CO. Gary and Doris Hubbell run a first class
outfit. Since I had never been to the high country, I depended on Gary
for information and advice. His straight talk information package and
e-mails had me well prepared for the hunt.
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| The camp, horses, guides, and wranglers exceeded my expectations. We
hunted in some awesome country; the views were stunning. The guides had
us into Elk within hours on opening morning. There were three hunters in
camp; we shot two bulls on opening morning and a cow two days later.
They did everything possible to make sure we all had an enjoyable hunt
by bending over backwards when one of us got sick. It was trip of a
lifetime. |
Victor L. Lawrence
Ledyard, CT
860-536-3517
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