Sangre de Cristo Range · Colorado Rockies · Kodiak Island, Alaska
Trophy Elk · Mule Deer · Bighorn Sheep · Coastal Brown Bear · Mountain Lion
A Different Kind of Hunt
Some outfitters measure success by client count and trophy-room photographs. We measure it by whether you come back.
McAllister Outfitting has operated in the Sangre de Cristo Range since the guide hung up his military kit and decided that the skills he’d spent thirty years refining — tracking, patience, reading terrain, knowing when to move and when to wait — were worth something to the right kind of hunter. Not to every hunter. To the right kind.
We run two to four clients per season. That number is not changing. If you are looking for a lodge operation with guaranteed trophies, there are excellent operations that provide exactly that. This is not one of them.
If you are looking for a hunt run by someone who grew up chasing coastal brown bear on Kodiak Island, learned to track before he learned to drive, and has spent the better part of his adult life operating in terrain that didn’t forgive mistakes — we should talk.
“The country doesn’t care how much your rifle cost. Neither does the guide.”
— McAllister Outfitting, client orientation materials
The Guide
Sam McAllister — known to most people simply as Spoon — grew up on Kodiak Island, Alaska, hunting coastal brown bear with his grandfather and a .30-06 he was told he wasn’t old enough to touch. By the time most boys were shaving, he could put three rounds in a coffee-lid at three hundred yards with nothing but iron sights and the kind of wind that comes off the North Pacific and strips paint off boats.
He went into the military straight out of high school. What followed is largely his own business, but the relevant parts are observable: he moves through country like he was born in it, reads sign the way most people read road signs, and can field-dress an elk in twelve minutes without getting his boots dirty. He dropped the last bull on the property at four hundred yards with the same open-sighted Winchester his grandfather carried. He was back in the barn before lunch.
He guides alone. There is no second guide, no apprentice, no assistant who handles the parts he doesn’t feel like doing. When you book with McAllister Outfitting, you get McAllister. That is the entire value proposition, and it is worth understanding clearly before you book.
Hunt Programs
All hunts are guided personally by McAllister. All are conducted on private land or under exclusive-use agreements with adjacent landowners. No public land hunts are offered. Dates and availability are extremely limited.
Trophy Elk — Rifle
7 Days · Contact for rates · Private range, Sangre de Cristo · Mature 6×6 and above · Pack-out included · Max 2 hunters
This is the program that built the reputation. The range holds a mature elk population on private land that has not been pressured by public hunting. The guide knows every drainage, every wallowing hole, every travel corridor from the high park down to the timber. He will not put you on a young bull. If the right animal doesn’t present itself cleanly, you will wait, and the guide will tell you to wait, and that is non-negotiable. Clients who cannot accept that instruction should book elsewhere. The guide will range-verify your capability before any animal is pursued.
Trophy Elk — Archery
10 Days · Contact for rates · Rut-timed where possible · 40 yards or less standard · Not a beginner program
Rut timing is worked into archery hunts wherever the calendar allows. Forty yards is the standard; the guide has put archery hunters on bulls at closer range in timber so thick you could hear the animal breathing. That kind of hunting requires patience, physical conditioning, and the ability to be completely still when everything in your body is telling you to move. If your archery experience is primarily from a shooting lane on a managed property, say so before you book.
Mule Deer
5 Days · Contact for rates · High country, Sangre de Cristo · Mature bucks only · 300+ yard shots standard · Glassing and stalk
High-country mule deer hunting at its most straightforward: glass from elevation, identify a mature buck, plan a stalk, execute it. Clients must be capable of accurate field shooting at 300 yards and above under conditions that include wind, altitude, and the particular effect of adrenaline on marksmanship.
Bighorn Sheep
10–14 Days · Contact for rates · Permit required (client’s responsibility) · Maximum physical demand · 1 hunter only
Sheep hunting is the hardest thing McAllister Outfitting offers and the most expensive tag you will ever draw. Clients must be in genuine backcountry physical condition — not gym condition, not “I hiked Fourteeners last summer” condition. The condition of someone who can move at altitude, in loose rock, with a pack, for multiple days without degrading their judgment or their shooting. The guide has located legal rams at 600 yards in country that required a two-day approach. He will not rush the shot.
Coastal Brown Bear — Alaska
10 Days minimum · Contact for rates · Kodiak Island and Western Alaska · Float plane access · 1 party per season · On foot, in bear country
McAllister grew up on Kodiak Island. He knows the terrain, the weather patterns, the behavior of Kodiak brown bear at different times of season, and the specific combination of rain, mud, alders, and fog that defines the experience for anyone who hasn’t done it before. This is not a safari. There is no lodge at the end of the day. It is the finest hunting McAllister Outfitting offers, and it is available to one party per season. The guide will tell you honestly whether you are ready for it.
Mountain Lion
5–7 Days · Contact for rates · Winter season · Hound hunting · Sangre de Cristo range · Extremely limited availability
Winter season, hound hunting, private range in the Sangre de Cristos. Not offered every year. The guide’s own dogs — he has run this pack for years and they know the country as well as he does. Availability for this program is at the guide’s sole discretion and is not listed in advance. Clients interested in lion hunting should indicate it when making initial contact.
What to Expect
Shot selection — The guide controls shot selection. This applies regardless of the length of your trip, the cost of your rifle, or the number of hunts you have been on. If he says to wait, you wait. This standard has not changed and will not change.
Physical preparation — Be honest about your conditioning when you book, and be honest with yourself in the months before you arrive. The country will sort it out either way. It is better to have the conversation early.
Gear — Bring what you need and know how to use it. The guide will not carry your pack, set up your optics, or calibrate your rangefinder. He will tell you before the hunt if something you’ve brought is wrong for the terrain.
The lodge — The facility is a working log structure on a working ranch. It is warm, dry, and well-stocked. The food is whatever was harvested on the property. The coffee is strong and available before first light.
Communication — The guide answers questions about the country, the animals, and the plan. He does not discuss other clients, their hunts, or what was talked about in camp. This is a professional standard, not a quirk.
Talking in the field — Clients who talk during a stalk do not get a second stalk. This has not required explanation more than once with any client.
Logistics & Booking
McAllister Outfitting accepts clients by referral. There is no website booking form, no availability calendar, and no deposit system. If you have been referred, you know how to make contact. If you are not sure whether you qualify, the answer is to ask.
Season — Late summer through early winter (CO); seasonal Alaska by arrangement Capacity — 2–4 clients per season total; 1–2 per engagement maximum Lead time — 6–18 months for rifle elk and deer; 12–24 months for sheep and Kodiak bear Access — Private ranch access; nearest commercial airport: Pueblo or Colorado Springs Air access — Private airstrip on property; float plane landing available for Alaska operations Licensing — Colorado and Alaska licenses/tags are the client’s responsibility; guide will advise Trophy handling — Field dressing, rough pack-out, and transport to processor included; Euro mount prep available Payment — Deposit required to hold dates; balance due 60 days prior; cash or wire transfer Cancellation — Deposit non-refundable inside 90 days; dates may be transferred once per booking Contact — By referral through existing client or designated intermediary
“He doesn’t take you to the elk. He takes you to where the elk is going to be, and he’s already been there to make sure.”
— Returning client, 6th consecutive season
McAllister Outfitting Sangre de Cristo Range, Colorado · Kodiak Island, Alaska
By referral only.
This is a fictional company profile created for The Continuity Chronicles by Nick Meacher · fortunefavorstheprepared.com