I've had the good fortune to hunt all over North America on a regular basis since the early 1980s and have had some good experiences and bad. The following is a listing of outfitters and lodges, in alphabetical order, that I would recommend (based on game, accommodations, personnel) to anyone interested in a good situation. I do not hunt high-fenced operations. I am not compensated for recommending these outfits. They are listed in alphabetical order, by category.

DEER, PRONGHORN, TURKEY HUNTS

Adventure Game Calls Guide Service: Joe and Kathy Sears, 89 Leonard Rd., Spencer, NY 14883. Telephone: 607-589-4611. Website: www.Adventuregamecalls.com. Excellent spring and fall (with dogs) turkey hunting plus outstanding bow and shotgun hunting for deer from mountaintop lodge. Hunted there numerous times for turkeys, deer.

Bad River Bucks and Birds: Scott Mathews, RRI, Box 38A, Draper, SD 57531.Telephone: 605-669-3440;fax: 605-669-3015; Website: wwww.badriverhunts.com; e-mail: info@badriverhunts.com. Excellent pheasant, deer, turkey, varmint hunting. Excellent accommodations on ranch that has been in family for more than 100 years. Hunted pheasants and varmints with them.

Ford Ranch: Forrest Armke, PO Box 81, Melvin, TX 76858. Telephone: 915-286-4572. Historic Texas brush country ranch near Brady was the site where the former world-record non-typical whitetail was taken in 1892. Good whitetails, abundant Rio Grande turkeys (Quaker Boy Calls spring headquarters) hunted from cabin camp, dining hall. Hunted deer and turkeys.

Back Country Hunts: Steve Jones, 1029 Haston Rd., Carlsbad, NM 88220. Telephone: 505-887-6178. Website: www.Backcountryhunts.com; Excellent pronghorn/deer/elk, etc. hunting in several states. Hunted NM pronghorns with them out of teepee camp.

IMB Outfitters: Darrin Bradley, 30275 Liberty Park Place, Macon, MO 63552. Telephone: 866-855-7063. Website: www.imbmonsterbucks.com; e-mail: imb@adams.net. Excellent outfit for big midwestern whitetails in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa. Hunted with them in Illinois and in Iowa.

Garden River Outfitters: Mo Heisler, PO box 929, 740 3rd St.N, Martensville, SK SOK 2T0. Telephone: 306-978-2307. Excellent outfit for deep-woods whitetails in central Saskatchewan. Has 187,000 acres of bush country to hunt; comfortable lodge.

Krooked River Ranch: Roy and Becky Wilson, PO Box 85, Haskell, TX 79521. Telephone: 325-773-2457.website: www.krro.net. Borders Nail Ranch and Stasney's Cook Ranch and rivals them as the best open-range Texas whitetail hunting I've ever encountered. Also lots of Rio Grande turkeys and small population of hogs. Quail, waterfowl and varmint hunting also available. Dining hall and cabins. Hunted turkeys, deer and pigs there.

Nail Ranch: Craig Winters, 5546 N. US Hwy 283, Albany, TX 76430. Telephone: 325-762-2974. Website: www.nail-ranch.com; e-mail: cwinters@nail-ranch.com. Along with neighboring Krooked River and Stasney's Cook Ranch, it's the best open-range Texas whitetail hunting I've ever seen. Also tremendous population of wild pigs and Rio Grande turkeys hunted from lodge in Texas brush country of West-Central Texas (near Abilene). Hunted pigs, turkeys..

Stasney's Cook Ranch: Johnnie Hudman, PO Drawer 1826, Albany, Texas 76430. Telephone: 888-762-2999; cell: 325-762-4199; Ranch: 325-762-2313. Website: www.stasney.com; e-mail: wildlife2@stasney.com. Absolutely the best open-range Texas hunting I've ever encountered. Great facilities. Hunted deer, turkeys and hogs there.

Table Mountain Outfitters: , Scott & Angie Denny, PO Box 2714 Cheyenne, WY 82003. Telephone: 307-632-6352; fax: 307-632-6585. Website: www.TableMountainOutfitters.com. Pronghorns, whitetail and mule deer, elk, cougar, bears, plains bison in several western states. Tent camps, lodges, motel hunts in a variety of price ranges. Hunted pronghorns and bison with them in Wyoming and South Dakota; bears in Idaho.

Turkey Trot Acres: Pete and Sherry Clare, 188 Tubbs Hill Rd., Candor, NY 13743. Telephone: 607-659-7849. Website: www.turkeytrotacres.com; e-mail: turkeytrot@clarityconnect.com. Outstanding spring and fall (with dogs) turkey hunting; whitetail deer hunting from impressive two-story log lodge. Hunted there numerous times.

Warne Ranch: Cody Warne, 3520 Lambeth Place, Pierre, SD 57501. Telephone: 605-224-1445. Website: www.warneranches.com; E-mail: codybuckwarne@msn.com. Owned by Warne family since 1904, the 8,400-acre working cattle ranch hosts outstanding pheasant, upland, waterfowl and deer hunting. Excellent dogs or bring your own for pheasants, waterfowl. Bow or rifle hunt 150-plus-inch whitetails. Hunted pheasants, geese with them.

White Oak Plantation: Robert Pitman, 5215 Country Road 10, Tuskegee, AL 36083. Telephone: 334-727-9258; fax: 334-727-3411. Website: www.whiteoakplantation.com; e-mail: whiteoakhunts@mindspring.com. Absolutely my favorite southern lodge; excellent accommodations, deer, turkey and quail hunting; world-class sporting clays layout and 5-stand; good bass fishing. Hunted there more than 15 times, 1992-2006.

Whitetail Creek Outfitters: Keith LeMay and Brad Greba, PO Box 68, Devils Tower, WY 82714. Telephone: 307-467-5625; Website: www.whitetailcreek.com. More whitetails than I've ever seen anywhere. Also mule deer, pronghorns and Merriams turkeys. Flat prairie ranches and rolling Ponderosa pine draws in northeast corner of the state. Cabin camps and dining hall-bar. Hunted whitetails, turkeys and pronghorns with them.

HOG HUNTING

Tejon Ranch: Don Geivet, PO Box 1000, Lebec, CA 93243. Telephone: 661-663-4208. Website: www.hunttejon.com. Spectacular ranch in San Joaquin Mountains between Los Angeles and Bakersfield. Excellent hunting for wild hogs, also offer merriams turkeys, deer and high-dollar elk hunts. Hunted turkeys, hogs and varmints there. (for hogs, also see Nail Ranch, Krooked River Ranch and Stasney's Cook Ranch, above)

ELK HUNTING

Tenderfoot Outfitters: Fred Stinson and Dave Mitchell, Box 246, Gunnison, CO 81230. Telephone: 800-641-0504. Website: www.tenderfoot-outfitters.com. Elk and mule deer from high country tent camps in West Elk Wilderness area of Gunnison National Forest. Best mountain camp I've ever experienced. Tough hunt (high elevation) in spectacular area with good animals. Hunted elk with them.

Central Montana Outfitters:POB 6655, Great Falls, MT 59406. Website: www.cmontanaoutfitters.com. e-mail: cmoutfitters@worldnet.att.net. Elk, mule, pronghorns, whitetails on western ranches. Spectacular venues, excellent animals. Mountain tent camps or lodges. Hunted mule deer and varmints with them.

CARIBOU HUNTING

Arctic Adventures: 19950 Clark Graham, Baie d'Urfe, Quebec, Canada HgX 3R8. Telephone: 800-465-9474. Fax: 514-457-9834. Website: www.arcticadventures.ca. Camps in traditional migration routes for caribou; also bear, ptarmigan (also great fishing) from cabin camps in the arctic tundra. Headquartered in Nunavik (Inuit) region of northern Quebec near Ungava Bay; flew out of village of Kuujjuag. Hunted the Lake Irkirtuug (run by Americans) camp.

Explo Sylva Outfitter: Michel, Denis and Robert Threlfall, C.P. 49012, Succ. Place Versailles Montreal, Quebec, Canada H1N 3T6. Telephone: 800-267-9797; fax: 514-254-6159. Website: www.explo-sylva.com. Hunting both the Leaf River and George River caribou herds (also bears, ptarmigan and fishing) from wilderness cabins for caribou hunting (also bears, ptarmigan and fishing) in central and western Quebec. Fly out of Caniapiscau region of central Quebec. Hunted Petite Baleine camp near Hudson Bay.

Canada North Outfitting: Jerome and Halina Knapp , P.O. Box 340, 72 Mill Street, Almonte, Ontario KOA 1A0; Telephone: 613-256-4057; fax: 613-256-4512. E-mail: cnonorth@istar.ca. Famous and long-established outfitter who works with Inuits on hunts all over Northwestern Canada for big game from caribou to polar bears. Had hunt of a lifetime with this outfit, hunting muskox and barren ground caribou and fishing for char and trout in Ellice River Camp with Inuits in Nunavut territory of Northwest Territories, north of Arctic Circle. Flew Edmonton to YellowKnife to Cambridge Bay and took float plane to camp.

Ungava Adventures: Sammy Cantafilo, 46 St-Anne St., Suite 3A, Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada H9S 4P8. Telephone: 514-694-4424; fax: 514-694-4267. Website: www.ungava-adventures.com. Most famous caribou outfitter in Canada; dominates the record books. Well-placed cabin camps for caribou, bears and ptarmigan (also great fishing). Fly out of Nunavik (Inuit) region of northern Quebec near Ungava Bay village of Kuujjuag. Hunted Charlie's Lake camp.

Leaf River Outfitters, CP 370 Saint-Henri, Quebec, Canada GOR 3EO. Telephone: 418-882-6210 or 1-800-463-4868. Website: www.leafriverlodge.com; Northern Quebec, SW of Kuujjuag. Fly out of Canipiscau, Quebec, on Labrador border. Hunted Des Bergeres camp.

BEAR HUNTING

Bird River Outfitters: Ron Alexander, 451 Moray St., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3J 3A7. Telephone: 204-831-0419 or 204-345-2820. Website: www.birdriver.com; The premier bear hunting outfitter in Manitoba; spectacular two-story log lodge on the river. Also excellent whitetail deer and wolf hunting and fishing. Hunted spring bears there.

Collins Guiding: Darrel and Lynn Collins, 1946 Milburn Lake Rd., Quesnel, BC, Canada V2J 7E6. Telephone: 250-249-5241. E-mail: collins@quesnelbc.com. Black and grizzly bears, moose, wolf, mule deer in north-central British Columbia. I hunted spring black bears from a tent camp along the McKenzie River in the foothills of the McGregor Mountains.

Larsen Lake Outfitters: Kim Tiringer, PO box 665, Spiritwood, SK, Canada SOJ 2MO 7E6. Excellent outfit with very large bears and a high incidence of other color phases.

Ninilchik Charters: Captain Mike Flores, Box 39638, Ninilchik, AK 99639. Telephone: 888-290-3507. website: www.ninilchik.com. Black bears, blacktail deer, varmints, ducks, fishing in Alaska. Hunted blacktail deer with them on Kodiak Island. Hunters, anglers stay on boats, go ashore during the day. Excellent halibut, salmon fishing. Terrific blacktail deer, duck hunt with them.