Recently wrapped up a hog hunt at Oconee River Lodge, and the entire experience was outstanding. The hunting itself was phenomenal--plenty of action, great opportunities, and a well-managed property that truly sets the stage for a successful hunt. On top of all that, the hospitality was exceptional. From the moment we arrived to the moment we packed up, the staff made us feel welcomed and taken care of. Good people, great atmosphere, and an all-around first-class operation that we can't wait to revisit next year. read more

See all

WARNING! Oconee River Lodge -False advertisement and overall disappointing experience. I would like to start off with the positives. Our guide was knowledgeable, kind, and tried his best to get us a deer. The food was good and the lodge was clean. The Lodge Advertised on the website as "6 bedroom 4 bathroom with individual lockers for each hunters gear. Plenty of space and some of the best bass fishing right out the door" "Our inviting 5,000 sq. ft. lodge features six comfortable bedrooms and four bathrooms, complete with a game room for relaxation. Enjoy watching your favorite sports on one of our four flat-screen TVs, or take advantage of the prime fishing opportunities in our stocked ponds." We did not stay at this advertised location. We stayed at a much smaller lodge behind the owners home (which is not advertised on the website). It was my husband and myself and two other men (4 total guests). There were 2 bedrooms packed with two sets of bunks and a loft area with two beds. There were no lockers, ponds to fish, game room available for use as advertised on the website. There was a pool table and a dart board with one broken dart. It would not have been an issue to stay at this location, but we were not told about this before hand and had expecting to be at the other location. We had purchased GA fishing licenses and gear and would not have done this if we were told we would not have access to these amenities prior to our hunt. The air conditioning in the other gentlemen's room did not work. They brought up the A/C issue to the guide the first morning at 5am. The owner did not send anyone out to address this issue and the two hunters did not have air conditioning all 3 nights. No one was sent to even look at this unit. This resulted in the two hunters having to keep their door open while napping after the morning hunt which caused my husband and myself not to be able to use the common area in fear we may disrupt their sleep. We were forced to sit in our bedroom or go stand on the front porch to have conversations (there was no outdoor seating). At the end of the 3rd evening, the two men drove the 5 hours home instead of having to endure an additional night of no air conditioning. Also, the TV did not work . There is not one picture of this lodge located on their website. Again, this location was not the issue. It was the lack of transparency and the flat out dishonesty which is frustrating. The Hunting I will start off by saying I did have the opportunity to kill a decent buck and missed due to a bow malfunction. Day one morning- We went to a location on I would guess approx 200-300 acres. My morning hunt was disrupted at 7:18am by a pack of domesticated dogs. All 4 hunters encountered the dogs throughout the hunt and the dogs ran off a small buck at a feeder at about 9am. We never returned to this location Day one evening through the end of Day 3. We spend the rest of the hunts on 86 acres in between a golf course and a neighborhood. I could see the houses from the neighborhood during my hunt. This property was no equipped for 4 hunters. This property originally had 3 ladders stands, and we were told two guides set up a ground blind in the early afternoon and threw out a bag of corn to make the 4th location so we could all hunt that evening . At this location, all 4 of us saw deer- a doe, two baby deer, a spike, and a decent eight point. After the morning of the day two hunt, my husband and the other two male hunters expressed wanting to try a different property to peruse hogs instead as we were allowed 3 hogs (1 per day). We were told by the guide , "no hogs are coming out during the day" and that was the end of that conversation. We were never offered to try an additional location which i think is odd as they advertise the deer hunts take place on 7500 acres of private managed land and the hog hunts take place on 20,000 acres of private land. We hunted on less than 500 acres and not one time was offered to try a different location. I do not blame our guide. He truly tried his best and made several phone calls to another guide seeking guidance and I believe he was just doing what he was instructed to do. On the evening on night two I missed the eight point. My husband did not see any deer after the first day evening hunt. We came into this knowing a buck was not guaranteed, but when my husband spoke to Kevin on the phone prior to booking the hunt in July , Kevin told my him we could "kill a hog everyday if you want." This was extremely misleading as he gave off the impression they were overflowing with hogs. This was not the case. My family was looking for a close to home, yearly tradition hunt and Oconee River Lodge is not it. I do not recommend! There are additional issues and concern, but these are the main ones. Just know you are NOT getting what you expected! read more

Two of us booked this Hunting Trip 5 months ago. My buddy flew in from Houston, TX and I drove down from Raleigh, North Carolina. I have read the reviews and they are a mixed bag of NUTS.. It's called hunting and not shooting for a reason. Sometimes you get one and sometimes you don't? Guides can't help you shoot straight or not spook a deer??!! Everything they posted ; they had/have maybe just not on your visit. Out trip was different- we saw deer, 1 boar, plenty of birds( Pheasant, Quail, and Duck- shot our limit on each) and we shot everything but a boar(hog). The guides ( Damon and Super Cooper) busted their asses and start at 5am and ended no earlier than 11pm every night. They were knowledgeable and funny as heck. Darlene- can cook!! Some if not all need to take some lessons! She made it look easy and this is hard to do for large groups. I am on a Carnivore diet( no pun intended) and she made sure I was able to stick to it; even though I really wanted to cheat with the other items she was cooking. We stayed in that lodge where the people stated it was cramped? Enough room for easily 4 people if not 6-8 very comfortably. Heat/Air, water, etc worked fine for us. Sometimes people think because you pay money that you should always have a trophy kill; this is not the case... This is why people continue to HUNT every season; to get that 1 chance. I am sure there is always something not 100% awesome on every hunt but let me know when you've reached perfection so I can see what it looks like?? I will be back and am thankful; for the time I was there and spent HUNTING- NOT SHOOTING.. Thanks and see you for Turkey and Boar season- YALL. Joe S. read more

We met this guy at the PA hunting expo, DO NOT FALL VICTIM TO THIS GUY. 10 people in lodge, no hogs, no deer, no electric or heat till the second night. The 3rd night he offered to take us out for night hunting and doe tags- we ended up being chased out of the fields by local residents. So many false promises , lies and he obviously hand picks the reviews on his website. You've been warned! Somehow he blocked our review on Google in 2023. read more

I will begin to tell you I was nervous about this hunt. I have never hunted a lodge before and had some concerns with the recent reviews. This was a trip I had decided to take with my daughter to have some good father daughter time. We both luv fishing and hunting. The lodge did not let us down. It was truly an amazing time. My daughter saw deer every day in the stand. Clint did everything in his power to get us on deer. I had a really nice 8 pointer come in, if he had the other half of his rack, but they had already started to shed their racks. The last day I had a really nice buck come in which I took the shot at 173 yards and must have pulled. Cause when I took my riffle back to the range it is still dead on. We found no blood or hair. Plus, Clint took the drone out and scanned the area and found nothing but live does and bucks. So, he gets another year. Every day Darlene cooked amazing meals and there was always plenty of food for everyone. Thanks for making sure she kept a special area out for my food requirements. We didn't get to harvest a deer or hog, but this is why it's called free range hunting. They don't have high fence, and they don't have the deer on leashes that you can just shoot. This is real hunting with some great guides that do their best to make sure you are able to see and harvest a deer in the wild. I have become a member of the lodge and look forward to many more trips. read more

See all

let's start off with if 0 stars was possible that is what I'd select. I met this "outfit" at the Harrisburg show and book a trip with them for the end of august. in my 30 years of hunting this was the worst experience I've had with an outfitter, worked with one of the guides from day one to plan a trip with two of my best friends. what they called their 3day 3hog package 1200 bucks a person. guide mysteriously left the business before we arrived as in no longer works there. during the show we were shown a binder of food and game animals let just saying there are things they don't tell you the food horrible store bought and re-heated garbage no down-home southern cooking like we expected then they expect you to pay $100 per person for it, one thing I can say I lived on sweet tea for 48 hours save your money and go to the McDonald's 15 min. away. and the contract they have you sign upon arrival to pay the cook then tip the guide a minimum of 10% per hunter I know these guys work off tips but "earn it" next we were told we'd be the only party in the camp LIES all they cared about was the $$ that being said the other two in camp were older gentleman one from FL and the other from NC they were a pleasure to hang with. day one sat in the camp all day until around 7-8pm when we were all loaded in a SUV and dropped off in box stands 3 hours later our "hunt" was over no animals seen dropped back at the lodge and told we'll try again tomorrow. day 2 same story dropped off 8pm 4 hours later hunt was over as our guide flew a drone around and always had the excuse the pigs were always somewhere else or missed them by 10-15 minutes. guide did nothing to assist in making our hunt successful day 3 we left rather than repeat this cycle was promised these properties were over-run with hogs never saw 1 even with 200 lbs. of corn on the ground. even though we brought our own equipment to use we never got the chance as we only hunted at night so much for "3day" we were handed beat up Ruger American ranch's with 3 cartridges that looked like from the rust and corrosion they'd gone through the wash a few times equipped with cheap thermal or night vision with quality so bad you couldn't see through them the quality of the lodging accommodations one word "DIRTY" with the worst mattress twin sized. We found the reviews to this place on our way down from CT guys and gals this was no hour drive. we wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and press onward so we did bad judgement on our part but folks no joking please heed this as a ***WARNING*** do not waste your hard-earned money and time you will be sadly disappointed wish I saw others warnings before booking $3600 bucks down the drain. read more

Oconee River Lodge is my new go to hunting outfitter. I have been making the trip for the last two years and have had a successful trip on every occasion. The hog hunting is a very cool experience and their property's are covered up in them. I have also came the past 2 years for a archery season buck hunt and was successful both trips thanks to his awesome guides who helped me track them down. The lodge is very clean and comfortable and the meals that were cooked were awesome. Very friendly staff and an all around good atmosphere. I'm already booked up for next season. read more

Oconee River Lodge - Hog - Wildlife Hunting Ranges Near Me - Glenwood, Georgia

See all

Attention to all my hunting industry friends and connections, steer clear of this outfitter in Georgia, Oconee River Lodge! My parents just got back yesterday from their first ever outfitter hunting trip and it sounded like an absolute train wreck! My mom has reached out to the owner as all the people they were at the lodge with had disappointing experiences as well. One guy asked for an extra wash cloth so he could wash his face and was told no! A freaking wash cloth! I mean come on, people are paying hard earned money and you're essentially providing less than a Motel 6 experience. 11 hunters and barely seeing 5 deer by the second day and ZERO hogs (after being told you could shoot 1 hogs a day and being misled to think they are plentiful). One gentleman asked if they could shoot a doe since activity was so low and after being brushed off, he was finally told no because they don't have that many. Well anyone who has any experience with hunting and deer populations, knows if you don't have a healthy doe population then you don't have a good buck population either. (Edit, I'm hearing now that they did end up letting one guy harvest a doe on the last day) Here's my moms review of the place... "My husband and I have always wanted to go on a hunting trip together. We have been hunting together for 24 years on our family farm in VA. We came home a day early. I have never been so disappointed in my life. We arrived and chose a bedroom you access from the outside and must climb a set of metal steps. The room was about the size of our walk in closet with one twin and a set of bunk twin beds. Just enough room to stand between them. No room to open suitcases. Fitted sheet, no top sheet with very thin spread on top. Was told we could take used blankets off the couches and recliners if we got cold. Given one towel and one washcloth for 4 days. I just saw a review that said their ice machine was broke and wasn't working back in Oct. Well, today is 12/22/24 and it's still broken. I know they could have gotten bagged ice for the guests. Dinner was quarter of baked chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and cornbread. No seconds as there wasn't enough. A guy gave Darlene money to go buy more groceries. Sulphur water on tab. Sweet tea, orange juice, coffee and milk are supplied. No hot breakfast before hunting. Only bagels, cereals, and sweets. The first morning out, we were picked up around 5:30 in a worn out suburban and they put backpaks in back with our guns. Cram 6 people inside and drove us to our spot. Our stand was a metal pole frame with burlap flapping and angled downhill. It looked like a caravan of immigrants had traveled to and from the stand, due to being hunted so much. Water was over my boots trying to even get up into the stand. You have to sit in your stand for at least 1 1/2 hrs before sunrise. No deer or hogs seen. Picked up at 11. Lunch was eggs, biscuits and deer sausage with gravy. Very good. Go back out at 2:15 to same stand. Only seen 3 does 5 mins before dark. Dinner was pork roast, baked beans, mac-n-cheese. One of the 11 hunters had to walk almost a mile to his stand. Another was placed in a pop-up blind in a metal chair on the ground. His blind blew over in the wind not long after he sat down. We were placed in a box stand right near road entry. No deer seen or hogs that morning. Only option for lunch was spicy deer sausages on hot dog buns and potato salad for lunch. Potato salad was great. Back to same stand that evening and seen 4 very small yearlings right at dark. The discussions around the dinner table were all about disappointment and this was everyone's first paid hunting trip. Only 1 small 8 ptr basket rack was killed. No other bucks were seen by our group. Hunters were complaining about not seeing anything. This was not a good experience for either of us. Our opinion is that the website is very misleading. The land is over hunted and not plentiful with game. Weather was not an issue as it was perfect hunting weather." read more

Found this outfitter at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, PA, for a hog hunt. There were a total of 7 of us in camp and 2 got hogs. This owner manages his business so that he can keep milking people for their hard earned money. We were hunting feeders that were not baited. Also the guides placed hunters in stands that were successful the day before. The food was acceptable the first two days of our 3 day hunt and on the third day was very good. For the most part we made our own breakfast. The lodge was very nice and comfortable. When you go to their website to check reviews they are all "Cherrypicked" for 5 stars. You cannot place a review on this site, so beware. Overall we had a nice time but this place is not interested in actually getting you a hog. read more

this is replying to the previous review since a guy is upset he came down killed hogs,gave him a thermal to use catered to him as best as we all could and still wasnt good enough Hey Scott I'm sorry you feel this way. I have been in business a long time and have many happy hunters out there that have been to my lodge. My guides and myself work very hard for our hunters to be successful. I did reach out to you to see if I could make things better for you and I got a nasty response that you were going to shoot my guide for putting you in a ladder stand but never told anyone you didn't want to be in a ladder stand. You mentioned you have ptsd and didn't feel comfortable with a gun at that time which is a very scary situation that should of been said in the beginning of booking. I also have a picture of you and the other guy with 3 hogs. So saying there was 2 hogs killed is a lie. I'm sorry you feel this way about my lodge but there's tons of hunters that rebook every year and we believe we kill more hogs free range then most outfitters out there. Looks like y'all had a successful trip and I hope you enjoyed the fresh pork. I know in this business I can't make everyone happy but here at ORL we do our best to make everyone's hunt great and we know we give them a great hunt and experience being they come back year after year read more