Robert Sergi, Legends Ranch General Manager, Owner Promised a Trophy Buck, Paid $16,000 and Came Home with a 14 point buck, a stolen briefcase, and horrible experience. Bitely Michigan

I met the General Manager of the Legends Ranch at a Safari Club International Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the convention, the General Manager, Colby Bettis, promised me that if I would pay $16,000 to come to their ranch, the Legends Ranch, in Bitely, MI, that I would be able to hunt a trophy deer, or a President's deer, at lest 25 points in size. I did arrange to pay Colby Bettis $16,000.00 and traveled by car to the ranch on November 11, 2013 with my son Charles Kothe. Although my son was able to accompany me with no charge, the rest of the hunt was a complete disaster.

On November 11, 2013, I was told that I could not arrive at the Legends Ranch until 12:00 noon, and then when I arrived, I was told I could not hunt until 4:00 p.m. that day. That same day, my briefcase, containing letters and communications from Colby Bettis stating that he guaranteed me a trophy deer 25-30 points in size and a checkbook with a very large balance was stolen. When I arrived at my room at the Legends Ranch, there was another briefcase of a different color on my bed. I reported this incient to Colby Bettis, who assured me that my briefcase could be recovered and that every effort would be exercised to locate the briefcase. On November 12th and 13th, I hunted on the Legends Ranch and was actually pulled aside by a man who said that he routinely culled deer at this ranch, and I was specifically told tha tthe hunt that I was on, the President's Hunt, was actually over already, and that there were no more trophy deer to hunt at all at the Legends Ranch. I dismissed the man's comments and continued hunting. On the evening of the 13th of November, Colby Bettis told me that my hunt was completely over with and that I had to go home. After basically arguing with Colby Bettis, he allowed me to hunt for 1/2 more days on Friday, November 14, 2013.

Although I did receive a 14 point buck at the Ranch, it was only after my son and business manager made numerous calls to Colby Bettis, to Legends Ranch, and to the taxidermist for the ranch, and also after phoning several taxidermists in this area. The taxidermist was professional and courteous to me, however, he did not ship the mount in an efficient manner and offered no explanation as to why my calls to his office were not returned, and also, why, after he told my son Charles that the mount had been ready since May 2014, that it took until October 2014 for me to receive this mount at my home. The 14-point buck was significantly smaller in size than the 25-30 point, President's hunt trophy buck, that I had been promised by Colby Bettis.   

I am a lifetime member of the Safari Club International and the North American Hunt Club. In addition, my family actually strated wildlife conservation in the State of Indiana in 1916. I have a degree in criminology from Indiana University and have served as Chief of Arson Investigation and also been a Federal Fire Marshall in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Fire Chief in Spencer, Indiana. I am also a retired staff sergeant in the United States Army and hold veteran's status as a disabled American Veteran, due to being injured in combat.

It should be known that a felony was committed against me at this ranch where it concerns my briefcase being stolen. I feel certain that Colby Bettis is the person who stole my briefcase. There was only a handful of people at the Legends Ranch present the day that my briefcase was stolen. I was inconvenienced while at the ranch, needing to call my bank to cancel all checks in my checkbook, constantly argue with Colby Bettis about completing my hunt, which normally would have included a recon time, and four full days of hunting. In my lifetime, I have never been denied a recon time, and time to adequately hunt for the deer, and have never had to argue with the manager/owner to get my hunting time in. 

Since Colby Bettis has now left the ranch, and is operating a different ranch, I have been in communication with a Robert Sergi, with whom I have spoken to one time since alerting him of the experiences at his Legends Ranch. I am attaching his letter he sent to me regarding my hunt, basically asking me to pay another $8,000.00 to return to the ranch to hunt a trophy deer, and also, not guaranteeing me the 25-30 point buck that Colby Bettis had done previously. I am attaching a photograph of the deer mounts which were on display at the Safari Club International Annual Convention. I have more photographs to share as well of the display that Legends Ranch utilized to entice hunters to this ranch, the Legends Ranch. Mr. Sergi has not responded to my letter detailing the extremely unpleasant time that I experienced at his ranch, and has not returned phone calls. His personnel vasillate between taking calls for Mr. Sergi, not allowing one to go to his voice mail, and also, not even bothering to offer a message or a voice message machine. I do believe this ranch needs to be shut down and reported to Safari Club International as fraudulent.

Sincerely,

William H. K