A few years ago I went in and helped an outfitter set up his camps, pack hay in, work with the stock etc for free. Come hunting season, he hired me to guide. After that I guided a few more times for different outfitters and last year guided my butt off all season long. At the end of season I bought an outfit for myself from the guy who I originally worked for for free! I hired him as camp manager to make a smooth biz transition.

Your first order of business is to really look at why you want to be a guide. I guided for bizs that were for sale so I could understand the inside workings and have an excellent perspective on which biz to buy, all the while not saying a word about it. Guiding is very hard work, no sleep, and little pay. It is a lifestyle choice that many make, but few even make it to the end of season.

I encourage you to put all the romantic notions out of your head about guiding and look at the down sides very carefully. Go to Stoneydale press and buy the book: "So you want to be a guide." by Dan Cherry. You will get up at 4:30am and go to bed about 10pm, for weeks on end. You will be working all day, and saddling horses and the muck, cold, and dark of early morning is not much fun. Clients pay hard earned money for a hunting trip, and you better be able to treat them right, and earn your pay. If they leave their binos on a log 2 miles away, you will be going to get it, that is the business. If you are not a good hand in camp, you will be gone.

How you get started is debatable. You can spend the money on a guide school and learn some basics of guiding, horsemanship is important. You, however, are not going to learn to hunt elk in a guide school, they treach fundementals, but not enough for you to be an effective guide. The second approach is what others have stated, just reach out to some outfitters. You may offer your services in the camp set up stage for free or little pay. If you are a good hand you may be hired as a campjack come season. If their is an opening you may get to guide a day or two. It is unappealing to work for free, however, I did it and saved alot of money not going to a guide school, so I looked at that is income.

Heres some local rates: Most guides in my area make 80-100/day, wranglers 60-80, campjacks 50.00, cooks 75-100, all get tips.

My best guiding week last year I made 800.00 for 6 days in salary, plus 250.00 airport pickup and return, and 850.00 tip. So I made 1900.00 for 6 days. I had a higher salary the most guides in the area, however, I also had 17 years of elk hunting & calling, plus three years guiding and a good local reputation. You can get to that point but you better be able to put clients on animals. If you want to be a western guide, you really need to learn to call in bulls and be good at it, dang good. If you establish a reputation for being the real deal in calling up bulls, you will be in demand for most outfitters.

Finally, if you do decide to become a guide, take it seriously. You owe it to the outfitter, the client, and yourself to give it your best effort. Remember, this is about a lifestyle, not about money. Money will come, but it will be slow.