guided hunts?
 

i would like to know a few things that are most important to each one of you on booking a guided hunt. Is it the length of time the guide has been licensed? or is the size of game his clients take? how about the price of his hunts? do you go with him becuase he is in the state you want to hunt?
Just looking for a few OPINIONS here.
My reasons would be, what do i get for my hard earned money, and what is the chance of getting a very nice specimen.
LETS HERE ALL OF YOURS!

RE: guided hunts?
 

I have never taken a guided hunt. That said I live in a very small northern town which is home base to 4 or 5 guide concessions. Over 30 years one of these outtfits passed from father to son.
Another has been bought and sold, split and rejoined 4 or 5 times.
Others sold several times.
A single outfit has stayed with one owner.
New owners tend to hang their shingle up and advertise like everything is just like before. Often ( I've seen this several times), the new outfitter arrives from Texas (or Germany)for the first time only 2 days before his hunters. Seems like the hunters know only slightly less than the new guide about the area.
Often, just before an outfit is sold the old outfitter tends to overbook and clean up on species that have unlimited tags etc.
I suppose some old time outfits may get a bit tired and new owners just may try harder.
For my money I would go with expierience and look for an outfitter that lives where he hunts.

RE: guided hunts?
 

Excellent insight.
I would add that one of the most important criteria (once you're in your price range) is how long the outfitter has been working the area he is selling to you. If the outfitter knows the area very well, he knows the whys and wherefores to pass along to the guide and ultimately the hunter.
I've wirked as a guide for an outfitter. The Outfitter and the guides were for the most part from here and already familiar with the area. BUT! One of the most successful guides was a guy that came down every fall from his home in Alaska. Reason? The outfitter knew the hunt area and the animals habits within that/those areas. Every evening the outfitter and guides would get together andour conversation would be: "You take your client here" (and what to expect), and "you go there", etc. That way, we all had good habitat and opportunity for the client. AND were not in each others way. It was all private land too.
Two things you are paying for: Oportunity to harvest whatever it is you are looking for, and 3 squares and a cot. After that, things become less important.

RE: guided hunts?
 

I would make sure he would give a reference list of hunters that were successfull and unsuccessful! Call a good percentage of the hunters and see what there feedback is. If an unsuccessful hunter is giving a good reference then the outfitter must be doing something right.

RE: guided hunts?
 

Couple of things that make a difference to me:

- how long have the guides been with the outfitter? You don't wanta guide learning the land with you along.

- how long have the guides been guiding bowhunters for this animal?

- how long has the outfitter himself been bowhunting

- how long has the outfitter had this land

- I like to meet the outfitter, usually at sports shows, I get a better read of them this way than over the phone.

RE: guided hunts?
 

Here is my insight....probably not very popular, but here goes. Where is the sport/enjoyment in paying someone to set up your camp, cook for you, lead you out into the mountains/woods and point out the animal he has prescouted for you to shoot. I find so much enjoyment in planning a trip, setting up camp, cooking, scouting, and then the self satisfaction of harvesting an animal I put so much effort into locating.

When you are showing your "trophy" off to your friends back home do you think that it took alot of skill and cunning to harvest the animal or just a large billfold.

Don't get me wrong I know some people have to go this route due to personal limitations and time constraints, but I just don't see the enjoyment in it or the ability to take credit for the harvesting of the animal. Sorry, I think the Outdoor channel has made me this way.

RE: guided hunts?
 

BGHUNTER00,

Well in my case, I hunt for Elk in Oregon. Oregon is run on a preferance ponts system. That means it takes about 5 or 6 years to get enough points to draw for a branch antler bull elk tag. The rest of the time (if you draw) you can only hunt spike bulls only which is a very tough hunt. The average for elk success in Oregon is one elk per hunter every 7 to 10 years. That sucks!! So in 2007 I am going on a guided elk hunt in Montatna. And by the way, any elk harvested by means of guide or not is a Trophy.

RE: guided hunts?
 

Most important elements for me.

[ul][*]If possible I want to KNOW someone who has been there already, gives me someone I know who I can relate to in terms of expectations.[*]Hunter Density, part of the "pay" part is to have purchased the right during my hunting not to have to worry about other hunters.[*]Quality of the game herd in the area we would be hunting[*]The guide's idea of hunting and my role in it. I would not hunt with a guide who expected me to follow them and sit where they say sit or felt that driving roads was hunting. I would be looking for people interested in partaking and aiding in MY hunt, to include pouring over maps together, glassing, field dressing, calling and packing together.[*]$$$$$ - Paying for access and accomodations is not a problem for me, expecting me to pay for success or animal quality and I would never hunt with that outfit even if it were free. The idea of buying animals makes me sick. I don't mind paying for equipment rental, guide's time, access rights to a farmer or landowner. I do that in almost areas of my life already.[/ul]
These would cover it and they aren't necessarily in order.

RE: guided hunts?
 

I agree with checking the references. You should check with successful and unsuccessful references. There's nothing better than word of mouth from other hunters. If an outfitter is a fake or a crook- these are the guys that would know. They'll tell you what they liked about the hunt, but be sure to ask what they didn't like as well. This way, maybe you can better prepare yourself for something that you're expecting. There should be no suprises!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

(No surprises financially, ethically, lodging, meals, etc. Check everything out!!!!!!!! A lot of guys have been burned!!!!!!)

RE: guided hunts?
 

BGHUNTER00, please don't limit yourself to this perspective! I don't mean any offense, but as you "evolve" as a hunter you may, one day, want to try hunting in another area that may require a guide. For instance, this past fall I booked an elkhunt in the Thorofare of Wyoming. By Wyoming law, a non-resident must hire a guide to hunt any wilderness area. I know I could've hunted another area, but thisarea is steeped in history, and a place I wanted to visit. I didn't harvest an elk but I had a lifetime experience that I will never forget.

Maybesome day, you might want to hunt in Alaska. Some species can only be hunted with a guide. To some people it may be a chance to buy a trophy. For me, it's an opportunity to hunt in an area that otherwise I could not legally hunt.

RE: guided hunts?
 

hunter 59,
i wouldlike to say that i had the same ideas of guides a few years ago as
bghunter00, now i look at more in the way you do.
as for "haveing to hire a guide to hunt wyoming wilderness as a nr" that is not the law. you can hunt the wilderness, you just have to be with a guide. this could be any resident to the state of wyoming. the resident just has to go to local G AND F personal and get a "guide license". it is a license issued for the nr person that the resident is going to guide. it is very easy, and the guide license is at no cost. a wyoming resident can guide 2 nr per year. but the resident can not charge anything that has a "value" to it.
p.s. next elk hunt that you are looking at in wyoming, let me know i could help ya!

RE: guided hunts?
 

One thing about checking references: learn to read between the lines. Some "references" are really just props for the outfitter. If you call one and he sounds like a commercial for the outfitter, hang up and scratch that outfitter from your list.

RE: guided hunts?
 

If I may add to the Wyoming wilderness issue of "having to hire a guide" if you are a nonresident, G&F statutes also award any resident license holder a "temporary guide" status. In other words, if you know a resident here, they can legally take you into a wilderness area. FREE!

RE: guided hunts?
 

This "hand holding" thing comes up often and its pretty dumb. Yes its cheaper to drop camp/diy, however for some, such as myself, while possible, its not probable.

Given the decisions one has to make in life, revolving around family commitments, vacation time etc, for some of us, it isn't really possible to go out west for 1-3 weeks a year for an elk hunt. Those, such as myself, who have always dreamed of it, then tried it for that "once in a lifetime" hunt, going drop camp or diy is just not a good idea.

In my particular case, yes I am now completely hooked on elk hunting, however given family committements with a wife and 2 kids, limited vacation time that I feel family should get the majority of and money, I just don't get to elk hunt more than once every 3 years or so. Why on earth would I then want to spend several of those trips learning an area? I don't have the time, due to decisions I made, to go every year, or even multiple times a year, to learn and scout a new area.

It's a personal choice to pay an outfitter, for that I get his knowledge of the land, his knowledge of the local animals habits. I do not feel I am being led around by the hand. Would I get a bit more satisfaction if I had done it myself? Probably, but then again I may never get a chance at an elk either.

I also do not own the equipment needed to go diy and for hunting every few years, it wouldn't be financially worth buying it.

How many of you "held by the hand" attitude guys hunt with a partner? Well to me this is alot like the guide I go with, the only difference is I am the shooting partner he is the calling partner. Hunting with an outfitter is a shortcut to knowledge that you would acquire over years, nothing more. Not all guides lead you around by the hand and say "shoot now". some may, but not all. I have now been on 2 elk hunts, going on #3 in 2007, last trip out my outfitter/guide taught me to cow call and bugle, I even bugled in a bull, well to 100 yards anyway. A good guide will have you as involved as you want and can handle. Mine is this way and he knows that's what I expect and we get along great.

My occassional elk hunts are a special vacation to me, no I don' thave to cook, clean etc, to me this is an added bonus, not a detraction.

RE: guided hunts?
 

I was mostly just attempting to illicit some conversation and posts about the topic. I would never fault a person or look down on them for hiring a guide to take them hunting. In fact the real underlying issue may be that I know I cannot afford a guide so my views are predjudice. Hunters are in a unique family and I would not bash anyone for simply using a guide.

I also understand the family, vacation, and time issue as I also face them. Most of my hunts are far from relaxing, hiking miles and miles, eating freeze dried foods, packing 100's of lbs of meat on my back, sleeping in a cold tent, filtering/carrying water back to camp, but that is what I love. I fully understand that some look at thier vacations a different way and chose to be more comfortable and relaxed.

To those of you whom I struck a personal chord, I apologize. Those are just some of my views as you have your own.

RE: guided hunts?
 

manboy, I appreciate the offer and will keep it in mind. Thanks for clarifying the "guide" law of Wyoming. When a non-resident tries to hunt out of state, it's like wading through mud trying to figure out all the do's and don'ts of each state. That's what is so great about this website, hunters helping out other hunters. Thanks!

RE: guided hunts?
 

The main thingI want from aOutfitterI look to hire is a complete list of all his hunters from the last year. I also ask how many tags he has for the year& the list he gives me better be the same as the number of tags. If an Outfitter is not going to give me a complete list of all hunters I will not hunt with him.

I love it when they say I had some hunters that did not want to be used as refferences. I've never met a hunter that did not want to talk about a hunting trip to a fellow hunter.

RE: guided hunts?
 

I have been attempting to book an elk hunt for my father and I. Neither of us have hunted elk andhe has never hunted anything outside of MN. We're working stiffs, so this is probably a once in a lifetime thing.

MY question for ALL OF YOU, everyone says the most important thing is to check references, especially those unsuccesful ones. Well if a guide/outfitter is badwhy in the world wouldhe give you names of anyone who would cut him down? How do you know his references aren't friends/family.I just dont see a shady guide giving you references of unsatisfied hunters, and there is no way of knowing if you got theCOMPLETE list or a outfitter friendly version. Am I missing something?

RE: guided hunts?
 

MNPurple, that's a valid question and was one of my biggest concerns when I chose my elk outfitter. What it comes down to is you have to go with your gut feel. If an outfitter hesitates on giving references, that's a problem. I asked specifically for hunters who were unsuccessfull, he didn't hesitate to give me a few. I had also met the outfitter in person at a sports show.

With references, its hard. Make sure the area code of the phone number matches where they say they live, then when talking with them, ask open ended questions to let them talk and talk, then ask more questions. I found my calls to get references lasted 30-40 minutes. Ask what they didn't like, there has to be something.

There is only so much research you can do, then it comes down to gut feel, then you just have to make your decision and go with it. I was scared to death when I went on my first elk hunt, scared I was getting ripped off. My gut instincts told me the guy was honest, references came across as honest, so I felt good and went with it.

RE: guided hunts?
 

The outfitter I hunted with 2 years ago puts out a brochure. Upon request, he will send it to anyone interested in hunting with him. Within the brochure is a list of all hunters, address/phone numbers,that hunted with him the previous year, successful or not. Also he has pictures of all the successful hunters and the game they harvested. I would think that any outfitter worth hunting with would do the same thing!

RE: guided hunts?
 

Bob H, did you have a good experience with the guide you chose? Send me an email with any information you could recommend