I'm doing an Elk hunt, fully guided. What is the proper tip if I get a nice elk?

Tip him 10% of the cost of the hunt upon your arrival and thank them for their scouting in advance of your arrival.

If they put you on some "good" animals over the course of your hunt give them the another 10% for a total of 20% of the cost of the hunt.
(regardless of if you take a trophy or not).

If he sucks; the original tip of 10% is all he gets !


Tip those who made your lodging comfortable and meals separate.

Sheridan gave MIGHTY good advice! A general rule I use for hunts/fishing is $100 per day tip. If you get an exceptional trophy then there really is no limit, give til it hurts & you'll be greatly appreciated. (The oldest brother of my NM guide is a legend & has a sterling reputation for BRUTE bulls & his "tips" regularly exceed the price of the hunt itself. One particularly happy repeat client of his even drove a brandnew Z-71 to NM from his home in ID. They ended up with a 400" bull, the estatic & obviously well heeled hunter pitched the keys to the guide & hopped a plane home in Albuquerque!) Sheridan hit on another that ALOT of folks rarely consider, the cooks & housekeeping if you are in such a place! $10-$20 per maid/cook per day is a great starting point. On my 1998 NM elk hunt I was GLAD to tip my guide after we took the weeks biggest bull (368" 6x6) plus it won the $800 "bull pot" that every hunter kicked into before the 5 day hunt started. I guess some cheapsters split that pot with their guides but when he gave me my half & I handed it back to him he nearly jumped a backflip & it made his week. The outfitter likewise saw us tipping his cooks & maid staff (which was his wife & a couple of female employees) & he is regularly booked years in advance (he's the leading outfitter/guide for NM bulls in P&Y books) but he proudly welcomed us back in the future. He did NOT extend that invitation to every hunter in camp that week as well! (I've hunted muleys/lopes in WY & pheasants in SD & treated the help likewise. Those folks aren't there for charity, they got mouths to feed & bills to pay just like the rest of us.)

If an extra $1k or so in tips isn't in a mans ability then he honestly isn't properly ready for a hunt!

It all depends on effort and circumstances. If it is a horseback hunt into a remote area where there is a lot of leg work involved there is usually a great deal more effort involved than a pickup truck ride to a stand.

I have had good guides that worked their tails off for the joy of the hunt, and bad guides that had a sour disposition and put in the minimum effort and obviously considered the hunter as just another meal ticket.

I tip something to all guides, even the bad ones. A good guide is surely worth $100 a day to me (maybe more), and the wrangler and camp cook are worth a few bucks as well. I consider the cost of the hunt to a degree. But the hunt cost is my deal with the outfitter - not the guide. Ten percent of what I pay the to the outfitter may be way too much or way too little as a bonus to the guide.

In hunting camp everyone is everyone else's social equal.

Do not tip upon arrival! Some guys will be offended if you throw money around early in the hunt and treat them like a valet that is parking your car. After the hunt is complete is the appropriate time to slap them on the back and give out the well earned bonus.

There's been a few threads on this in the past IIRC. General consensus was 15% of the cost of the hunt,...,10% to the guide,..,5% divided between the cook and wrangler.

I agree with Big Uncle too...a lot depends on the circumstance of the hunt.If the guide works hard for you more $$$ could be warranted.

I definitely wouldn't tip until after the hunt is over.

The last time there was a thread like this on here I think we had a few guides post.

Jerry has it right on a western elk hunt. Our website details tipping exactly as Jerry explained it. That's us, all outfits/guides/hunts are different.

I sat with a guide all week, who lifted his binoculars ONCE. The rest of the time he was sleeping, playing with his phone, staring into space.

I'm not sure if he was brain dead, or he knew it was just too warm.

I still tipped him, not sure why.....

then there's "THOSE kinds" of guides! STH I don't know how you held your tongue.

"If I get a nice elk"??? Tipping shouldn't normally be conditional. If he works hard, tip him.

Me too, If I get a nice elk