RE: Question for guys who hunted with outfitters
 

I've hunted with outfitters but not guides, I wouldn't have a problem with a guide nor do I think I would get any less satisfaction with one. I think that is a question only you can answer, all the opinions on the board won't change how you feel about it. If you have the money take the trip and find out for yourself, IMO that will be the only way you will know.

RE: Question for guys who hunted with outfitters
 

Trembox, I am not nessicarily just hunting for that feeling its something (at least for me) that you just can't help but feel when you do everything right. You put the stand in the perfect place, choose the perfect evening, wind direction etc. It's like working very hard and finally getting a bonus. The whole thing that got me wondering about it was a friend of mine referring to going on guided hunts as shopping rather than hunting. Sure I might be a little dissappointed if i come home empty handed or have a close call with a good buck, but it just inspires me to do it better next time and learn :)

RE: Question for guys who hunted with outfitters
 

Yup, if you don't, then don't...otherwise enjoy yourself and all others can simply hold their tongue. An outfitted hunt is no guaurantee one way or another. I hunted with an outfitter for my Wyo. bull elk....I was very excited, very fullfilled and it was one of a million hunts. I do however want to go back and do it myself. The first hunt was certainly a learning experience.

I also used an outfitter in Quebec for my bear. Again, I felt the same experience that I did on my elk hunt as well as any animal I took on my own.

I was also was an oufitter myself and still guide turkey hunts. Believe me, don't knock outfitters, it's hard work. When friends come hunt with me, I've already did the scouting and in some incidents have hung stands, now if you came and hunted with me and took a monster buck, would you feel the same excitement, I'd bet you would.

Like said, why is hunting with a friend different than with an outfitter, very similiar and yet, very exciting.

RE: Question for guys who hunted with outfitters
 

I only ever hunted with one and that was a flop. They said they'd have stands up and all that. When I got there they didn't have enough for everyone. Fortunately I had brought my climber along. I told them to throw me out in this chunk of woods and I'd find a tree. For the rest of the time there I just went my own way and did my own thing. I saw more deer and bucks than all the rest of people in camp and passed on 3.

I would think it would depend on how much they did. When you're just the shooter it's not quite the same. Climbing in a tree someone has picked, doing what he says, staying until he says leave and all that would have to take some of the thrill out of it I'd say, no matter who you are. But like some have said, sometimes the law dictates what you may or may not do and you have to roll with it. I get just as excited when I've picked a spot, put someone there and they kill something. Just like your work all paid off and you didn't have to waste an arrow.[8D] I bet it's pretty fullfilling to the guide to have a customer score and not simply from a PR stand point.

RE: Question for guys who hunted with outfitters
 

Ive only turkey hunted with an outfitter, but I know I would hunt with him deer season as well. He places you where he thinks you have the best opportunity to harvest an animal. An outfitter cant predict their every movement. I see nothing wrong with hunting with an outfitter. I enjoy my time spent hunting with my outfitter. Give Don a call at Grandriver outfitters he will set ya right up.

RE: Question for guys who hunted with outfitters
 

This was askednot too long ago. Yes, in places like Canadanon-residents must have a guide or host to hunt anything. I'll be hunting in Alberta (Bow Zone) this Novand will be hunting on private ranches that I couldn't access without a guide. He drops me off well before first light and picks me up after dark. What I make of the day is up to me, there are no promises. If you want to have a chance at a ounce in a life time buck you must hunt where they live and sometimes you need a guide to get there. If I'm lucky enough to get one I will be most proud of it.;)

RE: Question for guys who hunted with outfitters
 

I agree with most, I don't mind an outfitter that can offer an area that would be off-limits otherwise, but I don't want a guide taking me by the hand.
I'm headed to northern Quebec this year for caribou, it would be illegal without the outfitter, but he's not controlling the hunt, just providing 2 tags and a roof over my head.

RE: Question for guys who hunted with outfitters
 

i have to say its not as satisfying as killing one you scouted out but it is different i mean who doesnt want to kill a huge 14 point

RE: Question for guys who hunted with outfitters
 

It's just going to depend on who you go with.I hunted whitetails in North Dakota last year with an outfitter and took a nice 140 inch deer withmy bow. There were 4 of us that went and everyone took good bucks by the end of the second day. On that hunt, all the stands were hung and it washonestly just an easy piece of property to hunt. There really was just an unbelievable amount of deer living in that little river bottom. I think anyone, regardless of skill, could have taken a good buck with that outfitter. Was it fun? Yes. Did I feel like I had accomplished something? Not really. Now.... I've been going to Illinois every year for the last 4 years and have hunted both with and without outfitters. I spent three weeks up there last year {two of them with an outfitter} and have yet to have been offered a shot by anything that could be considered a trophy by Illinois standards. I did pass on three different bucks in the 120-130 class. The guides I'm hunting with up there do have stands hung but they also encourage you to bring your own stands or will allow you to move theirs if you would like. They pretty much just give you an area to hunt and let you do things however you want to. You take your own vehicle into your hunting area. If you want to hunt for an hour, hunt for an hour. If you want to hunt all day, that's fine too. Theproperty hasbeen scouted before you get there and they do try to put you in what they think is the best area, but the rest is up to you. Over 90% of the big deer they have taken {and there's been alot of them} have never been seen by the guides before. It's not a gimme by any means. It's gonna take hard work and some luck to close the deal up there. I'll be going back with the same guys this year, and trust me, if I take a mature deer, I'll be every bit as excited as if I had killed the deer at home.

RE: Question for guys who hunted with outfitters
 

Makes no sense to me why a hunter needs an outfitter to bowhunt whitetail deer. I've seen and have hunted next door to outfitting operations and it is a joke. These guys travel hundreds of miles and get their hands held all the way to their pre-hung treestand with shooting lanes all cleared out and an album of photos taken from trail cams the year before to let them know just what kind of bucks are in the area and what they might expect to shoot. I see no sense of accomplishment in this type of hunting other than pulling the bow back and shooting the deer which is only a small fraction of the whole equation required to be successful in bowhunting deer. Most of these guys fling 50 yards or better shots at bucks leaving most wounded to be eaten by the yotes and they have no care for the actual health of the herd they hunt. They plunk down their cash and want a buck to put on the wall to brag to the buddies about back home...it's a sad state of affairs.