[Deleted by Admins]

The main big advantage to a guided hunt is that they do all of the leg work for you. I' m like you, I prefer to do my own. But if the area I' m going to hunt is more than an hour or two from the house, I don' t have the means or to time to do it. I can' t afford to waste hunting vacation just to go somewhere and spend it scouting an out of state site. With my luck, when I finally get back there to actually hunt it, it would be overrun with other hunters anyway.

I do believe that some of the guided hunts are extremely expensive which puts them out of my reach unless I win the lottery. As much as I hate to see any government intervention anywhere in life, I' m wondering if the states should regulate some of it. I know that some of the states already have their hands in it and are making money off this system because the guides and outfitters having increasing costs every year too. It' s a vicious cycle and we poor folk are at the butt end of it as usual.

It seems like everything now days is money driven. I can' t remember the last time I asked to hunt someone' s property and was told I could without having to pay a trespass fee, or get on with a lease situation.

There' s all kinds of possibilities for fixing this problem. Unfortunately, most have undesirable consequences to them and don' t really solve the problem, but create more.

I' ve never paid for a hunt thru an outfitter and probably never will. Mainly because I don' t have that kind of money to spend.
I watch many TV programs on hunting and 90% are filmed on ' outfitter' land. I know it' s just TV and they show you the good stuff but jeez..... It just seems too perfect on TV. And then there' s the money spent................. Hubby says " What' s the bottom line?" " MONEY"
I would rather watch cousin Bubba in mix-matched chamo miss an attempt at a 4 point buck, or Uncle Bob first time hunting shoots a doe and loses the blood trail.
Perhaps my opinion doesn' t matter at all since I haven' t hunted with an outfitter

Ruining hunting....geeesh that' s kinda harsh.

We (outfitters) offer a service. I can' t speak for all, but my partners and myself do everything in our legal power to put game in front of our clients....if it' s a deer hunt, yes we select the best spots to place our hunters to get the best opportunity for a shot....it' s still fair chase hunting and there is no garuantee the whitetails are going to show up. We plant food plots, do the scouting but how different is it to going to your buddies land and having him tell you to go to a certain spot....other than the fee' s.

If it' s a turkey hunt, we scout, we guide and call and do everything in our legal power to put a gobbler in front of our client. Most times from the clientel that we have, most are either first timers looking to learn the ropes....and we feel from what a client learns while hunting with us, makes them a better hunter and gives them the tools they may need to hunt on thier own. This is especially true for first time turkey hunters.

The second kind of clients are the, " don' t have anywhere else to go" , type clients....especially out of staters coming into PA for the first time. Most of you don' t know what hunting PA is all about. Our deer population is exploding, but...on public land, there is a orange coat behind every tree....and it' s not a nice place to be. We offer over 2000 acres of private, fair chase property with a limit of hunters so that a client will not see another hunter all day. How many places can you do that on public property.

We offer a service for a nominal fee......if we fill our tags, we can' t hunt...this way we hunt along with our clients and expand our season.

Policed by the police[:' (]

Another example of outfitters making hunting better.

I' ve booked two hunts in my life thus far. One was a elk trip into Sheridan, Wyoming hunting the Big Horn mountains. Now, a PA whitetail hunter didn' t know the first thing about hunting elk....what I learned on that hunt will forever be instilled in my mind and that allows me to return on a self guided elk hunt whenever I see fit. The lesson was worth what I paid for the hunt and I was fortunate enough to score on a bull elk. He graces the walls of my log home. I won' t trade that memory for nothing.....hiring a guide to take me into the mountains and make me hump mountains, chase bull elk, feed me and put me through marathon hiking didn' t make it any less of a hunt. It made it better.

The second hunt was a bear hunt into the wilderness of Quebec. Again, the guide had the leg work done and put me in the right spot. It was still up to me to get in there, get setup, and make the shot which I was fortunate enough to take a nice black bear. What I learned on my first bear hunt taught me enough to allow me to be able to do it myself.

Both these hunts made me a more self sufficient hunt if nothing more than the lessons themselves.

Now, I' ll go one futher...there are bad outfitters no doubt....but the good ones can make hunting better, make you a better hunter....but the bad ones are the ones that make the news.

[Deleted by Admins]

I' ll be honest here, I' ve never been on a hunt far away so I do not know much about outfitters except what I read and watch on TV. If I could afford a hunt for say elk as an example, I might book an outfitter my first time.

The only problem I have with some outfitters from what I have read or heard from others is this.........they lease all the best available hunting land in some areas. Being from Illinois I do know that many residents of Illinois(particularly western Illinois) caused a big stir here, especially in Pike County. It doesn' t affect me personally because there is not one outfitter in my area. I still hunt whitetails on private land with permission although its getting harder to maintain that luxury.

I believe there alot of dishonest outfitters out there,
there are also plenty of dishonest hunters. Picking an outfitter
should be like choosing a hunting partner, after all its your hunt
your paying for it you should know what your getting for it.

I am for the most part jealous of outfitters they get to spend all there time in the woods looking for game. What better job could there be?

I have never hired an outfitter but I have guided for them, its amazing how much work goes into getting someone else close to game. They work for every penny they get (atleast the ones i worked for did) .

I dont see any feasable way for some one in Florida to know what the elk are doing on any given day in western Montana, this is where an outfitter comes in handy.

And boy would i sure love to watch someone else pack out my elk for once!

I really don' t know if outfitters are ruining hunting...yet. Whether honest or dishonest. But what I do see with hunting, is that it is becoming a sport where the rich will survive and the moderate household and below are losing hunting opportunities. Land is being snatched up by big business(possibly outfitters), thus making it harder for the " average Joe" to just simply go around and ask for permission to hunt some land when the property owner KNOWS that he/she can lease the land and make some $$. What is going to happen 20 years from now?? Am I going to be able to get permission on private land?? I certainly hope so. I believe this also is one of many factors in dealing with hunter decline. The guy that can' t afford to go on guided hunts, leased land etc, etc.... I don' t think that those guys aren' t interested in hunting anymore. I think they are being pushed out of this great sport. Just my thoughts.

[Deleted by Admins]