mac266

I'm thinking about trying this once. For $160 they'll give me a half-day of hunting with a guide and dog provided, limit 5 pheasants. That's a bit pricey, but I haven't owned a good bird dog since I was a kid and don't have the time to train one.

After price shopping around this seems to be pretty average...steep for this blue collar guy and I'd probably only do it once, so I want to know if you think it's worth it.

Have any of you ever hunted on a preserve and what were your thoughts?

Sheridan

Good idea for training youngsters; both kids and dogs !

Cessna Flyer

I preserve hunt a lot, but I don't use a guide or their dogs, I have my own. If I was in your position I would try it once to see how it fit me, then decide if I will ever do another preserve hunt with that company.

ACutting

I hunt preserves all the time. Some are good some are bad. $160 is about average if they are including the guide and dog for the half day. Good Luck and have fun!

ADVWannabee

I paid $300 for 8 birds about 10 years ago and absolutely loved it. I know it isn't the same as going after wild birds, but for someone like me it is as close as I can get. There aren't enough birds around to justify having a dog and I am not much on owning dogs anyway.

My dad and grandfathers bird hunted when I was very young, but my grandfathers were too old to hunt by the time I was old enough and he had gotten rid of his dogs. If you can afford it I say do it, I had the best time I have ever had hunting. Just watching the dogs do their thing was fun, it is a bonus that we actually got to shoot the birds.

mac266

I assume a tip is customary if I hire the guide and dog (that is the $160 price)? What is an average tip for a half day's work like this?

ACutting

My tipping is very similar to a restaurant it varies on how well the guide did their job and satisfied your needs/requests for the day. But customary would be 15-20% so basically 20-30 dollars.

sproulman

go hunting and have a fun day.i can buy 5 pheasants for about 40 dollars locally here in my area.so, that would be 120 for dog/guide and land to hunt on.

not a bad deal.

sproulman

for that price i would not tip anyone.5 hrs work and make 120 dollars.where do i sign up for job like that.

ACutting

The guides aren't making the $120 the preserve is. Every place I've been to the guide is someone they call in that they pay $20-$30 for the half day hunt. 6 hours at $30 is $5/hr. In my opinion a tip is necessary.