bourgeois rdneck

this is a question more for the quides/outfitters but ill take anything i can get. i was wondering how you the guide/outfitter came to your profession. how you started your buisness, what you do to keep it running, what you do in the non hunting season months. any information you have id love to know. i love to deer hunt and im only 19 and im finding out how much this 9 to 5 thing sucks. i couldnt even to begin to imagine how to start an opperation such as a guide/outfitter service so like i said any sort of information would be great. -Alex

_Dan

First, let me say that its not the glory job most think it is....

I grew up in the family businesses, retail. I spent as much time growing up hunting and fishing as I could. I developed a love for the outdoors and a distaste for retail. So I decided to buy a resort.

If you are thinking you will be hunting all the time, you are wrong. Most of your time goes into prep and setup for the season. Doing bookings, promoting and dealing with customers. Coming from a business background, I knew what was in store.

Most of the time it is thankless. Not all your clients are going to shoot the animal they are looking for.You will have clients that think they are on a shooting trip and not a hunting trip.Don't get me wrong, most of the clients are great and are very thankful, but some are not. Be prepared to babysit to those who are not.

You won't get to hunt as much as you used to. Clients come first.

In the off season, I work on bookings for the resort, accounting and various other things.

All in all, I love my job.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm sure I missed a lot of things.

-Dan

M77man

Why not just grab a good friend or two, hit the highway after some research and do a hunt on your own? It's probably even cheaper. Heck, and the experience is much more enjoyable in my opinion. I think you're just looking for immediate satisfaction. The trophy is the journey it takes to get there.

furgitter

Im not a guide or outfitter.But I love scuba diving.So much that i wanted to teach scuba as a sidejob.I found myself not doing any sport diving at all,just classes.I hated it.So no more students,Ill run a tour every now and then but i realy like diving with a partner or two and thats it.Dont burry yourself in work,and charge enough that you dont have to to make it.

Bob H in NH

I am not a guide/outfitter, but have used the same one twice and going again in Sept, we have talked with him a bit about how he got started. He is a lawyer by trade, then ran school systems. he was the superintendant you hired for 2-3 years for big $$$ to fix a messed up school system. he then taught for a while. Now he's been an outfitter for 25 years and is in the process of passing it on to his son.

I have talked with them alot while there and a couple of things to point out:

- they RARELY get to hunt, I think the last elk either of them shot was 8 years ago. His wife hunts, but it gets touchy if the guides/outfitter hunt and shoot something when clients are around.

- its a year round job and you make the money over 2 months. Scouting, shows, booking, equipment repair

THEY LOVE IT.