I am now 25 and I have recently thought about starting my own outfitting business in Indiana from the ground up. I am thinking about it being family owned and operated if they will like to join in on the exciting adventure. My brother has always wanted to be a taxidermist, so maybe I could also have him do taxidermy for the clients if they so wish as well as a guide. My other brother earned his degree as a conservation officer so I am hoping he could join as a guide and also overlook the property as like a security guard. Maybe my dad would guide as well as plant the crops, field plots and maintain the land. My mom could help run the office part of the business. Since my mom is also a nurse, she could be very handy in the case of any accidents. My wife, who is newly interested in joining me in the field, can cook as well as clean and help in the office when needed. My brothers wife who is a nurse as well could cook and clean up the lodge. If any other family members wanted to help out I'm sure we could find something for them to do around the ranch. I have yet to talk it over with my family members. I know they all have their own jobs and their own lives so it would be difficult to ask it of them to jump into a outfitting business. I know how expensive it would be to get it to where I want it to be as well as the sacrifices made. Me and my brothers all love to hunt, and might even set aside a few days of the season off limits to visitors so we can enjoy the land and take some of our own deer. I know it will take a TON of hard work and dedication. I was just hoping that you NAHC members could help me out by giving me tips, advice, or anyhting you think could help me on this journey to my dream. Thank You!

I would think that to do this, you'd have access to land or property that others don't. Having the right places is the #1 factor here I would think. The second would be that you've taken "Trophy sized animals" off of these lands you hunt and have patterned them really well. So when you Guide other hunters, you could make hunting more simpler for them. As most people
don't want to pay for services and sit in a tree or blind for a week and not see anything. I'm assuming you have stuff like this nailed down already?

We are still acquiring the land/property from our neighbors who are willing to lease or sell. These neighbors we know very well and only hunt the land themselves as well as us. We already know their travel routes from year to year and it changes ever so slightly, so there is little stand scouting to be done. I myself have hunted this property for 15 years and lived on it for over 20 years( I am the youngest in my family, alltogether we have over 100 years of hunting experience on the property.) Every sit except for a few due to weather condtions or what be it, I have seen more deer than I can count on my hands. Thats not to say they are all trophies, there are alot of 1 1/2- 2 yea old bucks and quite a bit of does on this property, which we have been harvesting ore does as of late. There are definitely trophy sized animals that have been taken over the years due to the low hunting pressure on the property (173 5/8 taken by my brother taken 2009, and just last year our neighbor killed a 191 3/8 the same buck I was gunning for 2010.) The property is located in Pulaski County, Indiana (alot of soybeans and corn), where trophy sized deer are really starting to grow. There are several other deer that I've taken 150's and up that I personally don't care to have scored because I am not in it for the books. Another thing, we have only one friend who hunts the property with a bow, the rest all use firearms. This allows for low pressure during bow seasons. I know in order to guide archers we will have to put ourselves in their shoes, so next year I'm buying a compound bow to familiarize myself with any archer's concerns. Thanks for your questions

Well, if you decide to give it a try, I'd consider bow hunting the property. I've always wanted to hunt your State, might as well give it a try.

I know four guys who were my guides in NM or AZ who worked for an Outfitter....they all decided they could be the big money making Outfitter rather than the poor guide.....they all mortgaged themselves to give it a try....all went bankrupt....the Outfitter they worked for is still in business.....all were around your age.....make sure you fully understand what you are getting yourself into....

Posted By TOM IN TENNESSEE on 28 Sep 2011 02:54 PM
I know four guys who were my guides in NM or AZ who worked for an Outfitter....they all decided they could be the big money making Outfitter rather than the poor guide.....they all mortgaged themselves to give it a try....all went bankrupt....the Outfitter they worked for is still in business.....all were around your age.....make sure you fully understand what you are getting yourself into....

Smart advice here from Tom.

Being an Outfitter is a nice secondary income but I would have a primary source of revenue first. My local Outfitter/Guide has a day job and loves to hunt. He Guides as a way to hunt more. Even if he's not the one taking the game animal he enjoys the hunt and lives for it. For him it is a labor of love and it shows in how he treats his clients. Your endeavor sounds like a labor for money. There's nothing wrong with making money but I suggest you secure some other source of revenue and do the Outfitting and Guiding because that's what you love. If not, find something else to do.

You will need 3 to 4 hunters per year just to cover the overhead, which means you need a couple good guides working for you and enough land to hunt to get on quality animals every year.

I looked into here, figured it would be way to much work to be any fun, I guide for others, much easier on me that way.

A couple of the outfitters I have worked for are guiding for someone else this season, economy h{1}**** everyone real hard. For the Nov desert rifle hunt last year we had 10 hunters in camp, this year NONE. Don't let your family members quit their day jobs.

Hey Slim, what did the fires do to my old stomping grounds around Alpine and down on the
Blue in AZ and just across the border to the South off the hwy from Springerville toward Datil in NM??

Burnt it pretty good from what I heard Tom, that was the Wallow Fire, I lucked out and didn't get sent there. I hate huge fires like that, mass confusion, too many people, too big of camps. I like smaller fires, I get paid the same and there ain't near the stress.

I am all for people making big sacrifices to follow their dream but here it seems like you are expecting a whole bunch of other people to make sacrifices to follow "your" dream. I noticed you listed everyone's contribution to this venture but yours. Are you the source of the capital to get this venture off the ground?

Don't mean to be judgmental but this reminds me of a friend who once asked me and everyone else he knew to pool our resources and buy a ranch that we would work as a commune and make lots of money. Funny thing was, the resources he would throw into the pool consisted of $50 a month in food stamps.

Sounds like you have a pretty good place to hunt. Why don't you and brother just line up 3 or 4 hunts and split the money. That would probably pay for whatever you wanted to do to the property to improve it. And just grow from their. If you manage things right good things could result from it. All the family members you mentioned earlier sounds great but they would expect the same kind of check you are. And I wouldn't hunt on the same property that I was carrying clients out on eiether. It would be a better hunting experience for them and would hopefully tell other people and return the next season. Don't worry about meals and lodging if you have hotels and restraunts near by. You can actually talked to a local hotel about getting special rates for your clients if you send them all to that hotel. Most people just want a comfortable bed, tv, and hot food. Don't have to be fancy. I help a friend guide waterfowl on reelfoot lake when he needs me to and that's what he does and has the same clients return every year. Seems to work good for him. Although he does serve food in the blind. He turns all the money he spends on food, gas, dog food for his lab, etc.. in on his taxes every year. Just like Tom mentioned, you really need to know what your getting into. For Example: Dealing with the public for one. Not everyone is as nice as you think. Some have never even shot at a deer before and expect you to accomplish that for them. It takes a great passion for the outdoors to do all this, And can be rewarding if you can handle all the little things I just mentioned. Good Luck and hope your dreams come to reality. ( If you sit around to long dreaming of your dream, you will never live your dream.)

I would strongly suggest working for multiple outfiitters for more than one season before trying to do it yourself. There are so many things to being a good outfitter besides being a good hunter. I learned many things working for other outfitters that I would be proud to put my name on and seen just as many thing go on that I would never put a GUEST through. I stress guest because it is important that you look at your hunters in this way instead of a $ sign. Don't get greedy and try to take more hunters than you can handle. The most important thing you can do is be honest. Run a hunt like you would like to spend your hard-earned dollar on. This has been the demise of many before you.
GOOD LUCK
Dennis Harris
Old West Adventures
www.oldwesthunting.com

Congrats and good luck with your journey. Im also in the process of the exact same thing im about to purchase 543 acres in Kentucky. It already has a lodge,Nice food plots and a QDM thats been going on for quite some time now. About 8 years or so and it has only been bow hunted by the current owner so its flooded with deer. well i wish u the best of luck and let me kno how things are going for u and ill do the same.

Well remember gents that when you turn your hobby into a job it no longer as fun as it used to be,however, my tip would be to be honest with clients and work your ars off for them and you will have repeat customers. In addition, with the economy being what it is you will see the belts tighten up and I think you will see some outfitters go by the wayside. Good luck to you both and wish you the best.

Thanks.

My two cents...

Before you go into this sort of business you need to sit back and take a critical and honest look at what you personally are all about. If you are not a "people person" you won't make it. Outfitters are also about making lasting friendships. That means that everyone in your company, that your clients come into contact with, have to be polite, gregarious, knowledgable, and easy to talk-to. Beer drinking, cigarette smoking, unwashed, bad breathed, and foul mouthed guides will put you out of business in one season. Your clients must go away from the hunt with you feeling as if he made life-long friends with everyone he came in contact with.
Remember at all times that you will be in a "people" business, not an "animal" business.

David Swanson
www,CarolinaCamoCreations.com

Posted By Camo Dave on 08 Mar 2012 11:23 PM
My two cents...

Before you go into this sort of business you need to sit back and take a critical and honest look at what you personally are all about. If you are not a "people person" you won't make it. Outfitters are also about making lasting friendships. That means that everyone in your company, that your clients come into contact with, have to be polite, gregarious, knowledgable, and easy to talk-to. Beer drinking, cigarette smoking, unwashed, bad breathed, and foul mouthed guides will put you out of business in one season. Your clients must go away from the hunt with you feeling as if he made life-long friends with everyone he came in contact with.
Remember at all times that you will be in a "people" business, not an "animal" business.

David Swanson
www,CarolinaCamoCreations.com

x2 plus other excellent advice given above, work for established outfitter a few years, you are 25 after some legit experience in the biz your knowledge of what works and doesnt will be increased. Let's say I am a prospective client, I am middle aged, make about 50k a year, have been hunting all my life. I am the norm for most hunting operations clients. There are a lot more hunters similar to me than the folks who are in higher income brackets where a hunting fee is not a major financial decision. Me on the other hand may have saved up for 5 to 10 years for one hunt, may be working two to three jobs to afford a paid, guided,  dream hunt. YOU have to make that hunt a success. If you dont plan for that reality your chances for success will most likely fail. If you are willing to pour as much effort and energy into my hunt as you must assume potential clients have in their own hunting trips they will succeed and so will you. Good luck to you but put a lot more thought into your venture and at the minimum spend some time talking with successful outfitters for your best info. I am just that middle aged hunter working three jobs to save up for those few and far between dream hunts. I may be wrong but the middle class most likely will make up the bulk of your clients but JMO.

If anyone knows rledford86 personally or is his friend on here, tell him to check his messages -- I sent him a Friend Request with a message on how to contact me. 

I can build him a FREE outfitter web site and start heading him in the right direction as an outfitter, if he is seriously interested.