Hunting Forum

Hunting is my passion, I want to go the next step and become a guide. I live in california right now hunting big game and upland. I have a couple questions about starting up. After getting the lic. to guide how much would the going rate be for your customer to hunt lets say blacktail with a rifle for the day? or do you charge a rate for the hole week/ month of hunting. I have seen guided hunts go for more then 400 but is that just for one day? I hunt aggresive terrain for better then average blacktail/muley's in california so theres hard work involved. As a guide am I suppose to supply All the equipment; like a rifle or bow or just make sure the customer has a great time? I have a fair amount of experience on public land and none on private, even though grass is greener on the other side. So that said the main question would be after all the work before you get paid and it's ready to take you customer to the field; what would be a reasonable rate lets say for one day of hunting successful or not?

Save up your money and go on a guided hunt or two with well established reputable outfitters and carefully observe how they operate. You might be surprised as to everything they do to keep the customer happy. Another option, and maybe the best, would be to get a job with an outfitter. Remember, everybody starts at the bottom.

Contact the local DNR in each state you plan on working. Some states have training regs, qualification for taking clients. Lands you can work on?? Public land could be sealed up by other outfitters. You need to get some education on what all is invloved in each state. How about getting clients?? Their needed. Yooper has a good idea, go see.

thanks guys for the advice, It has crossed my mind on working with a guide to learn some pointers. Also making sure i do get everything certified and up to date. I have a great idea on acquiring my clients, I just want to start off small with a few clients and work my way up. For the 2012 hunt for general season for the D11 zone I took a family member who never hunted in his life and went through the process of pre scouting with him. We spotted a reasonable buck in velvet grazing and bedded down next to a few other little ones. I told him that there will be a great chance that he will be there all year until the opener which was oct 13. We scouted other prospects but he liked that area and terrain. Long story short we post up in the same spot, sun rises, Buck pops right out of his bed about 220 yards and gets his first 4x3 blacktail on the first day of the opener. I had becoming a guide in the back of my mind for years prior to this hunt and motivated him into experiencing what a magical thing it is to provide for his family off of gods land. He is hook on it as much as I am and now will hunt every year for the rest of his life and pass this tradition on to the next generation. When you teach a person to respect nature and what it has to offers us it makes this world a better place for more to follow in his steps. I want to become a guide to teach a person the virtues of the hunt and change there souls forever...

What do I expect from an Outfitter/Guide? Every fugging thing except a firearm! Room, board, and a quality area to hunt! And personal attention to my own physical condition.

Become a guide, most states you need to be a guide for so many years before you can be an outfitter. By guiding for an outfitter or two you will see all the things you will need two know. First aid,CPR,lns., area,fed. State laws,ect.....

Depends on the state. Here I can start an outfitting business with just a guide license, but you also need liability insurance ($500k for FS land, 1 mil for BLM) and you must get a permit from each Natl Forest you plan on hunting. My suggestion would be to find an outfitter willing to bring you on as a camp chore worker, then learn what you need from there.

As a guide you will never get rich, you will end up with nice optics, see some good country, have meat in the freezer and be in pretty good shape. It's a young man's gig, once the family comes along you will probably start looking for a 9 to 5 so you can watch your kids grow up.

You have to really mind your p's and q's too.  I know a guy in Flagstaff that lost his license for 5 years for some petty thing.

And one dumbazz petty egotist can go on line and fugg your business.