Anybody a hunting/outdoor guide?

[AfterBurner]

I have been considering attending COAGS (colorado outdoor adventure guide school, i think) and am wandering if it is worth the $2,200. How long would it take for the school to pay off? other advice?

OY this probably would only be a summer/holiday job since i'm still in school.

Forrest

 

[wyosteve]

I've done it, i. e. guided antelope, mule deer and archery elk hunters. My advice-- the best way to ruin something you enjoy doing is try to do it for money. Pay is mediocre (I calculated about $3. 00 per hour) Hours are long, i. e. 4 a. m. to 10 p. m. , Clients/customers can be a pain. Main benefit is that it will get or keep you in shape for a few months. My . 02!!

 

[AfterBurner]

I have guided many horse rides on ranches, so I know how much of a pain customers can be. I have talked to one person that use to guide elk hunts, and he also commented on the pain of working with some clients, but he also got big tips, and came away pretty good. But that was only one person and a few years ago, so I want to get a few more opinions before I spend all that money.

 

[wyosteve]

My last 2 archery elk hunters sucked. First one was a tax atty. from Virginia. Got him a real nice 5x5. Not only didn't he leave a tip, but when he discovered he forgot a roll of film, I gave him one from my pack and he never even paid me for that. Last one was a retired NASA computer guy who passed up about 5 shots at different animals. Cows, spikes to small 4 pointers. I realize that was his choice, but then he *****ed about not getting an elk and because we bumped into a grizzly, he complained the hunting was poor because of too many bears around. My suggestion is to put your money into BOMBS for your truck. At least you'll have something you can enjoy.

 

[TXRancher]

Same here

I have done a lot of guiding, here, on our ranch. Thank the Lord that I do not have to do it for a living... Here's what I think: Hunters come out here expecting things to be nothing short of 'grand'. "It's my free time... It's MY time, and I don't want anything to go wrong". Hunting is not a sure deal. There are many aspects to it, as you all know--that's why it's called 'hunting'!

There have been some hunters that I have guided that have given me a tip/bonus when they make the kill--MOST don't, though. We have had doctors, lawyers, bankers, developers, etc etc (people that really have a lot of money). Most of these type people come here with new boots (which give them blisters 'cause they are not broken in), and a lot of brand new gear; most of it they won't even use. It's my opinion that the 'rich' folks are generally the ones that won't hardly EVER tip. . the 'common/blue collar' man is a lot more likely to tip than the wealthy man. . I could go on with stories for ever...

Just recently, I guided a couple of guys (big 'kids') that had been flown in from private schools. These guys come from very wealthy families. The guys attend private schools somewhere in the New England states... Anyway, we were hunting for Audad sheep. We walked and scouted for about an hour. Later, we came upon a spot that I wanted to just sit down and glass it out. We sit down in front of some cedars, as to not give our silhouettes away. We were there for about 15 minutes when I heard something unusual. Come to find out, these two clowns were snoring while they slept. The big kids were soft, green, and did not give a rat's-rear-end about hunting. Bottom line was that hunting was what 'daddy' wanted them to do... Needless to say, I did not even get a thank you out of the deal... I DID get my daily guiding fee, though... I get that up-front, now. . Oh yeah, they did not get a sheep, either... we did not have a chance. . these two could NOT keep quite. .



I'm sure that the sheep could hear them coming from a mile away. . :-{}



I even had to make one of them remove the walkman from his ears...

OK, I'll quit now... Just wanted to show how ridiculous it can be sometimes.

 

[AfterBurner]

TXrancher, where were you hunting for audads? if you were in TX then you must have been out there in west Tx.

 

[jnelson]

There are "aoudad" (correct spelling) all over the Edwards plateau area. Free range and high fence.



I own Huntn' Tine Outfitters. I have been in and out of the "guide" bussiness for about 11 years. Nothing beats experience.



TXrancher is right - I call it "Adult Day Care"



I try to aim my bussiness to more corporate and group hunts. Thats where the money is. My hunts are 80% exotics. Good mark-up and year round hunting. My last 2 hunts grossed revenue of over $11,000. 00. This was the same group of people. Stayed up till 3 o'clock in the morning skinning and quartering axis does.

Guess what?



NO TIPPS!!!



But my prices did go up for 2005.

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

Guided many moons ago, when I was just a pup in the Montana's Bog Marshes Wilderness. Saying back then was "guides are a dime a dozen. " Maybe thats why I got paid $0. 0083333 :-laf



I wasn't so much a dude coddler, so at one spike camp my buddy and I had it worked out that he would do the camp smooze and I'd do the hunt guideing.



I personally do not thing too much of the "schools" (NOLS and Outward Bound excepted) Possibly the best way is to hire on cheap with a reputable outfitter and work your way up. You'll learn a bunch quickly - or find a new vocation, shall we say, that you are more suited to.

 

[jnelson]

Any of you bowhunter heard of the "C Ranch" 100+ P&Y bucks in 7 seasons.



anyway -



We would always stress to the hunters to "not" go back in the field after dark without a guide if you have an animal down.



Well on one cold rainy night in January, 2 hunters came over to the guide house and said they had a hog down. We looked at each other all warm and cozy settled in to watch an episode of Walker Texas Ranger and told the hunters - "Well I guess you better go look for it!" :-laf

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

My advice-- the best way to ruin something you enjoy doing is try to do it for money.

Words of wisdom there! I've been tempted to do car restorations as a business but decided that I don't want to ruin the enjoyment I get out of wrenching. I used to enjoy programming/working with computers - once it became a living it became just that.

 

[AfterBurner]

I thought aoudads (did I get it right?) stayed mostly west of the Pecos. I've never seen them anywhere else.

hhmm learn something new everyday, well, at least once a weak anyway.

 

[jnelson]

Aoudad is the only sheep to inhabit North Amaerica that originated from North Africa. We have several large trophy animals in the high fence and have at least 1 herd of about 10 that run free range. they are a very elusive animal but on a quite cold day if you listen real good - their ankles pop - just like an eland.

 

[AfterBurner]

they run wild out where i live. They are lots of fun. Used to be able to get paid to kill them off the ranches, but now city people are paying big bucks to come kill them :-{} . Yes they are quite elusive, I've never seen one brought down from less than 300 yds.

Lots of fun

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

My . 02:



It is a very dangerous game of wildlife roulette to import exotic species. The possiblity of reeking havoc on the native species just plain isn't worth it.



To whit: Lake trout in Yellowstone lake, rabbits in austalia, kudzu, New Zeland snails, spotted knapweed, White pine blister rust on Gifford Pinchots trees from Germany, snake head fish, brown snake, hogs in Hawii, Mt. goats in Washington, isn't Salt Cedar (tamarisk)lovely?, and on, and on, and so forth :{

 

[jnelson]

Many of the animal are raised by breeders right here in Texas. This has been an ongoing activity for years.



Did you know that there are more blackbuck antelope in Texas than in India?

Did you know there are Marhkor sheep right here in Texas?

Did you know that these animals must be checked for Brucellosis before being sold?

Did you know the Nilgai population in Texas is over 30,000.



Its not a game. Its a business and its a big business. And I hope it never stops.

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

It is a game - called ecological Russian roulette



Just ain't worth it -- in the long run. Big business or not. A few folks reap big business bucks - and the rest of the people, critters, plants, ecosystem eventually pay for it. The costs of Kudzu, loss of big game winter ranges to spotted knapweed or leafy spurge, lamphreys in the Great Lakes, rabbits and Opuntia cactus in austrailia, brown snakes in Guam, rats and hogs on Pacific Islands, feral hogs in the S. W. , ripple effect of Lake trout in Yellowstone impacting Yellowstone Cuthroats -> Grizzly bears, ospreys, bald eagles, blister rust decimating five-needle pines (white bark pines, limber pines, bristle cone pines, etc. ) -> pine squirrels, Grizzly bears, Clarks nutcrackers, and on and on and on.



Do the math, do the ecology, do the common sense -- Just say no to importing exotics. :{



controlled rant

 

[jnelson]

I did the math.

Friday noon to Sunday noon = $1,100 after expenses.



Did you know the Japanese Sika was was near extinction until breeders (Pinto Ranch I believe) brought the animal back. Just because they are not in their native habitat doent mean there is going to be an ecological disaster. Many animals are flourished due to proper importation and breeding programs.



Maybe all the feral hogs is the SW caused the tsunami? Who Knows?



Im also P. E. T. A. member belive it or not.

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

Well, you did the math and the $1,100 don't mean squat compared to the economic costs of the calamities I mentioned. Plus, you still flunked on ecological and common sense part of the equation.



Didn't say all importations resulted in catastrophies. But I did say it isn't worth it because the bad far out weighs the good. The Sika should and could have been taken care of in its native environs. The proper answer isn't taking wild critters somewhere else and having them flourish. The correct answer is conserving sufficient native habitat for them to flourish in.



Hey, we have one thing in common. I'm a P. E. T. A. member also

People Eating Tasty Animals



Again humbly submitted as my . 02.

 

[jnelson]

here we go again

Did you know that new habitats formed by the damming of the Missouri River in North and South Dakota produced habitats that that many native fishes could not adjust to. Basically there were no native fish to inhabit and exploit these waters. So guess what. A coldwaterspecies including both trout and Pacific Salmon were introduced. they have been both successful and beneficial.



Biota and wildlife management using exotics or translants has been both beneficial and successful . The ringneck pheasant is another example.



There are mixed and negative effects of the brown trouts introduction. Nutuaralized brook trout populations have reduced or eliminated the cutthroat species. This is mainly due to the ability of the brown trouts ability to tolerate warmer waters. On the other hand the rainbow trout is in New York and Manitoba are also transplanted species. There have been some negative effects of importaion of different speices of organism. Sure there have been some negative impacts. But ungulate importation has limited ditribution impacts.



Why would we import the Brown snake. We dont hunt snakes. Well, maybe rattlesnakes. We dont hunt trees. We dont hunt exotic birds. We dont hunt rats. We dont hunt plants.



We hunt animals that are raised mainlyby breeders. Many ranchers specialize in a certain species. Lets say - Scymitar Horned Oryx. I know of ranch that has maybe 25 of these beautiful animals. They are very well adapted and flourish. Once one of their offspring hits the ground - it is considered a nuturalized organism. If another ranch wants some Scymitar, they dont call 1-800-Africa. They call the other ranch and buy some.



I agree with you to some extent.