Tipping fees

What's the normal tipping rate for a two day goose hunt for two people ? Also we had our own dog . (Total price of hunt was $800.00)

If your guide works for the outfitter tip him good. Those kids only make about $25 per head

15% seems fair to me.

One fitty

Since I work the industry I tip good, last hunt I tipped our guide $400. Gotta have a few good ones to make up for all the dead beats that don't tip at all.

-Matt

If you can find a goose guide that will actually show up and/or answer his phone, then he's worth a pretty good tip in my book.

What happened?

Thanks guys . Look like I tripped fair . (We also bought his lunch and dinner both days)

Exactly what you think.

I have since mastered the Canada goose call

That's what I like about Captain...he's dedicated to migrator devastation.

We wont get the old (Goose guide shuffle ) again

Trustworthy goose guide is hard to come by

Goose in the timber???????

where else is there?

Can I use my .410?

Is it ok to have magazine extension?

Men this is not a timber goose hunting thread, its a tipping the guides help thread. I suggest another thread be started to answer these very important questions on timber goose hunting and 410's

Well I tip a sawbuck for every inch of mag tube that hangs past my barrel. As a general rule.

If the guide:
Is rude to your wife
Acts annoyed that your guest's teenage daughter needs a ride to take a leak, and then stalls getting her to the truck while she is nearly in tears
Acts like you are there the set decoys for him
Doesn't know how to use a 4 wheeler
Dumps your guest off the 4-wheeler into the mud
Refuses to give you and your guest a ride back to the truck until his decoys are picked-up, and then watches you and your guest walk 3/4 mile back to the trucks
Wont shut his trap about how good he is, and you and your guest get a shot at one goose all morning

I will not use that guide service again

TIP TOTAL - $0

Years subscription to the scented candle of the month club always seems to be appreciated.

Depends on the hunt and more importantly the guide...

Ditto Nathan

That's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year

Been waiting to get this off my chest.

Went on a guided trip the last day of the season. I won't name the outfitter cause I've had good experiences with them previously and don't want to smear their name because of one stupid guide.

The spot looked great, big freshwater reservoir down by the coast. We could hear blue wings quacking in the marshy stuff behind us before the sun came up. Figured it would be an awesome limit in under an hour.

Then things changed. The closest decoy the guide set was 50 yrds from us. Made zero sense to me but I know I'm super particular about decoy setup and I could tell my friends just wanted me to sit back and enjoy the hunt. I convinced myself the guide knew something I didn't and kept my trap shut. As I expected though, the ducks either landed in the decoys or on the other side. Also, the permanent blind in the middle of this reservoir is pointed directly at the rising sun. for real?

Early on a group of 10 circles around and actually gets close enough to shoot at. We all raise up and start shooting and the guide points to the birds 'he got' and says 'I got that one, I got that one!'.

Later, we decided we needed to jump up the birds that landed on the other side of the decoys so we could have a chance at some coming on our side. One buddy and I start wading across to jump em up. We realize the guide is wading 20 yrds to our right and going faster than us. He notices I'm eyeing him wondering what he's doing and says 'Did yall want to shoot those birds or do you want me to?'. I look at my friend completely confused and I tell the guy we'll try to get close enough and shoot em. two seconds later the guide shoots.

On topic of the thread. a normal $150-$175 duck hunt, I'd say $20-$50 per person is normal and fair depending on your experience. This guy got $40 from the 3 of us.

I would continue about how the guide sky busted geese from the other side of the pond as ducks circled us in the blind but I guess I should actually work today.

Keep it simple stupid..... $20/guy/hunt.

I tip a guide like a waitress, 10-20%. Rare exceptions I go above or below. Below is usually reserved for guides who are not there to help my hunt, but just having me there to pay for their hunting habit.

20% to start.

You were generous.

A guide is there to guide. Not hunt.

Bingo

I wouldn't mind hearing the rest of the story lol. That must have been very annoying, sounds like you handled it with grace.

Sounds like a pretty normal experience on the prairie

If you have a group of 3-4 hunters, Guides shouldnt shoot.
They can carry a gun to finish a cripple accross the pond, but i have seen soo many guides shooting ducks when i was ready to pull a double

If it is the owner of the guide service guiding and you are paying them directly do you still tip them?

When I went on guided hunts, if the guide shot, that was his tip. I have even had a couple ask if they could shoot in lieu of tip. If I have to wake up at 3am and help set up, probably won't get a tip. If guide gives me the spot to meet him/her 30 minutes before LST, their tip max just went up!

I guide and I shoot sparingly but I never take the first shot. Typically shoot birds that I know have been hit or sometimes shoot to make sure we get birds on the ground. I have put too many guns together the morning of the hunt and watched too many guys get mad because they killed three birds with two boxes of shells. 9 out of 10 hunters judge the experience by the picture at the end.

A group of birds shot at are a group that will never be back. Might as well kill all of them you can. However customers come first and if they don't want me to shoot at all I don't.

I bet the only time you double is when the guide drops at least one of them and then turns to you and congrats you on the "double".

That's a good guide.

Absolutely.
I have been with too many guides that think me and my guest are the hired help, when I am the one paying them.
I do not mind lending a hand, but I did not pay a guide for him to expect me to do the work.
I also tip accordingly.

That's the way I feel on my lease, all birds need to die when they come in. It would be a very annoying as a guide to have clients that can't shoot and don't want you to shoot.

SOLID!!

I usually tip $20 per gun - $40 total for my son and myself. Only hunt I didn't tip this year is hunt where I never even shouldered my gun and still got to pay full price. I did get to pick up all the decoys as the guide never bothered to put his waders on. The icing on the cake was the dents in my truck from the stupid cows rubbing on it while we hunted. Guide did come to my truck door twice fishing for a tip but I wasn't biting.

I agree with BOBO's phantom post earlier, sometimes you gotta shoot to help out the guys who can't. I had a group this year that at 7:24 were fumbling around for box #2 and had 4 dead birds so far, 4 man group. By the time we finished at 9:45 they had probably shot into 130 birds or more. I still won't shoot first, that was worst case scenario and I would just wait until everyone started shooting at the same two birds and I'd jump in with em, try to 'hide' my shots the best I could. We would have ended up with about 10 birds and ate lunch in the blind if I hadn't shot my alloted 6.....

Always worried about lunch

Winter wheat just doesn't have the carbs this temple needs to thrive Ronnie

If I was stalking a brown bear or a lion with a guide and he shot at it at the same time I did to "help out", I'd fire the guy on the spot.

I don't get the rationale. Why not hand the guy some dead ducks and dispense with the hunting part? They're hunters, they are hunting, they have a shotgun, shells, licenses, stamp, etc. They have some degree of preparation and know it's a bit more complicated than other types of wing shooting. At what point is a customer expected to pull their own weight? If the guys are given opportunities to kill birds, and they can't because they can't hit the side of a barn, that's their problem. It's analogous to taking a client on a guided fly fishing trip, hooking a fish, reeling it in and having the client net the fish.

If you're honest with yourself, the "I shoot to help out 'cause no one shoots as good as I do" or "they can't hit anything" mentality is nothing more than a thinly disguised excuse to hunt with a client. If a paid guide wants to shoot (and who wouldn't:) I don't have a problem with him pulling a trigger as long as he's not a "claimer" or expects to keep birds and he's honest about it, particularly when he's hunting in a group. It really harshes the vibe on a group hunt for everyone else when that one person acts like each duck is worth it's weight in gold and get's possessive with birds and starts the "I shot that one! I shot that one!" BS.

The purpose is to provide the client the opportunity for a successful hunt. if you've done that, you've done your job.

Aerangis you seem to be very aggressive in your post lately

Posting a video of banding wood ducks is aggressive?

Stating my opinion about guides is agressive?

Jeff, are you a soccer mom?

Your opinion is probably derived because of the angle in which you are seeing the situation. You are looking at it from a "Hunter's" side. I ran a whole lot of hunts back in the day and it is a totally different world than just going out with friends. The name of the game is not to put birds in the decoys. That is merely a tool in which you use to make the money in their pocket land in your pocket.
When you are a guide you are not guiding people to birds. There are a ton of other things involved. As a guide you base the success on the amount of money that is placed in your pocket. The customer bases the success of his hunt with the amount of birds on a strap. Most often times they are not wise enough to know the difference of who shot what. A succesful guide will look at someone and say "Nice shot" when they hand over a banded bird, knowing the whole time he killed it.
Notice I used Succesful and nothing else. We can hash out if it is right or wrong later. For now though, that is how it is. That is why I am not a huge fan of guiding. I would rather just go hunting. I took out 4 groups last year. 2 groups were freakin aweful. I actually considered just getting on the ranger and driving away, leaving that group right where they sat. One more snide comment and I had my mind made up to just go. The only reason I stayed was because I gave my word to my friend I would guide them. I promise you had they been my group. They would have had about a 3 mile walk back to their truck. Now the next day was a black and white difference. I had a father and son group and they were gentlmen. We wound up hammering the birds too. That was probably the best guiding day I have had in years. I would hunt with them any day.

The problem with that is that a lot of the guys who can't shoot still want to take a sweet tailgate pic to post on their Instagram

#nofilter
#whackemnstackem
#nothinbutgreen
#shootlikehelenkeller

Some will even voice that they can't shoot worth a damn and need help. Obviously if I am taking out two old men who just enjoy the outdoors and are past the 'I want to kill every duck in the county' stage then I'm gonna not shoot and just work birds for them. It's usually those bloodthirsty belly up millennials you gotta shot for, as the cap'n would say

And for the record I'm still in the 'shoot every duck in the county' stage

nobody enjoys shooting up a big group and seeing them all fly away, and when you have a group of guys that pick up a shotgun maybe twice a year it happens more than not

Such aggression!! I had to pull my minivan over to the side of the road to reply to your aggressive behavior

I'm looking at it from both perspectives. I've guided for pay, fly fishing and hunting. And I hunt and fish recreationally. Heck, I still guide hunts during season, just not for money. I spend enough time outdoors and have enough places to hunt and fish that I can typically put folks on birds or fish more often than not. Difference being I do it not to pay my bills.

I've guided fly fishing off and on for close to 35 years and have fished since I was 7-8 years old. I'm also a TPWD fly fishing instructor, but I don't get paid to do it nor would I want to be paid to do it. It's a volunteer position and I do it to for the sole reason that I enjoy teaching folks skills to enjoy the outdoors. Sure, I have the occasional student that is pissy or struggling, but regardless how they act, I don't let it affect the joy I feel when I'm teaching, when I have a fly rod in my hand and drop that fly on the X, make that perfect cast, land a really nice fish, or better yet, release a trophy fish to catch another day. It's a gift my father gave me and his father before him, and someone isn't gonna take that away from me because they're having a bad day. I just keep working hard until it clicks, and if they still don't get it, I work a little harder or spend some extra time until they get it. Seeing that look on their face when it comes together, hearing them say "I got it!", that's my goal. I don't lose sight of that fact regardless how bad a day they're having. I give it my best, the rest, that's up to them.

I can be freezing half to death in a 16 degree below zero winter storm waiting on geese to drop in my spread, and enjoy every minute of it, even if the guide is a jackass because he doesn't want to be there (it's happened, though I couldn't blame him it was so cold: ) . The simple fact is we find our joy where we make it. And if someone can take your joy that easily when you're guiding, then perhaps you need to say no next next time you're asked to wear your guide hat.

I don't mind the guide shooting if when he sees the clients miss and can't get enough birds. What happens then is the clients start bad mouthing the guide. "That guide doesn't know anything. We didn't bring home any birds. Etc etc".

I don't think they should shoot at the first birds in. Give the hunters a chance to get their "own" birds.

you're pretty high on yourself

Fly fishing guide...that's all you needed to read Mr Hayraker

ALWAYS tip the dog! ALWAYS! Even if the guide is an arrogant prick.

I personally think fishing guides should not fish.

But what if their sports can't set a hook worth a dam?

They're all judged by their stringers ya know...

Now you know why I deleted my post ramball. Somebody always tosses in the "expert" fishing analogy.

well, it's ok if they set the hook for their sports, just don't carry their own pole like aerangis does

I can definitely see where a guide may need to drop a few for some groups. I have been around the block a few times and seen a few groups in my time that need 6 boxes of shells to down 2 dove. In that situation, the guide may need to step in and help salvage the hunt for them. But, the guide should ask these questions before the hunt starts because I will flat out tell the guide that backup on ducks is not needed with me in the blind.....I am the backup! Like I said, when I get my limit, the guide can shoot in lieu of his tip. With all this said, there are trips that are just outstanding and need to be tipped....it isn't always the amount of deeking birds, it can be other intangibles. Lastly, I don't believe in someone telling me I should tip a guide because the boss only pays him $25 for the day. If you can't live off what you are paid by your employer, get another job!

90% of the best guides I know, do it just for the fun and it isn't even a business for them. I am paying guys up here $50 a hunt for goose/ducks/snows and get discounts for booking multiple hunts. He texts me the address the night before and I roll up 30 minutes before legal.....just enough time to park 1 mile away and walk to the blinds. You better believe this guy is going to get a nice tip from me at the end of the season.

Gunning ducks and geese is a team sport unless it's just a bunch of singles trickling in all morning. I hunt with a guide all the time, and it doesn't bother me one bit if he shoots, in fact I strongly encourage it. No reason we all can't have a little fun. I will say though, he does it the right way. He waits for everyone else to start gunning and then picks off the birds we weren't going to hit anyway. He's a pro though. You guys should find a guide like him.

I've been on two guided trips. First was in Wyoming fly fishing and we hammered the rainbows. Between four of us we caught over 100 fish and multiple 20 inch fish. Our guide was an irritable old fart who had obviously been doing it way to long. His attitude didn't really bother us though. I guess it was because we were doing so well. He got a couple hundred bucks even though he was kind of an a-hole but I just found it humorous.

Second trip was last year in NTX for ducks. We went on three morning hunts and didn't shoot a lot of ducks. The first morning we did well but the next two we only harvested a few birds. We got along great with our guides and I still keep in touch with them. They even invited us back to go do some bow fishing just for fun. We had one guide on two of the hunts and a different one for the last hunt. First guide got a couple hundred bucks and the second about a hundred.

We had a blast fishing despite the grumpy guide due to the success and had a blast duck hunting because of the guide despite the bad hunting.

this post is on tipping
IMO if I get treated well they get tipped well I do the same when I go out to eat.
as far as the guide goes I pay to hunt if I kill what I am hunting for then great
I would not want the guide to shoot unless it is a cripple.
That goes for anything I hunt.

I don't even see the relation of that rant, it's like 1.5 sentences about the subject then 3 paragraphs of tooting his own horn.

I don't consider myself an "expert" duck hunter, but more often than not I know more than the guys who are paying to come hunt...

A lot of guides shoot. Do you sports want 6 ducks in your pics or 12?
I bet some of you same guys saying a guide shouldn't shoot would complain that the hunt sucked when you got skunked ** aka couldn't hit jack

Nothin wrong with a guide playing clean up, if he really is playing clean up and not shooting birds from under his clients.

A guide tip should be 10-20% based on service.
Most guides I know work for tips. The amount they are paid by the outfitter covers gas maybe and definitely does not even amount to minimum wage when averaged out hourly.

A lot of guides miss too
Bunches

another good reason for them to shoot

Same here. Best ducks guides I've been around normally get pretty upset if you touch thier deeks also on set up.

Here's what I think about tipping.

Most people tip a waitress $3-$10. Sometimes that waitress or waiter can barely speak english (at least down here where I live) . So if a guide does a good job and you have a good hunt. Why not throw him a good tip, he did way more work than your waitress or waiter does and he will probably appreciate it a lot more.

Thats my .02. I guide and manage ranches for a living but I also hunt with other outfitters, some are friends and some are random people that I meet by searching the net but I always take care of my guide because I know how most hunters overlook the fact that a tip is not required but its good etiquette.

I will throw in a war story. Was to meet client in Parking lot at a chain store in Town X. I said be there no later than 1 AM. I should have known right then and there when the guy balked at the time frame. So I get there on the nose. No clients. I see a truck pull in and go the whataburger. An hour later 4 guys walk out of Whataburger and enter same truck. They drive over to me and ask my name and if they are expected them. My reply was "I was expecting you an hour ago". I told them to fall in behind because we are very late and we would be derned lucky to get our spot, no way to get the one I had planned to hunt.

So we get there. Load their stuff, ramp the boat and haul arse. We get to a flooded meadow and the dink dink dink of a flashlight hits my eyes. Client asks what that was all about. My reply was "You were late therefore that guy beat us to the spot I had picked out". So through the woods we go to plan B. You got it, dink dink dink comes the flashlight. The client says "Dang there is a lot of people hunting here. My asnwer was "You were late or there would be one boat load less hunting here". He asked if I had another spot picked oput and of course I said "Of course I do, I am a guide". BTW that translates into "You paid for the trip and you messed it up, you get what you get".

I set a course through the trees and what would you know, we found a good spot. The tree line was on the eastside of a meadow and the wind was good. I said "Here it is lets get moving". I set it all up and at daylight we had one bad arse duck hunt. I assure you this was as good as they could ever hope in their lifetime. We had nothing but color ducks ripping into the decoys all morning long. These guys could not shoot their way out of a glass barn. They each fired a box of shells, divided up a 5th box and then bought two boxes from me. That was 175 rounds and I ended the hunt. I killed my limit of birds but passed on the congrats to each of them, slipping shells. Meaning I knew when they were going to shoot, I fired and slipped a round into my weapon. I would say, nice shooting boys and send the dog.

The point of all this is at the docks they asked, "How many did we get"? the total was 14 birds. 175 rounds to kill 9 birds as I killed my 6. He seemed to be disappointed. I asked and he said "well we paid all that money I figured we would have left with limits like our buddies do." It didn't sink into him he was just witness to the best mallard pintail and wooduck carnival he can ever possibly hope for. It was that bottom line number he had stuck in his brain. Had I not bumped the numbers it would have been even worse for him. So I ask you, would you as a guide that was relying on that cash flow, stand up and tell your client the entire truth if they didn't want it or even know to ask it.

I liken it to this. People always tell me how aggresive water mocs are. I have been working with them nearly daily for over a decade and I can tell you that is a bald face myth. They are in no way shape or form an aggresive animal. I promise you someone will come on this thread and tell me how wrong I am. You choose who is right or wrong I care not. The fact is, I get paid because people choose to believe the myth about water mocs. They will argue with me (I would certainly put myself as an expert in that field) even though I know exactly what I am talking about. I used to find myself argueing with a guy about to hand me cash. I used to try and tell them the truth about water mocs. That is a true definition of insanity. So now, if you ask I will tell you all you want to hear about the truth. But for the average joe blow schmo know it all, my answer is "Yep and them sumbeaches will ball up in a ball and attack you". I just run right along the bullcorn spreader. I am truly amazed at how humans perpetuate these stupid myths.

Dang I guess I was bored. That is kind of long.

Most sportsman show up with a gun they shoot twice a year. They have almost zero mechanics with their gun. They shoot cheep amo or shoot goose loads at ducks. The ones that shoot a little bit tend to shoot in front of about 90% of their birds because they use a lead shot lead on ducks. The other shoot behind because they can't mount their gun correctly and they stop their swing.

I just like my guide to know simple addition.

lol, I caught that too

Sometimes it's better to not know addition, keeps you outta trouble

As a guide, I've realized for myself that it's also not usually up to us if/when we decide to shoot. Yes I'm sure there are some guides out there that want to shoot as much as the client. But I can assure you, the quality guides aren't the first to pull the trigger, or even shoot every time. But that also varies between every group. I always take my gun, but it usually stays in the case until I get a read on your ability. If multiple groups of birds are cupped and committed at 25 yards floating over the decoys and 12+ shots are fired and 0 ducks fall, it's usually a sign of how the morning is going to go. I'll never shoot first. Even then, I may shoot very last. If a client asks me not to shoot, which they have, it doesn't bother me one bit. But I've also been blessed for those kinds of guys to be kicking themselves for not connecting when they know dang well they should have many times.

The point in all this is, as a hunter, view it from the guides standpoint. Why are you paying $175+ a gun? You want a pile of birds. If you know the guide is shooting and know he's the one dropping birds, see how he handles it. Does he try to do it without being noticed or is he claiming every feather that gets cut? Ultimately our job for you is to have a pile of birds at the end of the hunt. If that's not what you prefer, simply stating it nicely at the beginning of the hunt is more than enough.

As far as tipping goes, the points I've made listed above may help. I've talked to some guys that think tipping is out of the question, no matter how good the hunt/memories. But for those of you that agree with tipping, ask yourself if overall the guide is just trying to make a good memory and for y'all to have fun. If you get mad because he starts shooting halfway through the hunt, then maybe you're not Mr. Sharpshooter and you or somebody in your group may need some help

When it's another group of hunters 100 yards away, I enjoy it immensely:)

What in the Holy heck do water moccasins have to do with duck guiding???? They get stuck in your sleep over pontoon? So confused!!

I couldn't agree more. When I hunt in a group, guided or otherwise, we typically shoot until a group limit is reached.

For clarification, though I don't necessarily agree with the rationale behind killing birds so another hunter can have an after-hunt photo opportunity, I'm not against guides shooting as long as that's the expectation and the guy isn't a claimer or has issues playing nice in a group. I just don't want to have to compete with a guide to kill birds, that was the gist (of my rather long winded diatribe:)

Limit, your guide sounds like a good guy to hunt with, guiding or otherwise.

Group limit?

You'll figure it out..... I'm headed to dinner.

Out on the TEAM SPORT concept of shooting more than your limit. Out on the guide that allows over you limit hunting. Ask the guides down in SE Texas what happens with that theory.

Not talking about the guide who shoots his limit and gives the clients the ducks so they have something to bring home.

Yeah I know what it means....

dinner is what you eat around noon, supper is the evening meal

When's lunch fat boy?

I've been on one guided hunt in my life. It was this season, on the prarie for snows and specks. You may remember me talking about it but never reporting on how we did. I spent 400 bucks for me and my dad to take the trip. Woke up at 2 am to meet the guides at about 4:00. We spend the next 2 and a half hours walking through a nasty muddy field setting out thousands of silosocks. The whole time we can hear thousands of geese on a roost close to the field we were hunting so I had high hopes. We all get a piece of plywood back rest to lay on and a white parka. Daylight rolls around. One of the guides says "the first goose that comes in, we're going to let the little girl shoot first because she's never killed a goose." Okay, that's cool with me. Well a single rolls in. Take em the guide yells, both guides are first to shoot, then about 4 other guys start shooting at the one goose. He's blown to pieces, the little girl never even picked up her gun. A few minutes later, a nice group of specks is cupped up almost in range when the guides dog runs into the decoys and is running around in circles barking at the geese. They all flare. This happens to several groups of birds before one guide tells the other to go put up the dog. A few more singles work in. Fly directly over me, my dad, and the guy next to me, guide calls the shot when they're over his head and is first to shoot. A lone mallard comes through, I was on the end and took the shot and dropped him. I send my dog, but the guides other dog has already broke like it does every time it sees anything that resembles a bird and is half way to my bird before I realize it and can hold my dog back. So the one bird I shot, my dog didn't even get to retrieve. I think the total was maybe 5 geese, most shot by the 2 guides, my mallard and a pintail another client shot. I didn't even get to pull the trigger on a goose. The whole day we had birds flaring off, hundreds of birds over the morning flared off at the last second and the guides never made a single effort to try and change anything. After the hunt I got to help pick back up the thousands of decoys. I think we left a 30 dollar tip at the end, and they were lucky to have that.

And come on wal, everyone knows water mocs will flat out chase you down to bite you! When I was working up north, the two things I got asked the most about texas were the water moccasins that chase you down to bite you and the carnivorous wild hogs that attack and eat people for dinner. And there would be texas guys up there feeding the myths. I just nodded my head and didn't say anything about the hundreds of pigs I've walked up on in my life that all ran away and never attacked, and all the cotton mouths I've seen that swam away rather than swam after me.

What would really agitate me is some guy bringing his own dog on a mixed group hunt.

I probably would not tip the guide if he let a bunch of ding dongs pull that crap.

So the little girl never got to shoot a bird? SMH

Why is a pro staff guy paying a guide??? Should have went PS with Avery before they went belly up!!!

I wouldn't necessarily call someone a pro-staffer just because they bought a couple of T-shirts.

I would not have a problem if some one brought there own dog as long as it did not break In till it was told to.
We have hunted a couple times with mixed groups with are dog and we have gotten nothing but high praise.
It's nice when a duck or goose is a long ways out and the the dog saves the walking/wadding out. A well train dog is hard to beat.

As a guide I don't expect tipping and as the owner of my business my guides understand tipping is not expected as well. I agree with some on here but the " guiding business" is more based on entertainment in my aspect of it. Shooting birds are a plus. We do our best at putting clients on limits of birds and we all know that hunting is hunting and Mother Nature has a way of changing her attitude on a daily basis. On the whole shooting side of it, we try to let our clients shoot there birds first and we do our best to help on any if there are cripples. It's always up to our clients if they want us to shoot or not although if they opt us not to shoot then of course limited to there limits only. We've had sole encounters with game wardens which can be discussed in a different topic. Back to the expierence and entertainment side of it, some people never get to expirence riding in a airboat or driving through the back lakes of our shallow marshes that we get to hunt. Some times the boat ride is more then enough for some and shooting birds in a back water lake is a bonus. Others like to " use you" so they can cancel the following 2 days with you because you already took them the first day showed them how to hunt only for them to use there own boats the next day ( which again can be discussed on another topic) . Sorry for the rant !! Just trying to say if the expierence is great and something you'll never forget then by all means tip what you like. But it should never be expected or asked for. Some people can hardly afford to go on guided trips and save for several months to be able to take off work for a day or 2, drive down , lodging and food. It gets exspensive. Were just happy to be apart of it.

Yep, its the breaking dog that is annoying. Working dogs with discipline, that honor, hard to beat, and fun to watch. And 2 dogs breaking and chasing the same bird, that's just embarrassing.

My dog is well trained and does not break. I would never take a dog like the ones they had to a group hunt. My dog never left my side the whole day until I shot the bird and sent her. And no the little girl never got to shoot a bird. And yall can make fun of my pro staff all you want to, I don't really care, it makes me a few hundred bucks of extra spending money a month and I get free gear. Not that it even relates to this topic at all.

I think we are done with that topic, moving on to better topics now.

Oh I forgot to ask, they need any more pro staffers? I got space under my name that is available, few hundred buck a month, dang.

"Outfitters are all crooks" I once heard a wise man say

Well I know they aren't but it is funny.

I think there is a big difference between the guys that guides are taking out 99% of the time and most or the guys that read and participate on this forum.

Only been on a few guided hunts. First one, last minute trip I set up for my brother to shoot his first ducks. Guide was a kid (later found out it was a crappy lease that he started guiding out of) and really only worried about the next morning's hunt with his buddies. He called it at 10am after only a merganser came in (my brother shot after the guide missed). We never recovered it because his young dog in training could not find it. I had only paid my portion of the hunt before hunting and I told my brother not to pay his. Guide never asked for the money as I'm sure he realized the waste of the day it was.
Second was with a well reputed (on this forum and pretty much any forum in Texas) guide service. Nice enough guy, tried to keep the conversation going, shared the blind with a couple of his buddies (they had the only shooting opportunity of the morning). After the hunt, we gathered up with all the other groups that went out. Everybody else had bang up hunts with ducks and geese mixed into their limits and we had squat (went with the main guide/owner too). What pissed me off is we had to hold the other parties' birds for the post-hunt photo which was added to their website with a flat out lie of a caption. Also heard the guide talking with his other guides about how our group could not shoot for sh*t (neither me nor my brother fired a shot that morning). We didn't wait in line to tip him, just took off with zero ducks again.
Third time was a free hunt for me going with a buddy that had a hunt owed to him. I definitely understand how rain can screw up the ducks and we happened to have several inches put down a few days before the hunt. We actually made a couple moves, but didn't fire a shot again. Guide did what he could though, so he got a tip.

I wasn't offered any type of make up trip (didn't expect on either) for the bad hunts. I ended up bringing my brother to public land and he shot his first duck and didn't hit squat for the rest of the hunt. He got to shoot a box of shells though, and that was all he wanted. I didn't shoot at all either, just watched him get fired up hitting his first grey duck that cupped from 75 yards out. Then watched as he missed all the other opportunities, but he had more fun than on any other hunts.

I think guides come off as pretty arrogant. I've never heard of a guide blaming a bad hunt on his own inabilities, it's always "the client did this or that which ruined the hunt." And you tip a waiter/waitress because for whatever reason the state doesn't require restaurants to pay their employees minimum wage. A hunting guide does not deserve and should not expect a tip. The price you pay for the hunt includes all scouting leading up to it, decoy placement, etc. You shouldn't expect a tip for doing your job.

Sounds like you've had a lot of bad luck with guides, I can assure you not all are like those.

Now air out some names!!!

I bet you can guess the second one

Sounds like they did him nasty

Man you just can't draw a line in the sand and then not jump across it.

I can understand being upset if a guide is shooting before everyone else, shooting singles, etc. but if a guide goes out and shoots his 6 ducks, 5 geese, or whatever you may be hunting I don't see the problem.

The whole not wanting to set up needs to be communicated with the guide before the hunt. If you expect to show up on a $200 goose hunt and step into a brushed layout blind and start hunting then you are mistaken on what you are paying for. On a $200 goose hunt I would say you are paying the guide for a place to hunt, equipment, and his knowledge. Now if you pay $2,000 to go on a 2 1/2 day snow goose hunt with Habitat Flats, then expecting not to touch a decoy would be acceptable. Then again you would goose egg your guide at Habitat Flats anyway because they would be shooting.

I didnt say who it was

but the man is a marketing genius, that can not be denied

I lol'd.....

Confusing. You "had" to hold someone else's birds? What did you think was going to happen?

I guided for a few years and all the stories I've read here could've been non-stories with a little communication. Expectations, desires, limitations, etc should all be clear for both the guide and party. It's bad for the hunters not to make it clear, but probably worse on the outfitter/guide for not asking the correct questions.

So who's never been a guide? Seems like everyone on here has been, and we are/were the perfect ones.

Guess it was a lack luster season....

I'm guessing to make it seem like they did better than they actually did. ???

So I started this out with how much to tip. But it took a turn about hunting with guides.
I would like to thank every one for all the great input. But after reading about the other story's about guides.
I've came up with a idea. I'm not sure how to go about this . But you know when you buy something
From a store you can see the reviews about the items your buying. Well how about we start a topic on guides we have used . So that way if your looking at going hunting with a guide you can see the reviews before you go.Just a thought for the admin people.

A request would need to be sent to the admin email address, but I can give you my thoughts. That has been discussed long ago. The problem is like many review sites. More than once over the years on threads about specific guides and outfitters we have seen fake accounts, duplicate alias accounts, friends, family, or guides posing as clients of a guide with fake reviews or posing as an unhappy client of a competing outfitter, people with disputes or praises that have nothing to do with hunting, people that heard something second hand be it good or bad, and public back and forth disputes between guides and clients, etc. I can tell you from past history a dedicated or sticky thread of that nature would not likely survive in the long run due to those reasons, not to mention trolls and the easy troll bait in here.

Man. I am going on my first guided goose hunt next month (or any guided hunt for that matter), and I really just want to know how much to tip the guide. I have been keeping up with this thread, and still have no idea how much I should tip. I am thinking %10 if the guide is not working hard or doing something wrong and 20%+ if the guide is well prepared and works hard. I would never base it on how many birds on the ground as long as it seems like he has put in the time/effort to put us on birds.

From the guides posting on here, does this sound about right?

Yea that seems fair to me. That is why my first comment was 15%.

Yep. Sounds about right to me.

However, I've had guided various hunts and worked with several other guides, and even after a 1k bill, we are happy with a $100 bill for a tip. (At least on day hunts)

I have been on five guided hunts and always tipped $20 per gun- so the duck ones got 16.7% and the goose one got 10%. I struggled with that, but then figured 2+ hours of my entire family putting out and picking up goose decoys made up for the lack of %. That, and 5 of us is $100- not bad for a tip for 5 hours of work plus whatever the guide made from the outfitter.

I hadn't really thought about the size of the group. We have 8 people in our group, so 20%+ would be a good chunk of change.

We were told to go up with the other groups for a big picture. Then they started divvying birds up between us all. As far as communication, this particular guide and me exchanged numerous emails and conversations explaining what we expected (my brother to shoot some ducks - was assured we would have a great hunt).