I see that people have their opinion about guides and the way they guide their hunts now days.I would like to speak on behalf of guides with this post.
From what I was told, back in the day men didn't really call it guided hunts,these men that we know as guides where the men who new the woods and water like the back of their hands and hunters needed them basically like a GPS.They where the ones who would get you in and out safely.
Some where down the line someone made a penny or two off of it and there went the story,Now day we hire guides for all different kinds of reasons like needing access to land,not knowing what to do on a hunt,not harvesting game where we hunt so we feel like a guide can put us on game,ect. ect.

I have guided and will one day guide again,and if you have never been a guide then understanding why guides do what they do is something that will be hard for you to understand.
As a guide the #1 thing that I try to do is make sure that the client will take home dinner for the day and if that calls for me shooting aswell with clients then thats what I will do.But for me as a guide I like to be a tool for the hunter or hunters I'm guiding putting time,talent,and experience to work for the client.
I also think that having fun and a great experience is important too.

Guides have a hard job if they are doing things right so when you are looking for a guided hunt the first thing you should ask yourself is what am I looking for out of this hunt? Of course we all want to get a limit thats really what we paid for but the question to yourself should be what do I really want from the guide and what do I want from the hunt.This question to yourself will make it easy on both you and the guide.

Also remember that every guide has his or her own style with their service which makes that service different from the next so expect to pay for that style in that service.

Well said my friend

Sig worthy? lol

Well said indeed.... Corey man.. get at me about the goose hunt i sent u a pm awhile back man'

To me I look at the investment of time/money it will take for me to get access to the game I am wanting to hunt. I am primarily a fisherman so I spend most of the year doing that and like doing that on my own. On the converse I only hunt a handful of times a year, and that includes all kinds of hunting. Based on that I am more than happy to hire a guide to meet my personal needs.

The problem that I seem to find based on my experience with guides in general is they seem to be less than upfront and almost to the point of being dishonest when you start asking questions or looking for straight answers when trying to book a trip. Whether it be fishing/hunting conditions, it is over fished/hunted, quality/numbers of fish/game, whether you will be hunting public/private property, how big the property is, how many other clients will there also, etc..

Outstanding post. Pretty much captured the way it it. Between us I think we now have four cents worth.

Thanks Muddyfoot. Awesome post.

One part I disagree with is most people aren't using a guide for dinner. Most use a guide to get them on a hunt for a fun memorable trip. Me personally I would rather kill my own ducks on the trip. I don't want to pay a guide just so he can kill his limit. As long as I can still kill my limit or at least use the time I am paying for. If I only shot two ducks and I got to just relax and enjoy the hunt with someone else doing the work then I am happy.

Nice post Muddyfoot. I have only been on 3 guided duck hunts, all 3 of them THF big group hunts, I went on them for a good time and to hang out with members, not to shoot ducks, and we did have a good time. I�m not much into guided hunts, because when it comes to killing ducks, I like the challenged of scouting and finding the ducks myself, strategizing how I�m going to kill them the next morning, setting up my own deeks, shooting them, unjamming my own gun, cleaning the ducks, and cooking them. If I go on a guided hunt on private property to kill some ducks, my preference is for the guide to stay home, point me in the right direction and let me do my own thing, but that is just me. I think it is funny when folks say guides needs to be this and that, this is America, guides offer a verity of servicers, and with a variety of experiences. Do your homework and pick a guide with services and experiences that fit your needs.

Heres my two cents.I avoid guided hunts and fishing adventures with guides as much as possible.But with that said if your a weekend warrior because of not having time to scout or learn to adapt to most situations on a given day a good guide is worth there weight in gold.

Somewhere in time, the guiding business got watered down with wannabe's. The term "guide" these days is used very loosely. I guess it just makes those that fit the description of what you described above more sought after today.

Great feed back from both side of the coin.

First thing that came to mind... haha

-Matt

Spot on. All of my friends and I have had terrible experiences with guides because the most important thing for the guide is to shoot a limit as fast as possible. Of course this involves the guild shooting as well. None of us will ever go on a guided trip again. The OP spelled it out. Fun for the client is not his first priority. As well...guides are not shooting a limit for their client.....they are shooting a limit as a marketing tool to book the next hunt. For the most part I think guides have a terrible business model

Guiding for migratory birds is hard work. I did it for 7 years. It took a little time after I quit to find my love for hunting again, because it had become a job.

Thats where the old saying comes in "What comes first the chicken or the egg?"
My first priority is to make sure you get what you came for and thats Game.I have done hunts where we have had lots of fun while in the blind and not kill a thing only to see at the end of the hunt a bunch of heads hanging down on the way back to the truck.
The way I see it is if 'FUN" is first priority then book a skeet shoot with me and lets smoke some meat,chew the fat,and call it a day.But when a client books a "HUNT" then thats my first priority.

I have waterfowl hunhted for over thirty years, mostly on my own but have spent 10's of thousands of dollars on guides. IMO:

90% of all guided trip issues would never occur if there were honest communications. . . from both the client and the guide.

WWAAAYYY to often folks book hunts without asking basic questions or even telling the guide what they want and dont want to have happen.
In addition, MOST guides are not truthfull when establishing expectations (conditions, gear, likelyhood of success, their own skill level, work load for the client, service that will be provided, etc.).

The other 10% of the issues:
Guides set expectations and dont deliver (Yes, I know its still hunting but the guide is being paid to know what he is talking about).
Guides get burned out and dont treat the client well (show up late, dont answer phone calls, gear in poor condition, etc.)

What I really want from a guide:
1. Be as excited and energetic as I am . . during the entire hunt. Yes, its a long hard season with little sleep. If you cant cut it do something else.
2. Tell me the truth. What should i expect on this hunt. How will we hunt. What will you do for us (and not do). How long will the hunt last.
3. Listen to me / respect me. I dont get to do this very often, I'm excited, I've spent a fair amount of cash. Dont dis-respect me by being late, having a bad attitude (see #1), or not making a really good effort to meet my requests.

Hunters - find a good guide, build a relationship and send him alot of business. Advertise for the good ones and the bad ones will fade away. Dont shop around with unknown guides just to save $50.

p.s. I have never been with a guide that wouldnt have put down his gun if i had asked him not to shoot.

By the way . . Not to be the internet police but easy on that "my clients want dinner so i shoot their birds". Last i read, each hunter can only shoot his own birds. No need to put reality in print.

^^^^^^

Very Well said. I feel same about the guided trips.

Very well said indeed Littledog and I can tell that you been on your fair share of guided hunts and know what to expect.

But to clear on thing up,I never said I will shoot their birds Im shooting mine and thats only if they ask me to be apart of the hunt.
And with the dinner thing, when we are at camp we cook all of what we shoot and it doesn't matter who killed what, we all eat.

Good Post Kelvin!

Thank you!

Littledog, you are very correct in your post!

Alot of people don't realize what goes on behind the scenes...

Guiding (if done right) is a FULL time J.O.B.

Like today, I would have loved to sit at home and spend New Years with my Family, but I have hunters everyday this week and everyday for the rest of the season. I spent the last 5 hours scouting for potential places to hunt the next 3 days. Planning where each group will go, and who will hunt where.

Talking with landowners, ranchers, ranch hands, and others, on where they saw birds, and make sure everyone is happy...

Last thing you need is a landowner not happy and you lose a property.

Don't get me wrong I LOVE what I do, and I LOVE duck hunting...

But it is by far one of the most challenging jobs I have ever had!

Like J.P. said: we are trying to hunt "Migratory Waterfowl", thus they MOVE!!! here today, gone today!

I do want to say one thing...The MAIN reason I carry my gun in the blind is that if there is a wounded bird on the water, I WANT TO SHOOT IT! Not the client. My dog is the one that will be chasing that cripple, and I want to remove the random posibility that they might hit my dog with a shot! Thus, I tell EVERY client, I will shoot all cripples! And NO ONE shoots when my dog is in the water!!!! Period!

Once again, Thanks for the Thread Muddyfoot!

J.J.

Totally agree. The guide should always have his gun for dispatching criples.

I did not mean to come off harsh on guides. It is a very demanding job. I certainly dont have the endurance or energy to do it.
Most succesfull operations have several employees, multiple guides to handle a couple parties, an "admin" to handle bookings and answer the phone, and a couple more folks to scout each day while the clients are hunting. Those operations can book trips on consecutive days.
Hard for me to imagine how a single individual could have a guide service running more than two or three trips a week. . . and still have satisfied customers. Hats off to those who can.