This post is for anyone thinking about guiding…

Last year I was asked to fill in some for an outfit and was happy to do it. This year I’ve been a little more involved and will end up doing about 10 days this year maybe 12.

The outfitter does it right, really nice lodging, food is great, they pay me good, hook me up with merch etc.

They have 50+ ponds, big water, small water and everything in between. Hunts have been decent, we have had to scout our asses off but have found birds.

With all that said I just turned 40 years old and this crap is a young man’s game! Even with what most would consider a great situation I find myself not wanting to go hunting for fun.

I’ve got birds on my ponds and was asked to go Saturday on what should be a great shoot. I just don’t want to go. Guiding for ducks is a PITA. You have to get to the hole at least an hour earlier that you usually would, setting up and picking everything up on your own. Not to mention everything you do during the hunt.

I barely sleep the night before thinking about where we will set up, and everything else. It’s just different when people are paying good money versus you just hunting with buddies

With all that said, I’m getting paid a decent amount and 10 years ago I’d be all over this I think but there is reason you don’t see a lot of older guides.

You have to LOVE it. The older guides I know have done it long enough to where they just hunt with the customers they like.
If they weren't guiding, they would be out chasing birds regardless.
That said, this year has been TOUGH in NTX...for me at least.

I truly enjoyed guiding & did it for 30+ years. I would still be doing it ,but the bird numbers have gotten so bad I hated taking people out not knowing what we would do. I still hunt a minimum of 4 days a week,most weeks 5 days. I just enjoy being out & no pressure to produce birds makes it great.

The only way I would ever guide is if it was on my own property, and I didn't need the money. That way if I didn't have a happy customer and didn't meet expectations, I could say no charge. And if I didn't like that customer, I would just not do business with them anymore.

I grew up in the AR delta, worked in Ag, and duck hunted a lot.

One year I guided 1/2 dozen times for a friend. Duck hunting for fun vs trying to produce ducks for clients...took ALL the fun out of it for me.

No doubt! I feel like 6-7+ years ago I LOVED it now the kids are getting older, I’m getting older and I find myself not as ate up with it as I once was. Even before this guiding stent I had slowed down a lot.

I don’t think it’s ruined it for me completely but I won’t probably guide next season and get back to hunting for fun.

I guided in Paris TX for 17 years and it was a true legacy. My best friend
passed away and it all ended. I’m 46 now It’s a passion and big part of your life. I’ll be guiding in Missouri next year, leaving Texas in February.

It definitely changes the perspective. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t my operation, just helped.

Never would do it, same reason I scratched GW off list a long time ago.....don't want to be working when I should be playing.....retired FD, had time and money......

More than a few hunts per year and it becomes a job. It can be pretty fun if you get good guys. I don’t know many outfitters that still hunt for themselves

We hunted with our clients as well.
Didn’t just call and work dogs. We Cut them too!!

And that's the worse type of guid to hunt with. It's not your hunt. It's your clients hunt.

Keep your opinion to yourself. You don’t know me. We had a legacy and my best friend passed away and it all ended!
We had the best hunts period!

Shoot the ducks then tell client "Good shot".

I get tired of some of you on here with smart [censored] remarks

We had good shooters no doubt not some yuppies I know that

Yeah, nobody wants the guide to shoot, but they want to keep hunting until his 6 are on the strap. I’ve guided for myself on my own personal properties and quit for the obvious reasons. Shoot at singles or pairs? I didn’t. Bigger groups? Empty out.

I would consider guiding again, but I haven’t been able to find any clients that had more money than hunting with my brothers is worth.

Never had an issue with any clients offended by us shooting with them.

Did you guide for JJ Kent?

No Sir I think I’ve heard of that name though…We had a farm in Blossom TX northeast of Paris
My grandfather is Jessie Chisholm. Named the famous cattle trail of my family, The Chisholm Trail
He was also a hunting guide furbearer and merchant. Knew 14 different Indian Dialects. So 2flyfish4 on this forum you don’t know me keep your remarks to yourself and goes for the reat on this forum. If you don’t have nothing positive to say don’t reply to my post!!

Buncha Gunsels

We hunted no more than 5 hunters on a hunt in them 17 years. 240 total hunts and only 9 hunts didn’t limit out. 4800+ ducks and geese harvested Only one banded greenhead all them years that was harvested one morning hunt. Lots of Gadwalls back in them years too. Planted millet every year and pumped water with gator pump on levee areas. Its work to do it no doubt

I will be in Missouri next year at the Boot and will post my guide service. I already have access to farm lakes near my Missouri farm and they are currently loaded with Canada geese. I’ll have lodge meals included and can pickup at Springfield airport if needed.

Past 3 years now. I have been guiding in Arkansas off the Cache River by Augusta. None of them groups of guys have a problem with me shooting with them. I’m calling at same time and working my dog Black Betty.

My problem is all the wanta be duck hunters like the trout fishermen post I had.today Lmao
Public land is ridiculous in North Texas I remember back in 1994 hunting Lake Cooper and may see 3 show up after we was in at 3am

Dudes having a conversation with himself

I would not hunt with him.

Did he tell himself to keep to himself? Not sure who he was talking to there...

Every Hunt, including guided hunts we have gone on, rules and who calls shot are always determined before the hunt.

I don’t have a problem w guide shooting “leaking ducks” as long it’s not inside 50 yards on my side- I have been called a “preppy” or “yuppie” in my younger days, and have rarely run into a red neck guide that can outshoot me or our group of hunters.

Now, my group would have discussion pre hunt- and depending on situation/ set up- we would set the rules- not the guide. If I am paying, you are definitely not poaching my birds- unless there are piles feet down- which is another story.

We take turns anyway and shoot our lanes.

That all makes perfect sense to me. It is rare I hunt with other people, but when I do, I normally just go with the flow and hunt the way the group wants to hunt, as long as they are safe. "yahoo style", I normally just wait till everyone empties their gun and then I shoot, and that is normally a duck going strait up, love those shots, or a duck peeling off, I like that shot too. But my preference is to be strategic, shot caller, and everyone shoot their lanes, they key is for everyone to be shooting at different ducks. 4 people unloading their gun at the same duck is kinda dumb, I don't do it.

I hunted with JP once and ask him if he wanted to call the shots and I also was talking about shooting lanes, and he said "Just shoot the f*ck'n duck".

I have shot 1 duck besides cripples on all the guided hunts I’ve done.


One hunt last year I picked up over 70 hulls from 3 hunters and they shot 3 ducks, and over 75% at least were decoying birds right in their face.

This year I’ve had all pretty good shooters.

I replied to Sinkey
Guy I laugh at people like yourself
You are no comparison to me
A lot of you on here are a bunch of Gunsels

Amen……. I do love waiting for everybody to empty their guns and see them poor duckies, looking at you bright eyed going straight up.

Now that’s pretty darn cool family tree

Thank you Sir
Proud to be a Chisholm

Duck hunting is a lifestyle !
Guided for years , I’d sure hate to compete on public waters these days.
You can thank social media and D. Dynasty for the crowds.

Back in the early 2000's guiding was fun because there were plenty of ducks. Around 2014 the ducks started disappearing, and now they are pretty much gone. I stopped guiding because I couldn't charge folks if we didn't see any ducks. Seems like the flyway has moved to West Texas and far East Texas. They sure aren't coming down the middle through north Tx anymore. I think the sale of the large peanut fields around Lake Whitney are the reason. When they turned the peanut fields into gravel pits the ducks had no reason to come down the middle of texas any longer.

Number of reasons they aren’t here. I’m beginning to think that the shear numbers of ducks do not exist to begin with. I’ve seen a lot of states winter waterfowl surveys 30-50% down. If the overall population is relatively stable and healthy as they say, states being down that much should mean that some states somewhere have to be up a relative percentage. They have to be somewhere, where is it?

I’ve heard more mixed and poor results out of ok, is, and mo this year than previously.

so have we decided who has the biggest pee pee yet?

The ducks are on paper in the desks of so called biologist.