Is a guided hunt as satisfying as do-it yourself?

[lousyhunter]

First off, i have nothing against guided hunts or have I been on one. I was just wondering if the satisfaction was still the same knowing that all the "hunting" (for the most part)was done for you? Although I wouldnt rule out a guided hunt, it seems like alot of money for doing what alot of us enjoy doing for free. just curious what people thought. (im going off the fact that youre hunting in your own state.)

[muskrat]

So, if you want to hunt in Maine, how would you know where to go? If I don't know how to build my kitchen cabinets, I hire a cabinet maker or carpenter. I don't consider it lazy or wasteful. I am capable of building a set of cabinets - they might not look like much, but I could knock them together. Does that mean I'm lazy, or frivolous with my money? If I spend a lot of money to begin with, to draw a NR tag in another state, and travel to that state? Why would you not want to make the most of your effort and expense, by hiring someone who know the area, habits, etc?

 

Most (if not all) Canadian provinces require non-residents to have a guide, by law. Even Canadians from other provinces!

[Coues Sniper]

I apologize. I thought Lousy was trying to start a bickering match. He sent me a pm explaining his post. I assumed his intent and you know what happens when you assume... I take back what i said. Lousy, you have a returned PM

[DesertBull]

Just kill me now. I can't take anymore.

[Shawn]

So, if you want to hunt in Maine, how would you know where to go? If I don't know how to build my kitchen cabinets, I hire a cabinet maker or carpenter. I don't consider it lazy or wasteful. I am capable of building a set of cabinets - they might not look like much, but I could knock them together. Does that mean I'm lazy, or frivolous with my money? If I spend a lot of money to begin with, to draw a NR tag in another state, and travel to that state? Why would you not want to make the most of your effort and expense, by hiring someone who know the area, habits, etc?

 

Most (if not all) Canadian provinces require non-residents to have a guide, by law. Even Canadians from other provinces!

 

 

Don't some states require a guide for non-residents also? Don't have an opinion on the subject, but it is just wrong to have to have a guide if you don't want to. You should be able to hunt in any state on your own if that is what you want to do (if you get drawn).

[bowsniper]

Good question. Several years ago, when I was still trying to teach myself to hunt, and had yet to take an animal, I hired Jim McLendon to take me out on December 31 in 6a for a coues. It was a last ditch effort, and $100 sure seemed like a lot of $$ at the time. I had been stumbling around the whole hunt pretty much learning everything not to do. I did not get a shot off, but I sure did learn a bunch from him. I'm sure that there will be those who scoff "that's not hunting!". Maybe the same guys who say about hunting with salt, "that's not hunting!"

 

If you don't have a dad or a buddy to teach you how to hunt, you sure will waste a of of time tying to learn on you own. You could probably learn a lot from a guide.

 

Mark

[cpugsie]

I love guided hunts when I can afford them. I've been to Montana 7 or 8 times for whitetails on guided hunts over the past 20 years. Where we go you will have more oppourtunities in one day than you can get in a life timeof hunting whitetails here in AZ. I love being in a stand with tons of deer around. The guide has access to private land where no one will screw it up for you and he also places the stands in the most likely spots. You still have to make the shot, be quiet, don't move too much, keep your scent down, keep your sh!t together when the moment of truth comes and generally know how to shoot your bow and when to draw. You thing just because you go on a guided hunt its easy??? Not always. I've come home from this paradise more than once with only memories. I'd go on guided hunts all the time if I had the money. I don't always have time to scout with young kids and a wife at home. It's great when someone can do some of the leg work for you. It's still fare chase and gets my heart pumping just like any other hunt. I like to hunt so much that it realy doesn't matter to me when I get an easy hunt once in a while. I work hard no matter where I hunt and never go home disappointed weather I kill or not. To each their own. Happy hunting!!!

[Shawn]

"The guide has access to private land where no one will screw it up for you and he also places the stands in the most likely spots."

 

This is where i have the problem. Some private land owners lease their land that has a road going across their land and State Land on the other side to SOME guides. This blocks off thousands of acres to all of us except for the guide that has their own private hunting reserve on the small portion of the leased land and thousands of acres of state land. We are having this problem on some of the units that we hunt. This is becoming a serious problem.

[SilentButDeadly]

to each their own.

 

[lousyhunter]

I didnt say anything about being lazy or wastful, my point was, is it any less rewarding? Ive never been on one, i would love to be able to afford one, thats why im curious.

[cjw2222]

To reiterate and on to what has already been said. i think there are many instances where a guided hunt is necessary and every bit as rewarding as a DIY hunt. I will be the first to tell you there is nothing like really earning your animal, but what if you live out of state? want to get into hunting but dont have the experience to DIY yet? i mean everyone needs to learn at least a little about hunting from others right? Maybe your an avid hunter but your job doesn't allow for you to take off the time needed to scout and take two weeks off for a full hunt?

 

I agree that for the person that can afford the time to scout and hunt hard will feel better if they do it all on their own. But i also agree that our "hobby" needs guides for a number of reasons.

 

 

Now I just hope nobody bring up Spidey, last thing we need is a replay of that MM topic :rolleyes:

[cpugsie]

The land my guide has access to in Montana does not block access to any public land what so ever. I do agree that it sucks when this happens but I didn't think this thread was about that.

 

Every few years me and 3 or 4 of my friends go on aguided hunt to Montana and have a blast. I agree that it's not the same as a DIY hunt but after several DIY's it's nice to have some one else do some of the work once in a while. On a DIY it's much more intences on many levels. The guided hunt lets you focus more on the hunt itself. If you have a good guide and see alot of game with oppourtunities you will definately have a good/memorable experiences with satisfaction of taking your animal. remember you still have to do your part. I'm assuming that this is all fair chase and NOT a high fences situation.

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

Lousy,

 

I think I understand what you are asking......

 

I think it really depends on many factors: Laws, time, ability, knowledge, confidence, as well as circumstance. For example: I have been on guided hunts in Canada and Texas. In Canda I was with two guides whose physical abilities were certainly better than mine, but I felt that my over all knowlege of the animal I was hunting was probably better than that of my guides.... I mean sheep are sheep.... Deserts and Dall all act exactly alike... but the law said I had to have a guide and I was very happy to have those two guys and their knowlege of mountain hunting with me all the time! Besides how many buddies do you have that can afford to "tag along" on a $15K hunt..... like 3,000 miles away from home. In Texas... my guide gave me knowlege and put me in good situations to have opportunity, but the extra efforts that I put forth durring the hunt is what made me have the most success in our group.

 

On the flip side, I have gone on DIY hunts in AK with moderate success and alot of hard/expensive lessons.... A guide would have increased our success on the first trip by a 1000%... but we were too cheap to spend the extra $$$$..... The second trip we made better choices and had a lot more knowledge which created success in our DIY hunt....

 

Also, having been paid to hunt with people (residents and non-residents), I can assure you that having a guide does not insure success... it insures a quallity hunt with "Better" odds of success. I don't care how good of a hunter you are if you pair yourself with an equal (or better) hunter you are doubleing your chances of success for many reasons. I personally only like to guide in units where I have knowlege of the unit or have excellent resources of knowlege available to me..... knowing where you are and how to hunt it = success. Example: In the late elk hunt I hunted with a young man (20 yrs. old) that had never hunted elk for himself and had very limited knowlege of the unit. Where I found and ultimately helped him take a Thumper bull was in a place he would have never dreamed of hunting.... and never would have known how to get it done. I opened doors and opened his eyes all at once.... giving him the hunting trip of his life. He experienced things that he had maybe only read about hunting.... but never dreamed he could or would personally do.

 

Being a Guide is in an opportunity business... meaning we are there to provide opportunity (not success). Success means many differnt things to many different people. I have hunted with some very good hunters that in their own element might be able to guide me to an opportunity, but while in my element their success was directly connected to my knowledge. That goes for some of my Resident hunters as well as non-resident. On a separate line of thought......often times I find that many hunters know that on a rare AZ hunting opportunity (Lotto Tag), they can make better use of their limited time away from work/family commitments as well as limited scouting $$$$, by paying someone else to do the (often) frustrating pre-hunt work. Making them very relaxed on the hunt, and therefore making the hunting experience much more enjoyable for them.

 

Hope that sums it up a bit... I could ramble on and on, but my fingers are already wore out.....

[firstcoueswas80]

Why not have a guide? I have guided guys from Texas, California, Virgina... How are these guys supposed to have any clue at all about whitetail? When they booked with me, all they had for optics was quality scopes on their rifles, but didnt have anything over 7x or 8x binos. They came out with 10-15x binos with tripods. Do you think that these guys would have any clue to come with that if they didnt hire me, or any guide?

 

Every single one of those clients had an oppourtunity to set up on a 85+" buck. When I told them that the buck in question was a shooter, they ALL sad "Are you kidding, he is a baby!" Would they know that a 85" buck is a solid, respectable buck out here compared to their eastern whitetail without a guide?

 

 

[TAM]

I was just wondering if the satisfaction was still the same knowing that all the "hunting" was done for you?

 

What is that supposed to mean? I've been on a few guided hunts myself and believe me I hunted hard! Perhaps there was some scouting done for me, but by no means was "all the hunting" done for me.

 

What about states like Alaska and Wyoming that require guides for certain areas or animals. Does it make me less of a hunter because the law requires non residends to use a guide? In Nevada and New Mexico you have better odds of drawing if you are using an Outfitter. Does it make me less of a hunter if I applied through the outfitters draw to increase my odds of getting a tag?

 

There is also no gaurantee with using a guide. Like Gino said it's a "opportunity" business. I've hunted coues deer guided and non guided. It just happens that I've killed my biggest coues with a guide. I've also hunted mule deer both guided and non guided but I've killed my biggest mule deer all by myself. Sometimes you don't kill anything at all and just enjoy the hunt.