guide or no guide

[123456]

$300 is not really charging you. As you stated, he is not a buddy just an old acquaintance. If you do not have anyone that is close to you that can teach you, $300 is pretty cheap. I say take him up on his offer, and find out what he does different. If $300 is a lot of money for you to afford at the current time, ask some guys from this site to show you the ropes. Lots will show you something for some cold beer and a good meal.

[capoeirajosh]

Antlerfreak most if not all guides will charge at least 2500 for their services. If your buddy is trying to make a living from guiding, then in order for him to put food on his plate then he needs to charge something in order to justify being in the field with you and not someone else. What he is basically saying to you is i wish i could go as friends together for free, but in order for him to skip guiding another hunter he needs to charge you a very small fee of 300 dollars to do it. I would completely disagree with everyone that says this guy isnt your friend. If this guy is willing to make next to nothing at 300 dollars, and skip making much much more money guiding someone else,than that would be a sign to me that he is actually a much better friend than you are being told he is on here. Be careful not to let other people who are quick to skin any cat that doesn't fit their liking affect how you look at your friend. You know the guy in a much deeper way than just this post, so go with your gut on that judgement and nothing else. I'm a guide off and on and a lot of my friends are 2, and i wish i could call some of them and ask them if they would skip guiding other people for 400 to 500 dollars a day to come hunt with me for 300 for a week. I would gladly force 300 or more down their pockets for the friendship donation to my hunt along with all the help they would give me also. Having someone with you on the hunt glassing with you is priceless. Pay the 300 dollars to him, and thank him for being willing to sacrifice more money to be able to spend time with his buddy and thats you antlerfreak. Go get um and post some pics of your buck.

I apologize for my statement earlier in the post. I guess I never thought of it that way. You are totally right couesmagnet.

[couesmagnet]

I wasn't trying to be right, but it would be sad if the guy woke up tomorrow morning thinking diff. about this guy he called a friend, and that's all i was trying to say. I'm sure if the guy had lots of money to his name he wouldn't have asked for anything. I've been on more hunts than i can remember for free, and those are usually the most fun type of hunts anyways, but i've also had to say no to other hunts i wanted to go on with friends cause i had to guide others to pay bills. Good luck on your hunt this year!!!

[rcdinaz]

I paid $600 to a friend of a friend and tipped him which was about 10 years ago. He was a newbie as a licensed guide for that guide service but had been assisting pretty much his whole life. I learned more in one hunt than I probably would have figured out in five on my own. Still a memorable hunt and I didnt even tag out.

 

Good luck if you are taggin a buck this year you will forget the money in a hurry anyway. Oh and you will probbaly think he is a REALLY good freind after that,

[wildwoody]

Im not a guide , and maybe not a bad hunter, but i will say i no the ground pounders and those boys put in alot of time scouting, guide are good hunters not always the nicest guys but seriuose and professional, and hopefally ethical like the az ground pounders are, but with that said YOU CAN DO ITTTTTT!!!!!!

[SO I HUNT]

Here's one question friend or not is he burning his gas money, vacation time? Maybe I missed something, but regardless 300 dollars or not maybe this would be a great learning of how to hunt for the game you have a tag for??? Just my 1-1/2 cent of thought.... If it's a full blown guided hunt and you want all the permits and license than pay the going rate?

Good luck on your hunt.....

[wildwoody]

+1 :)

[antlerfreak]

wow! thanks couesmagnet those were some powerful words you opened my eyes and im looking at it in a whole different way and thanks to everyone for your input and good advice good luck to yall god bless and happy hunting

[dieselroe]

As heat said, you have to have a guide license to guide. BUT You also have to have permits for the different agencies depending on what land you plan to be hunting. FS or BLM lands all require a permit in order to guide on them. Last I knew the only land you don't need permits for is state land, but I am not up and up on the rules anymore. They also require you to have insurance (liability). So I would be careful. Most legit guides are charging anywhere from 2500 to 4500 dollars for guided coues hunts. I know a few that do day rate stuff, but they have to cover their bottom lines with all the required permitting so it stacks up quick. I know guys that piggie back off others permits but they still have to buy into the permits soooo.....I'd be hesitant and make sure he has all the right paperwork. Although I'm not sure if caught if any of the blame would actually fall on you. Most likely they would go after your buddy. Maybe some others can expound some more there.

He's not the guide, so the responsibility is not on him.

 

For $300, it is worth getting bloody... You will most likely learn a lot, and gain a lot of confidence and be able to do it yourself down the road.

This is very good advice!! If you've been hunting for 6 years and haven't been successful it will be very profitable to pay somebody to show you some new things that maybe you haven't considered before. I take friends hunting and it cost me money so 300 dollars is probly just enough for food and gas. Thats a great deal with all you'll learn and maybe making a kill!! If I had not killed a deer after 6 years I may have given up on hunting and not pursued it any more, so congrats on your determination. I killed my first year and have killed about every other year since. Pay a buddy to help you and have some fun. 300 is nothin. 300 wouldn't hardly get you a good scope!!

 

2 pennys and them some.....

[antlerfreak]

wow giving up after not tagging out in 6 yrs not me i love hunting way more now than i did 6 yrs ago shoot i still got hopefully 40 years of hunting left so no giving up for me im just getting started

[wildwoody]

its about the beautiful out doors

[azbow]

Great attitude antlerfreak. With that attitude and love of hunting, you just need a little help from a good experienced hunter with good ethics to show you some tricks and methods to get you started on your life's journey. You will learn a lot from one hunt with a good Coues deer hunter. You have come to the right site to learn about Coues, there are lots of great deer hunters here willing to share hard earned knowledge.

[John O]

i want to know what you guys have to say about my situation i have a friend not a close friend but someone i known since high school anyways this guy kills bucks every year and seems to always get drawn for the late bull hunts and tags out my situation is i have been hunting for 6 years now and only killed a javelina so i run into my friend and tells me that hes starting up his own guide service and would take me out for my hunt for 300 hundred dollars. i dont know what guides charge for coues hunts but i would really like to tag my first buck what do you guys feel about guides or is it a better satisfaction to kill a buck on your own

What unit do you plan on hunting in?

[Coach]

I have no gripes with guides, or anyone who hunts with guides. For a lot of people, paying for services is natural. When the water heater or air conditioner breaks down, you call a plumber or AVAC person, get a glitch in a light switch call the electrician, flat tire, call AAA. Time for a kitchen or bathroom makeover, pay somebody to handle it, from the concept to completion, you never get your hands dirty.

 

Maybe I'm weird, but I just can't do things that way. If I had the very best elk or deer tag imaginable, I couldn't stand paying somebody to hold my hand through the hunt. I don't mind branching out and meeting people and exchanging information, but it's not the same.

 

I recently re-built our entire house- not because I wanted to - but a simple tile job turned into a nightmare because of the way it had been done by "professionals". I had never laid tile in my life and re-tiled 2600+ feet with all kinds of decorative touches that we would have paid a fortune for, and people still ask us who did it for us.

 

I could go on-and-on with the DIY analogies. Bottom line, you are your best guide. You don't know everything, but I guarantee there are people willing to point you in the right direction. If you are willing to get some starters, just enough to get going, then do the rest of the hard work, you'll see that you don't necessarily need to hire a guide, you just need to ask for a starting point, which are plentiful on this site, and do the rest on your own.

[antlerfreak]

once again thanks fellas for your advice ill be hunting 33 oct