BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

[klotz]

Is there a unwritten rule on how much to tip your guide. If you harvest your animal or if you had a bad experience. I have never hunted with a guide before and I will be going on a guided moose hunt in British Columbia this fall, so I am looking for some input.

[hunter1947]

First of all i would see how hard he works for you if he works reall hard and gets the job done ,,then give him a tip i don't think it would be out of the ball park to tip him a few hundread dollars if he realy works hard for you. I woulden't say that there is a tip for him untill the job is done ,but i would ask him at the start of the hunt that there would be a little tip if he gets you a top notch animal with a nice rack. wayne. :yes:

[model88]

I have been guiding for the last 7 years in South Eastern B.C., I have recieved all different amounts for a tip. But if the tip is under $250 American, then I give it back! We work damn hard for our tips regardless of whether or not the hunter harvests an animal. My biggest tip came last fall from a hunter who did not harvest anything, he had chances and seen lots of game, even a Grizz at about 20 yrds. I had a hunter harvest nice bull elk and give me $200, I throw it back at them and say thanks but no thanks.

I realize that for most people a guided hunt may be a once in a lifetime thing that they save many years for, these are the hunters that I like to guide, not to say that those that can afford to hunt guided year after year are any different, I just don't think they appreciate the trip as much.

Just an opinion guys.

[Whitetailer]

As this is my first season as a hunting guide, I've got no input to offer there, but from the fishing side of things, it's "customary" among fishermen who regularly fish with a guide to tip about a hundred bucks a day. My feelings on the tip amount vs. success are this: At the end of the day, our success as a guide relies on 2 factors that we have no control over, luck, and the ability of the client to listen, understand and practice what we tell them. I remember one client from Georgia about 5 years ago that insisted on using his own flies from his saltwater collection, and paid very little regard to what I told him to do. At the end of the trip, he had caught 4 trout, the biggest being under 16". A week later, I got a terrible review on his website, and there was no tip. I've had clients that have never held a fly rod before, fished outta my box and ended up with lots of big fish, and a $400 tip.

And as far as the luck thing goes, thats hunting & fishing. As hard as we all as sportsmen try to be the best at what we do, and be in the right places at the right times, sometimes we're just not gonna be there when we should've been. That being said, a professional guide does everything in his power (and the law) to ensure his clients are more succesful than they had hoped for.

So to answer your question...... IMO..... if you're guide knows his stuff, dosn't feed you BS, and you have a good time, tip him what you think his efforts were worth, but figure on a bare minimum of a hundred bucks a day.

[Whitetailer]

I've been thinking about your post 88, and I knew something bothered me about it, just couldn't figure out what......just figured it out lol.

model88 wrote: We work damn hard for our tips regardless of whether or not the hunter harvests an animal.

I'm sure this is true of the vast majority of guides, but Klotz asked about having a bad experience. Like all industries, theres bound to be guides out there that just don't put the effort in that their customers money is due. While I'm sure you're an upstanding guy, and a hardworking guide, what if he gets stuck with some drunken yahoo that couldn't find a moose in the zoo? I'm sure it happens, and in the rare and unfortunate case that your guide is a boob, not only does he not deserve a tip, you deserve all or part of your money back too!

Like I said, most guides are professional in what they do, and are damn good at it. Just like theres poor salesmen, poor rig hands, poor welders and poor chefs, theres bound to be poor guides too.

[Hiker]

Klotz, We had this discussion a little while back.....

http://www.biggamehunt.net/for.....php?t=9082

[Whitetailer]

I've taken more than my fair share of guided trips in my life... both fishing and hunting, and from a clients point of view, heres what it comes down to for me. I NEVER base my guides tip on how successful I was. Because I've been on both sides of this contract, I know the real score, and the truth is.. sometimes you just don't score! I base my guides tip on how much FUN I had!.

When you really get deep into why we pursue these sports, it comes down to having FUN!

I had a guide on the Missouri river about 4 years ago (fly fishing) that (in my opinion) may not have caught a fish in that river for years lol. He wasn't exactly a pro at entemology, he didn't know the river as well as you think a pro guide should (he missed the boat launch and we had to drag the boat back upstream 200 yards lol). He wasn't a certified casting instructor, he wasn't even very good at fly casting lol. His flies were old and in bad shape, he drove a very old and ugly truck, he was fat, I don't think he had showered in a couple days, he may have been living in his truck (we're not sure lol), and just didn't give off the "fly fishing guide" aura lol.

But on the flip side, the guy was hilarious, he had about a zillion funny stories about people he had guided in the past, knew every joke in the book, and was a riot to be around. Both me and my father caught fish on the trip (although without blowing my own horn, I think it was considerably more due to my expertise than the "guides" lol). At the end of the trip, I was "laughed out" sunburned (and 1/2 snapped lol) and had a great time. I gave the guy a $200 tip cuz I had fun!

Its not always what you catch or kill, so much as how much you enjoyed yourself!

[Whitetailer]

........for those of you guys from Alberta....I'm NOT talking about Barry White, although the description I just gave REALLY sounds like him lol

[NWbearhunter]

I agree, you tip your guide based on the overall experience.

You do expect to get what you pay for, in hunting trips and in life. If you order something from someone and pay them for their work up front, you expect to get your products delivered. You pay for a hunt, you expect a good hunt.

Now for most of us who trust people and pay up front we hope that we will not get ripped off, no matter the amount of money involved. But once you have been burnt a time or two you can no longer trust people.

I have two guided hunts with no kills. Both were, in my opinion due to poor preperation or bad guides. I have also bought a product over the internet, paid for it and not received it. I think that burns me more than the unsucessful hunts, because at least I got to go on the hunts and experience the country or area.

Getting ripped off online you get nothing out of it...and it leaves you bitter and untrusting....don't you agree Whitetailer?

[Whitetailer]

Absolutley. You havn't been robbed Mike :lol: , I'm just waaaay behind.

[rramv10]

I had a hunter harvest nice bull elk and give me $200, I throw it back at them and say thanks but no thanks.


Just an opinion guys.[/quote]

well my opinion is a guide is getting paid for doing his job, thats what it is to them. So if someone safes and hires them to do a job and they do a good one and the fella scrapes another 200 bucks to give it to the guide and he throws it back. That would be the last time he guided me anywhere. I will never hire a guide but the idea that there would be some out there like that is annoying. Thats just my opinion all 1 1/2 cents worth. great forum not looking to make any enemies, to much fire power in here.

[cowgal]

model88 wrote: I had a hunter harvest nice bull elk and give me $200, I throw it back at them and say thanks but no thanks.


I have to agree with you rramv10 that the above comment surprised me and is rather arrogant. Though I haven't been on a guided hunt, I have been on guided fishing trips and its typical for my husband and I to tip about $200-250 for 3-4 days of full time guiding. I always thought that was generous considering that anything guided is generally not cheap, and we have to save up quite some time to go on one of these "special" guided trips.

Fortunately no one has thrown our "tip" back in our faces. They were all gracious and seemingly appreciative. $200 bucks is not a drop in the bucket for most folks.

[Hiker]

NWbearhunter, Welcome to BGH. :) Please stay around and add your expertise. :thumbsup1:

[NWbearhunter]

Thanks for the welcome, not sure I have much expertise, but I sure like to talk about hunting!

[tim]

who does model 88 work for? I ask , so i ever go on another guided hunt, i dont go with his company.

Whenever i got a tip as a guide, I was grateful, because it was a tip.