Outfitters, WHY do we (you) need 'Em?

[elkduds]

When I stopped drinking, Coors had to sell out to Molson to keep the lights on. And the peso tumbled in dollar exchange rate.

You may detect an element of pride in the wretched excess of my bibulousness during the waning years of the last century. Only in hindsight, mind you.

 

[EYJONAS!]

My wife says I have the gut of a coyote

Spoken like a true man of the original gods country

 

[The Hedgehog]

 

[Nick87]

My wife says I have the gut of a coyote

I have the appetite, not the gut. I cook with jalapenos a lot, she says I'll never learn.

 

[rwc101]

Too buzzed to know why we're posting pictures of beer but here's mine.

 

[timmy]

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I just threw up in my mouth. Woof

 

[mtmuley]

My wife says I have the gut of a coyote

Maybe eat some wolf? mtmuley

 

[pojoaque40]

At the risk of alienating some folks, but hoping to bring this conversation back to sanity...

I kind of agree with this guy even if i disagree with the way he made his case. Here in NM outfitters (read: landowners in many cases) are given a guaranteed percentage of hunts. By giving them a guaranteed percentage of hunts they are by definition reducing opportunity for everyone else in the state. This is a simple fact. Pay more money, get more hunts. This isn't by any means illegal, but it does play into some of the recent outrage over gov's tags and other pay-to-play trophies.

If a person wants to pay to hunt with a guide i say go ahead, i won't judge you; but to distinguish the self hunter from the guided via laws and regs? ...I have to agree with the OP, no matter how poorly he made his argument. Everyone should have an equal draw.

 

[Hem]

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How could you possibly be drinking the same beer four years later?
There are others as good.

 

[The Hedgehog]

How could you possibly be drinking the same beer four years later?
There are others as good.

I fell in love with it 8 years ago. Not many as good. I try plenty.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

I support guides and outfitters. I have seen some who overshoot areas, or are jerks and therefore do not get along with locals. I am not a fan of them. There is a guy around here who literally kills the majority of the lions on quota in several units. He has a bunch of guys checking canyons for tracks and then takes his hunter to the biggest and freshest. Then he shoots the shit out of them and posts social media posts with literally 12-16 clients with dead lions...on one picture. That is unreasonable. Quotas end in Idaho in August, and this guy has literally come out publicly and said his hound pack will make local lions extinct. This is his goal. This is terrible stewardship and I don't support it. Zero hunters I know have any respect for him.

Most love the sport and the game. Yeah, they are competition on public land, but I think a modest amount of outfitting and outfitter take is a good thing.

Opinions also may vary from state to state. Idaho is tightly regulated with no more than one outfitter with rights to a GMU. Other states have less restrictions with multiple outfitters in the same area. There are benefits of both systems. In Idaho, the limit is nice. The problem is that within a unit there is no competition to drive business...for deer and elk, not a big deal because a guy can go somewhere else. But if you draw sheep for unit whatever, he is your only option. No competition. If I draw sheep in CO, I can choose between multiple outfitters and base the choice on past success. I hunt DIY in the west, so not a big deal to me, but it is something to consider.

I generally support them making a living off the land and the game if their take and footprint is within reason.

I am adamantly against outfitter welfare. This includes things like the WY wilderness law, NM tag allocations, etc. This is not free market. My opinion is that if your service and success is good enough, you will get clients. If you need to have the government subsidize your business in the form of laws that significantly restrict others, that is crap.

If their services are worth it, they will sell. If they don't have what they consider to be enough business, then they need to be better at what they do, or change their marketing strategies.

Outfitter welfare programs make the quality of outfitting overall go down, which hurts guys who want to hunt with one, and it hurts the outfitters who are good at their job because they get painted with the same brush.

 

[timmy]

I fell in love with it 8 years ago. Not many as good. I try plenty.

You ever try a Busch latte.

 

[Chad Gus]

 

[Dougfirtree]

Too buzzed to know why we're posting pictures of beer but here's mine.
View attachment 181316

You know, I can be a bit snobby, at times, about beer. But that Hazy Little Thing is pretty good. We've been drinking that alot lately.

 

[pojoaque40]

Guys i appreciate your contributions but this supposedly banned fellow raised a serious issue, even if he did it the wrong way. I love beer, but talk of beer belongs in the campfire section. I belive he raised a point worth serious discussion. What role do guides play in modern hunting, and should they be afforded some special class of license such that it reduces the opportunites of the guy who can't afford one, or simply doesn't want one?

 

[rwc101]

You know, I can be a bit snobby, at times, about beer. But that Hazy Little Thing is pretty good. We've been drinking that alot lately.

Sierra Nevada has (imo) fallen off a bit, but Hazy Little Thing is solid.

 

[The Hedgehog]

You ever try a Busch latte.

Saving one for you - just in case you ever visit.

 

[Nick87]

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That's the only beer that I actually enjoy on tap.

 

[rwc101]

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Every few years a couple friends and I go to SD to hunt pheasants in a farmer's fields. He gives us shit for our craft beer and we give him shit for his Busch Light. We told him we'd drink Busch for the week if he could down a Spotted Cow. We won the bet.

 

[TheJason]

Blue collar night.