What is your best outfitter experence?

My favorite moment was when MOGA had sway with the majority in the legislature and a former employee as Director of FWP and they used that leverage to work with sportsmen to modernize MT’s big game management for the betterment of the resource and for all involved.
 
I've had more bad encounters than good especially with ones we used for work the last few years. I want to give most outfits the benefit of the doubt and I really want to give one a try especially since I would have to for several types of hunts in Alaska.

I've only been on one "guided" hunt when I was like 13. My uncles bought a donated fall turkey hunt at an NWTF banquet in Nebraska for my grandpa and I. We shared a single wide trailer with a couple fellows who were also buffaloed into thinking this was a legit operation. Our "guide" was the outfitter's 15 year old son. We walked around for a few hours on day one, making all sorts of racket with a box call and he decided we were done for the day. Next morning we were driven to a feedlot full of turkeys eating cow shit and were instructed to run out and shoot one if we wanted to fill our tags. We left that afternoon.

I can't tell if it's bad livestock or tempers that created most of the issues on non-hunting trips that I've used outfitters. One close fist punched a horse in front of a very full trailhead. Another outfitter borrowed a bunch of mules in some sort of horsetrade BS and sent in his tophand to pack out our crew. Those mules very quickly and violently dispersed 10 people's worth of gear across the a certain Wilderness. It took us 14hrs to find most of the gear and animals. I don't think the mule explosion was the fault of the packer who seemed to be a very stand-up individual and one hell of a storyteller. The packer felt terrible about the issue and couldn't apologize more so if he started his own outfit I'd give him a try
 
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thusby said:
Only hired a guide one time up in northern MB for bears over bait. Had a great time and now that outfitter is one of my best friends for the last 10 years. We meet up and hunt/fish in US or Canada nearly every year. Sometimes I guess it works out.
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Gees, I forgot about that fishing trip. Ten years ago this summer a Wisconsin acquaintance from my Alaska ranger days called and asked if I'd tag along for a Manitoba fishing trip. His partner had to cancel out. Stu had MS and difficult to get around so I agreed to help him. We first checked in with a young guide out of Roblin for some trout fishing. Nice guy but not very well prepared. Stu kinda grumped at me for not tipping but too much went wrong: no access to one pond and had to use our own vehicle battery for trolling motor because both of his were dead. Fishing was okay in spite of the weather.

The second place was Stu's waterfowl guide who invited him to come up for fishing ... as a friend. Again, the weather was not great ... but the fishing was. He had just wrapped up bear season. Twenty-seven clients left with 27 bears!. Great fella. Can't think of his name but he is/was based out of town of Winnipegosis. He left his tackle box in my rig and I didn't discover it till I got home. Shipped it to him and he called to try paying me for it. You kidding! No way. I had a helluva time with carpal tunnel and arthritis while there. Kept me up all night. He got his pharmacist son to open up on Sunday and give me some stuff that saved the trip (yep, I did say give me).
 
greatwhitebuffalo said:
see what it's like to be out with a guide and maybe 'take it easy' on a hunt for once. Care to share (good or bad) experiences? What advice do you guys have?
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I've hunted guided in MT for deer and elk, QC for bears, NL for moose and bears, HI for Axis deer, and countless fishing trips. However one thing I have found is that the more expensive the trip, the more stressful. I am much more relaxed on a DIY hunt where the only pressure/focus is on the hunt not "I spent ten thousand dollars on this trip and I might not get one".

Maybe that goes away if you've got lots of money to burn but its some stressful stuff when you've been pinching pennies all year and the hunt is down to the wire.
 
Schaaf said:
My favorite moment was when MOGA had sway with the majority in the legislature and a former employee as Director of FWP and they used that leverage to work with sportsmen to modernize MT’s big game management for the betterment of the resource and for all involved.
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Just found out they didn’t actually do that. They spent all session working for socialism and against habitat Montana.
 
I still have great memories from this outfitted hunt in Alberta.

Alberta Mule Deer Hunt

Here are some pictures from my Alberta hunt: 1: Some of the country we were hunting in. 2: Guides Kelly and Tyson in the high country. 3: My wife and I in "Dead Elk Meadows". 4: The cabin we stayed at. Story to come soon.
www.hunttalk.com www.hunttalk.com
 
A question could be is what could you reasonably expect from an outfitter or guide service? What would make it a good experience?
 
I have never used a guide. Reading through this thread has been very interesting.

There are a couple of elk hunts that I will probably do a drop camp at a minimum for when/if I ever draw the tags for the area.

It looks like since my son is going to be tied up with his college and career as a game warden for the next several years and none of my hunting buddies from here in the lowlands are interested in putting in the work or time to do a backcountry elk or even a deer hunt, I will likely be going it solo. I'd hate to let any meat ruin if I killed an elk way back in somewhere.
 
thebestusernamesaretaken said:
A question could be is what could you reasonably expect from an outfitter or guide service? What would make it a good experience?
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I've been on both sides of this question and will say good people, with good attitudes, and in great shape ready to cover some tough country, will result in a great experience. A nice animal is a cherry on top.
 
Ask their references far more questions about the method of hunting, the experience in the field and how many hours in a day they actually spent hunting vs in camp than you do about if they killed and how big. See if this matches what the outfitter says. If it does and it matches your expectations then you have a good starting point. If it doesn't then move on.

BTW, I called this bull in from the treeline above his left side 5th, 900 yds out, to within 25 yds with only three toots on the ol' hoochie mama. There's a reason every graduating senior from Laramie and Cheyenne high school's are issued one with their diploma under strict instructions they be used every 2 minutes while hunting the Medicine Bow NF. They are deadly!
IMG_1192.JPG
 
mulecreek said:
Ask their references far more questions about the method of hunting, the experience in the field and how many hours in a day they actually spent hunting vs in camp than you do about if they killed and how big. See if this matches what the outfitter says. If it does and it matches your expectations then you have a good starting point. If it doesn't then move on.

BTW, I called this bull in from the treeline above his left side 5th, 900 yds out, to within 25 yds with only three toots on the ol' hoochie mama. There's a reason every graduating senior from Laramie and Cheyenne high school's are issued one with their diploma under strict instructions they be used every 2 minutes while hunting the Medicine Bow NF. They are deadly!
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How could I book something like this?
 
The two I worked for were criminals, literally. One is in prison now I think. The other was just a piece of shit who lied to customers to take their money, he’s still in business. No barrier to entry to become one creates opportunity for people who are otherwise unemployable, have criminal history..... I’m sure there are good ones and maybe someday I will meet one.
 
I have been on two outfitted/guided hunts.

The first was into Utah Unitas with UBar ranch pact trip. The hunt was great and we didn’t see another person for a week of hunting. They were really dishonest and tried to screw us in the pack out when we had our elk down. They wanted to double the number of horses and said there horses could only carry two front shoulders as max weight. They tried to tell us they would need four horses per elk for the pack out. In the long run we had pre-paid for elk pack out so I didn’t care if it took 20. We had already paid. I don’t think they are in business anymore and it wasn’t per se guided. Great hunt but terrible experience.

The one real guided hunt I went on was with Steve Chappell in unit 9 in AZ. I had moved to DC the same year I drew the archery tag. I could not feasibly scout the unit and bring the necessary gear. That was the best decision I made. Steve was awesome and the hunt was great. He was very professional and I learned a lot from him and his calling. I would recommend him to anybody. On on morning hunt we were moving into elk and had another hunter basically run past us. There in no question he saw us and actually ran between Steve and myself to get to the elk. He ran up about a 100 yards a tried to use us as callers. He bumped the elk and ruined the morning hunt. Steve handled that like a true gentleman and a professional. We moved on and he simply stated it was public land we would have many more chances. It has been several years but I believe Steve called 17 or 18 6x6 bulls into less than 20 yards.

However, I have had several run ins with guides in Utah and Colorado that didn’t go well. I think the guides are like most other businesses. Some are really bad and some are really good.
 
I've been on one guided hunt, and it was a duck hunt duck hunt but I'll add it anyways.
Nov 2020 my buddy and I hunted with Timber Wings Waterfowl in NE AR.
We didn't kill much (I only fired 3 shots) but it was at no fault to the guide, Clay.
We ate good and had a blast.
Turns out we should have stayed one more day as a cold front pushed through. Clay and the other guy that hunted with us limited by 9am.

We have become friends and text each other every now and then. Im trying to convince him to bring his boat and hunt Kentucky Lake with me20201128_070940.jpg20201128_164802.jpg
 
One stands out to me. Met a "guide" from a local "outfitter" on the way to where I elk hunt. Guide was from the East. First year in Montana. He asked me where to hunt. Felt sorry for the hunter. And no, I didn't give info. mtmuley
 
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