Gratuity/Tips for guided hunting

[Varmint Hunter]

Just an open question for anyone's response:

On a Carolina whitetail hunt where baiting is the norm, the cost is $2,500 for 5 days of hunting and includes room & board. The "guides" drive you to the stand and pick you up twice a day. If you take a deer, they skin & quarter it for you. Not really much "guiding" taking place.

When out, I noticed that there was very little bait remaining at some stands and none at all where bean fields were located. I questioned the guide about this and he assured me that bait was placed within 72hrs but must have been consumed by the deer. In a casual way, I said that apparently the bait sites needed to be freshened up. I hunted all week but never saw any fresh bait piles and never saw anyone loading bait on the vehicles..

On the 4th morning I woke up with a sick stomach and decided to stay in the rack. I got up at 7am and noticed the guides sleeping on the couches. They remained asleep until 9:45am before they went out to pick up the men. Each guide had 5 hunters to pick-up. I was surprised to see that they had nothing to do except sleep. With 100 stands located around several different parcels, there was obviously no interest in checking or re-baiting any of them.

Hunting all week was lean but a few nice bucks were taken. I felt that the entire group (10 men) would have seen more animals if the bait piles were adequately attended to, as I've seen in the past.

OK - what is the appropriate tip for the guide per/man? (Each guide had 5 guys for the week)
The cook did a good job of preparing 2 meals a day (breakfast & dinner) for 10 men. What should she get per/man?

 

[gusd]

Only problem with that is all of the money goes to the outfitter up front. That doesn't mean it will trickle down to the guide, cook, etc. I pay each individual according to their effort to make the hunt a great experience. That includes all employees working in camp. I tip the guide even if I don't kill.
Also, the guide does appreciate all those nifty knives, etc you give him, but cash is king. He pays bills with the cash-he might act gracious when you gift him a knife or other piece of equipment but when he gets home he probably tosses it into a box with all the other items he has received from other well meaning hunters.

As a business owner myself I know that if the guide uses the cash he gets to pay bills he is a poor businessman ..

 

[LTH181818]

If You own a business with employees, it's on you to pay them fairly. That is not socialism. I think the part that miffs people the most is the inconsistency. Waitstaff and hunting guides must be tipped or I'm a cheap ***. But nobody tips a plumber or electrician or welder, all of whom actually provide truly critical services. I could do pretty well if I ran a plumbing company and paid my master plumbers $10 an hour and said "you must tip them 20% of the total bill so they can make a living wage".
Then there is the question of the amount. Why should the waitress at a swanky restaurant get an $80 tip vs the waitress at Denny's gets $8?

Because they are valued by some 10 times more, AZ Apache Indian reservation.. elk 50-100K, Wagonhound ranch in Wy 18k to 25K.
Market Forses

 

[69precision]

Because they are valued by some 10 times more, AZ Apache Indian reservation.. elk 50-100K, Wagonhound ranch in Wy 18k to 25K.
Market Forses

Right, my point being that a guide on either ranch works just a hard. The difference in price is because of the trophy quality of the animals, not the guides.

 

[birddog 68]

Just an open question for anyone's response:

On a Carolina whitetail hunt where baiting is the norm, the cost is $2,500 for 5 days of hunting and includes room & board. The "guides" drive you to the stand and pick you up twice a day. If you take a deer, they skin & quarter it for you. Not really much "guiding" taking place.

When out, I noticed that there was very little bait remaining at some stands and none at all where bean fields were located. I questioned the guide about this and he assured me that bait was placed within 72hrs but must have been consumed by the deer. In a casual way, I said that apparently the bait sites needed to be freshened up. I hunted all week but never saw any fresh bait piles and never saw anyone loading bait on the vehicles..

On the 4th morning I woke up with a sick stomach and decided to stay in the rack. I got up at 7am and noticed the guides sleeping on the couches. They remained asleep until 9:45am before they went out to pick up the men. Each guide had 5 hunters to pick-up. I was surprised to see that they had nothing to do except sleep. With 100 stands located around several different parcels, there was obviously no interest in checking or re-baiting any of them.

Hunting all week was lean but a few nice bucks were taken. I felt that the entire group (10 men) would have seen more animals if the bait piles were adequately attended to, as I've seen in the past.

OK - what is the appropriate tip for the guide per/man? (Each guide had 5 guys for the week)
The cook did a good job of preparing 2 meals a day (breakfast & dinner) for 10 men. What should she get per/man?

Perfect example of 10% of the cost of the hunt not being appropriate. We did a similar 4 day hunt twice in Kentucky but no baiting. He was on time or early every morning and when I shot a buck he helped drag. He also texted a couple times a day to confirm everything was good. I gave him a $150 tip that year. Following year no buck so I gave $100 since there was no dragging involved. We stayed in a motel and ate out but I would say around $50 each would have been adequate for the cook.

 

[emp1953]

I'm thinking that it depends on where you are hunting and for what species. Since becoming older and less mobile my guided hunts are with an outfitter that charges $2k for a 5-day hunt. I typically tip 10%. A little more if the guide really stands out. There is no provision for the cooks. The food just shows up at the lodge morning and evening and is very good. I found out that it's the guys wife and mom that does the cooking so if I see them on the way in or out I will give them something. I paid $11k for an Idaho elk hunt on horseback. lots more to consider where horses were concerned. the guide happened to be the outfitter himself so It was obvious that he was trying to get us to book again and was declining tips. That kind of hunt is different given the unreliability of consistently drawing an elk tag.

 

[Troutslayer2]

As a side note of interest, where I live it's illegal to pay anyone less than $16.75 per hour, be it a server, cook, guide, delivery driver, or something else. Also it's mandatory to pay OT at 1.5 times their wage after 8 hours per day, up to 11 hours in their work day, and then double time after 11 hours.
So in BC Canada there is no such thing as a guide, cook, or server making $3 / hour as some here suggested.
View attachment 510069View attachment 510070

Most outfitters in Montana use guides who are independent contractors. They pay per day and then issue a 1099 at tax time. All taxes and other liabilities are on the independent contractor. Cooks and wranglers are mostly just cash under the table.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Here's another interesting angle,

I met a rather wealthy guy in a New Brunswick bear camp. The guy traveled all over the country in pursuit of bears. Big or small, he just loved hunting bears. When asked, he was happy to show me pictures of his grizzlys, brown bears and even two polar bears. This guy was the real deal and had plenty of money to pursue his passion.

When the subject of tipping came up, he said that the guy who was taking him out every day was the outfitter, not a guide. He told me the outfitter owns the business and that they don't get tipped. He said that ordinarily he is a generous tipper but in this case he would not be tipping anything. It wasn't a matter of money, but it was a matter of protocol.

At the end of the week, and after he killed his bear, I asked him if he still felt that no tip was due. He replied that nothing had changed and that he would not be tipping because it wasn't called for. He said he would be happy to tip a guide but he never had one.

 

[Laelkhunter]

As a business owner myself I know that if the guide uses the cash he gets to pay bills he is a poor businessman ..

Not sure I understand how the guide is paying his bills without cash. My point was that instead of gifting the guide a token of your appreciation, cash might be a little more usable as far as his needs. Be it gas money, truck repairs, beer, or sending it home to the Wife to let her get the kids something. What do you prefer being a businessman? Cash I would suspect. I also don't really consider the guide a failure if he isn't considered a good "businessman", but can call in a decent Bull or knows the movement of game I am after. I would expect the outfitter to more of the businessman.

 

[flyguy1]

I just threw up in the back of my mouth now! Hahahahahaha

Haha. Some folks thought I was being serious.

 

[flyguy1]

As to the burden left on wives as guides go off to hunt, I totally get that. My daughter sent her husband to war several times for many months. Not easy.