Tipping the Elk Guide

[elliscountyhog]

Out of curiosity what do you tip at a restaurant.

Owner of the restaurant is not going to be your server. And you dang sure dont tip the cook at a restaurant so I do not think this compares to hunting guides. My take is each situation is different but one thing they all have in common and as a guide/outfitter is always tip even if you can only afford a little bit. If an outfitter makes his guides depend on tip money then he is not charging enough money to pay his guides. Tips should be exactly what they are "extras" When I book a hunt I try to find the all inclusive deal. I do not want to feel "pressured" into paying another 500-1000 at the end of the hunt. I want to feel like I am happy to do so but if not the guide is still making his living but my 100-200 tip will help him get a new pair of binos or whatever but not make his mortgage payment.

[Traildust]

No one ever tips their T/A Scheduler.......sorry bastages!

[elliscountyhog]

Used to guide a few hunts, tip was always much appreciated but never expected. I’d work just as hard for the guy who can’t afford to tip as I would for guy giving a great tip. At the end of the day I knew what I signed up for and how much guarantied money their was.


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Anyone needing a great guide? This is what I would want to hear in the hiring process!

[myway]

Owner of the restaurant is not going to be your server. And you dang sure dont tip the cook at a restaurant so I do not think this compares to hunting guides. My take is each situation is different but one thing they all have in common and as a guide/outfitter is always tip even if you can only afford a little bit. If an outfitter makes his guides depend on tip money then he is not charging enough money to pay his guides. Tips should be exactly what they are "extras" When I book a hunt I try to find the all inclusive deal. I do not want to feel "pressured" into paying another 500-1000 at the end of the hunt. I want to feel like I am happy to do so but if not the guide is still making his living but my 100-200 tip will help him get a new pair of binos or whatever but not make his mortgage payment.

See post 54 I was not comparing just curious and I was accurate in my assumption.

[trjones87]

If he drops me off at a water hole every day for 7 days and I paid $6,500 for the hunt plus the cost of the license and didn't see squat then he gets squat. Just saying

thats 'semi' guided, different ball game in my book

[Texans42]

You are making a lot of assumptions here.

More often than not (in my experience) the owner of the outfit IS the guide too.


That's what you are paying for in the first place. It should be spelled out in your contract.


Not sure why you throw this assumption in your argument.



Do you really believe this?

Not throwing any assumptions simply stating fact based off me doing 1-4 guided out west hunts a year, and I’m usually covering 2-4 states.

Only places you usually see outfitter/guide combo with no other guides are you higher end low tag sheep hunts like stone, or coastal browns etc even that’s a stretch, only true solo I can think of is a houndsman etc.

Most elk camps(OTC or easy draw units) are running pretty decent hunter numbers per camp, so it’s impossible for outfitter to do it all with out guides. Your higher end outfitters on LE hunts are running multiple guides per client solely to find high end animals. Nut shell is safe to say outfitter has a higher probability of having guides then not.

And yes I have seen a outfitter”s” tell a client that stiffed guides he was already booked for next year and neither were actually. I’ve also had outfitters/friends call and say they just give a reference on me. So yes it does happen

If you don’t ever plan on hunting with that outfitter again don’t tip, no law requiring it, but I highly recommend you do if you want to come back or have any future preference, assuming you can

[Texans42]

Actually , I have found most outfitters are not the guides. They may guide a day or so but are busy making sure your camp and other hunters are being taken care of.
Guides are paid pretty standard rate around these parts and outfitters count on their guides getting tipped.
Remember the outfitter has the contract with you, not the guide. They may not even know how much your hunt cost you.
If you can't afford to tip that is one thing, no shame in that. Guides will pick up on that pretty fast and for many it won't matter.

Yelp!!!! 100% true on all accounts, well put

[goldtip5575]

Used to guide a few hunts, tip was always much appreciated but never expected. I’d work just as hard for the guy who can’t afford to tip as I would for guy giving a great tip. At the end of the day I knew what I signed up for and how much guarantied money their was.


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This is the exact approach and expectation I had when guiding. It was more of a 3 day hobby for me, as i had an 8 to 5 job that pays the bills.

[Tsnow]

I have been on several "guided" hunts in Texas, A lot of good info on here, Me myself has always tipped the guide. But this is my first major out of state big hunt and wanted to know the percentage range. Appreciate the info.

[Hobbs]

thats 'semi' guided, different ball game in my book

It was booked as a guided hunt and the guides were friends of the outfitter. I think they were just trying to help him out as he had overbooked hunts that week. I was also told we weren't going to be too aggressive with my hunt because he didn't want to run the herd off the ranch before the rifle hunters came in two weeks later. I wasn't happy about that at all. The hunt cost a lot of money for me and I was hoping to at least get a shot opportunity at a bull.

Outfitters are salesman. They will tell you what you want to hear to get the contract signed. I was told 70% shot opportunity on a 300" bull or better and 30% success rate. 20 guys in camp and 2 bulls were killed. One other hunter missed. So 17 of the 20 in camp didn't get an opportunity. 10% success rate and 15% opportunity rate that week. So the next week they must have really been on them to get the percentages back up. I'm not trying to bash outfitters at all. I know there are some great ones out there and they actually have the success rates to prove it.

I'm not against tipping guides. I have tipped as much as 30% and as little as zero. Don't use percentages though. Tip what you feel they earned.

[CaptainDave]

I'll preface by saying, I'm not talking about waiters/waitresses, I'm talking about hunting/fishing guides. Tips should be appreciated and not be an expectation. I believe tips are an extra "thank you" that should coincide with a level of service that went above what was originally expected and/or contracted.

Now, what is considered over and above level of service? That to me is what makes the OP's thread question difficult to answer. There are so many variables involved not even considering one's personal opinions when it comes to a guided trip.

For some, it's a guide grinding it out that extra hour or extra mile to put you in a position to be successful. For others, it's great accommodations or trip logistics that worked out as planned. Heck, it could just be a guide having a great attitude and doing a good job cleaning and packing up game to some people.

I'd say, figure out what you consider a base level of service for the trip and tip higher or lower from there.