License/Permit Needed to Guide

[AubreyLaHaye458]

I'm kinda in the same position Robbie, and worse is that it's my own family.
But I don't have the birds to consider guiding although I'd like to.


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[Big Hutch]

I wholeheartedly agree with being honest and having integrity. That's important in any situation. Anything else is really a one way trip out of business. I feel that the attitude of "you should have been hunting with me yesterday" has given the honest hard working guides a bad reputation and made it harder for them to operate.

The guide shooting "for" a client has always been puzzling to me. I do understand shooting back up to finish off a cripple or a bird that has been badly hit but didn't go down. That is the real definition of shooting back up. But shooting first is absurd if others are paying you a fee to guide them in my opinion.

I am still investigating the business aspect and how best to handle it.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. Please keep them coming.

Robbie aka Big Hutch

[papap]

Guided for 21 years. I always asked the sports (customers) what they wanted. I could not shoot at all, shoot cripples or shoot with them. Most wanted you to shoot with them. Most would give me shells to shoot. As everyone said be honest.

[ScubaLatt]

I guided in college. Sucked. Didn't enjoy hunting as much. Was a job and not a sport. Lots of pressure to produce. Keep that in mind.

[Big Hutch]

The pressure is one reason I am thinking about guiding. No one I hunt with can call ducks or geese. If I don't go then they don't get to shoot so in effect I am guiding them. Some days I felt obligated to go with them because I knew if I didn't go they would be wasting their time.

I don't know if the pressure to perform would be different or at a different level with friends rather than clients. Whether it is guys paying for a daily hunt or partners paying their portion of an expensive yearly lease they both still expect to shoot birds.

But if it feels like a job then I'm with you. The good thing is that I only want to guide a few times a year.

Thanks.
Robbie aka Big Hutch

[cgoods17]

Sounds like you need new hunting partners.

[bgizzle]

Originally Posted by cgoods17

Sounds like you need new hunting partners.

^^^^^ this^^^^^^


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

[Big Hutch]

Maybe so but they are good guys and always pay their money on time. I don't know which one is more important ... ... They just can't operate a call.

Robbie aka Big Hutch

[bjhooper82]

Originally Posted by Big Hutch

Maybe so but they are good guys and always pay their money on time. I don't know which one is more important ... ... They just can't operate a call.

Robbie aka Big Hutch

Then teach them how.

[cgoods17]

Hunting is not ALL about calling..

[Big Hutch]

I am trying to teach them how. They are guys in their 50s that I introduced to the sport. I've got one that is now able to do a few clucks on a speck call and knows how to blow a whistle.

Sorry if I suggested that hunting is all about calling. Hunting is definitely more than calling. Being where the birds want to be would be first on my list; camo/no movement second; then calling/decoys. Since we hunt blinds leased from someone else we seldom have the luxury of being on the "x". Since that is the case calling becomes more important. They do ok during teal season and on teal during regular season. But when it comes to specks especially and big ducks that's where good calling really helps and bad calling really hurts. Some days I fit in both categories ...

Please know that I am in no way going to abandon my partners. All of my partners have demanding work schedules and there are periods of the season where I know they won't be hunting. That's when I am going to schedule a few hunts in my second blind to help with costs.


Thanks
Robbie aka Big Hutch

[Goooh]

Originally Posted by cgoods17

Hunting is not ALL about calling..

Haven't you seen the videos man? I've seen refuge feeds make ducks drop their landing gear in the Fezzos parking lot.

[grizzon30s]

One of the reasons I kill more ducks now than I used too is because of the people I hunt with. Of course I've gained skills and knowledge of the years also. I still enjoy taking inexperienced hunters out, but I know to temper my expectations on those hunts. If you want to shoot limits or close to limits consistently, you need good hunters....or just a bang up lease....and those are tough to find.

[Big Hutch]

I will be the only person in the blinds I will guide from. Anything else wouldn't be fair to my partners.

Robbie aka Big Hutch