New guide

mtime34 · Jul 28, 2006

This is will be my first year guiding on a ranch alothough i have hunted on this ranch the last 7 years i would like to know when pay for a hunt what do you look for in a good guide and what do you remember about he place? any info that would help me to be a better guide as far as presentation of the hunt before after and durring would help

Mtime34

ELKMASTER101 · Jul 28, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Jul-28-06 AT 10:52AM (MST)[p]DO YOU JOB.
put he or she onto the animal their after.
don't say you should have been here last week.
don't give them the sob storys on why there isn't any animsls around,
do your job and produce.
you have to go their ground level and help them.
if he or she are huge mocho go get them, well then you need be.
If they are wimps, then you have to take them by the hand and do what ever it takes.
Be the hero.
Good Luck.

D13er · Jul 28, 2006

And if they challenge you to a spelling contest, decline.

JB

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."
--Benjamin Franklin 1759

NMHUNTNUTT1 · Jul 28, 2006

lmao D13er

WVHUNTER · Jul 29, 2006

Keep a positive attitude even if your not seeing game. Don't try to make excuses. Complaining about the weather or the game all being shot out the week before won't help. Assure the hunter that you are familiar with the property and know there is game there(if this is true).

Explain to the hunter how you are going to hunt. Let him know about the terrain, where you are going, how you are going to make your approach or any other information that may be of interest. Let him know of the success you know of on the property.

Inform him of the expected trophy size.

Judge the hunter's physical ability. Don't try to walk a 70 year old into the ground. You may have to slow down and cover less ground which may reduce the chance of success but the hunter will probably enjoy the hunt more.

Help the hunter maintain a positive attitude and have the anticipation that the buck he is after may be just over that next ridge.

AutumnPulse · Jul 29, 2006

Whether you like it or not, if you are going to be a guide, you will be a salesmen, so expect that role. The obvious application is when you are getting your next years bookings, but the real application will be when you have clients in camp. The term salesman has a negative ring, but it shouldn't. You will need to be able to read people and produce what they are desiring out of there experience. Some will be jovial and happy to be in the Mountains and for the experience, others will be think your lousy no-matter-what UNTIL they are sitting atop the Bull that meets or exceeds your criteria.

This will not be a good experience for you unless you are prepared to deal with ALL kinds of people. People are difficult to deal with, that's why sales are not something that everyone can do. Some people are just down-right nasty, some will drive up to the ranch pulling their ego behind a diesel, some will go left when you tell them to go right, some will have brand new trucks that they bought from saved up Marlboro Miles and some won't be able to hit North if they are shooting that direction.

Occasionally you will have a client that actually listened to your preparation advice and is ready to let you do your job description. I am not a guide, but I imagine that those clients make the rest of the crap worth it.

Best of luck,

Autumn Pulse

"Be a straight-shooter in all that you do."

lifeisgood · Jul 29, 2006

First morning, tell the hunter to get in the truck, hang on and shut the Hell up.

Carry some milk duds in your pack and pop a couple in your mouth when you lean over to check some fresh elk droppings (giving the dude a glimps of the milk duds/elk poo. Then pop the in your mouth like your tasting them, then hand him some real elk poo to see if he agrees.

If the hunter has a bipod on his gun, give him 5 seconds to see if he know how to work it, if he dosent pass, confinscate it and give him a damn forked stick to shoot from.

life IS good

lifeisgood · Jul 29, 2006

Tell him he looks like he just stepped off the front page of an LL Bean catalog. That makes em feel good.

Take his damn cell phone and throw it in the stock tank.

When they are in the outhouse too long, sneak up and shoot your shotgun in the air, kick a bunch of gravel at the outhouse door at the same time. That way they learn to wipe fast and get back to huntin.

life IS good

lifeisgood · Jul 29, 2006

When they look in the same direction through their new binoculars everytime you lift yours, tell them to find thier own damn deer.

Have a couple real good wild animal stories (mabey about snaggle tooth, the Cheesehead eatin' Bear), or about the 200lb mountain lion that jumps out of the tree, and eats about one dude per year. That way they learn to look up instead of staring down at their new Danners.

If the hunter has a variable power scope, duct tape it to 3X and tell them not to change it without askin.

life IS good

lifeisgood · Jul 29, 2006

Make sure the hunter always has the cook pack him extra candy bars in his lunch in case you get hungry and you ate all yours before 8am.

Tell them you dont give a Crap HOW they do it in West Virginia!!!!

If they brought their own calls, take them away and tell them by state law its illegal for non residents to call local wild game.

life IS good

Packout · Jul 29, 2006

D13, after a long, hard day.... thanks for the laugh.

BUCKSPY · Jul 30, 2006

That's funny dude! :7

WVHUNTER · Jul 30, 2006

If he is from West Virginia:

You won't have to trick him to check the elk droppings, he will do that on his own.

He will bring his own forked stick from home with a 100 notches cut on it for every whitetail he has killed.

His camoflage will be faded and not match and he will want to know who LL Bean is.

He will complement you on how much nicer your outhouse is than his. Why do you think he wipes?

He doesn't own a pair of binoculars.

He will have see through mounts on his rifle and forget about the scope and use the open sights and probably hit what he is shooting at.

He won't have a call but he will be making squirrel, turkey and coon calls with his mouth.

What you had better do is take his ammunition away from him because he will shoot every squirrel, rabbit or song bird that he sees.

And if you think you are going to get any of my candy bars you better think again.

WVHUNTER

blackbass · Jul 30, 2006

a good guide will put u on a good bull. plane and simple.

eelgrass · Jul 30, 2006

LMAO! Just hope you don't get a client like D13er. LOL!

You might want to wipe the clients butt for him if you are expecting any kind of tip!

Seriously,
Communicate with your client at all times. Be confident in your hunt plan and be enthusiastic and up beat. Work at it like it was you who had a limited amount of time to take an animal. Work as hard as your client is willing to work. Have a couple plans figured out depending on the shape of your hunter, if possible.

Follow ALL the laws and hunter safety rules, for your protection as well as his.

kilowatt · Jul 30, 2006

And the most important think to remember if you should ever have PC_The Great, have a large quanity of Budweiser on hand or he will be hard to get along with and might take it out on you.

Brian