Appropriate tip

bigjake · Nov 4, 2014

Can anyone give me some direction on what an appropriate tip would be for a semi guided whitetail hunt? It's in the Midwest. Archery hunt. 4 days and by semi guided I get the impression the outfitter selects good stand locations. Places the stands, gives ideas and advice on where the best stands to sit would be, helps recover the animal, and he will be providing lodging and dinner each day. 10% of the cost of the hunt? 15%, 20%?

Any help is appreciated.

Zeke · Nov 4, 2014

Usually the tip is reserved for the guide (who doesn't own the outfit).
The outfitter gets paid through the price of the hunt, not the tip.

To me it would all depend on what services were given and who was involved.

Zeke

bigjake · Nov 4, 2014

Thanks Zeke, I think this guy is just a one man band. I should know more but my brother set it all up-I'm just along for the ride. I think he (the owner/outfitter) will be the one taking us to different tree stands and blinds and then he will be the guy helping us get an animal out should we kill. So I really don't think it will be anybody but him giving us direction and helping as needed. So if we are paying him for the overall hunt maybe we don't need to tip him? Never done a semi guided hunt before so I'm pretty na?ve on what's fair.

WVHUNTER · Nov 5, 2014

If the outfitter is the guide he should get a tip. The tip for a fully guided hunt is usually 10%. But it would be less than that for a semi guided hunt (maybe 5%).

I have hunted in Saskatchewan where the hunt was similar, They dropped you off and came back and got you and did meat preparation and caping. This hunt was $4,000 and the typical tip was $100 to $200. But the cook would also get $25 to $50.

bigjake · Nov 5, 2014

Great,thanks that helps a lot

Sierra · Nov 27, 2014

I would tip the same percentage (15-20%) for a fully guided or semi-guided hunt. The semi-guided hunt would cost less, so that would lead to a smaller tip. Cutting the percentage tip on the lower cost hunt results in a double hit.

bigjake · Nov 30, 2014

never thought of that. Makes sense though. I gave him 20%. My bro and I sat in tree stands for all but one hour for three days straight and saw a total of 13 deer and the biggest buck was a 1 1/2 year old 6 point. But the guy was a nice guy and was interested in our success, but I think his place was just so small it didn't hold a lot of deer.

DW · Dec 1, 2014

Sorry u didn't connect jake. Hopefully aside from that it was a good experience.

bigjake · Dec 1, 2014

yah it was fun being with my brother and for some reason I get a kick out of being in a tree stand even if there isn't a lot of action. Funny how things go though. I find that if I spend money on a hunt or a guide or a cook my expectations rise. Probably why I like the DIY hunts so much and should stick to those so I'm not disappointed.