The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting American Big Game Hunting Requesting Tip Recommendations For Wyoming Guided Elk HuntGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| Requesting Tip Recommendations For Wyoming Guided Elk Hunt | Login/Join |
| One of Us |
Son and I are going on a guided elk hunt in Wyoming this fall. Outfitter fee for the hunt will exceed $6k each. I am a total novice as to tipping, therefore would appreciate hearing what other hunters whao have done similar hunts recommend as an appropriate gratuity. With all due respect, I would prefer to hear mostly from other hunters. As such I hope to get totally unbiased opinions. Thanks. Bob Nisbet DRSS & 348 Lever Winchester Lover Temporarily Displaced Texan If there's no food on your plate when dinner is done, you didn't get enough to eat. | ||
|
One of Us |
The best tip information is whatever feels right and what you can afford. I think guides work very hard but the 10% rule that many people refer to just doesn't really work for me. I think more in terms of whether or not this guy/gal worked hard to make my hunt fun on a daily basis, success of the hunt, the difficulty of the recovery, and the number of days and the right amount just comes to me. I actually find it odd that some hunters "brag" about the size of tips they provide. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
|
One of Us |
Solid advice, I have tipped nothing up to 25%. I tipped pretty well when I was single, married it is hard to justify it to the wife. So I just do the minimum I can get away with. I wasn't a cheapskate until I got married and started feeding 4 kids. People get what they get, and that will what I normally feel is warranted and I can afford. If I can't afford to tip or don't think the guy should have got a tip I explain it. You are leaving a lot laying on the table by not tipping if you are leaving the animals in camp. I have heard people complain about hunters who don't tip or can't afford to tip very much. At the end of the day that hunter bought into that outfitters services, and that outfitter would probably have a $6000 hunt booked in this economy than worry about a tip for a guide. My dad guided one of the Buck Knife executives about 30 years ago in Wyoming on a horseback hunt in Hoback Junction. The guy shot a big six point, and when they got back to camp he gave my father a knife with $100 wrapped around it. Some guides would have been happy, some would have been pissed. $100 in the 70's would have been like $500-850 now. | |||
|
| one of us |
When I do a North American hunt I tip about $100 per day but only if I feel the guide has worked hard on my behalf. A $100 to the cook and a few bucks to the wrangler if you have one would be really appreciated also. I know you asked for input from other hunter only but you have to understand I talk to many hunters every year and tips always come up. Mark MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
|
| One of Us |
Good info all around. Thanks. More info: Our hunt is booked as 11 days (Less 1 inbound and 1 outbound), but due to other obligations will head home on the morning of the 7th day. Two of us will will share one guide. There will also be a camp cook and maybe wranglers for the pack mules. What makes it more difficult for me, I think about the 10% rule, then I think about the actual pay that the person being tipped would earn. As such, I am not sure about using 10% of the total hunt cost ($6000 X 2) just for the hired hand that guides us each hunting day. Most of the $12K cost goes to the outfitter. Any additional thoughts? Bob Nisbet DRSS & 348 Lever Winchester Lover Temporarily Displaced Texan If there's no food on your plate when dinner is done, you didn't get enough to eat. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I mostly am a DIY guy,but when I do use a n outfitter I tip almost everyone excluding the Outfitter.I usually give the cook and wrangler $100 each, and the guide gets what he puts into it.If he puts his heart into and we don`t score,I still give a nice tip. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I have only gone on two outfitted hunts, both with the same outfitter. First hunt I asked the outfitter the same question. His reply was "some people save A long time for this hunt, and by the time they've paid for travel, and license's, there isn't much left, and a couple of hundred from those folks mean more to us, than a lot of money from a high roller. Because we know we'll likely not see the man who put money away in a jar for 15 years again". That said, I wouldn't leave them a pocket knife as a tip like some of these hunting shows. That's not going to fill the guides gas tank. I left 20%. Both times, but my hunt was $2500 | |||
|
One of Us |
As someone that has been the client on some hunts, and the guide on others, give what you feel comfortable with in relation to the job done by the camp staff. As a guide, any tip I get is appreciated. I have guided folks that a 12 pack of beer was more appreciated than money, simply because I could tell after spending time with the client, the cost of the hunt was pushing their finances. If you have a good hunt and are happy with the effort put forth by the crew, tip what you are comfortable with. Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
|
One of Us |
It think it can depend on a few things. If you are a single hunter with the guide for a period of days that's one thing. He has given you all his time and you are his only source of tips. If you are one of several hunters sharing a couple guides over several days but you only get guided for a few hours a day for two or three days that is another thing. Your guide only gave you a portion of his time and he will be getting tips from several hunters. Also, did your guide handle the trophy entirely after it was shot, or did he just dress and cape it, or did he just gut it? I relate a tip to the amount of time and effort a guide is required to put into the hunt and the amount of time and effort he gives above and beyond what is required. Some guides genuinely care about the quality of your experience. Sadly, some don't really give a damn. All they want to do is get you in, get you out, check the block, and collect their fees. . | |||
|
| One of Us |
Just an observation, nothing more. From my experience as the CLIENT, hunting with a guide in North America is different than an African Safari. Camps I have hunted out of, Elk/Moose/Musk Ox/Caribou, you had the same guide every day during your hunt, there was no swapping around. There was no tip to the outfitter, simply because they usually were not in camp, the guides and camp staff handled everything. Other people have probably had different experiences, I just know what I have experienced. Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Tips to guides in my outfit range from 50 to 100 bucks a day. These are 1 or 2 guides per hunter hunts. The customers ALWAYS ask me what to tip the guides. I tell them just what I said above. That said, the hunts where the hunter tags out early in the week with a really big head...those situations tend to generate tips in excess of above figures. Have a great hunt | |||
|
| One of Us |
OK! Thanks again to All. I now have enough information to handle this at the completion of our hunt. Bob Nisbet DRSS & 348 Lever Winchester Lover Temporarily Displaced Texan If there's no food on your plate when dinner is done, you didn't get enough to eat. | |||
|
one of us |
I look at it this way: The outfitter is the one taking the risk and making most of the money. The guide is the one doing the grunt work of spending all day with you, finding you something to shoot, packing it off the mountain, laughing at your jokes, listening to you blather on about whatever is important to you, etc. When you look at the hours a guide puts in, most of them are probably getting minimum wage. On a 2X1, it's twice as much much work for the guide (2 horses to saddle, two to unsaddle, two elk to pack), but the same pay from the outfitter. While I would love to think that it's a pleasure to hunt with me, the reality is that it's work for the guide. Maybe I'm actually not that funny or interesting.... If you leave camp feeling that you've made a good friend in your guide, then he/she did their job very well and should be tipped accordingly (I do 20% of the daily rate, or if there's no trophy fee then around 10% of the hunt cost.) While it's theoretically true that tipping is at your discretion, if everyone stopped tipping, you'd see your hunt prices go up accordingly. Like the restaurant business, servers can't afford to work for their base pay in the current system. Hunting guides in the US are no different. | |||
|
One of Us |
The "what you can afford" aspect is the most important, I guide and outfit and also hunt as a client. On both ends of the spectrum my opinion is tip exactly what makes your experience a good one in your gut- not too little where it causes you doubt, not too much where you're miffed about the expense. I'm in the hundreds, not thousands, for every tip I've left and generally likely shoot around 5%, I've found I receive on average that as a guide as well and it's more than fair. On a $6k per person hunt, if each guy had a great time and tipped $300-400 that's very kind. | |||
|
| one of us |
+1 | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting American Big Game Hunting Requesting Tip Recommendations For Wyoming Guided Elk Hunt
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia