Not positive if this topic should go here but,here it goes.

I'm still new to the site but, would like to get a feel on this issue. Two years ago I booked a fall bear hunt to Montana at a sportsman's show in PA. One day during the hunt I had to switch guides for the afternoon hunt. My guide at the time had another chore to take care of and I went with another guide. He later sucessfully guided another hunter on the only bear taken that fall and also the largest of the season.

Later the successful hunter felt bad and asked me what I paid for the hunt. I told him I paid the advertised price. He bid on the hunt through Ebay and paid ~$750 less. He was told by the outfitter not to say anything. He wasn't the only hunter who got to hunt at a discount. Two other hunters also got disocunts to hunt fall bear and were told not to say anything.

Is this a going trend in the industry? Do outfitters treat hunters any different if they have purschased their hunts at a discounted cost?

Got bad news for you, booking hunts and settling on prices can be on how well you are able to negotiate.

Lots of variables in negotiating hunts. How far in advance. Prime dates. How many in your party. Did the outfitter's engine just blow. Did SCI just double his booth fee.

Personally, I've been on both sides of that fence as a client. Each year I learn a little more and am able to negotiate a little better and AR has been invaluable to that end.

It is nothing new. There are discounts given all the time.
Some hunters will pay full-price; some will have gotten last year's price because they booked in advance. Some hunters buy the hunts at NRA, SCI, RMEF, or other auctions, and some buy on eBay.

What exactly is your beef? You knew and agreed to the outfitter's price. What does it matter if someone else paid a lower price?

George
P.S. If you've ever flown commercially or stayed in a hotel, chances are good that someone paid less than you for the same flight or accommodations.

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:
What does it matter if someone else paid a lower price?

The advertisement, the exibition, the office, the povision for the sales agent - all that costs a lot of money.

I have noticed that some hunters are ready to pay for the packaging more than the hunt costs.


RG

quote:

Originally posted by lde:

Personally, I've been on both sides of that fence as a client. Each year I learn a little more and am able to negotiate a little better and AR has been invaluable to that end.

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:
It is nothing new. There are discounts given all the time.
Some hunters will pay full-price; some will have gotten last year's price because they booked in advance. Some hunters buy the hunts at NRA, SCI, RMEF, or other auctions, and some buy on eBay.

What exactly is your beef? You knew and agreed to the outfitter's price. What does it matter if someone else paid a lower price?

George
P.S. If you've ever flown commercially or stayed in a hotel, chances are good that someone paid less than you for the same flight or accommodations.

Here's my beef. Is it proper to offer a hunt at a lower price after the fact? These hunts were booked after mine. I was even told the outfitter had to pull stings to get a bear tag for one of the hunters since the deadline to apply already passed. I understand discounts for SCI, shows, returning hunters, etc. and personally have no problem with that. Telling other hunters to keep quite about their given discounts leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Why be a reapeat customer if this is the way the outfitter operates?

Are you saying it all about the mighty $$$?

It's done all the time and it's called the free enterprise system... supply and demand. For popular hunts and/or outfitters, bookings are no problems and some hunters pay deposits years in advance to get in line. An example might be Mountain Nyala in Ethiopia or big moose in a hot unit in Alaska. Whitetails, bears, etc are a commodity and in large supply... sometimes an outfitter has to firesale them or lose even more money on his operation. I don't know how many guided trips you have been on but this is common. The exact same thing has happened to me and most other hunters who make trips...

Check the AR Classifieds and the Outfitter Offerings/Discounted Hunt Forum and jump in with both feet and negotiate! Never been a better time. Remember all of your education isn't free!

quote:

Are you saying it all about the mighty $$$?

Do you think an outfitter/guide is doing it so he can apply for foodstamps? What is your problem, he sold some at full price and had some space/time left unsold so he sold it at a discount. He would have preferred the full price clients not learn of it, but so what. It is his outfit. If a hot dog vendor sells a hundred hot dogs at full price and has a dozen left that he sells at 1/2 price are you going to bitch about paying full price? You made the deal, live with it.

You'd be amazed at what the other passenger's on your next flight may have paid for their seat. I've seen charts where a seat that sells for $400 one-day bought 6 weeks in advance can cost twice as much if bought the day before the flight or half as much if bought as part of a package. Supply and demand! Once an outfitter has booked enought clients to cover his bottom line costs he's free to charge the other's what he can.

What amazes me is that this outfitter can book any hunts at all considering his success rate, it sound like the whole works of you got torched.

quote:

Originally posted by Highlander7:

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:
It is nothing new. There are discounts given all the time.
Some hunters will pay full-price; some will have gotten last year's price because they booked in advance. Some hunters buy the hunts at NRA, SCI, RMEF, or other auctions, and some buy on eBay.

What exactly is your beef? You knew and agreed to the outfitter's price. What does it matter if someone else paid a lower price?

George
P.S. If you've ever flown commercially or stayed in a hotel, chances are good that someone paid less than you for the same flight or accommodations.

Here's my beef. Is it proper to offer a hunt at a lower price after the fact? These hunts were booked after mine. I was even told the outfitter had to pull stings to get a bear tag for one of the hunters since the deadline to apply already passed. I understand discounts for SCI, shows, returning hunters, etc. and personally have no problem with that. Telling other hunters to keep quite about their given discounts leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Why be a reapeat customer if this is the way the outfitter operates?

Are you saying it all about the mighty $$$?

Weather this guy is a rancher, or owns an Italian resteraunt in town he guides because he likes to and to make money. He may only guide, that might be his only job.

In any case yes it is about the dollar. He has to make a buck, just like you do.

About 8 or 9 years ago I traded in a expensive rifle (to me) that I didn't like on a room full of guns. I saw the price on the gun a few days later and thought WTF? He is screwing me. Well the dealer sat on my rifle for about 4 years before it moved, dropped the price 8 or 9 times and ended up taking less than he gave me in trade for it.

My parents bought a new Dodge SUV about 8 months before the 0 percent APR, and the 10,000 dollars off deals of the 6.00 a gallon 2009 era. Can't really be sore about a situation like that when you never know what is going to happen.

Thanks for the replies. See the mistake and won't do it again. Just another question to ask outfitters.

The best thing when booking a guided hunt is to do alot of research on the animal, the area, and mostly the Outfitter.
1. The best is call refferences, all of them.

It sounds like you just booked by meeting him in the show, Montana wouldn't have been my first, not Knocking MT. Just better odds else where.
There are hunting reports on just about every good outfitter, with atleast three web sites that offer them.
Live and learn

quote:

Is it fair?

I should have moved on as soon as I saw this.

i sell hunts discounted the closer to the starting date of the hunt just to get it sold...

but i'm not going to discount every hunt i've booked just because i've discounted one...
if you want cheap discounted hunts, try waiting to the last minute and cross your fingers.
you might score a sweet deal or you might be sitting in your tree stand this fall.

Sometimes it pays to not short change a guy....

Fourtyonesix

I think you summed it up for most outfitters.

+1

+2

I asked a Judge friend of mine if his friends were treated better in his court. He said he was fair to his friends and everybody else got justice.

I played the waiting game last year and bought a great hunt in Zim at a great price. This year I booked early and paid more than I did last year. I could have waited, but I didn't, because I wanted what I wanted. I can live with that and don't care what someone else pays. I have always known that someone got a worse deal and someone got a better deal. It is my job to get the best deal I can and move on.

I have three rules: NEVER pay retail, ALWAYS book close to the date of the hunt, and NEVER book through an agent.

totally agree with the agent deal...not just because i loose 15% to commission, but a communication barrier is there...i have worked with one that i have liked Sportsmans Junction Outdoor Adventures...only honest one that i've felt was totally open with his clients.

I think you now know why you get a written contract spelling out all the details.

1. how many other hunters in camp
2. who will I be hunting with the entire deal


I would have been irritated, just as you are. This may not have been illegal, but it does not pass the smell test, unless you were told at the auction.

It is also why I would never book a hunt 2X1 unless I were with a teenage child (son, daughter, niece or nephew. You each pay about 90% of the 1X1 rate, and you each get 50% of the guides time.


Rich