Rates of guides

Of course it varies depending on who, where, what you're pursuing and exactly what services are provided: if the guide drives, uses his dogs, provides lunch, cleans the birds and then provides supper and lodging, it can cost $600-$1,000/day and sometimes considerably more.. Are you willing to use your own dog(s), fend for yourself on food, sleep in a modest (if not basic) motel, clean your own birds and just use him to accompany you to the field because he knows the country? Then prices can be different. Prices on this stuff are all over the board, depending too if we're talking early released, or truly wild birds.
 
I saw a guide in NoDak charging 500 per guy per day. Albeit it also included lodging. I was hoping they had a lodging only option as I don't need a guide by any means and the area I was looking at is pretty sparse on lodging options.
 
Never is a long time, "Goose"; others have different circumstances than you. I urge prospective users of guides to do their research if hunting time is short and you want to shoot some birds. There are some decent guides who can help a hunter NOT from the Plains states to get on wild birds. This is especially useful if you've got a dog to train, and there are limited or no hunting opportunities in your home state. It takes birds to make a bird dog!
 
Wolfchief said:
Never is a long time, "Goose"; others have different circumstances than you. I urge prospective users of guides to do their research if hunting time is short and you want to shoot some birds. There are some decent guides who can help a hunter NOT from the Plains states to get on wild birds. This is especially useful if you've got a dog to train, and there are limited or no hunting opportunities in your home state. It takes birds to make a bird dog!
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Yes that is true.
 
I agree with Wolfchief. For many guides this is a job to them… and one they make a living off of.
How much does everyone on this forum consider a working wage for themselves… now I know it varies wildly based on what you do for a living and where you live. But where live you can make close to 200 a day working as a gas station clerk.
Now think of the expenses a good guide has and time, not just the amount of time they spend in the field with you but the amount of time they put into scouting and learning so they can put you on the birds , the amount of time training the dogs and cost that goes into them so that you can enjoy the experience.
 
I never met a guide yet for fish, fowl or game whose rates I could afford or justify spending hard earned money on, when the family I’m supporting could use that money on other needs. If I was wealthy, I’d love to hire a guide for some trips, but I’m not, so I can’t. I’m on my own, feast or famine.
 
I have guided waterfowl hunts a few times, but mostly upland, the majority of the upland hunts have been preserve hunts. The rates are so different depending on the services provided that its impossible to answer your question. Generally speaking as the boots on the ground guide your income is based on tips. I have made over $1000 a day to as little as $60. If you want to see a couple hundred birds, eat the best ribeye, and drink top shelf it will cost a bunch. Or if you want a Saturday morning hunt with some good dogs and you birds cleaned it will be a couple hundred.

Waterfowl is a bit different, usually the outfitter will provide your meals, lodging, and shells (depending on local laws) and a daily salary of around a couple hundred bucks.
Trust me you work your butt off and sleep very little for an income less than running a lawnmower for a landscape company.
 
The best pheasant hunting set up I ever experienced---and this occurred every year from 2003-2014, was in central South Dakota. The "outfitter" had a modest 2-story home in a small SD farm town. He had a husband/wife cooking-cleaning team and they prepared wonderful (no exaggeration!) meals 3x/day. Wild birds were so plentiful in those years that if you could walk and shoot--a big IF for some clients--a limit was no problem. All the guests ate together and there were 3 dorm-style sleeping rooms upstairs. Our outfitter and a sidekick were our guides. Birds were cleaned by a Native American woman who, it was said, really needed the money so we didn't insist on cleaning them ourselves. After supper we crowded into the small living room and watched football or the Outdoor or Weather channel. The guides did all driving and accompanied the hunting parties. They did NOT carry guns, and I'd be suspicious of any guide who insisted on doing so. The fees were $500/day, inclusive of meals and lodging, and the guides' dogs were good. (we brought our own which worked out fine too.)
BUT the CRP slowly melted away and corn reached $6-7/bushel; the heyday was over and my friend the outfitter lost his house and cooks.
I don't ever expect to see a situation like that again--it couldn't have been better. You shot your own wild birds and had to work for them, but they were plentiful. I still love that little town.
 
Wolfchief said:
The best pheasant hunting set up I ever experienced---and this occurred every year from 2003-2014, was in central South Dakota. The "outfitter" had a modest 2-story home in a small SD farm town. He had a husband/wife cooking-cleaning team and they prepared wonderful (no exaggeration!) meals 3x/day. Wild birds were so plentiful in those years that if you could walk and shoot--a big IF for some clients--a limit was no problem. All the guests ate together and there were 3 dorm-style sleeping rooms upstairs. Our outfitter and a sidekick were our guides. Birds were cleaned by a Native American woman who, it was said, really needed the money so we didn't insist on cleaning them ourselves. After supper we crowded into the small living room and watched football or the Outdoor or Weather channel. The guides did all driving and accompanied the hunting parties. They did NOT carry guns, and I'd be suspicious of any guide who insisted on doing so. The fees were $500/day, inclusive of meals and lodging, and the guides' dogs were good. (we brought our own which worked out fine too.)
BUT the CRP slowly melted away and corn reached $6-7/bushel; the heyday was over and my friend the outfitter lost his house and cooks.
I don't ever expect to see a situation like that again--it couldn't have been better. You shot your own wild birds and had to work for them, but they were plentiful. I still love that little town.
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Many outfitters and guides choose to carry to finish off cripples. Take out a group of Atlanta bankers (New York lawyers might be worse) wearing brand new Filson gear, and carrying brand new Berettas that Fed x delivered to the lodge the day before... You will know what I mean. Given the choice I prefer not to carry as I already have my hands full. But many of them they just want to get a limit of birds and then go to the lodge and brag to their friends back home....it doesn't matter who shoots them.
 
Wolfchief said:
The best pheasant hunting set up I ever experienced---and this occurred every year from 2003-2014, was in central South Dakota. The "outfitter" had a modest 2-story home in a small SD farm town. He had a husband/wife cooking-cleaning team and they prepared wonderful (no exaggeration!) meals 3x/day. Wild birds were so plentiful in those years that if you could walk and shoot--a big IF for some clients--a limit was no problem. All the guests ate together and there were 3 dorm-style sleeping rooms upstairs. Our outfitter and a sidekick were our guides. Birds were cleaned by a Native American woman who, it was said, really needed the money so we didn't insist on cleaning them ourselves. After supper we crowded into the small living room and watched football or the Outdoor or Weather channel. The guides did all driving and accompanied the hunting parties. They did NOT carry guns, and I'd be suspicious of any guide who insisted on doing so. The fees were $500/day, inclusive of meals and lodging, and the guides' dogs were good. (we brought our own which worked out fine too.)
BUT the CRP slowly melted away and corn reached $6-7/bushel; the heyday was over and my friend the outfitter lost his house and cooks.
I don't ever expect to see a situation like that again--it couldn't have been better. You shot your own wild birds and had to work for them, but they were plentiful. I still love that little town.
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My group has had that same type set-up for 26 seasons now except two years ago we bought a house out there. Nothing like it.
 
Guiding for big game is very popular in many states. When you draw a once-in-a-lifetime lottery license as a nonresident, you do everything in your power to try and fill that tag. If you can afford the tag, you can afford the guide.
 
agraham20 said:
I agree with Wolfchief. For many guides this is a job to them… and one they make a living off of.
How much does everyone on this forum consider a working wage for themselves… now I know it varies wildly based on what you do for a living and where you live. But where live you can make close to 200 a day working as a gas station clerk.
Now think of the expenses a good guide has and time, not just the amount of time they spend in the field with you but the amount of time they put into scouting and learning so they can put you on the birds , the amount of time training the dogs and cost that goes into them so that you can enjoy the experience.
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Hiring guides goes hand in hand with pay hunting. Thus the demise of free range pheasant hunting. Hunting is expensive as it is,let alone paying to get on land,and paying people to take you there.
 
Goosemaster said:
Hiring guides goes hand in hand with pay hunting. Thus the demise of free range pheasant hunting. Hunting is expensive as it is,let alone paying to get on land,and paying people to take you there.
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So you didn’t pay anybody in New Zealand or Argentina or Mexico, what ever it was
 
Depends on the location and services.

Is it just a guide at a preserve for half a day?
Is it a guide taking you to private prairie land, bringing lunch, and cleaning/packing birds for you?
Or something in-between?

Everything has a reasonable price.

Guides really are not making much money for a full work day after licenses, taxes, business fees, costs associated with the dogs, leases, and any food/shells provided once you start doing the math.
 
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