Tipping your guide

[cjack]

How much would you all tip your elk guide if you don't get a shot on a 3 day guided hunt. He worked hard but the elk weren't cooperating. Normally I tip well for successful hunts. I want to do the right thing but don't want to over tip....any advice?

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[julian999]

15 to 20 % more if you harvest an elk . on my Cow elk hunt last November i gave my guide 25% for working so hard to find the herd.
We hunt all day for two days till we get to the herd.

 

[cjack]

15 to 20 % more if you harvest an elk . on my Cow elk hunt last November i gave my guide 25% for working so hard to find the herd.
We hunt all day for two days till we get to the herd.

Did you harvest an elk when you paid the 25%? Also, my hunt was booked through an agent so are we talking 20% of the total cost? I don't know how much the guide is getting for the hunt after the agent gets paid.

 

[Bubblehide]

I believe in tipping well if the service provided was good. I have never done a guided hunt, but my beliefe in hiring a guide is that your paying for the guide to provide you with a shot opportunity, you making the shot is a whole different thing. of course your paying the guide for much more than a shot opportunity, so I suspect that the guide performed well other than providing a shot opportunity. So in short, if you were satisfied with his/her services other than not having a shot opportunity, than the guide earned his/her money and a tip. But, only you can determine the quality of the hunt provided.

I'm a do-it-yourself-er hunter, I've had hunts where I have not had shot opportunities (big surprise there, right), and they have been some of my more memorable hunts, as some have been miserable. I am also aware that many of the guides helpers, don't make much as far as wages go, and they rely on tips. I am also aware that sometimes the animals are just not there for one reason or another. IMNSHO, the guide should know this, and know why, and have alternatives unless there are no alternatives.

I've been on plenty of fishing trips where the fish either weren't there, or the fish had lock jaw. The vast majority of Captains present the alternatives to the clients as a group, and put it up for a vote. Most of the time, the people have decided to continue after the original targeted species that has lock jaw. In such cases, I never reduce my tip to the crew, as long as the crew continues to do their best, remains polite... But only you can judge if the guide is deserving of a tip, and how much of a tip.

 

[julian999]

Yes . i harvest my elk on that two day hunt. $200 i believe is fair for him because he work hard . its my first time hunting the 35k acre land that's why i opted for a guide.
I also do ADY hunt most of the time on other state that i know the land pretty well.
Is your hunt for a bull or a cow?

 

[julian999]

Did you harvest an elk when you paid the 25%? Also, my hunt was booked through an agent so are we talking 20% of the total cost? I don't know how much the guide is getting for the hunt after the agent gets paid.

He's already paid for guiding you guys. If he go extra mile and with a guide helper with him . yes i will pay the extra.
And i do the same if i eat in a restaurant . if you do good service i'll give extra on top of the 15 to 20 %

 

[Deleted member 33033]

A gratuity should never be a "fixed percentage" so use those as baselines only. I tip based on effort, attitude and experience...not expectations or a shot opp. I have never "overtipped" and do not believe it is a valid term. I tip based on my personal sense of a service-provider's worth. I may tip heavy but only because he or she earned it. I tipped a guy one cent once in my life and told him to keep the change. His attitude and service sucked and I made sure he and his employer knew it. Tipping is personal...but a baseline of 20% for rigorous hunts is about right. More if packing a big animal out.

 

[cjack]

Appreciate the input guys, still have 2 days to get it done and the guides are good folks and putting in a good effort so regardless of the outcome it's been a great hunting experience and my belief on tipping is much the same as Where's Bruce....I will tip them well.

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[daddy63]

Good luck cjack.

 

[cjack]

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[snoopdogg]

Well done!

 

[julian999]

Nice!! congrat's.....:toast-yellow::toast-yellow:

 

[TheGDog]

See? Karma saw your heart was in the right place!

 

[jerryt]

Nice work

 

[Deleted member 33033]

Ka-ching!

 

[chinarider]

tipping for me would all come down to did this guide do is job ? if he is guiding you on a true free range hunt on private or public land the game are true wild and not always doing what we would want or like them to do. paying for a guided hunt for free range wild game you not getting a shot does not mean the guide did not do his job
wild game do not always like to play our game as we see that they should. so if the guide did his job and did it well but no game was taken that is how it works some times
now if the guide did very little to get you up to or into where the game might be then the tip or lack of tip would be up to you. i use to rent a little house i have to a guide
here in mt and he was the guide not the outfitter so he is the 1 that would get you up get you fed get up the hill and so on and so on. he did his job very well and got paid very little from the outfitter so he is counting on a tip for a job well done. the thing is some clients will take it out on him in the form or no tip if they did not fire a shot.
he told me many times he could have gotten them a shot if they did not drink so much every night or showed up in better shape because they could not even walk 2 miles in the mountains