Tipping your quide

[KDB]

What is the appropriate tip for a guided big game elk hunt in Wyoming?  Fee for the hunt will be around $5000.

[LabChamp]

I’d say 20% as a starting point but that’s based off of a lot of different factors

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

I’d say 20% as a starting point but that’s based off of a lot of different factors

Probably that.   Good starting point.  If they suck and don't perform as expected then nothing.  If they are awesome and perform beyond expectations then more.

[greenhead_killer]

I’ve always been told it’s around 10% to start but can go anywhere based on experience you had and potentially shooting a trophy.

[MountainWalk]

When I was guiding, a couple hundred was pretty common.  And if it wasn't quite that much, no big deal.. After a week with these guys, you got a good sense of what they could afford.  Seems like Joe Blue collar always tipped better than the guys who were more affluent. Never could nail down why.  Don't forget your wrangler  and cook. They work hard too.

 Unless the guide was a total bum, no kill shouldn't mean no tip.

     Please, don't give your guide your knife for a tip. It's insulting!

[huntnfmly]

I’ve always been told it’s around 10% to start but can go anywhere based on experience you had and potentially shooting a trophy.

^This
Been on several and this is what I always went in thinking for a starting point
Size of animal taken souls not make a difference

[huntnfmly]

When I was guiding, a couple hundred was pretty common.  And if it wasn't quite that much, no big deal.. After a week with these guys, you got a good sense of what they could afford.  Seems like Joe Blue collar always tipped better than the guys who were more affluent. Never could nail down why.  Don't forget your wrangler  and cook. They work hard too.

 Unless the guide was a total bum, no kill shouldn't mean no tip.

     Please, don't give your guide your knife for a tip. It's insulting!

Sorry but the attitude of a knife as a tip is insulting should not be if that’s all they have that’s all they have

[MountainWalk]

If you're  going on guided elk hunts and all you have to give is a knife, yeah, that's insulting.  And the idea that that's all he has is *censored*. And if he's going on guided hunts, with only knives to give out, then I'm willing to bet he doesn't have all his ducks in a row at home, finance wise, and shouldn't be taking five thousand dollar hunts

[huntnfmly]

If you're  going on guided elk hunts and all you have to give is a knife, yeah, that's insulting.  And the idea that that's all he has is *censored*. And if he's going on guided hunts, with only knives to give out, then I'm willing to bet he doesn't have all his ducks in a row at home, finance wise, and shouldn't be taking five thousand dollar hunts

Wow so now a guy who saves up for years for a guided hunt doesn’t have his ducks in a row at home and shouldn’t go?
Wish we were all squared away as much as you are must be awesome

[ShaneTyTrey]

I think a lot of it depends on the value of the hunt as well as how hard the guide works.  My point being 10% on a $5,000 elk hunt isn’t the same as 20% on a sheep hunt. 

I would agree a knife probably isn’t the best tip but multiple times I have tipped a KUIU or Badlands binocular case along with 10% or so cash and have people love it.  Some of these guides aren’t making a ton of money and giving something that can help them in the field but they probably wouldn’t buy themselves.

Lastly, I think 10% is a good starting point and can go up from there.  Regardless of the price of hunt, I have never seen anyone disappointed by $1,500 cash even if that isn’t quite 10%. 

[rasbo]

Depends on the guide,and the hunt . Lazy guide no tip. Had a fishing guide take me below Bonneville for salmon,he bragged about his new bigger boat he just bought. Well he should have bought a bigger anchor, couldn't hold a spot and caught zero fish

[Widgeondeke]

My brother guides for elk, antelope, deer and bear in Wyoming and Colorado.   He works for an outfitter

He has gotten $0-$1,500 tips and it didn't matter if the hunter harvested an elk.

He was given a brand new $1k scope once. He uses that scope on his primary rifle.  Loves it

[jrebel]

Horrible guide....didn't work hard, late to wake up, early to bed, missed days, etc. etc. etc......won't get a dime. 

Good guides....did everything correctly but was average and not really that personable 10%

Excellent guides.....Hard working, first up....last to bed, great personality to be around, fun, etc. etc. etc......15-20%

Notice none of the above had anything to do with a harvest.   If the hunt was a good hunt (i.e.  I want to come back and do it again) then I tip well.  You always tip the cook...well unless you get E.coli or C-diff or flat out go hungry.   

I have done a number of guided hunts and still struggle with the distribution of my tips.  I personally feel the guide (person who is with you day after day) should get the majority of the tip.  The owner / service and cooks I feel are also deserving.  I usually split it up 80% guide 20% service / cooks depending on the overall cost. 

OHHHHHH and if your guide has his children out helping guide, call, etc.  They always get something.  My last moose hunt, the 12 y.o. son of the guide / owner was out calling for us.  He got my Bino harness with a crisp $100 bill tucked away in it.   

[Platensek-po]

If you liked the ride tip your guide

[carpsniperg2]

I have been on all sides of it. Outfitter/guide/client the value of the hunt also comes into play in my mind. It’s so random with a lot of people. I try to think around 10% on most big game stuff is pretty solid for a good trip. Lesser trips like say a hog hunt or management hunt etc. A solid trip will see 20% or better.

I’ve got from 0 dollars to 100% value of the hunt. It’s a crazy swing. You get people that say for example will never leave a tip at a restaurant. Those type don’t do well tipping regardless and think it’s part of what they already paid for. Then you get the guys who work hard for the money tend to be solid tippers in any area. Then you get high rollers. They go both ways! Some of them are the cheapest you will ever have and others blow tips out of the water.

I hunted with a outfit that has some huge wealthy clients. My hunt was bought through sci. The value was 5500.00 I paid 2750. The guide was a solid guy and I gave him 500.00 his reaction was like I ripped him off. It was horrible and that was the only bad part of my hunt! 500 is a lot of money to me and I work several jobs to have money to hunt without taking away from my family’s needs. I talked to the owner about this and he said they are spoiled they hunt a lot of ceo type guys and the kid had got a 10k tip that year already. That’s right 10k

So just some perspectives. Another thing is small gifts are always cool and appreciated but a lot of guides don’t make much in the base and make a lot of the money from tips. So keep that in mind. I have been given knives and been happy to accept it as it’s a kind gesture. Some people don’t know the tip procedure and it’s a real rough guide line and that’s why these threads pop up every year.

[wadu1]

I've only been on one guided hunt for turkeys, it was a total bust. Day one the guide was great at calling deer. Second day after driving around for two hours he set up and called in a yote, then drove around for another two hours. I said lets go I need to get home. I left him a stool and headlamp. On big boat fishing trips in Canada, I always tell the guys I'm with to pickup a bottle and a carton of smokes at the duty free store. The last trip out we were the last boat in, the other boats were waving cash tips. Our skipper smiled and produced six cartons of smokes and six bottles, the other boats went quiet. Back then a carton was selling for $80 and a 1ML bottle was $70-90.

[CaNINE]

Be prepared to tip 10% as a general rule. Up from there depending upon effort and your experience. Take care of the cook. A hundred bucks or more if you can swing it. 

[Wingin it]

10% is a good starting point for sure. I’ve been on a few guided hunts and in those cases they were pretty solid outfits. I tipped a little more and as already said always take care of the cook too! I even had a guide take a fancy to my binoculars and they ended up with those when I left on top of some cash. Do what you comfortably can if they put in the work.

[Magnum_Willys]

I have been on all sides of it. Outfitter/guide/client the value of the hunt also comes into play in my mind. It’s so random with a lot of people. I try to think around 10% on most big game stuff is pretty solid for a good trip. Lesser trips like say a hog hunt or management hunt etc. A solid trip will see 20% or better.

I’ve got from 0 dollars to 100% value of the hunt. It’s a crazy swing. You get people that say for example will never leave a tip at a restaurant. Those type don’t do well tipping regardless and think it’s part of what they already paid for. Then you get the guys who work hard for the money tend to be solid tippers in any area. Then you get high rollers. They go both ways! Some of them are the cheapest you will ever have and others blow tips out of the water.

I hunted with a outfit that has some huge wealthy clients. My hunt was bought through sci. The value was 5500.00 I paid 2750. The guide was a solid guy and I gave him 500.00 his reaction was like I ripped him off. It was horrible and that was the only bad part of my hunt! 500 is a lot of money to me and I work several jobs to have money to hunt without taking away from my family’s needs. I talked to the owner about this and he said they are spoiled they hunt a lot of ceo type guys and the kid had got a 10k tip that year already. That’s right 10k

So just some perspectives. Another thing is small gifts are always cool and appreciated but a lot of guides don’t make much in the base and make a lot of the money from tips. So keep that in mind. I have been given knives and been happy to accept it as it’s a kind gesture. Some people don’t know the tip procedure and it’s a real rough guide line and that’s why these threads pop up every year.

Wow ! Crazy!  I figure 10% up to $1,000.     But there could be exceptions I'm sure - knew a guide that spent 14 days thru hell trying to get a local tv guide a ram including multiple food drops and one where the grizz ate the drop.  A $2k tip wouldn't have been outa line.

[dilleytech]

When I was guiding, a couple hundred was pretty common.  And if it wasn't quite that much, no big deal.. After a week with these guys, you got a good sense of what they could afford.  Seems like Joe Blue collar always tipped better than the guys who were more affluent. Never could nail down why.  Don't forget your wrangler  and cook. They work hard too.

 Unless the guide was a total bum, no kill shouldn't mean no tip.

     Please, don't give your guide your knife for a tip. It's insulting!

Sorry but the attitude of a knife as a tip is insulting should not be if that’s all they have that’s all they have

The last thing a professional guide wants or needs would be what someone else thinks is a good knife. That’s like me taking someone fishing and they give me one of those red and white round plastic bobbers to use for fishing. G thanks now I have to throw this away or find someone else who wants it.

[huntnfmly]

When I was guiding, a couple hundred was pretty common.  And if it wasn't quite that much, no big deal.. After a week with these guys, you got a good sense of what they could afford.  Seems like Joe Blue collar always tipped better than the guys who were more affluent. Never could nail down why.  Don't forget your wrangler  and cook. They work hard too.

 Unless the guide was a total bum, no kill shouldn't mean no tip.

     Please, don't give your guide your knife for a tip. It's insulting!

Sorry but the attitude of a knife as a tip is insulting should not be if that’s all they have that’s all they have

The last thing a professional guide wants or needs would be what someone else thinks is a good knife. That’s like me taking someone fishing and they give me one of those red and white round plastic bobbers to use for fishing. G thanks now I have to throw this away or find someone else who wants it.

Terrible attitude for a guide to have
Maybe that red and white bobber is all they have to show their appreciation
If you’re only in it for the tip get out of the guiding business and I know most guides are in it because the love doing it

[Alan K]

If I were figuring on going on a guided hunt and were putting money away, I would figure in an adequate tip on top of the price of the hunt before I went. 

[Bareback]

1. Do what you can afford
2. Do what is justified.
3. We’re amenities good, fair, poor?
4. Was your guide personable/professional? 
5. Did your guide work to your standard?
6. Did you have opportunity at success?

Do you plan to reuse guide or outfitter? Reevaluate 1-6.

IMHO tips should be cash, cash is king, and it allows the recipient to determine how it should be used (it’s not some knife you didn’t like so much). But at the end of a three days of charter fishing out of Los Barrilles , I took my patiggucii hooded sun shirt and hat off and gave it to the deckhand. He couldn’t speak english but his smile said it all. That was additional to cash.

It’s flat out tough working with the general public. There’s so much variance with personalities, personal perception, expectations and ability. I find most amusement when I come across fishermen that went on a guided trip and don’t catch anything. Often times they are the worst fisherman in the world and couldn’t catch a trout in a trout pond. But since they “paid for a trip” they expected to catch fish and are disgruntled. It’s never their fault or lack of ability, it’s the guides.

Cooks, wranglers are overworked and underpaid.......

[dilleytech]

When I was guiding, a couple hundred was pretty common.  And if it wasn't quite that much, no big deal.. After a week with these guys, you got a good sense of what they could afford.  Seems like Joe Blue collar always tipped better than the guys who were more affluent. Never could nail down why.  Don't forget your wrangler  and cook. They work hard too.

 Unless the guide was a total bum, no kill shouldn't mean no tip.

     Please, don't give your guide your knife for a tip. It's insulting!

Sorry but the attitude of a knife as a tip is insulting should not be if that’s all they have that’s all they have

The last thing a professional guide wants or needs would be what someone else thinks is a good knife. That’s like me taking someone fishing and they give me one of those red and white round plastic bobbers to use for fishing. G thanks now I have to throw this away or find someone else who wants it.

Terrible attitude for a guide to have
Maybe that red and white bobber is all they have to show their appreciation
If you’re only in it for the tip get out of the guiding business and I know most guides are in it because the love doing it

Big game guides I have talked to all do it for the money. I have a few friends who have guided deer hunts. They got paid like 150$ a day. For guiding people who spend 7k for the hunt. Tips are huge. The guidings generally not fun and really stressful. Most people who pay for guided hunts don’t really know or understand hunting or how to shoot. At least when it comes to a Wyoming deer hunt.

[jrebel]

If there in it for the money......they picked the wrong career!!!  LOLOLOLOL    Sorry, had to!!  There are a lot more lucrative careers out there where they don't have to be cold, wet, hungry, sleep deprived, etc.    My experience is they do it for the lifestyle....which is all the more reason to tip well, it at least allows them a few extra bucks to buy nice gear.  Maybe I am wrong, and maybe a guide wants to chime in on yearly salary ranges but my guess is they are not doing for the money. 

 

[dilleytech]

If there in it for the money......they picked the wrong career!!!  LOLOLOLOL    Sorry, had to!!  There are a lot more lucrative careers out there where they don't have to be cold, wet, hungry, sleep deprived, etc.    My experience is they do it for the lifestyle....which is all the more reason to tip well, it at least allows them a few extra bucks to buy nice gear.  Maybe I am wrong, and maybe a guide wants to chime in on yearly salary ranges but my guess is they are not doing for the money.

Thats probably why most don’t do it for their entire lives as a career. It sucks and they don’t make enough lol

[Widgeondeke]

My brother does it for the extra cash and he is good at it. As stated, it allows him to buy better gear and family fun.
He has a regular job that pays the bills.

[Westside88]

I haven't been able to take a guided hunt, but when I am able to I will go prepared to tip well. I've been on a few guided fishing trips and with the good ones you learn as much in one trip as you could in a year or more on your own. For me a successful trip doesn't necessarily mean a cooler full of fish or a punched tag, although that's a great outcome to have. I think you're paying for the knowledge and preparation to put you in position for success. With big game animals that means a lot of work after success as well. If my guide is prepared, willing to put in the work and wants to help me succeed that's all I expect and will take care of them as best I can

[huntnfmly]

When I was guiding, a couple hundred was pretty common.  And if it wasn't quite that much, no big deal.. After a week with these guys, you got a good sense of what they could afford.  Seems like Joe Blue collar always tipped better than the guys who were more affluent. Never could nail down why.  Don't forget your wrangler  and cook. They work hard too.

 Unless the guide was a total bum, no kill shouldn't mean no tip.

     Please, don't give your guide your knife for a tip. It's insulting!

Sorry but the attitude of a knife as a tip is insulting should not be if that’s all they have that’s all they have

The last thing a professional guide wants or needs would be what someone else thinks is a good knife. That’s like me taking someone fishing and they give me one of those red and white round plastic bobbers to use for fishing. G thanks now I have to throw this away or find someone else who wants it.

Terrible attitude for a guide to have
Maybe that red and white bobber is all they have to show their appreciation
If you’re only in it for the tip get out of the guiding business and I know most guides are in it because the love doing it

Big game guides I have talked to all do it for the money. I have a few friends who have guided deer hunts. They got paid like 150$ a day. For guiding people who spend 7k for the hunt. Tips are huge. The guidings generally not fun and really stressful. Most people who pay for guided hunts don’t really know or understand hunting or how to shoot. At least when it comes to a Wyoming deer hunt.

Talking to guides we’ve gone out with they do it because they enjoy doing it and helping people.
The first guided hunt we went on our guide was great his gear not so much he had a spotting scope the eye piece was duct taped on and the tripod head would not lock down.
It was one of the best hunt’s we’ve been on
I gave him my brand new spotter on top of a tip and he said he actually appreciated the spotter more because he wasn’t going to be able to get another before he headed out again.
So I know we can go back and forth about this my attitude and experience and yours are different that’s all

[huntnfmly]

I haven't been able to take a guided hunt, but when I am able to I will go prepared to tip well. I've been on a few guided fishing trips and with the good ones you learn as much in one trip as you could in a year or more on your own. For me a successful trip doesn't necessarily mean a cooler full of fish or a punched tag, although that's a great outcome to have. I think you're paying for the knowledge and preparation to put you in position for success. With big game animals that means a lot of work after success as well. If my guide is prepared, willing to put in the work and wants to help me succeed that's all I expect and will take care of them as best I can

The last sentence of this post is exactly what I am talking about
“I will take care of them as best I can”

[dilleytech]

When I was guiding, a couple hundred was pretty common.  And if it wasn't quite that much, no big deal.. After a week with these guys, you got a good sense of what they could afford.  Seems like Joe Blue collar always tipped better than the guys who were more affluent. Never could nail down why.  Don't forget your wrangler  and cook. They work hard too.

 Unless the guide was a total bum, no kill shouldn't mean no tip.

     Please, don't give your guide your knife for a tip. It's insulting!

Sorry but the attitude of a knife as a tip is insulting should not be if that’s all they have that’s all they have

The last thing a professional guide wants or needs would be what someone else thinks is a good knife. That’s like me taking someone fishing and they give me one of those red and white round plastic bobbers to use for fishing. G thanks now I have to throw this away or find someone else who wants it.

Terrible attitude for a guide to have
Maybe that red and white bobber is all they have to show their appreciation
If you’re only in it for the tip get out of the guiding business and I know most guides are in it because the love doing it

Big game guides I have talked to all do it for the money. I have a few friends who have guided deer hunts. They got paid like 150$ a day. For guiding people who spend 7k for the hunt. Tips are huge. The guidings generally not fun and really stressful. Most people who pay for guided hunts don’t really know or understand hunting or how to shoot. At least when it comes to a Wyoming deer hunt.

Talking to guides we’ve gone out with they do it because they enjoy doing it and helping people.
The first guided hunt we went on our guide was great his gear not so much he had a spotting scope the eye piece was duct taped on and the tripod head would not lock down.
It was one of the best hunt’s we’ve been on
I gave him my brand new spotter on top of a tip and he said he actually appreciated the spotter more because he wasn’t going to be able to get another before he headed out again.
So I know we can go back and forth about this my attitude and experience and yours are different that’s all

You mean the guide your paying to take you hunting didn’t  tell you they do it strictly to get your money? Shocker lol

[follow maggie]

I agree with 10% being a good starting point. I’ve only done 4 guided trips in my life- 1 fishing in Alaska, 1 fishing out of Westport and 2 pig hunts in California. The fishing trips I didn’t tip the business owner driving the boat because I’ve already paid him a bunch of money. I tipped the deckhands $200 per day. On the pig hunts the guide who spent the days with me was an employee, so I tipped them $250/day. My last hunt I filled both my tags on the first day, I still tipped him the $250 for both days of the planned hunt.