What questions do you ask outfitters references?

[HUNT]

What are you gonna hunt ?

Dall Sheep.  Possibly with a moose combo/ depending on additional cost. 

[woodman]

I am looking to book an outfitted hunt in Alaska in the next couple of weeks and am getting ready to contact outfitters references.  I have never hired a guide before so I was looking for a little help.

For those guys who have hunted with outfitters before - what questions did you or should you have asked the references he supplied you?

Even though I am an outfitter, I have also hunted with many other outfitters. It's more important to me that I have a good time on the hunt than anything else.

Here's my best recommendation.
Ask people you know or hunters here on the forum which outfitter they liked for the species you want to hunt. Then contact the ones which are recommended to you as being good and ask some of the questions Radsav and carpsniper pointed out, they are good questions.

Hope you have a great time,
Dale

Bearpaw, I find this interesting what you and carpsniper2 have to say. I would agree that shot opportunity would count very high. When guys spend thousands of dollars they at least expect to have a chance. When I talk about the $25,000.00 dollars that was spent on my trip with absolutely zero opportunity, they also said that it was about the outdoor experience. That was not brought up in the front end of the trip, only afterwards. I can have a lot of enjoyment for a heck of a lot less money than going on a glorified camping trip. I am sure your trips are great, but there sure are some buggers out there. Mine happened a few years ago and I still have hard feelings about it. I see the outfitter out the Puyallup Sportsman show every year and I wait for him to get done talking to prospective clients. When they are done talking I walk up to them down and fill them in on what happened with my group.

[carpsniperg2]

For sure woodman. There is a lot of things that are cheaper and closer to home to do then go on a guided hunt and not get a animal. All a outfitter can do is give 110% to try and get a animal for there clients. A lot over sell there hunts have way to many hunters in camp to deal with and other flat ass don't have the animals. That is why you do your homework best that you can and make solid decisions. Part of my business is being a booking agent- I make not one red cent off any of my clients but put my name on the line everytime I send one to a outfitter. In all god's honest truth I deal with between 50-60 outfitters and year and talk to around 100-200 references and hunters each year. More then probably just about any person out there. I am not going to be there to make sure things go right so I have to trust the outfitters 100% with my clients and know they are going to represent themselves well and me. I have about 20 outfitters that I trust 100%. I will not sell a hunt for a outfitter if I do not know them or have dealt with them before. Most times I hunt with a outfitter before ever sending my clients to them. That way I know first hand how they are in the world out outfitting and guiding. So yes everyone wants to shoot a animal. Some are happy with a spike bull others want a 400" or will go home empty handed. That is why I put so much into shot opportunity. If I can have a great trip and a chance to harvest a animal I am after then I am happy. I have had lots of good hunts where I did not kill a animal and walked away empty handed but the hunt was well worth the cost Hope that helps.

[woodman]

For sure woodman. There is a lot of things that are cheaper and closer to home to do then go on a guided hunt and not get a animal. All a outfitter can do is give 110% to try and get a animal for there clients. A lot over sell there hunts have way to many hunters in camp to deal with and other flat ass don't have the animals. That is why you do your homework best that you can and make solid decisions. Part of my business is being a booking agent- I make not one red cent off any of my clients but put my name on the line everytime I send one to a outfitter. In all god's honest truth I deal with between 50-60 outfitters and year and talk to around 100-200 references and hunters each year. More then probably just about any person out there. I am not going to be there to make sure things go right so I have to trust the outfitters 100% with my clients and know they are going to represent themselves well and me. I have about 20 outfitters that I trust 100%. I will not sell a hunt for a outfitter if I do not know them or have dealt with them before. Most times I hunt with a outfitter before ever sending my clients to them. That way I know first hand how they are in the world out outfitting and guiding. So yes everyone wants to shoot a animal. Some are happy with a spike bull others want a 400" or will go home empty handed. That is why I put so much into shot opportunity. If I can have a great trip and a chance to harvest a animal I am after then I am happy. I have had lots of good hunts where I did not kill a animal and walked away empty handed but the hunt was well worth the cost Hope that helps.

I appreciate very much what you have to say here. We did a lot of homework, just saying that we were flat out lied to. We put a lot of energy up front on this hunt and not only did we not get a shot opportunity, we never saw an animal period. There was a group that came out when we got there and they were all VERY PISSED. They also were misled. Have you ever heard of an outfitter with the name Ford in it?

[carpsniperg2]

I understand the frustrations very much. Part of why I started my booking agency along with my own outfitting business. Is to help people from getting into a bad spot like you guys had happen. It is a good option for a lot of people to have a agent they trust find them a hunt with a outfitter. It takes a lot of the stress and worries out. I call it the what if factors- what if the hunt sucks-what if I don't see any animals-what if they have crapy food/crappy places to stay/ are lieing to me... etc. When it comes down to it a good agent can remove those worries by setting you up with a outfitter they put there name with.

I watch a lot of sites and have note books full of documented hunts and experience with outfitters that I don't even know. I just love seeing feedback from random people that have nothing to gain by saying good things. They just give a honest write up and tell it how it is. Some people pay to use sites to check out the background on some outfitters, yes they have sites for that. I have my books and logs. In today's world a guy can get onto a place like this and ask about outfitters and have honest guys pop up and give feedback about hunts they have been on. Very solid and reliable feedback where they have nothing to gain or make no money. That is why I never charge my clients anything yet give them my word with my outfitters. Its a free peace of mind to anyone that wants it and it helps eliminate the what if factor.

[bearpaw]

Woodman, I completely agree, I would not like to spend $25,000 and not get anything either, but nearly every hunt has the risk of not being successful. With the best outfitter in any area there is a risk of not getting an animal unless you are hunting in a high fenced area. I'm not in any way saying that the outfitter you mention was good or bad, I am just pointing out the risk that exists. If an outfitter advertises 90% success than that means that 10% are unsuccessful and it's very likely the 10% may be upset and unobjective in ther opinion of the outfitter.

But no matter if a trip is successful or unsuccessful, I would still want to enjoy the hunt and the people I am hunting with. It has seemed to me that hunts where everyone is having a great time and there is no friction seem to be the most successful. Maybe I am crazy, but it seems that way to me.

HUNT
Sorry about hijacking the topic from the original question, but maybe all this other talk will help in some way. If I remember correctly, Norsepeak has had success with an outfitter on Dall Sheep, you might message him and ask who. There are other hunters on H-W who have hunted dall sheep as well, I would suggest digging around the forum and asking them if they recommend the outfitter they went with. GOOD LUCK...

[HUNT]

Thanks for all the info - I am calling at least 10 references for each outfitter and trying to track down others that have hunted there and arent on the reference list. 

One of the outfitters I am looking at says that he asks that all of his clients are on a rotating reference list. 

[carpsniperg2]

Radsav is a good one to talk to about a dall sheep outfitter. As well as a member called ramslam "I think that is how you spell it" I know norse said he had a successful trip but I think he said he was not happy with the whole hunt. I might be mistaken but I remember something like that about his trip.

I don't have dall sheep hunts. I have some stone sheep hunts in BC that can also add bou and goats.

[bearpaw]

ArcheryOutfitter on here has a brother who outfits dalls in Alaska. I don't know much about him, but you could ask AlwineArcher, I think he has been there.

[HUNT]

Would love a stone sheep hunt.  But they are a little out of my price range.....

[RadSav]

Would love a stone sheep hunt.  But they are a little out of my price range.....

When it comes to sheep hunts you usually get what you pay for!  Alaska has some very good deals, but often you had better be in some dang good shape.  All sheep hunts take good conditioning for full enjoyment.  However, every successful dall hunter I have talked to hunting AK has busted their hump well beyond anything I have done.  Definately not a hunt for an aging fat *censored* like myself.

Anything less than $25,000 for a dall or stone hunt would bring up HUGE RED FLAGS in my book.  The great ones like Ramhead or Simpson Stone are usually booked years ahead.  They also have their own planes and helicopters managing unexpected (surprise!!) costs dramatically.  Nothing worse than budgeting and saving for a $30,000 hunt.  And then finding out just before you leave your air taxi fees are another $3,000 and getting your trophy home is another $4,000 and your second animal cost did not include a $4,500 trophy fee.  Really have to watch those add on's when getting a "Good Deal" with an average service.  Hell, even some dang good services have caught me by surprise with fees.

Don't forget that you have to get your sheep through customs and your moose horns crated and shipped home some way.  Customs is getting really tough on sheep and goats.  Your guide will need to COMPLETELY remove any brain matter.  A letter from your guide stating the skull has been cleaned with boiling water is also a great help.  Most airlines will not allow moose or caribou horns as baggage anymore.  You will want to check out how your outfitter deals with this.  If they have a well thought out plan and instructions I wouldn't worry too much.  But many just say, "You have to arrange and pay for that yourself."  If that is the case I once again throw up the "RED FLAG".

I've flipped the coin a few times on hunts I knew nothing about, but the cost was so good I just could not pass up taking the risk.  In these cases (usualy last minute hunt opportunities) it has been a "book at your own risk" frame of mind.  Usually an animal I have never hunted before and never wanted to pay full price for.  I began each of these hunts with the attitude that I just needed to get away from the shop for a few days so what the heck.  If I score I score if not I should at least have a good time and shed some of the stress of day to day business.  Not a single one of these hunts surprised me by being so outstanding I would say it was the hunt of a lifetime or that they were the cream of the crop in their species.  However, I have returned to hunt with a few of these guys again for more popular species and had great experiences.  So there is always the possibility of pleasant surprises, but I would not risk full sheep hunt prices on outfitters selling their services at the local sportman's show.  The great ones are not going to be there.

[dvolmer]

I have never been on a guided hunt but from what  I have read and heard one of the things you want is a guide that doesnt hunt the property you are hunting.  You want a guide that is going to do everthing in his power to make your hunt as scuccesful as possible.  If he hunts the property himself than I doubt you are going to see the biggist buck on the property.  That one is waiting for when the clients leave so he can have it himself.  Just some information that I have heard over and over again.  I think it was Eastmans that made a list  of what to expect and look for in a good guide.  That is the reason that i have never looked into being an outfitter myself.  I love to hunt to much to be an outfitter.  Guy Eastman will tell you a good outfitter will never take an animal off of his land or the land that he leases himself.  Just something to think about.   Some guys who love to hunt alot think how great it would be to be an outfitter but as I age I realize it would be the last thing I would want to do.  Its like my buddies son who went to work at Sportsmans and cant figure out why he cant ever get time off of work during hunting season.

[seth30]

I have been on two guided hunts.  One here in Wa, and one down in Cali.  I ate tag soup in Washingotn, and in Cali I not only got a huge hog, but a ton of coyotes on the same day.  I like the outfitter in Cali a lot better than the one I dealt with here in WA.  I paid more for the guide here in WA, and got less from him than the other guide.  Eating tag soup probaly has swayed my opionon a tad, but also doing a half days hunt for the price of a 3 day hunt is the driving factor.

[Ridgerunner]

One of the bigger factors is the experience and tenure of the guides. 

[Ridgerunner]

I have been on a couple guided hunts and have had good experiences but I have researched the daylights out of them