Guiding

[Mtelkhuntet43]

Hi I am currently in highschool and I am really interested in guiding who's can I get started?

 

[Hilltop]

A good place to start would be to contact a local outfitter to see if you can work in and around camp helping out. Offer free help for room and board and you should find a taker. You will gain a bunch of experience without the stress of having your own clients. You may also have luck contacting local ranches that offer guided hunts- offer the same and be up front with them about your goals of eventually guiding. Many of my early "guiding" jobs were much more than just guiding. We fixed fence, helped with cattle, or did what ever else the ranchers needed.

There are some reputable guide schools out there as well you can look in to. I'm not a huge fan of them but it is another way to get started.

Good luck to you..

 

[2rocky]

Understand that guiding encompasses a wide variety of things. The main skill you need is PEOPLE Skills. Even before being able to find animals, or handle horses and mules, or skin critters. Your biggest clients may likely be people you dislike.

You might lead trail rides in the summers, guide fishermen in the early fall, campjack or cook in the Fall, dog sled or snowmobile in the winter, and starve in the spring....seldom will an outfitter have year round work for you. You will likely have 2 or three jobs a year and no retirement except what you save. If you are guiding in the west, you should be able to shoe a horse, sharpen and run a chainsaw, run a single or double handsaw, repair small engines, dig a latrine, sew up a tent, do leather repair, pack a horse or mule, tie on a fly, match the hatch, mix a drink, all before lunch then fix a 5 course meal with 3 ingredients and smile the whole time. (mild exaggeration to prove a point)

Do it while you are young and footloose with minimal debt. it will be a great experience that will enrich your life. Just don't expect to go right to pointing out big bulls to nice, polite and appreciative clients. Even when you start out as a camp jack, your position has value though. Don't work for free. You might only get $500-700 a month plus meals and a bed, but it is where you start.

Good job descriptions:

 

[tim]

be prepared to be a grunt for awhile, most companies try you out on mindless work, before actually guiding.
at least that is how it was for me being a river guide.

 

[mntnguide]

Great posts above. .i have spent the past 8 years as a guide. I won't ever regret doing it, i had some amazing times and met some awesome people as well as saw unbelievable country. ..that being said. .don't expect to hunt for yourself nearly as much as a guide, along with having long hours in all conditions with no days off and the pay will never seem like much If your add up your hours. I am leaving guiding and currently in a trade school to help me secure an apprenticeship in electrical line work. I look forward to having a financially stable career now and using my years of guiding and hunting to my advantage for myself finally. Do it while your young, but unless you have a trust fund to buy an outfit, don't expect to do it for life. . The most important thing a guide needs is stated in the above posts..PEOPLE SKILLS!! Just cause you are a good hunter doesn't mean you will be a good guide. .if you don't like interacting with all sorts of people, some u like, some you won't. .then guiding is not a good choice. ..if you decide to go the guide school route, there are only a couple really good ones out there, and lots of bad. ..check out royaltine.com ...they are the real deal and great people. Good luck

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Let me say this first....I have never guided, but I have worked in a pack station/stables during the summers in high school. I have been on 30+ wilderness horse/mule pack in hunting trips over 60 years of big game hunting.

If you try and do this like you want to (right out of high school) with no training, you will take a long time learning your chosen craft, similar to an apprentice. You won't make much money and will be looking for supplemental jobs when you are not packing/guiding. 2 rocky nailed it as far as I'm concerned.

I assume that one day you'll want to own your own business too. This will require business skills too. My advice would be to find something for summer work in this field and go to school (junior college, trade school or university). Work a few years and get hooked up with an outfitter you like and save your $$$ to buy a business that is available and established. Set up a long term plan to get you there and start on that path.

Good luck.....

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Great posts above. .i have spent the past 8 years as a guide. I won't ever regret doing it, i had some amazing times and met some awesome people as well as saw unbelievable country. ..that being said. .don't expect to hunt for yourself nearly as much as a guide, along with having long hours in all conditions with no days off and the pay will never seem like much If your add up your hours. I am leaving guiding and currently in a trade school to help me secure an apprenticeship in electrical line work. I look forward to having a financially stable career now and using my years of guiding and hunting to my advantage for myself finally. Do it while your young, but unless you have a trust fund to buy an outfit, don't expect to do it for life. . The most important thing a guide needs is stated in the above posts..PEOPLE SKILLS!! Just cause you are a good hunter doesn't mean you will be a good guide. .if you don't like interacting with all sorts of people, some u like, some you won't. .then guiding is not a good choice. ..if you decide to go the guide school route, there are only a couple really good ones out there, and lots of bad. ..check out royaltine.com ...they are the real deal and great people. Good luck

Great advice....he posted this while I was writing mine!!