How much to tip your hunting guide?

[Mojave]

8-17k elk and all hound hunts

Gotcha, more than fair for those hunts.

 

[EdP]

When hunt costs get really high I don't see a % of the hunt cost being a realistic metric for tipping the guide. Like others have said, I don't tip the outfitter unless he is also the guide. The non-guiding outfitter is providing a specific service. That service being the camp, livestock, food, etc, which has a certain cost that figures into the high cost of the hunt. It appears to me to be unrelated to the pay a guide receives so is also unrelated to the tip one should consider for the guide.

 

[Suera]

Here in Spain , the normal is that people típ with 50$ and if they are happy with his trophies and hunting 100-200$ at the end of the hunt.
The other countries that i know like Pakistan you have to tip more in total but because there are lots of guides, porters and more ( between 5-12 locals ), but finally is the same
You guys are talking about crazy tips

 

[Gerald.g6]

I was always told start at 10% and then work up if it’s first rate experience


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[Deleted member 8-15-23]

So 2 guides looking for rams@13,000 feet before I show up. What % tip for each?

 

[ToolMann]

What about drop camps where the hunting part is on your own?

 

[Doc Holliday]

What about drop camps where the hunting part is on your own?

The drop camp outfitter was the Dad. Him and his son showed up to pack the 4 of us out and they were short 1 mule. I pointed it out and the outfitter counted the mules and then counted us. Outfitters son maybe 19 years old, got off his mule so we could all have one…held the reins of the lead mule and walked back in red wings and jeans about 7 miles leading us all to the trail head. Made us all feel pretty spoiled watching him walk it and not break a sweat. We didn’t tip the Dad because we paid him $2,000 a piece already, but we gave the son $400 IIRC. He was not expecting it and was happy to get it.

 

[GoatBoat218]

If you really appreciate the work the guide did for you and you had an enjoyable hunt together then I'd recommend going by the rule of "tip till it hurts." Regardless of the % it'll mean something to you and guide both. That means a different amount to everyone. A tip for a good guide is completely different than the open handed coffee barista.

 

[Theringworm]

If it’s a nice sit down dinner, we’ll start at 20% to the waiter/waitress and then their efforts will subtract or add to that amount. Beyond a sit down restaurant, I don’t and won’t tip. Starbucks, any quick/semi-quick restaurant where all that’s done is a person at the register puts in my order and then flips the screen over for me to sign and conveniently has a “tip suggestion box”, sorry I ain’t tipping. It HAS gotten out of control. Now, I have tipped for random things. Used to be an older bus boy that bussed tables at a Black Eyed Pea restaurant. He was something else to watch him work. He loved his job and did it like no one I have ever seen. I would tip him because I appreciated his efforts. Not a tip but I have anonymously paid for servicemen’s meals when out to eat or the lonely war veteran eating by himself. Why, because I am moved to do so.

Hunting. 10% of hunt cost TO THE GUIDE is where I start. Whether it’s a $500 hog hunt ($50 tip) or a $35,000 moose/bear hunt ($3,500 tip). The support staffs tip is additional. That’s how I do it. Not saying it’s the right way nor the only way. Effort, NOT SUCCESS will determine if that amount increases or decreases. I have stiffed two different guides (1 hunting and 1 fishing) before due to poor efforts. I have given a 20% tip on $25k plus hunt. All depends on the effort. I have never ever been told a tip was required. I have been encouraged to tip if the effort deserved it but that’s the extent of it. If at all possible, I give all tips directly to the person it’s intended for. I try and keep it out of the outfitters hands. They have no reason to be involved.

I have done several guided hunts and hope to do many more. The hunting community is a pretty close knit group of people. I want to be known as someone who appreciates hard work and hope that will allow me to come back and hunt again or get connected with another great outfitter. So far that has been the case. I don’t care if I leave a bad impression on a bad outfitter/bad guide. They likely have nothing more to offer me and others in the industry already know about them as well.

The take home message is, yes, in the USA it is the industry standard. To not budget this into your trip cost is short sided. If you simply have no desire to tip then be upfront about it when you are booking your hunt so you can avoid an awkward moment down the road. Most will be gracious for it, many won’t say a word about it and some will expect it and mention it to you. Do what you want to do.

 

[MattB]

The take home message is, yes, in the USA it is the industry standard. To not budget this into your trip cost is short sided. If you simply have no desire to tip then be upfront about it when you are booking your hunt so you can avoid an awkward moment down the road. Most will be gracious for it, many won’t say a word about it and some will expect it and mention it to you. Do what you want to do.

I highly doubt any of the “no tip” crew would mention that before the hunt although they should. They want to defy convention but not suffer any consequences for doing so.

I wonder how many in that crowd repeat hunts with the same outfitter?

As you suggested, for many jobs in the US hospitality industry compensation is structured so a portion is paid in the form that of a tip. In this instance, that is to the hunter’s benefit because it aligns the interest of the hunter and guide.

 

[Deadfall]

Some of yall act like you gods gift. If ya like it overseas so much why don't you go there.
This is still America. Do what you want.
I've been guiding a long time.
Keep in mind outfitters also have a not allowed back list.

 

[Deadfall]

I've had guts kill fantastic quality bull and tip almost nothing. Or nothing. Had other guys not kill anything and tip through the roof
So whatever.

 

[Fire power]

I would think up to $100, "IF" he has a good experiance. I have seen a few that think it is deserved no matter what, but very few.

 

[wyosteve]

I would think up to $100, "IF" he has a good experiance. I have seen a few that think it is deserved no matter what, but very few.

I can guarantee I would not work very hard for a $100 tip over the course of a week!

 

[Fire power]

I can guarantee I would not work very hard for a $100 tip over the course of a week!

So you would tip
More ? $500+

 

[TxAggie15]

As someone who guided I feel like it is often ignored. Some may think that the ranch is building in the price for tip or that the ranch pays the guide. The particular one I was on didn’t pay guides and a lot of us traveled 3.5 hours to work the weekends and were 100% tip based. So it got to the point that we were having to get some sort of compensation from the ranch to at least cover fuel. We had an extremely high success rate, and always started with “what are you looking to accomplish? Ride around and shoot, or go with our way of a spot and stalk” spot and stalk that is successful and checks all the boxes for the hunter should be worthy of something. But it’s also nature of the business and a gamble that we take.

 

[Duuane]

I have only been on one guided western hunt, it is a family run business. There was some driving around looking for animals, but when we spotted the deer, it was boots on the ground to get in position to get a shot. We all ended up filling our tags, but because deer sense danger, there were more failed stalks than successful ones. Our guide was like a predator when it came to trying to get on animals. Because he didn't worry about final payment when we arrived, the guide/outfitter got the final payment and tip at the same moment, after the kill. He did count the final payment, but just put the tip in his pocket without counting it. The hunt was $4600 and the guide got $500 and a knife from a knife company where I live. I gave $200 to the mother daughter cooks, again, no counting, she just said thank you and put it in her pocket. Happily going back this year.

What I don't understand is why the tip is based on a percentage of the cost of a meal, hunt, or fishing trip. Why should a server at an inexpensive restaurant who worked their but off, get a smaller tip than a poor server at an expensive restaurant? Even if the service was the same, bad, average, or great, why does the person at the expensive place get more money? Why should a guide who did just the bare minimum on an expensive hunt get a larger tip than a guide who worked their butt off on a much less expensive trip?

 

[Whizkid]

I have never asked this question, but people ask me a lot. Assuming you have had a very hard working guide and he has done all he could do to give you a great hunt, how much do you tip him? I will give my thoughts first without giving an answer.

1. Whether I harvest an animal factors in, but not as much as you think. Generally if the guide puts in same effort on a no harvest hunt as a harvest hunt, the tip is going to be the same.
2. I do not try to “bait in the guide or outfitter” by saying if I get a Boone and Crocket or a Pope and Young you are going to get “x”. The reason I have been on both sides of the fence. When younger, I could barely scrape up the money to go. Now, money really isn’t an issue and if someone wants to get in a bidding war over who the outfitter is going to put on the 390” inch bull opening morning, they better have some pretty deep pockets to get ahead of me. But, I do NOT play that game. Period.
3. Being prepared and ready when I get there for the first days hunt means a lot to me. That seems basic, but I have had some guided hunts where it was the third day and they were still trying to figure there $hit out. For me what I am paying an outfitter for takes place BEFORE I get there - at least 80% of it.
4. I factor in what the guide most likely gets per day from the outfitter and where we are. In other words for an Alaskan hunt the guide gets more dollar for dollar because things just cost more up there - a lot more.


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10%. Hunts cost so much these days as does my regular cost of living.

 

[nja112189]

Some real good advice here for a newbie to "afford" one of these trips.

 

[Swamp Fox]

Curious, why is it sad? The standard tip in the service industry has, for as long as I can remember, been 20%. But can you honestly say that the service has maintained the same level of quality to continue to justify the standard?
Nothing is owed, everything is earned.

When I was coming up, 15% was the baseline and that was for employees. If you owned the business/service, it was not automatic that you got something on top of what you charged.

I got a lot of bad haircuts and runny eggs for an extra 15%.