"Scout" Services

[ReaptheHeat]

I have been seeing a couple of these companies pop up in the past year. This one in particular is all over social media and the Colorado pages. Apparently they sell GPS coordinates to animals. I assume most of their customer base are non-residents who don't know any better.

Hunters Insight

Shop Our Scout Services

thehuntersinsight.com

Outfitter friends I have talked to have been pissed that these types of companies can operate legally on public lands in their territory. No permits or anything required according to CPW. Anyone interact with these guys? I have been seeing posters in my small town advertising them.

 

[Poser]

I've seen this as well. It difficult to imagine that their data is particularly useful beyond a starting point. I'd also imagine they are selling the same data points to many different hunters.

 

[Hnthrdr]

what’s that saying? A sucker is born every min. I have lots of issues with this crap. Honestly so stupid. But also unless they chain it to a tree, how is that really going to help other than okay there is an elk or deer in this basin. How dumb are you to pay for it. Heck though a huge part of hunting is the challenge of figuring it out on your own and how good it feels to learn a spot or gain that knowledge or experience or I guess you could pay some stooge to do it for you.

 

[MNGrouser]

I've seen this as well. It difficult to imagine that their data is particularly useful beyond a starting point. I'd also imagine they are selling the same data points to many different hunters.

Right? Seems like a good way for you and every other "customer" to wind up "hunting" the same critter!

 

[Ucsdryder]

Gross

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Another scam to bring in the $$$$$$

 

[griebel303]

$600 and you can know the "outfitters favored spots". I can imagine the same people who pop up in the Facebook hunting pages saying " I drew a tag for unit X, can someone tell me where to start" would be just the suckers for that services.

 

[Rich M]

This used to be a bigger thing. Think some states outlawed the practice.

Same guide who leads you by the hand finds the bucks and sells the locations. Some of the guys were doing reputable work - even monitoring the critters just before season opened. @robby denning might have been involved.

A lot of the "macho" hunter types were really whining pretty good cause folks were getting on critters they "hadn't earned".

I don't see it much diff than using On-X, Go-Hunt or the other more popular "help a hunter" type services.

 

[Geewhiz]

I could do the same thing but I'm not willing to sell my soul for a few bucks. Disgusting.

 

[Rich M]

I could do the same thing but I'm not willing to sell my soul for a few bucks. Disgusting.

It s no different from guiding. Or accepting money to tell someone which unit to apply for/hunt.

Folks are grumpy today.

 

[Poser]

It s no different from guiding. Or accepting money to tell someone which unit to apply for/hunt.

Folks are grumpy today.

Guiding is regulated to a certain extent which generally insures that guided operations are distributed and not over concentrated. 3rd parties taking payment to advise on the best way to utilize points or what units will best realize the clients goals doesn't potentially stack hunters in a concentrated manner in a place none of them would likely have ended up without employing this particular service.

 

[Hnthrdr]

It s no different from guiding. Or accepting money to tell someone which unit to apply for/hunt.

Folks are grumpy today.

I’ll say it. Those are all pretty gross, and cheapen/ sell our wildlife out to the highest bidder. Do your own damn research. A hunt is a hunt. An out of state hunt even more so. If you can’t figure out what I mean by that, then please go pay someone to hold your hand

 

[ReaptheHeat]

It s no different from guiding. Or accepting money to tell someone which unit to apply for/hunt.

Folks are grumpy today.

At least a guide has to pay their dues and receive the appropriate licensure and permits to operate in a confined area.

 

[Wheels]

I would assume that any outfitters that sell "scouting packages" are not going to give out their preferred spots to someone that hasn't booked a fully guided hunt with them. Kind of like a drop camp, won't be in the best spots.

 

[elkliver]

Ummm Im thinking i could pull up ONX, identify a good basin to look in, make a waypoint and send to customer.... Chances are, there has been a good bull in that area but i cant offer any guarantees... How is the customer going to know i have never been there. and someone is really willing to pay for this?

 

[Trogon]

It s no different from guiding. Or accepting money to tell someone which unit to apply for/hunt.

Folks are grumpy today.

Its nothing like guiding or stat crunching services.

Services that tell you which tags to apply for are using publicly available data, anyone could figure the same results if they were willing to do the work and the stats on their own. Pay for the convenience of having it done for you.

Guides pay a fee to run their business on public land; just like outfitters, filming a hunt show or grazing cattle (but somehow collecting and selling sheds is free? but I digress)

These guys need to be managed just like an outfitter/guide.

 

[cnelk]

I wonder what the 'sandwich man' pays his scouting crew...?

 

[Hnthrdr]

I wonder what the 'sandwich man' pays his scouting crew...?

A whole lot of “hunter subs”

 

[Tmac]

Seems there are a couple main sticky issues. One, paying a fee to run a business on public land. The second is coordinates to an animal.

Not sure how’d you price a hunting service access fee/permit to operate a scouting service, perhaps a fee per day in the unit while scouting or a flat fee per scouting package sold. But I get the argument and a small fee seems reasonable.

As far as coordinates to an animal. How is that different than a circle on a paper scouting map of a sighting or detailed location verbally given by a person? While a coordinate sounds bad, is it really different enough to be banned? Game can move quite a bit too.

I’ve got very good location specific info from other hunters, locals, game wardens, biologists, state land managers, foresters and a couple federal wildlife refuge managers. I also used a scouting service once, was through an outfitter in an area he hunts. Got a map with 3 areas circled where a herd of pronghorn was sighted with a mature buck. N. NV unit where I did not have time to scout that year.

On the way to buck #1’s location, I killed a very nice one. Never did get close to where the map indicated. But probably would not have been as quickly successful without the map. I did not feel bad in the least or feel the trophy was somehow less or tainted. Would not have felt differently if I killed buck #1 I suspect.

So if I was given gps coordinates, would I feel differently? Nope. It does sound less sporting I guess, but in practice I think we have a distinction without a significant difference. I’d probably fall in the let them give coordinates camp, but pay a fee for use of the public land for revenue purposes.

 

[Poser]

Criticisms aside, The only type of "scouting service" I can imagine that is actually worth spending money on is one where you hire a "scouter" to go to a location, locations or area of your choosing. They glass and report back with field notes and images.