Question about predator hunting with a guide.

260_Rifleman

260_Rifleman

New member
I have a question for you people who have utilized a paid guide to hunt predators, or for the guides out there.

How many coyotes and/or bobcats would be expected to be called up in a day to consider it a good day? 3? 10? More?
What would be considered an average day?
A bad day?
I am not talking about the secondary things about hunting either cause I personally consider it a great day just by virtue of getting to go out into the outdoors and leave my cell phone and computer behind. Killing something is not the primary reason for me to be out there but a bunch of people count success by how many animals they kill.

The reason I ask is because modern hunting methods for game animals normally only allow one animal of a species to be taken by a hunter per year. Predators are different than deer or elk and it appears that harvesting a number of animals in a single day is a regular practice. A friend I work with went on a guided Elk hunt last year and spent a week in the mountains trying to harvest a good elk. I couldn't imagine hunting that hard for that many days and only harvesting a single coyote or bobcat.
 
You pay your money and you take your chances.

Weather and other conditions are out of the guide's control. You may not even see an animal. But, if you do your homework and check references, you should be able to come up with a guide who can do a good job for you. As long as you get an honest and knowledgeable effort, you get your money's worth.

Good luck

Randy
 
it's really hard to give numbers and I would beware of anybody that did! the best way to choose a guide is to ask people who have hunted with them! And not just the ones they choose to tell you about!
 
90% of the time I hunt without any type of guide and basically work alone or with my young son and do quite well. But every year at the end of Feb. I go on a guided coyote hunt with a legitimate guide for one day. We meet him in the general area, he drives us around, setups in many places (all of which are private that he has the hunting lease to), he does all the calling and with tips and eveything it cost me $150. I have been hunting long enough to know there is a difference between hunting and shooting. In other words there are no guarantees.....last year I shot a beautiful big dog and had shots at two others....I missed....no excuse.
Had a great time and am going again in 12 days.......room for one more hunter if any one is interested.

The only expectation I have is to be put in an area that is known to be frequently inhabited with many coyotes.
 
The first and only guided predator hunt that I paid for resulted in 1 coyote called in 7 or 8 stands. That wouldn't have been so bad except that when the coyote stopped broadside to us at about 50 yards, the guide shot him before I could. Then he bragged about this being his 10th straight one-shot kill. I had a second day planned with this fellow, but promptly cancelled it. Paid him his $125 and still feel like I got ripped-off.
 
John,

You did get ripped off! What a bummer.

In almost all cases of hunting or fishing, finding out if the guide will be shooting or fishing should be decided before the hunt. And, you are paying so you are the boss and get to say if he hunts or not. Of course he also has the right to say if he accepts the job or not.

Good point, John.

Randy
 
It is impossible to predict how many opportunities you will get, guided or not.

I think it also depends on your expectations.
John, How many stands did you expect to make and how many coyotes were you expecting to be called.

If you are hiring a guide, it is no different than hiring any other skilled tradesman or technician. You should get a professional who makes has the expertise and makes the effort to find game.

As far as numbers go, somedays it all goes well and somedays it doesn't. I've had days when I've called 25+ coyotes in.The next day it seemed like there weren't any left for 100 miles. On my hunts, I expect to call from daylight till dark. I'm never the one to say "that's enough". As long as we have light and my client wants to hunt, I'll hunt.

I will decide whether I carry and use a firearm, since I'm the guy that will go after the cripples. Shooting the target out from under you is a whole other thing. Some of my clients insist I bring a rifle and shoot. I only shoot at the ones they can't, or the ones that may be too far. Especially the yappers that sit at 400 yds. and my clients are undergunned for that range. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I think the long and short is that the hunt should be fun and provide you with memories to be talked about for years to come.
 
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Thanks for the input.
I was wondering about the expectations that being paid by a client put upon the guide/caller as opposed to a couple of guys going out calling for fun.
 
I might utilize a guide to provide some service that I couldn't provide myself. Two instances come to mind:

One, going off to Canada to hunt wolves, and being required to have a guide. I think that's the case anyway. If we knocked off a coyote or two while we were at it, all the better.

And two, something like dogging for coyotes, where the guide provided a dog or two (like Bubba) to go find 'em and bring 'em back. Now that would be worth paying for, and would give me the opportunity to experience something beyond my own capabilities.

(How's Bubba doing, by the way? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

Daybreak
 
260 rifleman.
Being a guide I can tell you that unless we are hunting dangerous game, like bear, I don't even carry a weapon. I we have to let an animal go by because the client doesn"t have the shot is all part of hunting and just another valuable memory of the hunt. I have fired guides working for me just for that reason that they shot the game out from under the client. Just not tolerable.
 
No way a guide can predict how many animals you well see or get. I had my own predator hunting guide service for a few years. We hunted hard day and night. Most times we got animals, a couple times we didn't and that was usually due to missed shots.
A good guided predator hunt to me would be making sure your hunter is having fun, learning and getting a few animals in the process.
This was not a guided hunt, but I remember taking two guys to Nevada who never hunted predators before. By the time the night was over they had 12 coyotes. They told me it was to easy and never went again? lol.
 
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I have a question for you people who have utilized a paid guide to hunt predators, or for the guides out there.





Do your self a favor and look up Randy Watson in Midland. TX. I just got back from a hunt with him and couldn't be any happier. Check out THIS THREAD
 
if i was to hunt on a ranch that outfits coyote hunters i'd go to Q creek its right at the base of the shurly mountains here in wyoming i drove by there last weekend and saw 12 coyotes from the highway it must be awsome calling.
i hunted some blm next to it but only got 1 out of the pair that showed up. i only made two sets then moved on my hunting partner was sick so we didn't get to do much just scouted new taratory.
 
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Bubba is doing very well. Thanks for asking. We're going to hit it hard this weekend. Should be good. Temps dropped and the coyotes should be real hungry.
 
I guided for predator hunts a couple of years,and I'd always advise my clients that I promise nothing but the opportunity to shoot some coyotes. I was fortunate and never had a complete blank day, but a few slims ones.
I always carried a rifle, but never once shot a clients coyote, thats bad form,and would warrant a refund in my book.
 
260.....

If you would have asked "What can I reasonably expect from a guided hunt?" I could have given you a good list of the things a paying client might get before, during, and after any quality guided hunt. But when you ask the way you do, I can only assume you're looking for more than just value from your hunting dollar, and you're trying to make some kind of point. So what's the agenda?
 
I agree with 99% of the comments made by others in response to the question on a guided hunt.

A good example comes to mind. Some of you may recall my posts on my guided predator trip with Redfrog out of Alberta, Canada. I had expectations of calling many more dogs than we did, but the experience was invaluable. I have used some of the tips I learned from Jim, and they have paid off back in my home State of Oregon.

Why was hunting so slow, who knows, but there are no guarantees. Redfrog was relentless in his pursuit of game, and did everything he knows to come up with a few more yotes. But that's the way the cookie crumbles and you take what you get. However, check out your guide BEFORE you book. Ask questions, and then be prepared for whatever comes your way.

I had a blast, killed a few yotes, and came back a better predator hunter!

My $.02!

Rustydog
 
My question came about as a result of a conversation at work. A coworker took a high dollar elk hunt out West last year and hunted for 5 days to get a shot at a nice elk, which he missed. Before he left for the trip he knew that he had less than a 50/50 chance of taking an animal even with a guided trip.
I told him about my last couple of coyote outings and he asked if there were guided coyote trips available and how it compares to an elk trip like he took. He was not real enthused about paying somebody to take him out shooting "stray dogs" as he put it.
Since I have never done any sort of guided trip I posted a note asking the question.
BTW, I did NOT invite him to go hunting with me and if you read between the lines you can figure out why.
 


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