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It is today's bench mark....

Wondering here. The OP says it is a semi guided hunt.Does that mean then the tip should be a semi tip?

Probably because he doesn't depend on tips to make his living.





Tipping really has nothing to do with restaurant owners or outfitters. It has to do with taking care of people who perform a service for you and depend on tips to make a living.

Everyone knows that wait staff in a restaurant depend on tips. The way I see it, if you resent that and don't want to pay, then don't eat at restaurants.

Tipping allows you to either give a modest amount for mediocre service, or give extra for extraordinary service.

And as far as "leaving it on the clients conscience," tipping is one of the few truly altruistic acts a person can accomplish on a daily basis. You can leave no tip, a modest tip, or a few extra bucks for the person who waits on you. There's no requirement for you to do it, and no consequences if you leave a chintzy tip. It's a good feeling to tip well if you look at it that way.

10% for the guide, 5% to the cook if the food is excellent.

A wise man tips the cook right after that first cup of good coffee.

A wise man tips the bartender when he sits down at the bar....

It just goes to show you what a short supply of wisdom today's world really possesses.

That's worked before HD cameras over every bar and pour meters on the bottles

No where I go or have been have I seen that.

Ok, a wise man doesn't go to a bar.

He does If he wants a drink.

Then you don't go out nearly as much as we do and since you routinely live out of country I know you don't visit the same clubs we do

The pour meter is ultra common. Bar owners install them then the camera guy can count how many times your bartender turns over the bottle.

Bar owners do this to prevent bartenders from stealing alcohol for better tips

http://alcoholcontrols.com/posliqporspo.html

I've been a part time guide for 12 seasons. Meaning I also have a full time job that I take time off from to guide.

Elk, sheep, and mule deer. Hunts are pack in wall tent type and drive to a lodge and hunt horse back or out of truck.

To be honest I hope for a 10% tip. I know how hard I work, I'm not some bum that doesn't know hunting or the country. And I can carry on a polite conversation in most circles.

Both outfitters I've worked for agree. One of them has told his clients that if they aren't going to tip 10% that he'd like an explanation.

I once saw a client I didn't guide in camp that shot the biggest bull of the week and a buck not tip a cent. The outfitter asked him about it and he said he couldn't afford a tip. I personally know his guide and he deserves a good tip. I assure you that if he ever tried to come back I would refuse to guide him. Other poor tippers are thought of the same way.

I agree with the thought that if you can't afford a tip you can't afford the hunt.

I've never been on a guided hunt. If I ever can go preparing for at least a 10% tip will be part of it. But I'll also be the first to say that if your guide is a bum for whatever reason that you should reduce the tip. I do the same in restaurants with waitresses.

The two different elk hunts I guide are at least $2000 different in cost, more if you include the 2x1 hunts that one of the outfitters offers. The more expensive hunts often have clients that have also purchased a commissioner tag which are $8-12k. These tags are tough to draw through the normal drawing. I almost always do better percentage-wise with clients from the outfitter who has the less expensive hunts. I'm not sure why.

Are you paid by the outfitter or do you rely on Tipping for your guiding pay?

I guess I should clarify. When I give a bartender a tip, I'm not asking for anything extra. Just good service. I figure if I'm gonna give him a good tip, he may as well know that while he's serving me, not afterward.

I'm paid a daily wage by the outfitter.

I'll also add that who my guide was going to be would be a huge part of my pre booking research. I would ask question after question about it.

Some guides are great with horses, know the country very well, know the game, but they are anti social inbred reprobates that couldn't get along with a golden retriever. Or they might be great around the fire, but couldn't find their way back to camp on the trail. You want one that is good at all aspects.

Good man. Great post.

Neither the guide or the hunter should depend on the % of the tip to do their best during the hunt. Thats why we call it hunting.

The difference between the guide and the hunter is, one's on vacation, and the other is at work.

He doesn't get it. Next thing he'll say is "you're still hunting" or "find another job that pays better". He obviously has no clue what the margins are on some of these hunts. From paying for cooks, food, fuel, permit fees, paying to be licensed, bonded and insured, good guides and the good ones do cost more, equipment, maintenance etc...

The outfitters, at least the good ones, try to price their hunts competitively while providing great guides and great hunts. Margins are slim and it's a difficult industry to make a living in.

Fact is, a guy that comes out west and does one hunt a year will NEVER know what goes into providing a quality hunt and experience for a client and will argue all day that tipping shouldn't be a part of the equation. I knew it was a lost cause when he argued about the "bartender" scenario offered above. I tip a bartender early and I tip him big. To me it's about getting quality and prompt service, to Ted it's about getting extra alcohol without having to pay the restaurant for it. Pretty much tells me all I need to know...