Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting guide tipping?

Ok, so what is appropriate on tipping your guide?

The worst I've ever got was nothing, followed closely by a Gerber knife, and the best has been 200.....

Good thing I've always had a day job and not relied on surviving on tips....

I usually tip the guide $400 on a $3000 hunt (I always kill and elk and deer), the cook and helper get $100 between them. I've seen some very cheap people on good hunts!

If the guide does a good job I always figured 10% of the hunt cost was fair.

That can be adjusted according to length of the hunt also. I'm going to tip the guide of a 7 day hunt a little more more than I would one on a 4 or 5 day hunt even if cost of the hunt was the same.

Bill

And like GSP said, don't forget the cook

I will tip 10% if I feel all went well, meaning the guide, outfitter and helpers performed up to my standards. Have had some terrible guides, aka brother in laws of the outfitter. He got a tip but not much.

15%...10% to the guide...5% split between the cook and wrangler

And don't forget to tip pilots, too. That's one thing that some of my clients sometimes forget. I don't have a camp cook or packers or assistant guides, but I do have a couple pilots. For some reason, some of my clients seem to forget that pilots are deserving of tips and especially so, since one's life is entirely in their hands (literally).

My worst was a $100 tip from a moose hunter on a 10 day hunt. He had already shot a 64 inch bull and wanted a 70". I called in three bulls to less then 100 yards that week, one that was 64-65", and we actually did see a 70" inch bull, but he was 4 miles away with nowhere to land a plane any closer so we had to pass going after him.
I have received a $2000 dollar tip on two separate occasions and numerous $1000 tips also. 10-15% seems to be an average tip.

Good to know. I've been wondering about this for an upcoming trip.

10%, adjusted accordingly for effort, attitude, expertise. No adjustments for things such as bad luck, sorry weather, etc.

Kill a great animal that is caped and salted to perfection, receive exceptional service, meals, accomodations; and tip nothing. They will surely remember you for ever

How can people be so ignorant as to go on $5000-6000 trip , have the guide work with you all week and give a $100 tip.

Do you guys tip differently for a 1x1 guided hunt versus a 2x1?

Generally speaking, the clients who book one-on-one hunts tend to tip more money than clients who book two-on-one hunts. In other words, my one-on-one clients tend to tip more money (per man) than two-on-one clients.

I think the disparity between one-on-one and two-on-one tip-rates (per man) are because people tend to consider 10%-20% as a standard tip-rate for whatever service(s). An example of this would be a single client giving a 15% tip and two clients splitting the giving of a 15% tip.

However, some two-on-one clients have given an equal percentage rate, just as if they'd done a one-on-one hunt. Those types of clients tend to be ones who've done a lot of international big game hunting.

The bottom line though, is to tip what you can afford, if you feel a tip is warranted. And don't forget to tip the staff (if any), such as pilots, assistant guides, camp cooks, camp helpers, packers, wranglers, et cetera.

i go on a guided elk hunt almost every year. i tip the guide 10% of the cost the outfitter charges (6500.00 hunt, guide gets 650.00). i tip the cook, wranglers, etc usually 100 dollars. i tell my guide on day one what he can expect, and what i expect from him. never had a "bad" guide, just a couple that were tired from the work before i arrived. it all worked out in the end. guides are just folks trying to make a buck like everyone else. every one i have had also had a "full-time" job elsewhere. i appreciate what they do, and admire their knowledge.

I was guiding for another outfitter this year and my client and I had a great hunt with a couple of opportunities. He never offered a tip, which is fine as a tip is a bonus, but he rebooked and has requested me as his guide again. I appreciate the fact that he wants to hunt with me again but I think I'll let one of the new guys take him out next time.

I personally don't like tipping, i wish that part of the cost was just included into the total of the hunt for the guides. Why, just look at the variation in the amounts that are posted here. I have to save and scrimp to go on my first hunt and worked just as hard as my guide. Helped skin and pack my buddies elk out, glassed just as hard and spotted just as many elk. Then had to try and get my buddy to cough up a tip. It was not a real expensive hunt as some hunts go but for us it's a lot of money. What should we have tipped?? What would you tip?? Hunt cost us 2500 each plus a landowner tag of another 2500. Do you include the price of the landowner tag in the % you tip??

Tom,
So why not just get a DIY hunt since someone's time and knowledge aren't worth your hard earned dimes? Guides sacrifice time away from their families to try and help someone out. Yes, most do like to get paid, and like the old adage goes "you get what you pay for"

The only reason that I started guiding was to help my buddies family out when they had hunters coming in to hunt, not because I needed the money. Just like this year, I took two days off of work to try and help out friends of a BIL to this buddy of mine. The one guy gave me 200 bucks for taking him hunting and then quartering up and dragging this "dinky a$$ bull" that he shot. We got back to the truck at midnight....after he insisted that he had to leave the next morning.... luckily I used a couple of sick days or I would have lost about 300 bucks for helping a friend...
Fast forward to the weekend. Took two other guys out from Alaska, great working guys. One was slightly impaired because of his weight,age and physical conditioning, but nonetheless he kept up and hiked his a$$ off, and went home empty handed. His partner, slightly younger and in much better physical shape, ended up shooting a cow elk, and I got 200 from him as well. The only difference in the two hunts is that I was just tagging along as an extra set of eyes and ears, and just for $hits and giggles and didn't take time away from work. Hunted hard with these guys for two day, Guess which hunt I enjoyed more?