Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Guides - Good idea, bad idea? (A can of worms question.)

In the thread on Generals, the problems of out of area hunters in British Columbia came up. So, I want to ask:

Would the sport of hunting be better served if guiding was outlawed? Wouldn't the pressure on wildlife be reduced if hunters had to to it themselves? Why should some people make a living from making it easier to kill game?

This isn't intended to "stir the pot" but to get us to examine a fundamental tradition that might be outdated, or harmful: and it is an opportunity for guides to explain the value of, and defend, their profession. It will be interesting to see if that is what happens, or if bashing me for asking becomes this thread's main theme.

I am an ex guide, and I believe that they have a very important role to play in hunting.
Please realize that I did not make a whole pissload of money, that I did not own big dollar vehilces or boats and that I did love my vocation.
I not only guided people from Europe, but many residents that were green to hunting.
A stranger comming into my turf would have a very difficult time knowing where to go, and doing things safely, as it is in mountain hunting.
I believe that guides are important, yes.
Catnthehat

I'll lead the dance. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

To my mind there are guides and then there are guides. If you mean some body who does everything for me short of wiping my nose and pulling the trigger then yeah, I don't want or need that.

If OTOH you mean somebody that shows me the country and where to look for what ever it is I am looking for then they would be a necessity for me.

I don't know nothing about British Colombia, or Alaska or even your neck of the woods. Now if I had all the time in the world and plenty of money I could take a trip there for five or six years and learn the country by just wandering around in the weeds.

I don't have either the time or the money. I would need somebody to show me where to go and what to look for in the short time and with the limited funds I do have.

Being short of time and funds most likely I wouldn't have all the "stuff" that I'd need to get where I needed to be and stay there in at least liveable conditions.

So I'd expect to pay somebody to rent their local expertise and the use of suitable equipment.

To answer your question directly then NO outlawing guiding would not better serve hunting from the hunters standpoint. Maybe some of the tie them to a tree operations would but not guiding in general.

BCR

Real new here but I must say. I belive a good guide can be not only invaluble to your sucess in unknown country, but may save your hide if situations go south. I just look at the situation as a chance to meet my new best friend. Doug D
Oh I forgot to answer your question NO.

(1)In the US, you'd have a real constitutional problem outlawing guiding.
(2)Common sense and state laws mandate the use of guides for nonresidents in some areas and/or in pursuit of some species.
(3)Guides (at least the ones I've hunted with) rigidly enforce game laws.
(4)If the legal impediments could be overcome, I suppose the absence of guides would just about eliminate non-resident wilderness hunting---except by those who can afford eighteen wheelers to haul their own packstrings, camp equipage, food and hay to the trailhead, and the leisure to scout for a week or two before the season. Money will always find a way.
(5)The real issue our Canadian brethren seem to be chaffing under is the dedication of their land---Canadian land--to the exclusive use of guides whose clients are mostly Americans, but some must be Canadian as well. The solution to that problem is to abolish exclusive guiding territories on public land, not to outlaw guiding.
(5)The loss of guided hunts would seriously impact charitable giving to RMEF, NAWSF, and the other organizations that spend millions of dollars a year protecting and improving habitat for big game species.
(6)All the other guide/no guide issues have been fought and flamed over here before ad nauseum, and I don't see any point in discussing them yet again.

I usually go out of state twice a year and surely at least once. With out a guide/outfitter service I'd just as soon as hunt is the Wal-Mart parking lot. Good services are invaluable to someone like myself who needs a little bit of help getting to and from a hunting area. Can't take a 4 wheeler on a flight and driving isn't always an option. That leaves the outfitter/guide. My problem is with the �must use� laws of some western states.