Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting How much to tip a guide?

If I don't get the animal I'm after through no major fault of my own like missing a broadside shot at 50 yards, there will be no tip. Yes, I know, that's hunting and it's harsh. It's also tipping.

i bet you don't book many hunts...

It depends, I suppose, on what you call "many."

My attitude has been tempered by a number of experiences:

.....A bear hunt.....

I'm an inshore saltwater guide. I can agree with this sentiment, because it's how I feel. Fishing vs hunting; not precisely apples to apples, certainly not in the aspect of price for service, but it's still guiding and the knowledge of the fish, water, and area for given conditions is no different than the knowledge of the game, terrain, and area for given conditions. I charge what I consider a fair price that covers my expenses and compensates me for the knowledge and effort I put in to staying on top of the fish, etc, etc, etc. If the blue collar guy with the grin on his face doesn't tip me for a huge snook he caught, that's fine. Maybe he's already paid as much as he can afford, just to go. He's still grinning from ear to ear and can't believe how "worth it" it was to pony up my fee and go. That is gratifying and satisfying. I also know he's going to go tell all his buddies how great it was and I'll end up with more business down the road from him and them. Works for me. Two of my regular customers vacation in the area every year. They book me for 3-4 trips every time they are down for a week or more. Neither of them tips, and why should they? They are paying me more than enough in 3-4 trips and obviously, they appreciate my ability and effort. If they let me know me far enough in advance, I will clear my calendar for the period they are here, just to accommodate resets for bad weather, etc. Happy to do it.

By the same token, I once took a guy back to the dock and told him he owed me nothing, just to get him off my boat. I expect he was one of the wealthier people I've ever had aboard, but he was a World Clazz Jackazz. Nobody pays me enough to treat me like a servant and call me "boy" on my own boat. There are people in the world who simply are not worth the hassle. I know guides who will tell certain repeat clients they are booked and refer them elsewhere, too.

Tipping is not mandatory and should not be considered so, but it is a courtesy and consideration that ought to be extended whenever one can do so. I do it when the shoe is on the other foot and I always will, and I try to be generous with it. I can tell when a guide is working his tail off to get me a fish and when a guy is just going through the motions to collect his fee and go home. For a one time trip, if I put you on the biggest snook or tarpon or redfish that you ever caught in your life, and you can afford to tip me, are you really going to withhold that gesture because you think you're already paying me "enough"? C'mon. If the conditons on our trip are forecast to be adverse, I will tell you so ahead of time and give you the opportunity to reschedule. I get that you may not be able to, and we'll go anyway if you want to. If we do, and I work my butt off fighting the weather to get you a decent catch, then yeah, a tip goes a long way toward making me feel you appreciated that effort. I'm happy with making my fee, but I'm also very happy to get a nice tip from the guy that can afford it and recognizes my time, knowledge, and effort. The largest tip I ever received was on just such a day. The client told me straight up when we got back to the ramp that he fully expected me to hide from the weather and just hit a few soft spots to get us through the day, but he wanted to go anyway just to get out. He said he fished with guides all over the world and that's what most of them would have done that day. When I didn't do that, he was surprised and impressed and he compensated me in kind.

This idea that "expected" tipping is out of control makes me laugh, but I get that some of you are talking about a whole different realm of fees and tipping and I don't work for an outfitter, I work for myself. I can't afford many guided trips, nearly none in fact, but those I do get to go on, if the guide does a good job, I'm not going to penalize him/her for the outfitter being heavy on the fee and light on the payroll. Of course, I also will never book a trip with an outfitter who has built in the tipping to the fee.

As for the OP's question: 5-10% for effort appreciated, plus whatever you think the guide deserves if you had a fantastic experience.

Best -
Andy