Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Tipping guides . . why do we do it . . ?

I always enjoyed & looked forward getting tips when I was in the service industry, and I'm sure the hunting guides feel the same.

Why,right, or wrong....I don't care, I always leave a tip.

I honestly don't know, Phil, do we tip the roofing contractor who just re-roofed the house?

As for guessing . . no need. Forty years ago I worked a fall as an assistant guide (sheep & caribou) for Nick Botner out of Talkeetna . . we had both types.

The whole idea of a tip, is to dangle a carrot under the nose of a guide. An incentive, or bribe of sorts; to help get one that trophy animal they crave.

For the outfitter; tips help recruit cheap labor. Not much different than a completion bonus.

I once had a client who held ten crisp one hundred dollar bills in front of my face on the first day of a hunt and said that if I found him a nice bear, the money would be mine. I was so disgusted by his approach to our so-called "team effort" that I almost wished for him to not even see a bear. In the end, he killed a bear, though. However, when he tried to tip the money to me, I gave half of it back. Of course, he was insulted by that gesture. Nevertheless, I was glad he wouldn't ever be hunting with me again.

Why did you keep half?

In hindsight, I'm not sure. I didn't want any of it, at the time. I guess I didn't want to completely offend the guy, so I handed five c-notes back to him. Even still, he was plenty offended. I should of just gone ahead and handed it all back to him. He did try to book a couple ore hunts with me, but I rejected him. That didn't sit well with him, either. Oh well.

If money is no object, why don't you guide for expenses only? A non-profit operation? Why do allow your guides to accept tips?

Because I have to eat, too.

That doesn't make any sense. The guy was trying to overpay you something you agreed to do in the first place. Whats with the phony disgust?

No, it wasn't an overpayment. It was a bribe. There's a big difference. The guys who (at times) overpay me did so after the fact. The guys who (very rarely) have tried to bribe me always do it before the fact. Overpayment of a service is one thing and I don't have any issues with that sort of thing, because it's a compliment. On the other hand, a bribe is rather disgusting and it insinuates that I'll compromise something so that the person who's offering the bribe will then be in control of a situation or circumstance.

Kinda dry, but interesting nonetheless: http://128.118.178.162/eps/eh/papers/0309/0309001.pdf

As to the practice in general, I've found it to be good Karma to show recognition of a job well done, be the recipient an expert with a smoke pole, a feeshing pole, or a brass pole.....

Since you kept half the money, did you only compromise a little bit

Only in the sense that the compromise was that I had to tolerate the guy till Day Six of his ten-day hunt.

He killed the bear on the night of Day Four and then he was eager to get back home to begin the bragging process.

So, thank goodness, I was able to take him out of the field on the morning of Day Six and thus, get him out of my hair.

Lets recap...

Don't bribe me, I'll only keep half.

Don't bother me, I'm too important

Tell no one you killed an animal with me


Anything else?

Only if you believe so, you know?

Don't get me wrong, I am a capitalist. I have rules though- never screw an old man or a poor man, but i'll get in a rich mans pocket every chance I can get.

I will call BS on the cheap labor comment - at least as far as myself, my guides and most Alaskan guides and outfitters that I know .
As for the dangling carrot incentive, it is true in some cases - and as it has been mentioned it is considered an insult by virtually all the good outfitters and guides that I know, simply because they take pride in their job.
Clients who do it - notice I didn't call them hunters - seem to think that a veiled bribe will get them a trophy that they otherwise wouldn't get.
As I have been told many, many times over the years by clients when I was packing out Dall sheep, or moose quarters, or wet bear hides in rough terrain in blowing rain --" You couldn't pay me enough to do this job"
And they are right, you either do it because you love the country, the game and the hunt, and simply deal with the work that comes with it -- or you go do something easier. If you are a hunter you understand.

I also stand by my statement of tipping being foremost an American thing as I have been told it by numerous foreign outfitters and guides. Last fall when I was in Kyrgyzstan the interpreter/ outfitter made a big thing at the beginning of the trip about how tips were not required -- then after the hunt he gave each of us hunters a list of exactly how much to tip each of the entire camp staff - and handed us envelopes for each person which he personally checked to make sure we put in the correct amount !!
As it turned out when he had American clients he could attract more workers, and pay them less, because of it.
Tipping has turned into a slippery slope because now in Mongolia and other parts of Asia it is typical for the guide to DEMAND his "tip" before the hunt begins.

I'm certainly and emphatically a Capitalist, too. There's no way I could conform to a "what's yours is mine and what's mine is yours (sort of)" social scheme. I guess the only way I've been able to conform to that mentality, is when in relationship with various girls, over the years

Not in Australia...it is almost unheard of here.

You wouldn't do it if you didn't enjoy it..