I think this is making a mountain out if a molehill. I just doubt it happens much and when it does it might be great. I was a professional guide for many years, mostly in Alaska, some in Montana, and a few times for Eric himself. I would suggest that there are logical differences between licensing of outfitters and guides. No one is suggesting that outfitters themselves should not be regulated, have stringent requirements, and should be in place years before a hunt takes place.
However, there is problem with hiring guides- you are essentially employing the marginally employable (I would have counted myself in this group) There are simply not that many people who are articulate, polite, savvy, safe, reliable employees who don't already have jobs that they have to maintain.
Guiding as a lifestyle requires a lot of creativity and a lot of sacrifice. Often it is worth it to be able to go do a thing you love, but as life and family and age catch up it becomes more difficult. The very best guides I have known were those who finagled their lives to enable them to keep working at something else for the off season and have kept at it. Many of these cut their guiding careers short by becoming outfitters in order to develop a reliable income and exercise more control of the operation. In doing so they invariably long for the days that they could just go guide.
Like any business owner an outfitter makes his or her living on repeat business and referrals. However, I wonder how many business owners sit down in April and call potential employees and have to say "can you commit to showing up in Great Falls in November and I'll promise you one month of work and five thousand dollars. No, you can't leave for your kids birthday or when your wife gets sick, and by the way don't wrench your knee, enroll in college, or get a great job offer in the next six months."
This is to say that things happen, and when they do this is a logical safety net for the profession. I've known guides who were natural born killers and dreadful entertainers. Let me tell you that on the eighth day of a nine day hunt when it has been blowing sideways rain and you've been tent-bound for the entire time a well-rounded guide can make the difference between abject misery and resigned cheerful suffering. Some are well credentialed and delightful and dilly dally around and never kill a thing because they are too busy hatching plans to do so. I personally would take the neighbor kid born and raised on a nearby ranch with a good dose of common sense, or the eager, intelligent guide school graduate from Illinois with a year of packing experience over either of the previous examples.
I do not doubt that lots of people have had terrible experiences, I do doubt that many have been tied to the use of this provision. The one thing to remember is that the stricter licensing of guides will invariably lead to the escalation of prices. Guides are far and away the major cost of outfitting, and the cost of maintaining extras on hand may make the entire thing unprofitable or the price completely out of reach for many of us. It is a tough business. On the one hand outfitters are profiting on a public resource in the public trust, and need to be vigilant of that responsibility. On the other, you are standing in sportsmans show booth in Pennsylvania in January selling a camping trip with the chance of maybe seeing an elk. In many respects the business does not fit the paradigms to which we are all accustomed. For those reasons I would support the existence of a legal avenue for outfitters to make do in a pinch. And if you're really worried about it just go on your own or do your homework and make a good educated guess that the outfitter will use good judgement if an emergency occurs.
