I support guides and outfitters. I have seen some who overshoot areas, or are jerks and therefore do not get along with locals. I am not a fan of them. There is a guy around here who literally kills the majority of the lions on quota in several units. He has a bunch of guys checking canyons for tracks and then takes his hunter to the biggest and freshest. Then he shoots the shit out of them and posts social media posts with literally 12-16 clients with dead lions...on one picture. That is unreasonable. Quotas end in Idaho in August, and this guy has literally come out publicly and said his hound pack will make local lions extinct. This is his goal. This is terrible stewardship and I don't support it. Zero hunters I know have any respect for him.
Most love the sport and the game. Yeah, they are competition on public land, but I think a modest amount of outfitting and outfitter take is a good thing.
Opinions also may vary from state to state. Idaho is tightly regulated with no more than one outfitter with rights to a GMU. Other states have less restrictions with multiple outfitters in the same area. There are benefits of both systems. In Idaho, the limit is nice. The problem is that within a unit there is no competition to drive business...for deer and elk, not a big deal because a guy can go somewhere else. But if you draw sheep for unit whatever, he is your only option. No competition. If I draw sheep in CO, I can choose between multiple outfitters and base the choice on past success. I hunt DIY in the west, so not a big deal to me, but it is something to consider.
I generally support them making a living off the land and the game if their take and footprint is within reason.
I am adamantly against outfitter welfare. This includes things like the WY wilderness law, NM tag allocations, etc. This is not free market. My opinion is that if your service and success is good enough, you will get clients. If you need to have the government subsidize your business in the form of laws that significantly restrict others, that is crap.
If their services are worth it, they will sell. If they don't have what they consider to be enough business, then they need to be better at what they do, or change their marketing strategies.
Outfitter welfare programs make the quality of outfitting overall go down, which hurts guys who want to hunt with one, and it hurts the outfitters who are good at their job because they get painted with the same brush.
