Price of Guided hunts

[Tobey]

What would you think would be a good fair price for a 5 day hunt with dogs on bear.Lodging and transportation included.Your the only shooter one on one with the guide.You hunt till you can shoot the bear you want not the first bear treed or caught.After getting online and seeing what others are getting I am thinking about changing my prices.

 

[bearbait]

tobey,
i get $1400 for a 6 day hound hunt here.im north of you in central aroostook county. with all the same things you are offering. you should get that. we get $2000 for a hound hunt in north carolina also.

good luck

 

[Moosie]

Tobey, I think $10 is a fair price. I will get that in the mail here to ya so I can book my next hunt.... Sound fair ?!?!!?

Seriousely though, Here is a cut and paste from a outfitter in ID...

These hunts will be offered April 15 through June 30.


7 Day hunt with 5 full days of hunting:


Two hunters/one guide $1795 per person
One hunter/one guide $2495
Son/Daughter 21 and under $1295 per person
non-hunter rate $995


All hunt rates include 5% state tax and 3% Forest Service use fee
-----------------------------

Hope that helps.... I've talked to guys that are from $1500-2500.
----------------------------

What are your charges now.. E-mail me info on your setup.

------------------
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI> AKA Moose Hunter
<LI> www.huntandlodge.com

[/list]

 

[hntrjohn]

Here in CA, for a guarnted bear hunt, it is about 1,200 for the first bear they tree to $1600-2000 if you are picky.

John

------------------
"When a man lies he murders some part of the world"

Cliff Burton

 

[bcat]

Good Question Tobey-I was beginning to think I was out of line with the rest of the world at 2500 bucks. I have never made any real money at that price, but it sure is fun!!!! I know they do it cheaper in Canada, but by the time ya figure all plane fare, trophy fees, and shipping etc, it comes out about the same!!! I guess I will keep it at that price. Sure wish we could run em with dogs here! bcat

------------------
If you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes

http://www.huntandlodge.com/Boykin/outfitter.html
www.huntandlodge.com
www.recworld.com/boykin

 

[George P]

I am getting 800 a piece this year for a 5 day hunt with hounds.1400 for 2 hunters booked together.This is for the hunt only.It is 1800 for 2 if I provide lodging.I put the hunters up in a modern cottage or hotel room that has cable,phone,etc.I am not doing meals included anymore unless it is repeat customer .Sometimes when the days hunt is over i have things I have to do before the next days hunt and having the hunters hanging around waiting for supper makes me feel like I should be with them not doing what i need to do.
I think 1400 for 1 hunter is reasonable though.Most every guide i know in Maine is getting 1400 for the hunt,lodging,and meals but that is with 2 hunters together.I found last year that i kind of liked guiding 2 hunters at a time when hound hunting.
Opening day last year we were struck from the rig,ran and treed,shot and were back in the truck at 7am.Now that is the fastest I have ever done that but if we wouldnt have had a second hunter we probably would have been done for the day at 7.
I know that I charge less than the other guides around here but with me guiding is just a sideline.I have a pretty successful buisness so whether I guide or not is not a big deal.I do it to support my hound habit.LOL.I believe I am probably as successful as most though.In the last 2 years I have guided about a dozen paying clients and only one hasnt got a bear with me.Along with this the guys that hunt with me have all taken bears too.

 

[GatoMan]

Idaho alot of guys get around 1500 for bait hunt and 2000+ for hound hunt, you can check out Idaho Guides and Outifitters website, they list all the outifitters in the state and many of them have there own website with pricing.

------------------

GatoMan

 

[bcat]

George-Do you have to pay any insurance or permits, or forest fees and all that garbage/ Business insurance on yer truck etc or are ya just winging it? bcat

------------------
If you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes

http://www.huntandlodge.com/Boykin/outfitter.html
www.huntandlodge.com
www.recworld.com/boykin

 

[George P]

Hi Bcat,Some of both.I carry the extra insurance but I dont pay Nat forest fees.It is too much of a hassle here to hunt on National Forest lands.You have to be bonded,pay parking fees,etc.Also the roads are mostly locked so it is hard to get around on them.
I bet you think i dont charge enough huh,bcat?You are probably right if you think that.Hound hunting to me is an obsession.Other than time with my family there is nothing I would rather do.NOthing.
(And I have a really really good looking wife too)LOL
I know that most guides earn part of their living by guiding so they have to charge more.I completly understand that.With me it is a sideline to pay for the hounds and exspenses.As long as I come close to breaking even I am happy.I dont go to shows and ran my first ad in 3 years the other day so my exspenses are pretty much the hounds and equip only,although that is plenty.
In the next year or 2 I hope to quit my my current job.I want to just run my apartment rental business and guide full time in the fall and winter.That is my dream and at 40 yrs old I am getting close to it !!!!
When that happens I will have to run the guide part more like a regular business.

 

[bcat]

George-I wonder how ya even pay the bills at that price but I can see if ya dont feed the hunters, or do the lodging or pay the forest service, and a few other things that we are required to do out west, ya might pay yer bills at least. If anyone can do it you can George. I mean retire at 40 and guide for a living. Are you a guide or an outfitter or both? I think the laws may be a little different out there. It costs me about 5000 bucks at the first of the year for all the stuff to be legal, before i even book a hunter. Thats not including equipment or dogs or horses, or vehicles or anything, just permits and insurance and stuff!!! I love doing it but I would like to break even some year too!!

I think this is the year we just m9ight do it to.

bcat

------------------
If you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes

http://www.huntandlodge.com/Boykin/outfitter.html
www.huntandlodge.com
www.recworld.com/boykin

 

[Tobey]

I guess we haven't been getting enuff.We run about 45 baits that cost us $75 per site plus a $200 road use sticker for each truck showing we are commercial bear hunters.And A million dolor liability polacy.Last year we spent about $2,000 on bait.We don't spend any money on advertisement we book from word of mouth of other successfully hunters.We take no more then 10 bait hunters a week and 2 dog hunters a week.We book all our bait hunters in the first 3 weeks,then our dog hunts after that for the remainder of the season.We don't cook for our clients but we supply lodging with all the cooking utensils they need.Most of our hunters are returns' and have become great friends from all over the country and it makes it tuff to go up on the cost of a hunt.
We was getting $850 for a bait hunt and $1,000 for a dog hunt.Last year we went to $1,000 for a bait hunt and $1,200 for a dog hunt.


------------------
We having fun yet//Tobey

 

[bcat]

Tobey how do you take that many hunters per week? Thats 12 hunters a week if I am counting right??? Surely you have help of some kind. I suppose at 12000 a week you could pay a few bills, are your hunts seven day hunts? What if I brought my own dogs? Do ya have one guide per hunter? How far away are ya from George? I have been mulling it over with George for a year now, but havent goton serious about it yet due to time constraints and the distance to get there. What about timing, is the bobcat season still open when ya hunt bears so you could hunt both. A thousand bucks seems real cheap to me for a week long hunt with lodging, but I can see how you acomplish the bill paying with that many hunters. Until this year most of my clients are return clients too! I know what ya mean about raising your prices with return clients, its hard to do. bcat
Tobey I rearead your post and se it was a 5 day hunt..... I am so used to seven day hunts, and I havent read the first post since it came up, maybe I have CRS

Tobey can I book a hunt with you and George?? Befroe the price goes up??

------------------
If you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes

http://www.huntandlodge.com/Boykin/outfitter.html
www.huntandlodge.com
www.recworld.com/boykin

[This message has been edited by bcat (edited 02-11-2001).]

[This message has been edited by bcat (edited 02-11-2001).]

 

[Tobey]

Bcat there is 3 of us My brother my uncle and myself.We only hunt baits for the first 3 weeks with no more than 10 hunters per week.each of us have extra cab trucks witch can fit 3 or 4 hunters.We take our dog hunters starting the 4th week of our season when the bait hunting is over.Only 2 per week with my brother and I one guide per hunter.Our bear season is Sep. and Oct. our Bobcat season is Dec 1st to Feb 15th.George is about a 4 hr drive from me.You can bring your own dogs I love to watch other dogs from other parts of the country work.Theirs no hunting on Sunday here in Maine and we need Saturday and Sunday to regroup for the next week.We will hunt Saturdays if the wether or some unforeseen thing happens to loose a day during the week.

------------------
We having fun yet//Tobey

 

[George P]

Hey bcat, If you take a hunt with tobey please let me know in advance.He is about 5 hrs from me.I would definatly like to get together with you and tobeys would be a great place to do it,as long as he dont mind someone from "little Boston" tagging along.LOL
He lives in one of the nicest areas to dog hunt in the state of Maine.It is no where near as mountainous as where i live.It is wicked thick there though.Dogs need to be tough to tree bears there.I think he bays more than he trees because it is so thick.There is an excellent network of roads and he and his brother know about every inch of it and I mean that litterally!!! I had a great time up there cat hunting.
Dale, what is that $200 fee for riding the roads??? Is that paper company fees?Do you guys get your insurance through the Maine Professional guides Assc.??
If I had to pay $5000 just to start out a year I wouldnt even do it.Remember i mostly just take bear hunters with my hounds.I dont take bait hunters,which is where the money is guiding in Maine and N.H..I do it just to have hunters for my dogs.
Figure if I charge 2 hunters a total of $1800 for a 5 day hunt with lodging.Their room will run me about 350 for the week around here.If I do this 3 weeks I will put about 4000 in my pocket.
Insurance will be around 700,dog food about 1000,vet bills will be (hopefully) less than 1000,gas during training season and hunting probably 1000.I dont figure in the price of the dogs because I would have them whether I guided or not.But I think if you averaged it out between selling a hound or 2 and buying one every couple years it probably comes out to another 1000 a year.So I get nothing but a good time for the hours I spend but I break close to even for doing what I love to do.
I know plenty of people that are into golfing,traveling,etc and they certainly dont break even doing what they love to do.
When I say retire bcat,I mean from working for someone else.Owning and running these apartment houses is certainly a job within itself at times,but that is why I have a wife,right? ( boy if she ever reads these posts I am dead meat)LOL

 

[bcat]

George-I wouldnt book a hunt with Tobey before you!!!

I have known you alot longer, I just figured maybe we all could hunt together if we booked a hunt out that way. I figured your prices were comparable to Tobeys anyway. I havent figured out whether TObey drives DOdges or Fords!

You both are welcome to come out and run some lions!! It always makes some of these guys around here SWEAT when they see out of state plates with dog boxes in the back!!

I know it wont happen until 2003 at the earliest , as I am tied up this fall and next fall for sure. Springtime is out for sure!!!! bcat

------------------
If you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes

http://www.huntandlodge.com/Boykin/outfitter.html
www.huntandlodge.com
www.recworld.com/boykin

 

[Tobey]

FORD We use dodges to fill the was outs.LOL

------------------
We having fun yet//Tobey

 

[bcat]

Tobey-We use Dodges to keep the river from washing the banks out!!

And of course for target practice!

Ford has to be the best, I have worn out enuff of them

bcat

------------------
If you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes

http://www.huntandlodge.com/Boykin/outfitter.html
www.huntandlodge.com
www.recworld.com/boykin

 

[George P]

Bcat, tobeys would be the place to hunt.He is better set up for someone bringing their own hounds.If I know you,like me,tobey and any other real houndsmen,if you dont have at least one of your own hounds along it aint the same.That is one thing that stinks with me being in town right now.I only have a limited amount of dogs I can keep here.But,as a wise houndsman once told me,"quality not quanity boy !!!!"

 

[VPHUNTER]

Tobey,
I've looked into many, many outfitters for bear hunting in Me over the last couple of months.The average price for what your describing is about $1500. including meals and lodging.The hunts over bait have been ranging from about $800. - $1200. depending where you go.The big difference to me on the bait hunts is the numbers of hunters beeing booked in one week.I actually talked to one outfit up around Madawaska that takes about thirty hunters in a week. NO THANKS!!!.
I booked a hunt with Ben Pinkham of Sunset Ridge Outfitters down by Sebec Lake. Do you know him?. I'm going to hunt over bait, not with the hounds.The wife thought the price of $1000. sounded better than $1500. As you know, you've got to keep the little lady happy or she won't let you go out and play again!!!!!!!
Hey George P, I'll have to look you up for next year, I live over in Loudon NH. My brother lives over your way in Somersworth and also own rental properties including a 3-family in Rochester.It's a small world.
Happy Hunting to All!!
Mike

 

[George P]

Hi Vp,welcome.If you ever get down this way look me up.I hunt over towards you in Gilmanton some.I also hunt around lake winni quite a bit.If you ever want to go out with the hounds to take some pictures during training season give me a call.I am always looking for someone to help out with the hounds.
Probably a good chance i know your brother too.I grew up in Dover.One of my places is a 3 unit in rochester too !!!