What should I charge for coyote hunting?

I been thinking about getting into varmint hunting, I primarily shoot paper. However, in the last few months I have had a desire to get into hunting a little more then once or twice a year. I live in TN and there are a lot of coyotes here. In TN. it is legal to shoot coyotes all year round. There is also no bag limit on them.

I have though about advertising on craigslist as I have seen others do. Ideally I would like to make some money of hunting these guys. However I understand that might not be possible, depending on the people who hire me. At the very least though, I would like to cover the cost of ammo.

So I am looking for some advice from people who have done the same thing I am getting into. Feel free to give me any opinions or warnings.

BTW I will be using a bolt action .223 I feel very comfortable shooting out to 200 yards.

Thanks!

First,<Sam1911 fixed this issue>

Second, in many states, you would need to acquire a guides license before selling your services to the general public as a guide.
Check with the TN F&G commission on that.

Third, you would need to pay local and state sales tax on any income you made, as well as report the income on your Federal tax returns.

Forth, I would want a butt load of liability insurance before I ever put myself in that position. You Will be sued for everything you have if anything happens to the client, or farmer Browns cow while you are guiding a client.

Fifth, if you have never ever hunted a coyote before?
You are hardly qualified to hire yourself out as a coyote hunting guide in the first place!

rc

Pretty much what Rcmodel said.

Then again, you have possibly the best caliber in .223 for coyote. That's what I used for years while in Oklahoma. The .223 is possibly the cheapest high power round as it is a government round. If you use a varmint point you will have a devastating round.

If it were me, I'd probably look around for people who have a 'yote problem and hunt them for free for awhile to see if you are good enough to get a good reputation. Even then, insurance would be a good idea if you can find it.

RC wrote:


if you have never ever hunted a coyote before?
You are hardly qualified to hire yourself out as a coyote hunting guide in the first place!

Dang it…..RC! I was just about to put an ad in Craigslist hiring out for Neurosurgery.

“Qualifications”……….Pfffffft !

Man, talk about picky…….. ;)

(sarcasm off) :D

I am not so sure he is looking to be a guide, but rather he wants to charge farmers or whoever for hunting coyotes on their property.

IF I read that correctly, OP, your monetary gain will be the pelts you get and sell, which would make winter the best time to hunt them

First off, sorry for the large font. It wasn't my intention to make it larger then standered. So I guess from what you guys said, at this point forget about making money, I should look into some insurance for hunting locally on someones property.?

Thanks for the advice RC, however nowhere in my post did I mention any interest in becoming a guide.

The "What should I charge...?" led me to sorta figure you were experienced and maybe would be guiding. Or, charging folks to hunt on your land.

A .223 is good; an '06 is sorta overkill: http://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16431&d=1135262262 :D

There are a bunch of threads here about the "how to", if you're a novice, or if you're willing to let novices use your deal as a learning experience.

Today's world, letting somebody on your property for pay pretty much necessitates liability insurance.

First off, sorry for the large font. It wasn't my intention to make it larger then standered. So I guess from what you guys said, at this point forget about making money, I should look into some insurance for hunting locally on someones property.?
I would predict that there is no insurance available for hunting on someone else's property. Just be sure you don't shoot their cow, tractor, etc.

The person letting you hunt on their property would probably be open to bigger liability unless they had the foresight to make you sign a waiver before hunting there.

I'm losing track, here. :)

slash, are you now talking about insurance to cover you when you hunt on somebody else's property?

What it sounds like - I have friends in England who must have shooter's insurance for going on others' lands for driven shoots, etc.

Rather than charging them to shoot coyotes perhaps if you got lucky youd get invited back during deer or whatever season to hunt!!

Rather than charging them to shoot coyotes perhaps if you got lucky youd get invited back during deer or whatever season to hunt!

There ya go....+1

^ I concur.

However, sometimes i do receive a beer after a hot day, or a mild day, or a cold day; or stay over for dinner when it's on offer.

Round here ranchers pay $10 a head. Maybe not all the time, but when there are calves around.

First there is knowledge and skill. Then the next thing to overcome is "where" to hunt assuming you have at least one property you can hunt on now. You more than likely have a lot of learning to do before you ever consider charging someone for your guiding services. Yes, if you charge a fee, unless you own the land and are just letting people hunt, you are a guide.

Lots of horse farms around Franklin these days. If you hunt on one of these, be very careful. You will have to pay if you injure or kill someone's horse or cow. It can be a VERY expensive mistake. You might have to even pay for someone else's mistake.

You will have to have a business license (issued by the county) for any income generating venture. Anything under (I believe) $500 in annual revenue is considered a hobby. You can get your feet wet hunting with friends before considering it a business.

If I were you, I would start hunting and see where it goes.

Anything under (I believe) $500 in annual revenue is considered a hobby. You can get your feet wet hunting with friends before considering it a business.

FYI, there is no dollar threshold for a hobby activity. ALL hobby income is fully taxable.

From a country dweller: Please make sure you know your boundries. Have someone show you, not "that tree over yonder, to that creek over yonder". Go meet the neighbors. They may even invite you to hunt there to. However they may tell you to stay off their ground.
Ask for a signed slip from whoevers ground you will be on to prove you belong. Some neighbors and family members get awfuly protective when strangers with guns show up. Don't leave gut piles/carcasses everywhere and anywhere. They pi$$ people off, and draw more predators. Be respectful, even when someone questions your story. Chances are they have known the landowner for ages, word gets around if your rude. Don't run dogs through other peoples places without permission, leads to dead dogs. Keep dogs and yourself out of fenced in areas, unless you are told it's ok. Some of this may seem silly, or harsh. But they are all things that have happened on our place.

No way in HELL I would pay someone to come on my property and shoot coyotes. I would not let anyone on my property to shoot coyotes for free if they just walked up and asked. I DO allow people to hunt on my property and that hunting includes predators if they are so inclined. Just stop by the house or call and say you are going to shoot coyotes on the north hay field.

I carry liability insurance on my property for hunters. It does not cost a great deal but it protects me if a hunter falls out of a stand or shoots another hunter. Believe it or not people have lost in court when an invited hunter has fallen from a tree stand that the landowner did not even know was on the property.

Damned lawyyers:)

Ask for a signed slip from whoevers ground you will be on to prove you belong

An absolute must and maybe even a legal requirement. I have caught people on my land who said they had permission to hunt my neighbor's and they could prove it as soon as the game warden got finished with them. I have found people on my land with written permission from my neighbor and I have helped them find the boundaries as well as told them if I had seen any nice deer crossing that area.

3 years ago I had a guy walk up my back driveway, up to where the dogs can run without the underground fence zapping them, and yell for help. I took him back, he had to sit in the back of the truck as the passenger seat was full, to where he said his car was stuck and found that they, 3 of them, had turned down an old logging road and wound up stuck on a firebreak about a mile behind my house. They were in a Hyundai of some sort and since it was summer the old roads were pretty dry or they would not have made it that far. I stopped about 100 yards from the car and told the guy to head on back to his vehicle. I then called my wife, my neighbor and the sheriff. I am figuring a drug deal but as it turns out they were all clean and had actually just made a wrong turn headed to the beach. When does an old logging road look like a highway?

. When does an old logging road look like a highway?

When some town dude trusts his GPS over his common sense. I give people specific directions to my rural home. Two miles east of the interstate. Driveway at the end of the Highway Department snow fence. White numbers a foot high on the gate post. But my address isn't on GPS, and fools drive right on by.

On topic, the OP never said he wanted to guide. He thought someone would pay him to shoot coyotes on their property. I charge to hunt on my property, I don't pay.

if you have never ever hunted a coyote before?
You are hardly qualified to hire yourself out as a coyote hunting guide in the first place!


Nor are you qualified to represent yourself as a professional coyote/predator hunter/nuisance animal controller.......which is what you are when you get paid to hunt coyotes. With zero experience and knocking on lots of doors, you may find someone willing to let you LEARN to hunt coyotes on their property. Believe me, even with a high population of 'yotes and a year long season, even a highly experienced predator hunter would have a hard time charging folks for his services. Just too many others just like him willing to do it for free. Like I said, knock on some doors and learn to hunt them. Figure your payment is the excitement and satisfaction from a good day's hunt. You will find that only having access to a few parcels will soon make coyotes scarce. You will also find that working part time @ Mc D's will be more profitable.

If you are lucky you will be allowed to hunt on the property, expecting to be paid for it will prove to be disappointing. This thread about hog hunting has a sub topic about the common practice of charging the hunter's to use the land. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=449721

Let's let slash think about all this and then come back with other ideas or questions. :)