Tipping guides, wranglers, etc... How much is normal?

[ArcherandShooter]

Hey, y'all, I have a question.

My brother and I are going on a week-long guided elk hunt in Wyoming next month. since neither of us has ever done anything remotely like this big-deal before, one of the questions we have is how much is a normal tip for the guide, wranglers (it's a horseback trip) and camp cooks? Do we tip each separately or in a lump sum to the outfitter / boss?

Help! We want to do this right. Thanks.

 

[MDHunter]

Depends on quite a few factors - the overall cost of your hunt, does the service provide what they committed to provide, do they go above and beyond trying to ensure you enjoy your hunt, etc. Please understand that the tip should not be based on whether or not you get an animal, but rather what type of effort was put into ensuring you had a good hunt. Is the camp well maintained with reliable gear? Is the food decent, or are you eating chow bought for a hunt that occurred several years ago? Lots of little details like that.

If you feel they earned it, I would tip the guide, wranglers, camp cooks separately, I don't believe the money always filters down to the hired help when its given in lump sum to the outfitter/master guide. If you want to PM me specifics on how much you're paying for your hunt, I can respond with some possible ballpark numbers for tips.

Good luck, and have a great adventure!

 

[Grumulkin]

First of all, why does someone need to tip someone else for doing a job they're already being paid for? This tipping thing has gotten way out of hand on a lot of fronts. Yea, I know, it has become the custom started by hunters with a lot of money wanting to be big shots (pun intended).

That said, you might consider tipping the main guide 10 to 15 percent of the cost of the hunt. You could use the tip rates of ocean cruises for cooks, etc. to guide you as to how to tip the rest of the people you think you need to tip. Depending on what's involved in the hunt, you could also consider flat rate tipping of say $300 to $500 for the main guide and $50 to $100 for those with lesser responsibilities. I would not give the tip to the outfitter but directly to those you think earned it.

In addition, if you don't get acceptable service, if they waste your time, etc., don't give any tip at all.

 

[444]

I have never been on a guided hunt, but last year I went on a fishing trip with a guide and pretty nice meals etc. It was a place in Canada that we had seen on that TV channel that has fishing and hunting on it.
I tipped the guide $200. I tipped the kitchen staff $100. I left $50 in the cabin for whomever cleans the bathrooms and makes the beds. And the owner head guy $100. FWIW, I think the trip itself (not counting airlines and all that kind of stuff) was about $3500.
I think I was on the low side but I didn't ask anyone else what they tipped.

I think I would tip something like that on a hunting trip. If it was a big time trophy hunt where you ride pack horses up into a remote area, and I got a trophy animal that took a lot of work I would consider more. If it was some kind of that thing where they drop you off at a treestand to hunt whitetails or something, I would tip far less unless I got a truely magnificent animal.

 

[MDHunter]

444 - that doesn't sound low side to me, those tips were good money and right in the range of what i've heard for fishing trips (never been on a charter myself, know people who have gone).

 

[444]

Not to hijack the thread but, I think that most of the other people at the camp were a lot better off financially than I am.
I am a blue collar worker who can afford to go on trips like that because I have no family and it is a priority for me. One guy showed up in his own plane for example that he and his buddy flew from Prescott Arizona to pretty far up into Saskatchewan.
So, I think the other people in the camp may have tipped more. I know one guy caught a pike over 40" and I heard he tipped the guide very good.

Also, keep in mind that I was on this trip with another guy who tipped pretty much the same as what I did. So, our guide got $400, the cooks got $200, the maid got $100, and the outfitter got $200 just from us. There were probably 20 people in camp.

 

[280shooter]

I was on a guided hunt and it was so bad, the whole camp didnt give 1 penny as a tip,we were taking over,just a bad trip,left a very bad taste in our mouths,And we had 10 hunters in our camp.
We couldnt just pack up and leave,we were flown in,droped off,so walking out just wasnt going to happen,