Looking for some pros and cons of something I have been thinking about for a few years. I have two farms that I manage for whitetails and put a lot of work into. I love every minute of it and have killed a lot of great deer. My walls are full and I have kind of reached a milestone it seems. I am passing bucks that I once would have fallen out of the tree over. I am starting to think that it would be more fun to help make other hunters dreams come true, as I have already lived mine. To cut to the chase, I am thinking about selling about 4 hunts a year (sometime in the future) and doing my very best to offer 100% chance at P&Y or better bucks. The money would be enough to put me some place warm for a nice chunk of the winter in retirement without touching investments and the reward would be giving someone an exceptional opportunity at a great buck, and leaving my kids very comfortable. Putting young or disabled hunters on a great buck would be my ultimate high, but anyone that appreciates good bowhunting would be a joy to guide in my opinion. Would you? What might I be missing? Talk me out of it, or not. Honestly, the money would not be a driving factor, but you know how that goes. You can never have too much. lol
If you do...let me know I'm on preference point #2 this year. Just from reading your post etc over the past several years, it seems to me that is something you would enjoy.
If you feel you have reached your whitetail hunting goals then I say go for it! I know some guides in Montana and they enjoy putting people on good animals more than actually taking one for themselves.
I say if you have the property and the success rate of the few hunters is high I say go for it! It's my dream to one day own enough land to be able to guide a small amount of hunts. If you love being in the outdoors and love the sport what better way to share it amongst other hunters? I agree on guiding kids or doing hunts for programs like Wounded Warrior, those hunts would make it all worth the time and effort.
If it would make you happy I see no reason not to try it out. I haven't ever paid for a hunt but I would definitely consider it to come hunt in Iowa with you for a week.
It's difficult to know whether to try to talk you into it or talk you out of it. I suppose I can't imagine being in the position you say that you are in. Sure, you are passing on deer that many of us, especially myself, can only dream about. Surely, though, you still have personal goals that you've yet to achieve. How will what you're considering doing impact your ability to achieve those goals? I mean, if you have a personal goal of taking a 200" buck, it sounds like you have a set-up going that would allow you to have a chance at that at some point in the future, but offering a guaranteed chance at a P&Y buck to four hunters means a lot of extra pressure on your farms. I suppose I really can't offer much advice since our situations are so different, but I think that I've give some serious thought to the impact bringing other hunters in is going to have on your own hunting. That being said, how much are you considering charging? :D
Honestly, I have exceeded anything I ever had as a goal as far as score goes. A 200 inch buck would be amazing, but not really practical. There are just too many variables to chase that dream. It could happen some day, but its not something I spend much time or energy worrying about. I helped a buddy with a 209 5/8's gross this year. It was a thrill for sure, but you would make yourself crazy if that was a goal. I have had my hands on five bucks from 200 to 237 in over twenty years. Even if every buck could live to be 8 years old, there would be a very small percentage that would ever come close to 200 inches. If I sold some hunts, I think my new challenge would be to hunt for myself on public ground and simply try to kill mature deer that are pressured. I think I would charge somewhere around $3k. I know of guys that are getting that much or more for over hunted ground.
100% do it!! You said yourself you have a wall full of giants. You can NEVER have enough money, and I`ll bet you that when you start guiding, the satisfaction you will get seeing other people expierence what you already have will be worth every minute of it!! Best of luck, i`ll book a hunt with you in a second!! God Bless, best of luck.
I'd be extremely interested in hunting with you if you did this. Not going to talk you out of it haha
I'm not going to try to talk you out of it, what I will do is try to bring up things that you may not have thought of. 1. You have to turn this into a business. Which means you have to pay taxes, insurance, licenses, etc. If this isn't something you normally do, you'll have to hire someone to take care of it for you. 2. Do you have a place for the hunters to stay? 3. How are you going to find the clients? 4. How are you going to accept payment? If hunters are coming from out of state, you'll have to accept Credit Cards, the companies take approximately 3% off the top. 5. What are the "House Rules" and what are the consequences if the rules are broken? 6. Is your signficant other on board with strange dudes running around the property? 7. 9 people out of 10 are bat Sh!t crazy. Yes, 9 out of 10. More and more, people don't have a moral compass. 8. You're going to need help. You've gotta find at least 1 person that you can count on to help when needed. Im self employed, and have been my entire life. It's easy to romanticize how things will be. But I've found that the quickest way to start to dislike something is to start doing it for a living. Doing it for money and food always sucks the fun out of it. Not trying to talk you out of it, and I say go for it if you're ready to take on the challenge.
Would I get a bowhunting.com discount? If yes than I'm all for you doing this. But in all reality I think this would be a great idea. What do you think a realistic success rate could be for hunters looking to shoot mature bucks though? It's one thing for you to hunt all season to harvest a great buck. It's another thing for someone to come in and have a realistic chance at harvesting a great buck in just a few days. I guess I'm not sure how things like this work. Do people get their money back if they don't kill a deer at most places?
To be clear, I was not fortunate enough to kill any one of those five bucks. They were all local deer killed by friends or acquaintances that allowed me the honor of admiring or helping to drag and/or score those deer. I have a couple of bucks in the 180's and that is my top end for personal achievement. Good enough for me I guess. I have seen 190's on the hoof, but can not think of a time that I saw a buck that I would be certain to break the magical 200" mark. That's why the goal would really be more dream than reality.
I say go for it. If you needed a guinea pig to come out and try a pilot program I would be more than happy to come out and do that. I would not even charge you for it.lol
So how many times do I have to come up and mow your yard for one of these hunts? Was thinking about Iowa in my point building portfolio anyways... Honestly though, you can only make this call. Maybe try hunting with a camera, switch to a recurve, start hunting from the ground without a blind. Maybe a more extreme tactic will present yourself with a new challenge.
This is what I was looking for. I wasn't fishing for people to book a hunt as I probably would not start doing this for some time yet. But I am looking for both pros and cons. I own an insurance agency and have for many years. My wife owns three other businesses also. We know all about taxes, insurance, hard work, marketing, etc., and none of that is really such a big deal. I have a newer building on one of the farms that would be finished into a lodge for housing. I enjoy cooking and would likely fix some of the meals. I would be doing so few hunts that I really don't think I would ever have trouble filling up the spots by word of mouth. At most, I would place a post in the commercial section of a couple of sites like this. I guess the beauty of it is, if I did it for a year or two and decided it was not any fun....I would just stop. It wouldn't be money that I was depending on to make a living. Just some extra cash to play with or help out my kids with as they begin their adult lives. Thanks for your candid response. As far as crazy guys. I think I would just hand them their money and tell them to not let the door hit them in the *** on the way out. That might be the most fun of all! Then I would invite Germ to come fill that spot and only charge him double.
Some good ideas. Thanks for that. Watching Schultzy carry a recurve did pique my curiosity. I think that would be a real thrill.
No way, that's just crazy talk. How can you have some slobs stomping around, stinkin up the place, missing and/or wounding your bucks? Chasing them into the next county. One season and you would be done. You're a selfish bastard like the rest of us, admit it and be proud!!
Tough call. If you get into guiding... you will be babysitting 24/7 or hiring someone to do it for you. If you offered DIY hunts... you hope they don't mess the area up for future hunts, end up on neighbor's land or trash the place. I know quite a bit about this one as the boss lets many out of state waterfowl hunters on his land. I would stay away from it unless you personally know them and they follow rules. I don't know why the boss puts up with some of the crap. I know I wouldn't. By the end of waterfowl season he is disgusted with it. People are getting lazy and it shows in how they treat your place. What ever you decide... make rules and then make them follow them. Wish you luck. Tim
