Kodiak brown bear bow hunt..........DO IT! I'd be tempted to take off and just be your camera man. Dream hunt!
If you think you will enjoy it and have the capacity to do so by all means. But there are pros and cons of everything. Con 1 is dealing with people. Many are great but there will always be that one. Con 2 getting the licenses and everything else in place to be an outfitter. If you just do hunts and let the hunter chose their lodging and food that makes it a little simpler. Pros are you get to do something you enjoy and that might outweigh the cons. Managing Whitetails can be addicting and if I had the resources to do it I most certainly would. Whatever you do good luck!!
As much joy as it brings you putting people onto big Iowa bucks then do it. You can set the limitations on how you do it. From what I have seen in the few years following your threads, is that you are a very successful big buck hunter. If you truly feel the thrill is gone for yourself, maybe just bring people into the fold with you like others have suggested. You love helping others kill deer, but you are worried about the effects of unknown guests tromping around and making bad shots. To me that sounds like the perfect scenario to pick and choose your spots. A young kid one week, a veteran that just got home the next, reach out to a board member and invite them over for a week. Involving money, and turning it into a job may create unwanted pressure on yourself, and take away something from it in the end. While I don't have the resume that you do, I can say helping my disabled father hunt with a crossbow these last 2 years have been an absolute blast for myself. I spend countless hours scouting and planting food plots in spots I probably won't see unless it's picking him up from the blind. While it hasn't happened yet for him, he has been close. I was able to put him on a 130's 10 pt in late October that had a bolt sail over it's back. It would have been his largest archery buck ever. Doe, spike, big buck, whenever he does seal the deal, I know for a fact I will be as pumped up as he is. I've always said if I come into the means of solely owning a good chunk of property, sharing it with others not as fortunate would make it that much sweeter.
I would just be very aware that you would be dealing with the general public which can be a pain. If you could somehow screen people to hunt that would be nice. Not sure that is an option. If the money isn't that big of deal....you could screen somehow. Once someone starts spending $3000 on a hunt they expect things. Not everyone I've come across in my life has had common sense. You might have to deal with some a holes is what I'm getting at. You might also get to meet some new incredible people. I'm guessing guiding or leasing land for hunts could get all different kinds of people. I have no experience. I would try to talk to some others with experience to see if it is something you want to jump into with both feet.
I`d say theres plenty of members on here that would be extremely happy to come out and hunt. Maybe do a trial hunt with some members from here, that might give u a better idea if its going to be suitable for u or not. If there was a good screening process to weed out the weirdos, I think being a guide would be extremely gratifying.
