To err is human, and outdoorsmen are no different. Everyone has embarrassed themselves in the field at one point or another, whether its leaving your breach plug on the nightstand, falling asleep on a stand or missing an opportunity because you were trying to spit tobacco through your trigger guard (true story). So whether you are a seasoned woodsman or an enthusiastic never-ever still learning the process, here are a few common mistakes to avoid making in front of your guide or outfitter.
New gun
Perhaps the only thing better than the feeling of purchasing a new weapon is the satisfaction you get by telling all your friends about it. In some circles it’s a right of passage when a hunter takes ownership of a precision killing instrument. But hunting guides hear a different tune when a client proudly introduces the newest member of the family in hunting camp, explains guide Clint Schneider of Seven J Outfitters in Sundance, Wyoming.
“One of them that I hear, not all the time but it’s stupid frustrating when I do, is 'I just bought this rifle’ or ‘I just bought this bow’” says Schneider, adding with an exasperated tone “You know dang good and well they haven’t been practicing with it.”
Sighting in
Another red flag for guides and outfitters are clients who show reluctance to get to a shooting range and check zeroes on their optics upon arrival, says Darrell Gilks, owner of Soap Mesa Outfitters in Montrose, Colorado. Having been in the hunting business for nearly 40 years, Gilks has learned from experience that folks who don’t want to shoot, but still claim to be dead on, tend to have poor aim.
“You hear that all the time: ‘I don’t need to shoot…’ ‘I was shooting groundhogs at 300 yards last weekend…’ ‘I’m dead on…’” says Gilks, adding that hunters generally don’t want to shoot in the presence of other guides or hunters because they do not shoot well. “We shoot to make sure everybody’s rifles are on before we ever get to the camp.”
Out of bullets
While no ethical sportsman will ever condone wild or errant shooting, the reality is that often times it takes more than one bullet to knock down a Western big-game animal. Because this can happen for any number of different reasons, Gilks makes all his hunters carry plenty of ammo when they go into the field so there are no excuses when it comes time to finish the job, he explains.
It can be a big problem when a hunter runs out of bullets, and it’s a major headache for guides and outfitters. “We don’t know until we need more that they don’t have them,” says Gilks. “That’s totally unacceptable when they’ve been told to carry a complete box of shells with them.”
The sigh
Most people are already familiar with The Sigh. It usually comes in the form of a long-winded exhale, as a non-verbal expression of any number of negative emotions to include boredom, disappointment, or disgust. Heavy sighs can be found in any number of scenarios throughout a hunting camp: when the alarm goes off at 4:00 after you went to sleep at 2:00, when dinner consists of cheese and mayonnaise sandwiches, when a camera operator trips and falls in the middle of a stalk.
But for a hunting guide, when The Sigh comes from one of their clients, it’s received as an obvious message of dissatisfaction, even when the circumstances are completely out their control. Schneider explains that The Sigh doesn’t help anything in a situation that is already difficult enough as it is.
“Because I’m always trying to remain optimistic, even though I may know in the back of my mind that we don’t have a real good chance that day,” says Schneider. “If there is not much going on, it’s just as frustrating for us as it is for them.”
Guiding the guide
“One thing you don’t try to do in hunting camp is guide the guide,” says Gilks. That’s not to say that there isn’t room for the tall tales and fish stories that make hunting camp such a unique place, but its important to give guides their space and respect their ability to do their job.
“We Western States – we don’t care how many whitetail you’ve killed. I mean, we’ll listen to your stories and stuff like that, but trying to compare whitetail against elk or mule deer is just not the same,” Gilks explains.
The truth is not all guides are equal, and there may well be times when the hunter in fact knows more than their guide, especially when outfitters hire someone right before the season opens just to fill a spot.
“I surround myself with good people that are very knowledgeable and know what they’re doing,” he continues. “But until you know that the guide doesn’t know what he’s doing, you need to give them all the benefit of the doubt.”
“A lot of people want to try and tell the guide how they’re going to hunt or how they want to do it, and that’s not acceptable,” Gilks says. “They’ve paid money for a guided hunt, they just need to be quiet and listen to what the guide says.”
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