I've had guys offer to pay me to take them out. I haven't ever done it. A few of those guys, I have taken out, for free. Enjoyed those hunts, glad I did them, but don't think I'd do anything like that again. Times have changed and are continuing to change rapidly. Ain't much of the good life left to get, it's disappearing fast. I'm less into sharing...
But if I were to get paid, I wouldn't do it for less than $500 a day and I'd probably have a three day minimum. Just being realistic about how many days a year I could actually get paid, $500 wouldn't make me enough to live on. It's less than my regular job would pay for 16 hour days. If I'm taking time away from my family and working for you, from before light until after dark, feeding you, entertaining you, keeping you safe, tearing up my vehicles and equipment, and I'm not getting paid enough to cover my bills and feed the family, I figure I'm doing you a favor. $500 a day is totally reasonable. I'd gladly pay that. For the right guy, of course. And it wouldn't be about how many animals I saw, either. For me, it would be more properly be called paying for instruction, not a guided hunt. Might not even care if I killed anything.
- DAA