Guided Bear Hunts

[Mike Foss]

Most of you know I have a bear guide service in Wisconsin and I am always striving to improve my services. Have you ever been on a guided bear hunt? Where and as a client other than getting your bear what are your expectations of an outfitter?

[huntinnurse]

That is a great question Mike!!!!

[dan]

I have hunted bears with a guide several times in Wisconsin, and once in Minnesota. My expectations would be for a bear guide to go the distance and provide every chance possible to help me achieve my goals, whatever they may be. I do agree, that sometimes outfitter goals, and hunter goals don't match, but both parties should figure that out prior to booking a hunt.
Some of the things that have disappointed me is guides lying or telling you anything you want to hear to get you booked.
I was told by an outfitter that he was very disappointed that I didn't shoot a small bear that we treed on the 1st day, because he said there are other clients waiting for "me" to fill my tag so they can hunt.
I had a bear guide break several laws while guiding me too... That really put me in an awkward situation.

To me it seems like over 90% of bear guides seem lazy, and just looking to make a buck. If I go on another guided hunt I want a guide who has a great knowledge of the game we seek. I want him to respect my goals and what I want out of the hunt rather than what it does for his stats.
I do not want a guide who takes 50 clients a week like a bear factory.
I want him to to scout annually looking for the very best bear sign and habitat. I don't want to see baits just randomly plopped every mile or two down the road with the only scouting being "this looks like a spot for a bear". I want him to have good equipment and help to get there bears out and keep them from spoiling.

[PLB]

I never been on a guided bear hunt. For the money I spend on DIY though I could easily aford it I would want my guide to be hard working, knowledgeable of the area, limit the amount of hunters to a minimum, place me on active baits with obvious bear sign, and include me in on the baiting, retrieval and the whole process in general! I would want my guide to be honest and straightforward with me too.

[Liberty-Hunt]

I'm waiting for some one HONEST!!!
With a great knowledge...with aggressive feeding site, and pics of the dandy he is proposing for me... I don't want to make more then 8000Km for an immature one! The weight is not important for me, all the important is to hunt a mature one, closer as possible, with a nice skin (for a good carpet).
About the accommodation, a minimum is enough for me...

[lungbuster]

Honesty is the biggest thing I look for, I have not been on alot of guided hunts for any animals, but having said that I have had a nightmare of a semi-guided hunt for whitetails and it made me alot keener on what to look for in any outfitter.
If I'm looking to book a bear hunt here's what I try to find out up front:
1. how many hunters will be in camp during my hunt and how many acres/baits are you running per hunter?

2. Past success ratings, not nessasarily kill ratio but more importantly shot opportunity. the guide cannot control hunters missing or making poor shots, but they can account for opportunities to at least get bear in front of you.

3.Trail cam pix and what the average size bears they have hitting baits or clients have killed.

4.referances and not just from succesful hunters they have had but also those that went home empty handed. i contact the unsuccessful ones first and ask if they enjoyed thier hunt and would they re-book.Guides don't always have to have thier clients kill bears to be successful, if they went out of thier way to provide a quality hunting experience it goes alot further than just getting bears in to be killed.

5.accomodations and food. Make sure you always know before hand what the price of the hunt includes and what is expected of you as the client.

No matter what I am hunting for I want to have a great experience overall, professional, honest guides that go above and beyond to make that happen for me goes further than just putting game in front of me and telling me to dump the string. A guide that never embelishes what they have been seeing or building up false hope is my number 1 prerequisite for recommending them to other hunters and for me to go back and book again with them.

[huntinnurse]

Mike, what zones do you guide in?

[AC Rider]

I want an outfitter that has ample land to use. I want an outfitter that runs enough baits that I'm not stuck to just one or two baits. Baits go cold while others only have small bears hitting. I want to know I have options because the outfitter has several baits for each hunter. Honesty and know how is a given.