Did going on a guided hunt improve your skill level?

[rdp123]

Whether the cost is considered "massive" boils down to what premium you place on your personal time. Not much sense to pay to learn to hunt polar bear but can absolutely make sense to learn to hunt a readily available animal and associated skills that can apply to most/all hunts.

You can drop $4-5K to go hunt desert mule deer. During that week you will likely learn a ton about glassing and get a lot of time practicing that skill; instant feedback. During that week you will likely get some time learning to track (ex: walking washes) as well as some times tracking; instant feedback. During that week you will likely learn about food sources, what is usually available when and what the deer prefers, etc; instant feedback. You can instantly apply what you've been taught to all future desert mule deer hunts as well as apply other skills learned to other hunts as well.

Or you can spend years listening to podcasts, reading posts on forums, watching Youtube videos, and having to wait until the next season to "implement" what you read/watched with only yourself to provide any kind of feedback.

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It is a lot like shooting.

Say you are a brand new shooter and we'll apply the "DIY" philosophy espoused by some. You'll buy some random gun in some cartridge sold to you by some person at the counter. You'll buy some ammo and some scope being pushed by some guy at the counter. Then you'll go fire away and the years go buy. You'll likely to have gotten to a "fair" level but with a ton of bad habits.

Say you are a brand new shooter and we'll apply the "hunt with friends" philosophy espoused by some. You'll buy a rifle, scope, and ammo strongly influenced by you friends. May not be any better than the gun counter person. They'll teach you to shoot but you will likely learn their bad habits as well as develop some new ones. You'll likely reach a "fair" level quicker but still have a ton of bad habits.

Say you are brand new shooter and we'll apply the "go guided" philosophy espoused by some. You'll get interviewed as far as what you want the rifle/scope/ammo to achieve and a comprehensive answer will be given to you. You'll be told what will best serve you. You will be shown how to put everything together, how to zero a rifle, how to validate ballistics, etc. You will then be taught shooting fundamentals, gun safety, reading the wind, perform Kraft drills, possible discuss reloads, etc.; any bad habits are instantly broken and no new bad habits will be developed. You'll be ringing steel at extended distances by the end of the first day; you are already far ahead of the "DIY" and "hunt with friends" people. After five consecutive days at the range honing your skills, you are now a competent shooter with a game plan in place to become an adept shooter over a period of time.

That is the <potential> difference between going guided with the specific intent to learn and apply your newfound knowledge versus doing it solo or learning from friends.

Very helpful way to think about it, thank you!

 

[rdp123]

I'm a pretty new hunter and I've thought some about this. The problem I've found trying to self-teach hunting is that it's hard to get informative feedback. Doing the right thing and the animals just aren't there looks the same as totally screwing up--you just don't see anything. There are also a million little pieces of technique (here's how long I'd glass this area) and gear (yeah, you need a tripod) that you only need to see once to absorb. In other pursuits I've been lucky to hook up with experienced partners and it catapulted me way up the learning curve.

So, if you're truly green, don't have good partners/mentors, and have the scratch, a good guide could save you a lot of trial and error. I'd talk to a bunch and make it clear what you hope to get out of the experience.

Yes for sure -- I didn't even have a clue about the mule deer migration my first season! I managed to teach myself some discipline behind glass after a couple seasons, but I'm sure I gave up on a whole lot of country way too fast because I thought there were no animals in it after a couple passes with the binos.

 

[rdp123]

The one guided hunt I did was very informative. All in all I guess it would depend on the guide that you're with too. The guide I had was enthusiastic about making people better at hunting. My success rate solo definitely went up after spending one season with a guide. That is just my experience though.

Good to know, thank you!

 

[bojangles808]

That is correct, zero kills on mountain hunts. Closest on archery mule deer the second year. Got a lot of stalks in and was in bucks most days. I don't mind all that much getting skunked as long as I'm consistently learning, but it's very unclear where the finish line here is and if I'm working towards success or will just confront a new and insurmountable obstacle every season in my ignorance.

If you are finding deer and getting on archery stalks year in year out I'm not sure what else a guide is going to offer you? I would just stick with it sounds like youre on the right path already learning this unit pretty well. Guides not gonna pull the trigger for you. If I was year in year out not seeing animals then I might splurge for a guide. Maybe get a rifle tag instead extend your range a bit? I think your being hard on yourself archery hunting is tough

 

[TheHammer]

After striking out again this year I reached out to a well known and respected member on this forum who I went to grade school and high school with. I asked him a lot of the similar questions as the OP. He suggested that it would most likely be beneficial for me and my future western experiences. I have drawn my bow on several elk, have just never got an arrow off. I’m guessing there is something I am missing or doing incorrectly once I locate or get on elk, that is where a guide would hopefully help me fill in the blanks. Im too stubborn at this time to hire somebody. But hopefully you guys have great experiences and improve your résumé.

 

[rdp123]

If you are finding deer and getting on archery stalks year in year out I'm not sure what else a guide is going to offer you? I would just stick with it sounds like youre on the right path already learning this unit pretty well. Guides not gonna pull the trigger for you. If I was year in year out not seeing animals then I might splurge for a guide. Maybe get a rifle tag instead extend your range a bit? I think your being hard on yourself archery hunting is tough

Thanks! This is what one side of my brain is also telling me. I should clarify though:

• Year one: 2nd rifle mule deer tag. This is before CO pushed the season into November. I didn't know what I was doing, and in retrospect, hunted too low. Like a lot of CO it seems, lower elevations are roaded up and high pressure, but the higher country is harder to reach. Found a four-point before season in thick timber that I watched for about half an hour without spooking, but saw only one other buck during the 9-day season -- a forky running with a doe across a draw I was watching. They never stopped and I didn't get a shot.
• Year two: Archery mule deer. I backpacked in with a buddy who was just interested in hanging out and getting some trout fishing in. We glassed together and he helped me on stalks. This was my best season by far -- got a lot of stalks in and shot a grouse.
• Year three: First rifle cow elk. I thought I might not draw archery mule deer the unit I've invested so much into, so thought I'd take a shot at elk. I tried to stack the odds in my favor, taking a rifle, going in first season when there's less pressure and applying for cow. This was the most frustrating because a lot of things went wrong here -- I had some health issues during my scouting time that made me cautious in higher country, the areas I tried to reach up high didn't pan out anyways, and I did end up finding elk in lower elevations before season, so that's where I hunted. As luck would have it, I did get a shot opportunity on a respectable bull the last day, but held a cow tag. The only other time I found elk, they were just across the unit boundary, feeding further into the next unit. Being low, most of the hunt involved avoiding other hunters. I did find elk, but I didn't feel like I was in the game at all. I screwed up fundamental stuff. Hiking up the wrong hill to glass, setting up with the sun in my face, stuff like that.

Judging from my experience, my biggest weaknesses have been poor planning and not getting enough practice stalking. I only really got my big stalks in during the second year.

This year I am pretty sure I would draw the mule deer archery tag again, and would probably apply for doe as a second choice rather than miss another year hunting mule deer. I think that if I gave it enough time to make all the mistakes I need to and didn't get too ambitious with the class of buck I'm after, I could probably get it done. I have a couple areas I know that they hang out in that see little if any hunting pressure. Even with all I've learned in the unit over the last three years, elk seems seems next to impossible. After all the feedback here, I'm leaning towards applying in 2023 for mule deer and elk, both archery, and weighing whether to book a guide for the elk hunt.

 

[rdp123]

After striking out again this year I reached out to a well known and respected member on this forum who I went to grade school and high school with. I asked him a lot of the similar questions as the OP. He suggested that it would most likely be beneficial for me and my future western experiences. I have drawn my bow on several elk, have just never got an arrow off. I’m guessing there is something I am missing or doing incorrectly once I locate or get on elk, that is where a guide would hopefully help me fill in the blanks. Im too stubborn at this time to hire somebody. But hopefully you guys have great experiences and improve your résumé.

Part of me is too stubborn too, because it feels like I worked pretty hard to get where I'm at and it's all the product of my own effort, and I'm suspicious of the idea of paying someone to basically finish what I started. On the other hand, I've paid for instruction for all kinds of things that I'm now competent at after pretty minimal guidance. I'm leaning towards going in for a guide this season if I can find one who's sympathetic to what I'm trying to do.

 

[bojangles808]

Maybe do a spot n stalk hunt on exotics or pigs somewhere like Texas and get some more trigger time.

 

[vdocLU164]

IMO it definitely depends on the guide and what your going for. I've been on a handful of guided hunts, mostly for species i do not regularly hunt on my own. But even those hunts I've learned some woodsman skills that I can bring home and use on my own. Much less all the skills for that specific game. If you have a guide that is willing to teach as you hunt with them and ask them and try to learn I feel you will always get something out of them. But on the flip side if you get a guide who is just going through the motions and doesn't really care then you won't gain much if anything from it. Hunting on your own diy is truly rewarding though when it all comes together just way more of a learning curve to get there typically.