Guided hunts are a great way to get out and learn from an expert hunter, and really improve your chances of taking home a trophy. If you’re on a limited time-frame or just really want to have a chance at finding a monster buck quicker than tracking on your own, then a guided hunt may well be for you.
Share the experience, and learn from others
Generally you’ll arrive at the outfitters in the evening prior to your hunting day (or days), and make plans and prepare your gear for the guided hunt next day. Most services will have guides out in the field prior to your arrival, as well as trail cam setups, and so they will have a good idea of where the bucks are.
A guide will then take you out on the guided hunt around the land to a spot where you’re most likely to find the deer of your chosen size. Depending on the establishment and your target deer you may well setup in a stand or blind.
There are a few other options, for example you can hire an experienced huntsman to take you on a guided hunt alone and spend a few days out in the field tracking and hunting, or you can go a bit more commercial and join a larger group and shoot more docile, domesticated deer.
Most places offer a guarantee that you will have a shot opportunity at the buck of your chosen class, or your money back.
If you want a better chance of bagging one of these, then a guided hunt may well be for you!
Talking of money, how much can you expect to pay? Well this greatly depends on the place and quality of service you want. Typically for a 1 on 1 four-day guided hunt you can expect to pay $2,000, although you can pay substantially more than that at some places.
Here is a list of some outfitters that provide guided hunts for your information:
Arizona Guided Hunts – Experienced outfitters offering a wide range of different hunting trips all over Arizona as well as some lands in New Mexico. Run by Patrick Feldt, they offer guided hunts for Coues Whitetails, Desert Mule Deer, Rocky Mountain Mule Deer as well as other animals, such as Black Bears and Mountain Lions.
Trophys Unlimited – Outfitters offering guided hunts targeting Whitetails and Mule deer in Kentucky, Mexico and Canada. Wide range of areas producing many Boone and Crocket record bucks.
Montana Elk Hunting – Operating in Montana ,this outfitters offers 5-day Mule deer guided hunts, as well as a 6-day Whitetail package including a Whitetail doe, pheasant and fishing on an exclusive ranch.
Toby Creek Outfitters – Toby Creek offers 5 to 10 day guided Mule deer hunts around mountainous terrain in British Columbia, with an excellent range of mature bucks.
And just for kicks – check out this video! Big buck harvested – taken by Grey Ghost Outfitters in Canada.
