We are commonly asked what
is an appropriate amount to tip the guides and staff? My usual response
is that it depends on how much effort you feel they put in to making
your trip enjoyable. Some tip more and some tip less but most clients
tip about 10% - 15% of the hunt price with 75% of that going to the
guides and 25% going to the cooks (who also clean the lodge) and bird
cleaners.
We have an understanding
amongst all the guides that they split their tips evenly. This eliminates
competition between the guides and as a result they work better as a
team, thus further contributing to the quality of your hunt. Also when
you spend all your time with your guide in the field it is easy to forget
how much effort the spotter behind the scenes is putting in. This ensures
that the spotter is also compensated fairly as he puts as many hours
into your hunt as the guide in the field does.
As the proprietor who actively
acts as a guide and a spotter I opt not to share in the gratuities.
I feel I am already being compensated for my services and as such the
gratuities are only split amongst the three other guides, not myself.
While you are welcome to
bring a well trained retriever to camp there are a few guidelines we
need to enforce:
• If you are hunting with guys other than those you came with,
you must first approve using your dog with the other group members before
taking the dog into the field.
• If your dog is disrupting the hunt or causing birds to flare
you will have to take him back to the truck unless the other group members
all agree to him staying in the field.
• You must clean up any mess left by your dog around the yard.
The place to take your dog to do his business is in the hayfield directly
behind the lodge and the cabin.
• Dogs should stay in their crate either in the garage if you
are staying in the lodge, or in the porch if you are staying in the
cabin. Dogs are not to roam free around the lodge or cabin.
• If your dog growls, snaps, or acts aggressively towards other
hunters or anyone at camp you will have to keep him in his kennel or
on a leash for the duration of the trip. Under no circumstances can
we have someone get bitten!
• The hunt consists
of two hunts a day (morning and evening) unless you are departing Wednesday,
in which case you will only have a morning hunt on Wednesday. In the
past we have tried to do a morning hunt, afternoon hunt, and evening
hunt. This does not work well for a couple reasons. First, we were always
rushing from one hunt to the next resulting in poor preparation for
the next hunt. Also we often didn’t have time to do a proper hunt
in the afternoon as we were always trying to get to the next location
for our evening hunt, often when the birds were already flying. Lastly
the guides usually have work to do after the morning hunt such as preparing
equipment, securing land access, comparing notes, and planning for your
next hunt. If all this is done and time permits they may catch a much
needed rest in early afternoon. Our clients are only here for three
days and most can go hard the whole time. Our guides do this for six
or seven weeks and get run down, and careless if they don’t get
some rest in the afternoons. This is not a situation we are willing
to have here and as such we don’t go out for our evening hunt
until mid or late afternoon.
• Please don’t scatter cigar and cigarette butts around
the yard and use the ashtrays outside of the lodge and cabin.
• For purposes of possession limits, the bird cleaners will allocate
the days birds evenly amongst the people in your hunting party. Given
the nature of shooting we encounter, it is often difficult to keep everyone’s
birds separate in the field and as such this is the fairest way of keeping
track.
• If you are here for our standard Monday to Wednesday or Thursday
to Saturday hunts you will not be permitted to shoot more than your
possession limit of any given species. If you are fortunate enough to
shoot your possession limit of one particular species in the first two
days of your hunt, we will not be taking birds to Saskatoon to the food
bank the evening of the second day of your hunt so you can kill another
limit the third day. This is usually not a problem as we have very liberal
possession limits as well as many different species of birds to pursue.
• If you are here for a full weeks hunt it will be treated as
two separate three day hunts. We will donate the birds from the first
half of the week on Wednesday when we go to the airport. After this
you will be able to continue hunting the balance of the week as if you
were a new client arriving for a Thursday to Saturday hunt.
• Our camp is set up to accommodate two groups of six hunters
which is what we try to do whenever possible. If you book your hunt
with less than six in your hunting party, you will likely be paired
up with another partial group. Therefore we have to try and accommodate
everyone’s hunting preferences. If you come here wanting to hunt
ducks every evening and the other group hunting with you want to hunt
Cranes or upland birds one day instead, you need to be prepared to do
that.
• This is a fully guided hunt. This means that we are in large
part responsible for your actions while staying with us. As such, all
hunting will be done with your guide unless the guide leaves you in
the field once you’re set up to go spotting. You will not be permitted
to strike off on your own hunting (even right from camp). The biggest
reason is that we work very hard to maintain our landowner relations.
If you were unknowingly to end up on someone’s land without permission
this could have a negative impact on our reputation within the local
farming community. Given that the success of our hunts is dependent
on our good name with the farmers, this is not something that we can
risk happening.
