You should probably just quit school now and go fishing.

 

Oh no.

 

Poor kid... :no:

 

I would post this down below in the how to be a guide forum. Lots of helpful hints there

 

Your required to have a doctorate in wildlife management.............. Also a medical degree with your residency done in emergency medicine. Then become a Doctor of Jurisprudence and pass the bar where you plan to be a guide.

Ya kid, you have a lot of schooling ahead of you..... :welcome:

 

Don't let these negative nancies get ya down. You set your mind to do it and you go get it done, son.

 

Your required to have a doctorate in wildlife management.............. Also a medical degree with your residency done in emergency medicine. Then become a Doctor of Jurisprudence and pass the bar where you plan to be a guide.

Ya kid, you have a lot of schooling ahead of you..... :welcome:

You also have to have your Orienteering Merit Badge.

 

I'm not a guide so I can't help, but hopefully somebody will see this and give some real advice. He's a kid in high school, asking an honest question.

 

Your required to have a doctorate in wildlife management.............. Also a medical degree with your residency done in emergency medicine. Then become a Doctor of Jurisprudence and pass the bar where you plan to be a guide.

Ya kid, you have a lot of schooling ahead of you..... :welcome:

You also have to have your Orienteering Merit Badge.

this I would hate to pay for a guide and have the guide get lost. lol

Buisness classes, Im not a guide but it's probably more buisness stuff then hunting, License ,Insurance ,expeditures ,chit like that

 

I'm not a guide so I can't help, but hopefully somebody will see this and give some real advice. He's a kid in high school, asking an honest question.

And i gave an honest answer. In times like these its always better to have a career rather than a hobby. I am not saying that being a guide is not a career, because the established guides do in fact do it for a career. However, it is best if he goes after something in the beginning that is a little more substantial and is a fall back while guiding on the side. Im not saying it has to be anything with a degree, technical jobs are a great route to go. But lets not set this kid up for failure, hunting guides live a though life, especially when the first are getting started. Its an unpredictable way to make an honest buck. Im sure Byers could shed some light to him, but for an honest answer of my opinion, it is best if he were to go another route with guiding as something on the side.

Or maybe Byers would like to have an apprentice........

 

Real talk:

Don't go to college, you won't change your future income enough to make up the four to six years of lost income. College would not be the best choice here.

 

go to college, get a degree, get a job that allows you the most free time possible to hunt or fish. Start guiding part time, work hard at it, and see where it takes you. Watching my youngest brother in-law develop a good business while he works a full time job as an operator at a chemical plant,(shift worker). His fishing business is a big part of that, not sure where you at. Down here you can guide year round either fishing or duckhunting. Good luck young man stick with it!!!

 

I had a good friend do this out of high school. Not sure what kind of guide you want to be. He went out west to Colorado, N Dakota, couple other states not sure where. He was a guide for elk and bear. Basically it went like this, he joined up with a guy that sold hunts. There were 8 guides total. 2 Guides went out at a time. They took the group up the mountain for no less than 7 days. Rode horse back, mules to pack the equipment. Once up, the guides did all the tracking,stalking, cooking, cleaning, ect.

In order to become this type of guide, you had to #1 have a good background with horses. My buddy worked on a horse farm for 6-7 years. He then had to go through guide school. It wasn't sitting in a class saying this and doing that. Guide school was in the mountains, living off the land for 30 days. He started with 9 people in his class. He graduated 30 days later with 2 people.

I am sure there is alot more to it that I am leaving out but this is where my friend started. He was just over a few weeks ago with this years pictures/stories. He did it for 6 years, this year being his last.

 

Send a PM to Rick Hall. He is a guide.

 

Take an Econ or a Business class and you'll realize that opening a guide service is not a good idea :thumbsup:

 

You might want to talk to Kelly at High Brass in SD, (800) 599-6047. He went through a college curriculum for outfitting and lodge operation at a school in IL or IN, I think, that included internship with one of the King Ranch outfits and that he thought well worthwhile.

 

shows what I know...did not know there was a college curriculum to become a guide....

 

go to college, get a degree, get a job that allows you the most free time possible to hunt or fish. Start guiding part time, work hard at it, and see where it takes you. Watching my youngest brother in-law develop a good business while he works a full time job as an operator at a chemical plant,(shift worker). His fishing business is a big part of that, not sure where you at. Down here you can guide year round either fishing or duckhunting. Good luck young man stick with it!!!

:ditto: This! I think we all had dreams when we were 15... Ask how many of us are doing what we THOUGHT we wanted to do at the age of 15!! :no:

To answer directly you need to take some busniness classes, accounting..

You should talk to Boom-Boom in the MO page area i believe... He started a guide business this year.. It lasted about a month and he called it quits!!! Just like anything else it aint easy!! Everyone thinks they can have a guide business. Hunting season only last about 3 months out of the year... What you going to do after that??

 

Just be careful because you will be taking something that you love and making it a job with every day early mornings and afternoons scouting. I have talked to a few guides and they have each told me how it is not as fun as hunters think it would be.

I would recommend classes in business management, accounting etc. You will have huge liabilities so dont do this without proper insurance, releases etc. First thing I would do before you start is hire a business attorney to get you all legal.

 

What type of hunting interests you? Or what area would you be able to guide? I've seen a lot come and go over the years. It's definitely not an easy career path.

 

Good luck kid

 

shows what I know...did not know there was a college curriculum to become a guide....

Me either, I thought it just took knowing land owners, owning land and/or a lot of scouting and knowing public lands. Guess thats why I'm not a guide. To the OP, which ever way you go, good luck and hard work really does pay off.

 

Guiding is easy if you love it! The only way to know if you love it that much is to experience it. That said: finish school, finish school, finish school! Then if u wanna be a duck guide , pick a college in the right region for a good flyway. Set a college schedule that allows you to guide til noon most days. You'll be able to find a job guiding for someone if you can call, handle people, put up with people, and it never hurts to have a great dog. In the midst of all the above you've got room to make good connections, or change your mind. Most of all get a degree in something so you'll have another option! Get started on the dog now too if u can. Guiding is not a bad gig but I think you'd prob need another job too, for the off season income, unless you plan on having a big operation guiding 600 hunters a year. And that can be done too, but you'll need some fine hunting grounds, and a lot of em! Good luck kid and don't forget that you don't have to be Rich to enjoy life! Chase your dreams and you may find new ones along the way!

 

I have a cousin that is a guide in Idaho, He barely got outta High School. He went to work for a guide service, started out as a flunkie, then to wrangler,etc,etc. Finally took the test, got his lic, worked for the guy a couple years then struck out on his own.
He does pretty good I guess. He has a pawn/gun shop, guides hunters in fall and winter and fishermen in the spring and summer.

 

Here you go.

http://www.k-state.edu/admissions/guides/WildlifeOutdoorMgmt.pdf