Tipping

Tipping is not a requirement and is a personal choice.  However, poorly tipping or not tipping outfitters/guides can influence them on which group they book in the future.  For example, if Group A and Group B both want to go on a fishing charter on the same morning and Group A has always tipped the guide well and Group B has never tipped him well, the guide will naturally select Group A.  So people who poorly or don’t tip an outfitter/guide can cause the entire group to not get the date that they want, or not be booked by that outfitter/guide at all.  Therefore, we encourage people who go on FCS events to tip the outfitters/guides at the going rate for a good effort (15 – 20%).

Hunting and fishing are not called killing and catching, respectively.  For example, if there were dozens of ducks on a pond the day before we arrive and then they left in the late afternoon before our hunt, that’s not the guide’s fault and he shouldn’t be penalized on his tip, if he made a good effort.  If the fish were biting on a lake at several spots the day before we arrive and then the day of our trip they get lockjaw because of the weather, barometric pressure, etc., that’s not the guide’s fault and he shouldn’t be penalized on his tip, if he made a good effort.

We draw the line at semi-guided hunts – where all they do is show you where the blinds, cleaning station, and gut dump are.  For semi-guided hunts we don’t encourage anyone to tip.

This is reflected in the What is the Difference Between a Self-chartered/guided, Semi-guided, and a Chartered/Guided Event and FAQs (the Why do some FCS events cost so much/cost so little? question) web pages.