Ice was clinging to the tent fabric and the alarm was a buzzer that I couldn't shut off with telepathy so I reached out and slapped it to restore silence to the tent. I really wanted to go back to sleep. I couldn't do that. Paying clients were expecting breakfast in an hour. It was time to get moving.
For several years I ran a southern Colorado fishing and hunting outfitting and guide service. The constant struggle with equipment, hunting areas, temperamental guides and increasing regulations became too much hassle and I quit. But I did not sell my equipment and when a publisher I work for asked me to organize his annual hunting camp I agreed. For another six years I ran his magazine's annual hunting camp as an extension of my contributing editor duties.
Last year I finally gave up and sold my equipment. He assigned the annual hunting camp to another member of the staff and it wasn't long before my phone was ringing with increasing frequency as the new outfitter tried to solve the everyday problems of hunting camp.
The Coffee Cup Problem
Booking an outfitter is costly and most clients have no idea why an outfitter's rates are so high. Many believe the outfitter hauls his camping equipment to the forest, sets up camp, hires a camp hand and cook, contracts with a few guides, and enjoys the hunting season without any worries.
What really happens is the outfitter begins preparing for hunting season months in advance by repairing and upgrading every piece of equipment. As the season nears he must inventory everything several times to be sure he will survive weeks of wilderness living while catering to his clients, few of whom comprehend the outfitter's problems.
Consider the lowly coffee cup. A good camp will have a ready supply of coffee cups. The enamel cups on postcards are popular but not practical. They get hot and the barely awake client burns his lips on the first jolt, drops the cup, curses, changes clothes, and is now wide awake.
Better to use styrofoam in the morning and save the enamel stuff for evening, but the outfitter has to calculate how many styrofoam cups will be needed each morning, multiply that by the number of days, then add a percentage for waste.
There is still the problem of clients who want high-test coffee and others decaff. Other clients want tea, some want weed tea and others only drink Earl Gray. The sugar, artificial sweetener, full-fat creamer, low-fat creamer, hot chocolate, powdered cider, and spoons must also be handy.
That's just for morning coffee. There's still breakfast, lunches, pack snacks, lost gloves, lost hats, lost ammo, lost licenses, clients who don't want to climb, clients who don't want to walk, clients who don't like sitting, clients who are cold, and the first client hasn't left the cook shack yet and everyone is sucking down a hot drink and waiting for hot food and the sullen guides to cheer them up.
The outfitter must plan every detail of every meal before setting up camp and then remain flexible to meet the likes and dislikes of each client. That flexibility is what the client is paying for.
I've hunted exotic game ranches in Texas, and with outfitters in Colorado and Wyoming, in Africa on game ranches with luxury lodges, and from a thatch hut in the African bush. Because of my outfitting experience I've been willing to tolerate some things and not others. I've also learned that you will get what you pay for and there are too many questionable operators booking hunts not to be careful.
What Not To Expect
I am amazed at how many clients expect to pick their trophy from a placid herd feeding in a baited field. I've been asked how far it is to the salt licks or where deer and elk bait is hidden. When I told those clients I didn't do that sort of thing, they told me about outfitters who did. A good outfitter takes his clients into areas were the habitat and game populations are good and then hunts ethically.
A good hunt is made better by the attitudes of the camp hands or lodge staff, and by the accommodations, but that doesn't mean everything is provided by the outfitter.
Alcoholic beverages are usually the first problem. Most lodges have a bar, most hunting camps don't. To provide liquor an outfitter usually must have a liquor license. The best rule is: if it's a camp, bring your own; if it is a lodge, find out if they have a bar.
Some clients expect the outfitter to also be a pharmacy. A supply of aspirin and non-aspirin pain relievers and other simple over-the-counter drugs should be in any camp. If you have a stomach or digestive problem, bring your own medication and always carry extra prescription medications that you can leave with the camp cook or someone in case you lose your regular supply.
In any wilderness or remote camp all the tentage, lanterns, and camping equipment should be provided by the outfitter. In a well-planned camp there is a gun rack and basic gun cleaning supplies. A few outfitters will provide sleeping bags. I never did. I told my clients to bring their own then if they got cold in their bag I could loan them one of my bags.
Laundry is another service that varies. I never offered it, although I drove clients to town so they could wash their clothes. In Africa even the most remote bush camp will have some daily laundry service but in North America laundry service is a seldom offered luxury.
A well-run hunting camp will offer services that give the client a memorable experience. Before booking a hunt look into these services. The more offered, the better the experience.
Shooting Range
We couldn't offer a range in hunting camp, but we insisted each client check their firearms at the local range before heading into the high country. Most lodges will offer a range so hunters can check their zero.
Trophy and Meat Handling
Proper trophy handling is essential. In Africa, at Rocco Gioia's Casketts Ranch, each trophy is skinned, caped, and salted the same day it is killed. In the Rocky Mountain high country the trophy should be caped and prepared for the taxidermist as soon as possible. The hide should be either frozen or salted, rolled, and kept cool and safe from scavengers.
Meat must also be handled properly. Getting meat out of some of the American Northwest regions might be a chore, but it is not impossible. Before booking ask if the outfitter has a system for handling the cape, horns, and meat to insure what you shoot reaches your home. When I hunted the 777 ranch in Texas the meat from my Corsican ram was packaged, frozen, and packed in an ice chest, and the horns and cape were ready for the taxidermist when I left the ranch.
Accommodations
The military provides three hots and a cot. A hunting camp should offer more. Showers are essential to good hygiene. Some showers are solar-heated plastic water bags with a shower hose. On a warm afternoon the solar shower can be comfortable. A more elaborate camp can have a shower heated by a fire built under a water barrel. Any lodge should have clean private showers.
Sleeping accommodations will vary according to the facility. A mountain camp should have a good cot. If the outfitter doesn't provide a mattress you should be told to bring an air mattress or foam pad.
Every high-country tent or cabin should have either a heater or wood burning stove. Anything less is not acceptable, and the clients should be taught how to use the heater and what to do in an emergency.
Chalets or cabins offer other accommodations. At Casketts Ranch in Africa the chalets have hot and cold water, closets, showers, patios, and an electric tea pot, but the meals are served in the lodge. While on an African bird hunting trip however, I stayed in a fully furnished chalet with individual bedrooms adjoining a living room, and a full kitchen where we cooked our own meals.
Local Transport
Outfitters who offer horseback hunts must provide all the tack and be prepared to deal with greenhorns. A phone call or letter can clear up any misunderstanding about the skill level required.
Before booking any hunt a hunter must check local travel arrangements. Recently I saw a husband and wife standing outside the Colorado Springs airport beside their pile of luggage, which included their gun cases. I asked where they were hunting and they told me.
"That ranch is nearly a hundred miles from here," I said.
"Well, I told them what time my plane got here," he said.
I suggested they call the ranch and be sure someone was coming to pick them up. While picking up my own bags I could see the couple trying to rent a car. That ranch had a policy of not picking up clients unless they paid an extra $100 per person, which worked out to twice what a rental car cost.
In Africa my hunters are met at the airport and driven to the ranch, unless other arrangements are made. Once you arrive at the lodge or camp be sure you know what local transportation is available. Find out how you get to town in an emergency or to take care of personal business. These are legitimate questions you must ask in advance.
Meals
My clients got a continental breakfast first thing in the morning, a full-course breakfast after the morning hunt, sandwiches and soup at midday, and a full dinner after the day's hunting. One hunting camp I was in had one meal at night and during the day everyone fixed their own sandwiches.
A Wyoming camp cook fried everything and when I asked about an alternative to fried foods was told, "in hunting camp everything is fried." By the end of that Wyoming camp I was sick. On the other hand, when I was hunting the 777 in Texas, I said I couldn't eat many fried foods and I was offered alternatives at every meal.
What-to-Bring List
I always send my safari clients a what-to-bring list. I've hunted with several outfitters who replied to my query about what to bring by saying, "oh the usual hunting stuff." In each case I ended up needing something.
My experience has been if they can't give you a straight answer, look for another outfitter.
When you pay someone to take care of you on a hunting trip, you are paying them to provide you with all the services and facilities you would get in a hotel or lodge, plus provide a quality hunt. Your water may have to be heated over an open fire, but you shouldn't be the one tending the fire. Nor should your food be cold, bland, and served like an army mess.
Be sure you get your money's worth by getting references and talking to them. There are no shortcuts to a good hunting camp any place in the world and if the rates sound to good to be true, they probably are.
Copyright (c) 1997 Galen Geer. All rights reserved.