How to Become a Fishing and Hunting Guide in Idaho
If you love hunting, fishing, tracking wildlife and camping under the stars, consider helping others bag their catch as an Idaho fishing and hunting guide. There's no clear path to break into the guide industry, but you can make yourself an irresistible candidate by obtaining work in base camps and learning guide skills.
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Instructions
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Explore the Idaho wilderness on back country camping trips. If you can imagine yourself leading tourists through the wilderness in search of animals without losing patience, you have the disposition of a good guide. Spending time camping will get you comfortable in the woods and adept at setting up tents, cooking on camp stoves and performing a guide's secondary duties.
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Get certified in first aid or wilderness first aid. This makes you attractive to employers.The State of Idaho Outfitters and Guides License Board maintains a list of approved first aid and wilderness first aid classes (see Resources). Choose a teacher from their list, then contact the teaching outfit to obtain an upcoming schedule and reserve a slot in a future class.
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Learn as many techniques as you can. Good guides can fly fish, fish with bait and tackle and take down big game with guns and bows. Practice with friends or family who hunt or take a hunter education class through the Idaho Fish and Game Department (see Resources).
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Practice tracking skills. Purchase a guidebook that shows animal's footprints and begin looking for signs of wildlife every time you're in the woods.
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Obtain a summer job on a base camp. Whether you're working in the kitchen, as a handyman or as a guide's assistant, you'll make connections in the Idaho guide industry and you'll meet some guides who can serve as mentors.
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Go to guide school. Russell Pond Outfitters offers a month-long guide school in Idaho and assists graduates in job placement (see Resources). Graduates can obtain a two- or three-month internship with Russell Pond to practice their skills. In guide school, you'll learn horsemanship, packing skills, winter hunting tactics, predator hunting skills, orienteering and professional ethics for guides.
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Apply for jobs with hunting outfits to gain experience. Hunting outfits generally have large packages of land that they have exclusive right to hunt, which makes it easy for a new guide to gain experience without facing competition from other hunters. Offer your services as a solo guide if you prefer.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit duck hunter image by cherie from Fotolia.com
