Planning Your First Guided Hunt: A Timeline

Twelve months or more out: choose the hunt

• Pick a species and a format you will enjoy, using the service levels guide.
• Check whether the tag is over the counter or a draw: see over-the-counter vs draw tags.
• Shortlist outfitters on the state pages and note each license status.

Before the application deadline

• Find the draw dates on our draw deadlines page, which links each agency.
• Talk to two or three outfitters with the questions checklist.
• Confirm the outfitter's license with the agency: see how to check a license.
• Take a hunter education course if the state requires one for you.

Once you have a tag or a date

• Get the contract, read it, then pay the deposit.
• Ask for a gear list and the fitness the hunt needs, and start training.
• Book travel with room for weather delays, especially for fly-in hunts.

The month before

• Practice at the distances and positions the outfitter describes.
• Confirm the license, tag and any stamps are in hand.
• Plan meat and trophy shipping, and check rules for moving carcasses across state lines.

Budgeting without guesswork

Outfitters publish prices in different ways: per hunter, per gun, per day, or as a package with lodging. Some charge trophy fees on top, and licenses and tags are almost always separate. Where an outfitter publishes a starting price on its own site, our listing shows it with a link to that page and the date we read it; we never estimate or average prices. Write down every line of the quote, including travel, licenses, processing, shipping and gratuities, before you compare two hunts.

Choosing between outfitters

Narrow the list to two or three outfitters and phone each one. Ask the same questions in the same order so the answers are comparable, and ask for references from recent clients rather than reviews posted on the outfitter's own site. Confirm the license with the agency, check whether the land is private, leased or public, and make sure the service level and the hunt type match what you want. If something about the answers is vague, ask for it in writing; a good outfitter does not mind.

After the hunt

Tell us how it went. If a listing on Sun Up Hunts needs a correction, use the contact form.