Guided, Semi-Guided, Fully Outfitted or Drop Camp?

Why the label matters

The service level changes almost everything about a hunt: how much time you spend with a guide, where you sleep, who cooks, who moves you and your gear, and who is responsible for the animal once it is down. Two hunts in the same unit for the same species can feel completely different because of it. On Sun Up Hunts every listing states one service level, and the definitions below are the ones we use on every page.

Guided

A guide hunts with you in the field. That might mean sitting in a blind with you, glassing and stalking together, or calling for you. Lodging, meals and transport may or may not be part of a guided hunt, so read the contract line by line. Many whitetail, waterfowl and turkey outfits sell guided hunts with lodging on the side, while some sell the guide only.

Fully outfitted

A fully outfitted hunt is one package: the guide plus camp or lodging, meals and field logistics such as trucks, horses, boats or flights. It suits hunters travelling far or hunting unfamiliar country. Because so much is bundled, the written contract matters most here. Compare outfitters on our fully outfitted hunts page.

Semi-guided

Guide help is partial. The outfitter might scout, place stands or blinds, share one guide between several hunters, or help only at set points such as tracking and recovery. You hunt much of the time on your own. It usually asks more of your experience and fitness. See our semi-guided hunts page once enough outfitters offer it in your state.

Drop camp

The outfitter sets up or drops off a camp and moves you and your gear in and out, but nobody guides the hunt. You are responsible for finding game, field care and often packing meat to a pickup point. Drop camps are listed as a hunt type: see drop camp hunts.

What to get in writing, whatever the label

• The guide-to-hunter ratio, and whether it holds every day.
• Which nights of lodging and which meals are included, and what kind of lodging it is.
• Which transport is included, and whether flights, fuel or pack animals cost extra.
• Whether licenses, tags, trophy fees, processing, shipping and gratuities are included.
• What happens to days lost to weather, fire closures or poor game movement.
• The deposit, the balance date and the cancellation terms.

A note on guarantees

No outfitter controls wild game. We do not list outfitters that promise a harvest, and a contract that guarantees one deserves careful reading. Ask instead what the outfitter does if conditions are poor.