Summative Essay

What I have learned:

There was a lot of things about being a hunting guide that I didn’t know that by doing this blog that I was able to learn.  I also knew a little about the career that I was able to add in.  Throughout this blog I have talked a lot about what it takes to be a good guide.  I watched videos, read articles and just found interesting information on the web about being a guide. Even the little things matter when your hunting matter, and having a good understanding of that allows you to improve as a guide.  I’ve learned techniques that will make a person a better hunter in the woods when going after there game.  Such as what type of clothing to wear and where to walk in the woods so that your quiet  enough not to spoke the animals. Or the caliber of gun that needs to be used when going after a certain animal.  Its the little things that really are the biggest when a person is hunting.  

There are a lot of people in the world that are against hunting.  They are always looking for ways to stop hunting.  A guide needs to know this and understand what they can do so that they are still able to have a job.  Understanding that these people exist makes that fact that when you are a guide you need to follow the rules of the country and the states that they are hunting in, even the world for that matter because there are guides all over the world.  I have learned also that hunting plays an important role in the environment.  Like the article about hunting white-tailed deer where it states the importance of hunting and what it does for the population and health of the deer.

What will happen after the blog:

For the most part being a hunting guide has just been a dream of mine.  I don’t think that I will ever become but who knows what will happen in the future.  I have always planned on doing something with the farm that i grew up on and the family business that I am being given.  Hunting though has always been a great passion of mine and if I was ever to become a guide I’m sure that I would be able to make a career of it.  Learning all that I have about what it takes to be a skilled guide will still be beneficial even if I never purse that career.  I have learned a lot of valuable information that I knew nothing about before.  Being able to research about this career which I wouldn't have done otherwise has been very helpful.  Throughout the blog though I have struggled with coming up with new things to talk about for the open posts but was able to find new things that interested me and hopefully interested others.  Hopefully all who have read my blog have learned something new cause I discovered quite a lot from this assignment, but I’m also glad its over.

Open Post #8

Since October and November in Michigan are deer season I decided to learn a little more of the hunting that is done her during this time of year in Michigan.  Its estimated that about 300,000 hunters participate in the archery season, 600,000 in the firearm and about 200,000 in the muzzleloader season.  In total it is said that about 400,000 deer will be taken this year.  Also the surveys in Michigan have showed that the leading reason many people hunt is to spend time in the outdoors with friends and family.  I find this to be true from my experiences hunting, it is one of the best parts about hunting.  This year will also be the first year that I am not able to hunt on opening day of rifle season.  I have been going out on opening day since I was 8 and I'm really not liking the fact that I'm missing it this year but that life.  Hopefully though I am able to contribute to that 400,000 deer taken by the end of the season though.

Compmanager, . "Firearm deer season starts Saturday." Tuscola Today. 14 2012: 1. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://www.tuscolatoday.com/index.php/2012/11/14/firearm-deer-season-starts-saturday/>.

Open Post #7

I was interested to figure out if guiding was a year around employment because most areas across the world usually have specific times to hunt animals.  I found this website that says there is but in a variety of ways.  The more experienced guide can find jobs for year around but for the not so experienced there are things to do in the offseason.  Many guides choose to combine there employment by doing related guiding fields.  Such as hunt elsewhere, be a fishing guide, do river trips, and so on so that they are employed year around.  It all depends on the person that you are and what you want to do.  If you don't want to employe elsewhere you can also take the time off to do other things which some might enjoy.

Open Post #6

I found this video when looking for tips on hunting.  Its not the best put together video and the beginning of it isn't relevant about the weapon that he is using but there is a lot of good information in it.  So if your interested watch it and hopefully learn some useful tips like I did. 

http://youtu.be/UxydsDXhP9M

Open Post # 5

I finally got an email back from the people I know in Australia with the answers to the interview questions and they are as follows:

Q. How did you get into this line of work?

A. We were living on the land ranching and needed another form  of income and Jim had the talent and passion of a hunter for hunting so we decided to make a business from it. We also always had people coming out to where we live wanting to hunt and we were doing it for free.

Q. What made you want to become a hunting guide?

A. Jim is a ph [ professional hunter] but he and all our guides have a passion for hunting and love for being in the woods, and this way they can be there more often.

Q. What is the worst part of the job?

A. The worst part about the job is difficult clients.

Q. What is the best part?

A. The best part of the job is when you help fulfill someones dream, getting them a trophy that they have always wanted.

Q. What education do you need to have to do this job?

A. There is no education required in Australia but in other countries there are courses. We for the most part just require experience.

Q. How many years of experience do you feel you need to have to be proficient at your job?

A. Its difficult to say each individual is different, but at least a couple of years and then everyday on the job is experience after that always learning new things>

Remixing Knowledge

 I have grown up watching hunting shows on television and one show that has always stood out to me is “Jim Shockey.”  Jim is a world class guide and a man that has traveled the world hunting.  So, I went to his website to check it out.  When you first open the website, you see a picture of a huge moose that Jim had guided an individual on, and there is a video of a hunt for reindeer.  Along with these, there are pictures of companies that fund his television shows and are there for advertising.  The website is structured to show of Jim and it is also formatted in a way so it is easily navigated by people checking it out.The background of the website is all camouflage which easily signals that it is all about hunting.  Now, having seen many of his shows on TV, I already know that he is a well recognized man in the community of hunting guides, but if I hadn’t known this, I could easily infer by looking at his website that he is highly skilled in what he does.  Everything seems professionally done showing that he takes great pride in what he does.  The audience is very clear that it is for hunters looking for a trip to go on or for the gear that a professional hunter is using for his own hunts.  I believe that just by the little bit of browsing that I did on the website that it is very successful at its purpose.  A man as highly recognized as him already has a good reputation but, by displaying a good image, just boosts his image even more attracting more and more people.

The link to the webpage:

http://www.jimshockey.com

O'Brien, Ben. Jim Shockey: Grasshopper Learns a Lesson. N.d. American HunterWeb. 14 Nov 2012. <http://www.americanhunter.org/GalleryItem.aspx?cid=45&gid=70&id=870>.

Recognizing Significance

I wasn’t really able to find an article of the significance of a hunting guide particularly but I was able to find a good article of the significance of hunting itself. I found an article about the deer hunting in the United States and why it is important.  Whitetail deer hunting is the main check that keeps the deer population healthy.  If the deer population gets to big then there are many problems that reside.  Such as the deer eat all the plants on the ground and when there are to many deer all the ground  cover starts to disappear resulting in all of the creatures that live in this ground cover to also disappear.Also overpopulation can result in diseases in the deer to be spread more.Such happened in 2007-2008 when a disease called tuberculosis was starting to be found in the upper midwest of the U.S. This disease is a wasting disease and can severally affect the deer so the population has to be in check so such things do not happen.  Another very important thing about keeping the population of the white-tail deer in check is all of the accidents caused by deer crossing the road.  Across the nation more than 1.5 million deer are hit by vehicles.  With so many deer hit there is over a billion dollars of damage to cars each year.  So if we didn't have people out hunting these deer and the guides that also bring people to hunt certain areas to manage the deer population all of these numbers even know they are large already would greatly increase along with disease being spread all over the country.  As you can see hunting in the U.S. plays a big role that people don't realize but would soon figure out if people didn't hunt.

"Deer News." New York Times. n.d. 1. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/d/deer/index.html>.

McGahey, Larry. Whitetail Deer Winter Snow in Michigan. 2004. DigimarcWeb. 14 Nov 2012. <http://www.lowpockets.com/wild/whitetail_deer.html>.

Practicing Your Knowledge

      Over Thanksgiving this year I will be going to Saskatchewan, Canada to go hunting for white-tailed deer.  The place that I am going to is a guided operation so I will be able to see how a guide does his job.  I believe that I will be a great experience to see first hand a guide doing his job. It is to be hoped that in the process I will be able get some tips first hand on what it takes to be a good guide.  Now since it hasn’t happened yet and by the time I do go on this trip this assignment will already be over I wont be able to explain how getting hands-on experience was different from learning only from me being told or reading about it.  I have though already experienced hands-on learning from other trips that I have already taken.  I have come to learn and probably will interpret that every guide has there own way of doing things.  A main part of this is that the ways different animals are hunted are never the same, so each guide has a particular way to hunt the animal that you are after.  In saying this I have never been on a guided whitetail hunt so I don’t really know what to expect from that.  Hopefully I am able to learn a lot from this trip about being a guide.  When hunting before I wasn’t intently looking at the way a guide works, but now that I have been researching this career in the interest of being one I will be able to learn more then what I have just happened to notice.

Contemplating Controversy

I found an article about the controversy of now being able to hunt grey wolves in the United States again.  The article is from 2009 when the federal government allowed the grey wolves to be hunted again.  Allowing wolves to be hunted again is not popular with everyone.  The wolves in 2009 were just recently taken off of the endangered species list in the northern Rocky Mountains and environmental and animal rights groups were upset of this decision.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the population of the grey wolves were healthily enough to allow hunting again.  The opposing side on the other hand disagree and are saying that they are not large enough or healthy enough.  The opposing side is worried that just like before the wolves will be almost wiped away again like before due to over hunting and are explaining the ecological impact that the wolves have.  The fish and wildlife services have set a strict number of wolves to be taken each year so that the wolves will not be able to be wiped out and are going to keep a close eye on the population of the wolves, but they are sure that the grey wolves are able to be hunted again in the U.S.

Moyer, Amanda. "Wolf hunting now legal but still controversial." CNN U.S.. Cable News Network, 03 2009. Web. 16 Oct 2012. <http://articles.cnn.com/2009-09-

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-09-03/us/wolf.hunt_1_wolf-hunting-gray-wolves-wolf-populations?_s=PM:US

Open Post #4

Duck season has just recently last weekend in the area and it just happens to be my favorite type of hunting, I really enjoy it.  So since this happening I've been thinking a lot about duck hunting and decided to see how much it cost to go on a guided hunt in Michigan and where I would have to go.After checking in to such i have learned that there are many guides in the state of Michigan located all over the state.  There typical price per person per day varies from guide to guide, but the average price range is from $150 to $250.  So finding out this information I hope to soon, in the near future, go on a guide hunt for ducks.

Argument

I found this article from this man that is against hunting.  The article talks about how he is completely against the act of hunting and it tells a bad experience that he had with hunters.  The man was behind his house walking his dogs when he came across the remains of a deer.  The hunter that had shot the deer had field dressed it. He then left the end trails behind just laying there.  Along with this he left some trash lying next to the deer.  Now the fact of the matter is that the hunter was wrong in the way that they had disposed of the remains and the trash.  The hunter should have taken care of everything properly so that the environment is clean and protected so that as hunters we don't get a bad reputation like this.  Hunting is humane in the way that people hunt but the fact is as hunters we need to respect the environment so that hunters don't get a bad reputation in the eye of the public.

Kirk, Glenn. "Speaking Out Against Hunting." OpEdNews. N.p., 21 January 2009. Web. 11 Oct 2012. <http://www.opednews.com/articles/Speaking-Out-Against-Hunti-by-Glenn-Kirk-090120-751.html>

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Speaking-Out-Against-Hunti-by-Glenn-Kirk-090120-751.html

Code of Ethics

There is a code of ethics that hunters and hunting guides alike should follow and there are as follow:

1. Every state has different laws, so the guides should familiarize themselves with the regulations wherever they are.
2. Guides should conduct their outfitting and guiding operations in a manner that does not discredit themselves, or other outfitters and guides.
3. Respect other outfitter and guide members rights and shall not directly or indirectly cause injury to others.
4. Guides should respect the property they are hunting and the landowners.
5. If guides see illegal activity taking place they should report it to the proper authorities.
6. Guides should learn to tread lightly while afield. Use vehicles only on established roads and trails, practice low-impact camping and travel, and pack out your trash.
7. They must make sure there clients have the proper tags and licenses.
8. Also all hunters and guides alike should hunt safely.

All hunters and guides should follow these rules so that everyone is safe while hunting and that people are still able to hunt in the future.  These rules also will keep or environment and protect the wildlife that we have on this planet.

Open Post #3

I found this video on what a client should look for when searching for a hunting guide.  I choose to put this video up on my blog because it gives good information on what a good guide should be.  It gives ways that one should factor in when choosing a guide and a guide can use this video to see if they have and do everything that a good guide does. 

http://youtu.be/rDI_LumqeOI

Observing Community Post

The closet club on campus that I found was the Fisheries and Wildlife Club.  This club is about conserving the wildlife and environment in the world that we live in.   Being a hunting guide you need the wildlife and environment to have a job.  If there were no organizations like this the environment would be struggling by the way that we humans live today.  Which in turn would hurt the guides and outfitters because with no wildlife there would be nothing for people to hunt.  The mission of this club is to further enhance the education and professional development of students that are interested in natural resources, through hands on experience in management, research and public outreach.  Being a hunting this would be very beneficial to be a part of to further your skills and give you an edge on others in the field.  I have not been able to attend a meeting for this program though because the meet at 6:30 on Thursday nights so I hope to attend a meeting soon

Open Blog #2

This week I found a school that is specifically to teach you how to become a good guide.  The school is called The Colorado Outdoor Adventure Guide School and is located in Mesa, Colorado.  At the school they offer a variety of different programs from basic guide skills to even an advanced backcountry horsemanship program and all the programs are usually 2 weeks long.  The main point of the school is to teach the essential skills of the outdoors for you to become an expert guide.  They say that they are the premier outdoor guide school in the country and want to help you learn the essentials to having a good career in guiding.

Interview Blog

The person that I am going to interview for my Blog is Jim Dieckmann.  He is a P.H. in Australia, where he owns his own hunting operation called Havago Australia.  By the way, a P.H., or professional hunter, is another name for a guide.  My family and I have gone hunting in Australia with Jim and his wife Debbie and, to this day, still remain good friends with them.  Jim is a very experienced guide and hopefully by asking him some questions I will learn some good information in becoming successful at being a hunting guide.

Questions:

How did you get into this line of work? 

What made you want to become a hunting guide?

What is the worst part of the job?

What is the best part?

What education do you need to have to do this job?

How many years of experience do you feel you need to have to be proficient at your job?

Delivery & Style

     I came across this blog written by a hunting outfitter that is about hunting elk in Utah.  In this blog as you read is clear that they are trying to persuade the reader that Utah is the best place for you to go and hunt elk.  They go on and say that in Utah you can find some  the biggest elk that you have ever seen and that they are the second most abundant species in the state.  They also talk about how the terrain of the state make it so that the elk are very abundant.  At the beginning of the blog they include some facts about the species of animal so that it catches the readers attention so that they will keep reading further.  The whole style of this blog is such that these guides that wrote it are trying to persuade people to come to Utah and hunt with them over other places in the country.

I also found an article a hunter wrote about goose hunting in Canada.  In the article they talk about the effective ways to set up decoy spreads and where the blinds should be placed.  Also it talks about what most be done  the offseason of hunting so that during the season you are effective at hunting the geese.  It is a good article to read on goose hunting if you are looking for ways to better improve your hunting.

http://www.leederhunting.com/guided-hunts/elk-hunting-guides/utah-elk-hunting-guides/

http://search.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/docview/230407180/1392282EB4636D8082D/3?accountid=12598

Open Post #1

A question that I was not able to answer earlier was how much do hunting guides make. Depending on where you are hunting and what you are hunting for all factor in on how much guides make but I was able to find an average price for how much they make.  Rookie guides usually make about $75 to $100 a day plus tips which typically are $50 to $200 a week.  While experienced guides usually make any where from $150 to $200 a day and tips from $200 to $500 a week.  Also another factor in how much guides make is that they get free meals and lodging while they are guiding.  

Also a question that i was asked about my career was what type of animal would I like to guide for. There really isn’t one particular animal I would like to hunt.  I would probably say though that I would like to guide in Alaska where I could hunt black bears, grizzly bears, caribou, moose and the many other types of animals that Alaska has to offer. 

10 Questions about being a Hunting Guide

1.  Do hunting guides work year around and if not when do they work?

Hunting guides do work year around but not doing the same thing.  During the season of which it is open to hunt the species of animal they are after hunting guides take there clients out hunting the animals.  The other parts of the year of which the hunting season is closed the hunting guides are scouting for the season that is coming up and they also are trying to find clients for their upcoming season.

    

2.  Where are hunting guides employed?

Hunting guides are employed all over the world.  Wherever there is a species of animal that is available to hunt there is sure to be a guide there.

3.  What are some types of skills that are involved in being a hunting guide?

One of the most vital skills to have is communication skills.  They are a vital part of the job because as a guide you are dealing with many different types of peple from all over the world.  Also the guide needs to know the area that he is hunting for the safety of himself and of the clients that he has with him.

4.  What types of things does a hunting guide need for his job?

The guide needs to have the essential gear for his area where he is hunting and have an understanding of what the client needs to make his adventure enjoyable and safe.

5.  What type of schooling do hunting guides need?

There is no particular degree requirements or education qualifications to be a hunting guide beyond that the guide needs to have an understanding of the area that he is in, understand the animals that they are hunting along with the dangers that arise from that and have knowledge of what to do in an emergency situation. Along with this though there are guide schools that guides may go to.

6.  What must a hunting guide do to do well in his career?

A guide to do well must have his name out there so clients are able to find him or have heard of him to go hunting.  Along with this the guide must have a good reputation otherwise clients are not going to want to go with him if he cannot be trusted or does not know what he is doing.

7.  What are the physical qualifications for a guide?

The guide must be in the physical condition needed to tackle the terrain that he is in.  For example if the guide is located in Alaska he needs to be in good physical condition to be able to scale the mountains of which he will be climbing to go after the animals located there.

8.  Why is it important for a guide to have an understanding of their clients?

The guide also must have an understanding of there clients so that they know what the clients are capable of both physically and mentally so that they avoid being put in bad situations which could both hurt the client and the guide.

9.  How much do hunting guides make?

10.  What are the downfalls of being a hunting guide?  

Especially with the economy the way that it is now, people are struggling for money and a hunting trip would be the last thing that they would be thinking about. Hunting trips for most people are a vacation, a time to get away from there jobs or the rest of their lives at the moment and with people struggling for money trips are not being taken.

Kirk, Amanda. Outdoor Careers. New York: Ferguson Publishing, 2009. Print.

About Me

        My name is Alex Schultz and I am currently a freshman at Michigan State University majoring in Agribusiness Management.  I come from the small town of Newaygo, Michigan that most of you have pry never heard of.  I grew up on a farm and have always had a fondness for the outdoors.  I love to hunt and fish and that is where my dream job comes into place.  If I could have any job I would love to be a hunting and fishing guide.  Just to have an office like the Rocky Mountains in Alaska or the vast plains of Colorado would in my opinion be the greatest job on earth.  I have grown up hunting and fishing since as far as I can think back.  A combination of these two would, flat out, be the best job.

        As for some more about me, I loved sports and played soccer and golf; not the   exciting sports, I know but I really enjoyed playing them. 

I am going into a degree with farming because growing up on a farm i really enjoyed it and always wanted to pursue a degree in it.  As far as writing goes you could say that we don’t get along.   problem is not that I  don’t like to write, but it is that there is always something that I would rather be doing.  I’m not the type of person that can just sit for long periods of time and write or stare at a book but I hope to get better at it.