Booking a lion hunt
cougar
Generally speaking how far out do you book? Is a good lion hunt I could book in July after I know if I drew most tags (like CO, NM AZ Utah, WY etc.)?
Also is it possible to get a discount if I was flexible and could come when weather is appropriate? I was thinking if weather arrives early and guys have no one booked because it was to early to hope for snow they might be inclined to offer a discount vs. nothing. This also brings me to my next point how do you book in advance without knowing weather?
You could compile a list of outfitters/guides you are interested in and then just email or call them to ask these questions since most of them would be only something they could answer.
I hunted with Sunrise outfitters in Utah. weather there is snow or not isn't an issue, as there dogs are trained and capable to trail and tree lions on dry ground. If there is snow it’s an easy day for the dogs. Buddy and I both took lions in different years, and the outfitter has a little unusual caveat if your not successful you can come back following year for half price. Pretty good incentive for them to see you are successful the first time around.
Canyon's West in Nevada is who I'd look into if a lion hunt was on my radar.
A good outfitter will cancel your hunt if conditions aren't right.
I hunted with Canyon's West and highly recommend that you give Dave a call.
I would also have to say Canyons West.
The nice thing about NV is the outfitters aren’t restricted to a unit. They are only restricted by what permits they do or don’t have i.e. BLM, Forest Service, state land, etc... Dave has access to basically the whole state excluding designated wilderness. He will be able to move around in inclement weather and he also doesn’t over hunt one area. He is a full time outfitter so he really puts in the time to know where game is.
As far as booking you can book as on call or schedule your dates but there won’t be a discount either way. This truly is a get what you pay for hunt in a lot of cases though.
I've got a down payment in with Canyons West to be one of his on call hunters. I told him I am very fluid on when I go, even if that means postponing me a full year if need be. I just want to be on the list so as guys start killing lions I may receive that call when my schedule allows me to head down. I can't wait for this hunt. I've never met Dave myself but he is extremely easy to talk to on the phone, and I trust others who recommend him. I'll be sure to post my experience once I finally go.
Thanks. I know a good outfitter will cancel if weather is not right - but that is my point. Booking, setting time aside, flight reservation etc. A cancellation is costly to me in different ways. I would rather wait for the best conditions and go last minute - which is easy for me and hoping what is easier for me might also result in a better price - if possible.
I am looking to book a hunt for two of us, since we been running hounds together in the east for the last 20 us years we'd like to hunt together. I would ideally like to find someone that would book a block of time slightly longer then a regular hunt so we'd have about 4 days each. Due to my buddy's schedule we cant go last minute. I been thinking northern Idaho for Jan hunt.
Don I should have specified. The benefit of being able to hunt all of Nevada is the outfitter can find preferable conditions. Dave has track machines so he can get you to any elevation to ensure he puts you on the best cat possible. He puts his clients up in hotels anyways so if conditions aren’t great by him, he’ll just take you to somewhere in the state that is good. Short of something really crazy he can make it happen.
I didn't have hardly any new snow on my Mnt. Lion hunt and did well, although my Outfitter had Boo-Coo access to Private and multiple Units, for sure a 'uge benefit to be very mobile
I went thru Cabela's Hunts/Outfitter all Inclusive.
#6 for many, many years in the LH Record book.
