Do Hunting Guides Need to be Licensed?

April 9, 2009

Question: Do hunting guides have to have a license or is there a course you need to go through to become a hunting guide? (Billy S.)

Answer: Guides do need to be licensed but there are no courses or tests one must take to become a hunting guide. “Guide” means any person who is engaged in the business of packing or guiding, or who, for compensation, assists another person in taking or attempting to take any bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, or reptile. “Guide” also includes any person who, for profit, transports other persons, their equipment, or both to or from hunting or fishing areas.

The basic requirements are to first fill out the DFG guide license application and pay the license fees. Current cost of an annual resident guide’s license runs $188.75. Employees of the guide who assist in the service are also required to have a guide employee registration license that costs $41.50.

Guides may not have any DFG violations in their past. People with DFG-related violations may have their guide license applications denied, and those already with guides licenses may have theirs revoked.

The last requirement is for the guide to purchase and maintain a “performance bond.” The bond is to protect the clients and assure that any deposit money a guide receives from a client to reserve a future trip will be returned to the client in the event that the guide cancels and tries to keep the deposit.