Proper Guide Etiquette?

[Dagwood_55]

So, where I'm from.  If you were to take a friend, not a inner circle friend, but a long time-general friend, kind of like a cousin or something,  to your spot to hang a stand and hunt with you one day on public land, the proper hunting etiquette says that's your spot and he's not allowed back unless he's going with you or has permission from you to hunt it. 


For you to go back later and him and a buddy be hunting there would not be cool on his part.


So, with that being said.  I've bowhunted elk out west a couple of times with no success.  This year, I'm going elk hunting solo, 10 days, booking and staying at a ranch in Colorado.  This will be OTC and on National Forest, public land. I can hunt on my own or chose to hire a guide out of the ranch.  I'm leaning towards hiring a guide for 5 days or so for 3 reasons:


1)  Beings I'm a novice elk hunter, I want to learn how to do it right, How frequent to call, how to set up, and if I connect, how to properly care for and get my game out.


2) Also, as a solo hunter, I know the success rate goes way up with a caller behind and the bowhunter out front silent.


3)  I don't know this area very well and want to learn more about where the elk are late in the Co bowseason.


So, normally I'm not a "guide type" person, I'd rather do it on my own.  I can bait my own hook type.  But after hiring a guide, even for 5 days and I would have another 4 or 5 days to hunt, is it proper etiquette to hunt on my own (and next year+) the very places that the guide and I hunted??  I feel like this is part of why I want a guide the first year, but is this assuming too much??


Make sense??

 

[Stealth1id]

In my opinion not proper etiquette. But then again I have never hunted with a guide. My personal opinion is that you don't want to hunt something that someone else showed you because you don't want their competition any more than they want yours. In this instance I would suggest you get some advice from the ranch manager on where to hunt on the ranch or hunt with a guide for 10 days.

 

[turbo1967]

In my opinion if the ranch lets you book unguided hunts they are already planing on people hiting the same spots,and its public property.You are not just hiring the guide to show you an elk but to teach you some things,plus just bucause the elk are there this year does not mean they will be in the same spot next year.part of that fee is to locate the elk for you ahead of time.Sounds like the ranch already plans on people going on there own or they would not have unguided hunts.I would say its all good to go on your own the next year.But if your guide is good he will be forth the money next year also.It takes several years to learn elk hunting.I have been doing it for close to 35 years and still learing new things.

 

[MT_mulies]

If it were me I would maybe hunt near where he takes you but not the exact same canyons and draws the following year. As stealth1id said you don't want their competition anymore than they want yours. In my general experience with elk hunting, if there are elk where the guide is going to take you there will be elk pretty much all around in the same general vacinity.