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John's Journal... Entry 22- Day 1

click to enlargeGETTING STARTED AS A HUNTING GUIDE

Scott Dillon of Waterloo, Ohio, spends each year traveling from place to place across the U.S. as a migrant outdoor worker. Dillon lives the dream of many outdoorsmen as he hunts and fishes, according to the seasons, in a wide variety of places. He enjoys helping other sportsmen accomplish their outdoor dreams of bagging elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer and/or turkey or catching salmon.

QUESTION: Scott, how long have you been a hunting guide?

ANSWER: Fifteen years.

click to enlargeQUESTION: How did you get into the guiding business?

ANSWER: I'd been hunting since I was old enough to walk. So I started looking for work in the hunting business.

QUESTION: Did you go to a guide school?

ANSWER: Yes, I went to a guide school in Montana for a month and a half. I worked as an outdoor guide part time for two years and then started working full time as an outdoor guide.

click to enlargeQUESTION: How much did guide school cost?

ANSWER: Guide school cost about $3,500 for a month and a half.

QUESTION: What did you learn in guide school?

ANSWER: Our curriculum consisted of basic horsemanship, how to shoe horses, how to pack horses, how to install hunting camps in high country and low country and caping abilities. They didn't teach much about hunting techniques; they mostly left that to our own experience and prior knowledge.

QUESTION: Did attending guide school help you get a job as a guide?

ANSWER: At first it did. I started out working with Wolf Mountain Outfitters, guiding a three-week elk hunt.

click to enlargeQUESTION: So that's where you started, guiding elk hunts?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: And now you guide for deer, turkey, elk and salmon?

ANSWER: Yes, I do now. In years past, I guided spring bear hunts until I started guiding for turkey hunting in the spring. Today I guide hunts for elk, mule deer, moose, antelope, white-tailed deer and turkey.

TOMORROW: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MIGRANT GUIDE

 
 

Check back each day this week for more from Preston Pittman...

Day 1 - Getting Started As A Hunting Guide
Day 2 - A Year In The Life Of A Migrant Guide
Day 3 - A Typical Day For A Deer Guide
Day 4 - Life As A Turkey Guide
Day 5 - Salmon Guiding In Alaska And Elk Guiding In Wyoming

John's Journal