Gary Reeder
when you talk to a guide/outfitter ask him...
Monday, June 07, 2021, 10:26

how many acres is he hunting, if under 15,000, walk away.
if he is the outfitter, how many guides is he hunting.
does he have a permanent camp or a movable one. I prefer the movable as he can move to follow the herds.
Ask him if his camps are tent camps and how are they set up, 2 men to a tent or small one man tents,
ask him how is the cook staff and does he have a cook and staff or is it you eat what you kill. If it is the latter then you end up eating possum and ravens.
Can he guarantee you a record book animal. Not necessarily a top 20 in the world, but a good representative record book animal. Any good guide can get you a decent top 50 animal. On 2 of my hunts I shot 6 animals and on each hunt all 6 went top 3 in the world in their species. So a good guide can get you a good top 50 or so animal.
Ask him what is his kill percentage. It needs to be at least high 80%.
Ask for pictures. Make sure they are recent.
If you go for caribou, ask him if you can take a bear also or if you are going for elk ask him if you can take other animals while there.
Ask him if he has package deals and if so can you change animals and go for other critters. There is a real problem in Africa right now with canned hunts. You pick a package of maybe 5 or 6 animals, then a week before you get there the PH goes to one of the animal sales and buys the animals you want and turns them loose on a little 500 acre pasture. All are mediocre animals and most are not even full grown. But you get the animals you agreed to in the package. If he tells you that you can change animals any time you like and upgrade then he is probably OK.

Other than that go with your gut feeling.