This guide has been written to provide you helpful hints and tips to enable
you to find your next hunting or fishing trip or service. Tips are also provided
to help you determine the quality of the service provider's operation prior to
making a commitment.
OVERVIEW
Unlike many web sites that are offering discounted trips and/or
hunting lease information, our site is always FREE. Browsing the site's
many trip listings may be performed without registering. To purchase a trip or
contact a service provider, however, requires that your first register.
Registering is Free and Simple. To Register, simply click on Membership -
Register and follow the instructions. You will only have to provide your
name and email addresses to register. Note that buyers never pay directly to this
site, but rather purchase a trip or service from the seller via the "Purchase
Now" button (more about that later) and pay the seller directly per the
specified terms contained in the trip listing.
To request additional information from a seller, simply utilize the
integrated email message window that is found at the bottom of each listing.
When you are ready to purchase the trip/service, simply click the Purchase Now
button located below the ad. On the subsequent screen, you will enter the
Quantity (number in your party, or in some cases, number in party times number
of days) that you want to book. Once you confirm your purchase, an email
message will be sent to both you and the trip provider to enable completion of
the booking process.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Our site works strictly on a commission basis.
We never charge sellers to list their trips and only collect a commission when
we connect them with a client. In addition, unlike many other sites
out there, we provide free access to everyone to view and search through the
hundreds of hunting and fishing trips. In order to continue operating our
site in this fashion, we ask that you always use the site's Purchase Now
facility to purchase each trip even if you at some point communicate directly
with the seller via telephone or end up on their web site.
1. Categories of Hunting and Fishing Trips and Related Services
This site provides 2 main categories: 1) BargainTrophies trips or related
hunting/fishing services, and 2) Troph-E-Trips.
The BargainTrophies categories are intended for listing reduced cost
(minimum 5% discount) trips
or services. Some common reasons that providers discount their hunting and/or
fishing trips and services are:
- Re-booking of last-minute cancellations
- Non or semi-guided hunting or fishing trips
- Group discounts
- Off-peak season rates
- Week-day rates
- Early bird specials
- Internet specials
- Landowners offering trespass-fee non-guided hunts
Hunting and fishing resorts, lodges, and cabins that cater to the
do-it-yourself outdoorsmen are also listed in the BargainTrophies section.
Troph-E-Trips categories are intended for full-fare trips or services.
2. Tips for Finding Your Next Hunting/Fishing Trip or Related Service
The site provides many mechanisms to help you easily find what you're looking
for, including:
* Browsing: browse the listings by clicking on categories and
subcategories of interest. For example, if you are looking for a reduced-cost
elk hunt, start at the BargainTrophies.com big game category and select "Elk".
You may then view all reduced-cost Elk hunt listings. You can see the entire
site structure and all categories and subcategories by clicking on the All
Categories navigation menu item.
* Searching: Search the site in its entirety or within a category of
interest. A simple search may be conducted using the small search box on the top
of the page. Advanced search capabilities, selectable by clicking "Search" from
the left hand navigation bar, allow you to quickly find what you're looking for.
Advanced searches may utilize any combination of the following:
- Keywords (insert space between words) & AND/OR operators
- Fields to Search (Titles only or Titles and Descriptions)
- Regions (State, Province, etc.)
- Seller's username
Keep in mind that searches will return all matching listings, including
full-fare trips or services, since the listing database contains both
discount-rate trips (BargainTrophies trips) and Troph-E-Trips.
* Ad Watch: This feature allows you to be notified via Email when
trips or services of interest to you are listed on the site. You can specify any
combination of the Search criteria listed above.
* Memorize Ads: You can click on a button when viewing any ad in order
to add it to your custom list of Memorized Ads. This allows you to have one
central place to keep track of all the trips or services that you are interested
in.
3. Be an Informed Buyer
Prospective buyers are encouraged to exercise due diligence before making a
purchase.
You always have the opportunity to learn more about a trip or service before
you make a purchase. This site encourages seller's to provide detailed
information about their operation and in particular the specific trip/service
they are offering. However, you may need more information to be comfortable with
purchasing one of the listed trips.
You never need to buy an item you're not sure about. If you have any doubts
or questions, just ask the seller a question or request additional information
before you buy. Be sure to use the "Request Info from Seller" email
message box located at the bottom of each trip listing to communicate with the
trip provider. The seller's email address will be automatically filled in
and the Trip Title will be inserted into the Subject field. Simply type in
your question or information request into the message area and click "Send".
Many of the guides and outfitters on this site have a User
Profile which contains additional information about their business and
hunting/fishing services. Look for a "Profile" image next to the username
at the top of a trip listing, or go to Membership Home and click on the Find A
Profile link at the bottom of the Membership Area.
Following are suggested questions to pose potential service providers if this
info is not outlined in the listing or the User Profile:
- How many years have you been in business?
- Describe a typical hunt or trip.
- Provide me a list of 3 (or more) references that have utilized your
service within the last year.
- Provide me a list of hunters who did NOT harvest an animal (or catch
any/many fish)
- Are you a registered guide? If so, please provide your ID number.
This article, entitled "Choosing
a Big Game Guide for an Alaskan Hunt" provides many useful tips as well as
some additional questions to ask potential outfitters. The majority of the
article applies to big game hunts anywhere.
Read this
article from LandBigFish.com for more tips on selecting the right guide.
In addition to information provided by the seller and seller's references,
you may want to check other independent sources, especially for high cost big
game hunts or deep-sea fishing trips. Following are other sources to assist you
in making your decision:
a. Check with the prospective seller's state Game and Fish Department to
find out more information about the service provider. Links to all G&F
departments are available in the the
Resource
Center.
b. Check our message forum dedicated to guide and outfitter ratings
and feedback. Prospective buyers are encouraged to utilize this forum for
additional decision-making information.
c. Other Internet sources:
i. The
North American Hunting Club provides guide/outfitter ratings. NAHC
offers a free 30 day trial and yearly membership is very reasonable ($12 a
year, which also includes the monthly North American Hunter magazine). Do
not be alarmed if the prospective guide/outfitter is not on their recommended list. The
list only contains operations that have achieved a favorable rating. The NAHC message forum is a good place to post questions on potential service
providers. The message forums are frequented by seasoned, traveling
outdoorsmen and many have knowledge of the quality (or lack thereof) of most
hunting and fishing service providers.
ii. Top Rated Surveys, a partner with ESPN outdoors, provides a list of
hunting and fishing guides and outfitters that have passed their quality
rating service. Visit TRS to see if the guide/outfitter you are considering
is on that list. However, do not be alarmed if your guide/outfitter is not
on the list. The list only contains businesses that have requested a rating.
It is free of charge to search it..
iii. The
Hunting Information Systems
- Outfitter Reviews section contains over
1300 outfitter ratings, both good and bad. It is free of charge.
iv.Outfitters Association of
America provides a directory of over 1,000 hunting and fishing guides. Every
outfitter and guide listed on this web site has been interviewed by OAOA
representatives and their references checked so you can be sure that they
are trustworthy. However, do not be alarmed if your guide/outfitter is not on the list. The list only
contains businesses that have requested a rating. It is free of charge
to search for an outfitter in the OAOA directory.
Keep in mind that sometimes one disgruntled outdoorsman (some folks are never
pleased regardless of the circumstances) may make a lot of noise about an
otherwise reputable and quality operation. Weather, which is out of the
outfitter's control, also sometimes depresses game movement, resulting in
unfavorable reviews. Our recommendation is that you strive
to get as many opinions, references, and data points as possible and consider
them all carefully before making a commitment.
4. Making the Purchase Commitment
When you have selected a hunting or fishing trip/service and are satisfied
with all aspects of the trip, you must book the trip by clicking on "Purchase
Now" button. (NOTE: In order to use the Purchase Now feature, you
must be a Registered user. To Register, simply click on Membership -
Register and follow the instructions. You will only have to provide your
name and email addresses to register.) By clicking on the Purchase Now
button, you are agreeing to purchase the listed service at the
price set by the seller. You will not be making an actual payment to our site,
but are making an irrevocable offer to pay for the trip per the payment terms
set forth in the trip listing. On the subsequent screen, you will enter
the Quantity (number in your party, or in some cases, number in party times
number of days) that you want to book. Once you confirm your purchase, an
email message will be sent to both you and the trip provider to enable
completion of the booking process.
5. Participate in our "Great Outdoors Community"
We are building an online community that extends beyond the hunting & fishing
trip listing service. We offer the following services that you are encouraged to
participate in:
* Message Board: Exchange hunting and fishing stories and tips with
outdoorsmen from across the country and the world. The Message Board provides
many different forums, one or more of which will most likely match your
interests. As mentioned earlier, you can utilize the message forum dedicated to
guide and outfitter ratings/feedback to assist in obtaining trip decision-making
information.
* Personal Classifieds: Buy and sell hunting and fishing equipment and
gear, boats, 4-wheelers, etc.
* Hunting and Fishing Links: Search
or browse through our Links Directory, chock full of hunting, fishing, and
other outdoor related web sites. If you have a hunting or
fishing (or something "outdoors") web site, Exchange Links with us via our
Link eXchange service. Did you know that the number of links pointing
to your site is a key factor that many of the internet's top search engines use
to rank your site? If you have more links pointing to your site than a
competitor that has similar web site content and meta-tags, then your site will
be ranked higher. If you have a web site where you cannot offer a link
back to our site (e.g. large manufacturer, national magazine, organization,
chain or franchise, etc.) we will most likely approve your link in our directory
without a reciprocal link to us. So please submit your link and we'll
review it.
