It could help you but also could hurt you!

When booking an international hunt the Internet can be your biggest advantage but could also be the biggest disadvantage.

With the internet and social media these days we have access to information at the touch of a button that even 15-20 years ago was tough to get without being in the know and doing some serious research. This is great because we don’t have to send hand written letters like the days of old to outfitters in foreign countries, or send emails to outfitters and hope to hear back in a few weeks time. You can get on your phone or computer and google anything and everything about the hunt or hunts you’re interested in doing. The downside is that anything can be placed on the internet without any validation. So here are a few things I suggest looking into when planning that first or next international hunt.

1. How long has the outfitter been in business? Or how long has he been working within the industry (guiding, managing camps, so on)

2. References, get some contacts and call them to see how their experience was with the outfitter ask detailed questions and not just how’d you like the hunt. Ask what they didn’t like about the hunt and what they thought was the biggest downside of the outfitter. Surprisingly I’m on a reference list for an outfitter that I didn’t like the way the hunting went but believe the area was top notch so when I get a call that’s what I tell the person seeking information.

3. Remember that this is a business for the outfitter and that they are trying to sell you something, so always take promises with a grain of salt as in quality of animals, camp, food etc. if it sounds to good to be true it probably is.

That is 3 tips I would have after the amount of international trips I’ve done and the amount of time I’ve spent looking at hunts within the international hunting industry.