UpFront  Outfitters

UpFront Outfitters

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
If you think you want to be an outdoor guide or outfitter you might want to hear the story coming from old friend Mike Jenkins of Upfront Outfitters in Washington state. "As you know I have been a licensed outfitter in New Mexico for several years and New Mexico is one of the premier states to hunt but it is all lottery-based. to draw tag to apply for a tag, but there are no preference points. So it's a random draw. Anybody can draw at any time but along with that, some states have a moratorium on outfitters and the number of permits issued by the forest service. New Mexico does not have that. When the economy went bad a few years ago and with the highlights on TV, everybody wants to be a hunting guide and outfitter and New Mexico has been overrun with outfitters. They all have access to the public draw and the outfitter guide pool. It has just saturated the guide to pool and I just can't draw hunters in New Mexico anymore. I have dumped tons of money into sports shows and advertising. Last year I applied nearly 100 people into the draw and I drew nobody. That has happened two years in a row now. That put a financial tailspin on everything and I decided to let my New Mexico outfitter license go so that I could pursue over-the-counter Roosevelt hunts for grand slam species hunters out here in Washington and Oregon.
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