Lloyd, can you describe what you imagine a perfect away from home bird hunting trip to be?
It may be a surprise, but not everyone likes super high levels of service. For instance, some lodges expect you to only use their flies and leader setups.
Some rods expect the guide to tie on all their flies, and net every fish for them.
Or, perhaps the expectation is that the guide clean everything, package it, and freeze it for taking with you. Some people don’t care.
Midday meals? Some places it’s a sack lunch with an herb cheese sandwich, some places you return to a bothy for a 3 course midday meal.
Do you want your guns cleaned or boots washed and dried?
Need an airport porter? Driver? Attendant? Valet? Niece?
Do you want to party well into the night? Drink? Don’t drink?
Gamble? Sunbath? Sauna? Nudity?
Massage? Grooming? Shopping? Sight seeing?
You can literally delineate every move from the moment your flight lands, until landing back at home.
A couple weeks back I was in Estonia, and I never would’ve expected it to be so much fun singing karaoke with a bunch of Russians while crossing the Baltic.
Great adventures can pop up where you least expect them.
And at some point, a person has to manage their expectations. The birds might not cooperate, or the fish won’t bite. Maybe you see no game and eat the tag. That’s a possibility with wild things.
Some people get pretty wound up when it’s just not happening.
That’s when you gotta look inside yourself and remind yourself why you’re there and look to find the joy.
