Question: My parents have 370 acres of land in the Blue Lakes area. We have harvested a few feral hogs and I am thinking about trying to start a guide service. What steps do I need to take to become a guide? Also, are we required to purchase licenses and tags to hunt on our family's private property, or is it only required for federal and public land? I have been buying hunting licenses and tags to hunt on public land, but I was told we didn't need to on our land. I would rather hear it from a professional instead of letting rumor get somebody in trouble. Thank you for the clarification.

Answer: Yes, even landowners must purchase licenses and tags to hunt on their own property. Wildlife is a public trust resource and belongs to the people of California and not to the people who own the land that the animals may reside on or travel over.

And regarding your question about a hunting guide license, "guide" means any person who is engaged in the business of packing or guiding, or who, for compensation, assists another person in taking or attempting to take any bird, mammal, fish, amphibian or reptile. "Guide" also includes any person who, for profit, transports other persons, their equipment, or both to or from hunting or fishing areas. There are no courses or tests one must take to become a hunting guide.

The basic requirements are to fill out the DFG guide license application and pay the license fees. The current cost for an annual resident guide's license is $204.97. Employees of the guide who assist in the service are also required to have a guide employee registration license that costs $45.06.

Guides must not have any DFG violations in the two years preceding their application. A prospective guide with DFG-related violations may have his or her application denied and licensed guides with violations may have their licenses revoked.

A guide must also purchase and maintain a "performance bond." The bond is to protect the clients and assure that any deposit a guide receives from a client to reserve a future trip will be returned to the client if the guide cancels and tries to keep the deposit.

For more information on acquiring a guide license, please go to www.dfg.ca.gov/licensing/forms and see Fish and Game Code sections 2535-2546 and California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 745.