…….

[AaronMColeman]

If money was no issue I would still prefer to do it alone but on a place that had a great elk population. Don't see driving up and pointing one out an shooting it as hunting. That's just killing. But money IS A ISSUE , so I can do 6 years DIY for the same cost of one year Guided. A no brainer for me.

In state general tag, gas for side by side, and snacks for the field....I think it would take me 60 years to pay for a guide

 

[Two Roads]

Did first guided hunt this year w 45+ years DIY experience. Had to do it as non-res in WY wilderness required it. Had a blast, stock was excellent, people excellent, details excellent and would do it again with them tomorrow BUT I knew the outfitter was really good and demanding. That is equally hard to find. Otherwise, we stick to DIY, work it hard and enjoy it.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

If money was no issue I would still prefer to do it alone but on a place that had a great elk population. Don't see driving up and pointing one out an shooting it as hunting. That's just killing. But money IS A ISSUE , so I can do 6 years DIY for the same cost of one year Guided. A no brainer for me.

I can assure you that outfitted hunts in public wilderness areas are not point and shoot. Private ranch hunts maybe, but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

 

[Southforkguy]

I absolutely would go outfitted for the plain and simple fact is you can't beat the local intel/access/leased Lands etc on a diy otc hunt where your schlepping around with every other butthead on the mountain

 

[tdhanses]

I can assure you that outfitted hunts in public wilderness areas are not point and shoot. Private ranch hunts maybe, but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

We had two guys in their 60’s + in camp, said they always did diy and wanted to try it, first guy left with weird issues, second stayed in camp 50% of the time, i think they felt guided hunting would be like he thinks. Outfitted hunting on public is no different then diy, still have to work your ass off hunting.

 

[Laramie]

After reading a lot of the replies, I am confident that most people's perspective of public land guided hunting is way off. On public land, with pressure, you are paying for room and board and to have someone knowledgeable to hunt with in a challenging area. It's still tough. It's no guarantee by any means. You are just getting to go with a guy who knows the area and the animals a little better than the average person. So many assume it's a slam dunk. If you aren't paying for premium land, you stand a chance to go home with tag soup. You also stand a chance to learn something and have a great time if you keep an open mind.

 

[Brillo]

I have done guided but since money is an issue for me it is hard to separate my thinking. I just don't like spending money unless I know it is the best way to go. I have four buddies who gave a guide 20k and got one four point elk. I spent two thousand for my entire trip and did as well. They did have first class accommodations but I don't care about that.

 

[Indian Summer]

Here’s my take on that…. You’ll have fun. You’re experienced so your guide will be thrilled and you can enjoy putting him to the test. Enjoy it!

But even if you kill something you’ll want to go back to diy hunting. To me it’s the same when you hunt private land. In the mountains it’s fun all day with the mountain sights and the smell. One time I hunted private land over near the Bighorns. Most boring hunt ever. All I thought about was the mountains. I killed a nice 6 point and when I did I was just glad to be done sitting around like that. I actually felt like I skipped a year of elk hunting.

If your brother can afford the big bucks for tags and hunts where you can kill 340-350 plus bulls that probably wouldn’t get old right! But the average priced guided hunt for 250-300 inchers will not replace good old diy public land elk hunting.

 

[tdhanses]

After reading a lot of the replies, I am confident that most people's perspective of public land guided hunting is way off. On public land, with pressure, you are paying for room and board and to have someone knowledgeable to hunt with in a challenging area. It's still tough. It's no guarantee by any means. You are just getting to go with a guy who knows the area and the animals a little better than the average person. So many assume it's a slam dunk. If you aren't paying for premium land, you stand a chance to go home with tag soup. You also stand a chance to learn something and have a great time if you keep an open mind.

100%, I couldnt believe the number of road hunters and utv’s in WY compared to where I hunt in CO. Utv’s driving off road anywhere they could, public in WY gets crazy resident pressure and they are on top of each other.

Public hunting is never easy.

 

[Still Hunter]

I can assure you that outfitted hunts in public wilderness areas are not point and shoot. Private ranch hunts maybe, but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

Don‘t misinterpret my comment, I was responding to the OP’s question. I have hunted with a guide on public twice. Hunted on private with a guide once. I have hunted Archery DIY six of the last seven years. Each hunt the guides worked their butts off and I sincerely appreciated their efforts. We are lifelong friends. I never meant I imply that the “all guided hunts” were point and shoot, however I have friends that have unlimited funds that do just that and ridicule me for my DIY Archery hunts because I come back with tag soup. I can see how my statement could have reflected that perspective. No elk hunt on public land is a cake walk. However there are those that do have the funds for the “canned” hunts and they never have a true respect and the reverence of the experience and challenge of harvesting a wild bull elk on public land and doing it yourself.

 

[elkyinzer]

For tags, access, general logistics, intel....yes. A guide to do the hunting part for me so I can be triggerman....hell no.

 

[Southforkguy]

Here’s my take on that…. You’ll have fun. You’re experienced so your guide will be thrilled and you can enjoy putting him to the test. Enjoy it!

But even if you kill something you’ll want to go back to diy hunting. To me it’s the same when you hunt private land. In the mountains it’s fun all day with the mountain sights and the smell. One time I hunted private land over near the Bighorns. Most boring hunt ever. All I thought about was the mountains. I killed a nice 6 point and when I did I was just glad to be done sitting around like that. I actually felt like I skipped a year of elk hunting.

If your brother can afford the big bucks for tags and hunts where you can kill 340-350 plus bulls that probably wouldn’t get old right! But the average priced guided hunt for 250-300 inchers will not replace good old diy public land elk hunting.

Had a buddy who bought his dad a elk off a high fence ranch, tried telling me it's just as hard to kill an elk on a 3000 acre high fence as off the mountain. We aren't friends anymore. Lol

 

[IdahoElk]

I'd never use a guide but do enjoy using their horses.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Don't worry about what other people think or would do, unless the reason you hunt is to impress other people. Your brother is very generous.

 

[Stalker69]

I would not hire a guide, I like doing it on my own. The size of the antlers or horns are not my goal really. Knowing I got them on my own is, really the trophy for me. At most I might hire a guy with horses to get me back in farther, and come back and pack me out. I am getting older, and it’s tougher and tougher packing in and out.

 

[FLATHEAD]

No apologies for my very few guided hunts on private, low fence ranches.
Quality stuff.

 

[wysongdog]

I’ve always done it diy, have all my mules pack equipment love going in and making it happen. That being said sometimes I’ve had to ask for help on special tags. I drew a area 5 sheep tag in 14. I did my scouting, riding the area made 5 trips that summer. Flew it in july to get a better feel of it to go with my riding. Bow hunted it for 14 days, rifle hunted it 25 days in sept. Couldn’t find that special ram. Had contacted Josh before the hunt and told him if I couldn’t get it done I would need help. I swallowed my pride called him the 25th and he had Jordon come help me and we killed my ram 3 days later. Very glad I called. I’m in the same situation this year, won a commissioner tag…. Bad year daughters a senior so volleyball 3 days a week plus work has made it a challenge. Have had a couple setbacks during archery. Now just got a bid on a job I needed 7 hours from home that I’ve got to take care of. Plus my little girl is killing in it in volleyball and we are going to state next weekend sitting strong as hell…. This all being said I‘ve reached out a little to a couple outfitters and friends asking for help because I won’t let this tag go to waste. Just a heck of a juggling act. I think they call it life lol. The elk is my son’s first bull, terrible picture & then my bull both dyi. And my brother’s first archery bull, and packing him out. The sheep I had outfitter help with. Both great memories and experiences. Wouldn’t trade either for anything.
I guess there’s no wrong answer to the question asked, it’s extremely personal, it’s whatever works for you. Sorry bout the long post.

 

[WRO]

If you go with the right guide you'll learn a ton.

I was a fishing guide for years, I still go on the occasional guided fishing trip in a new location, cuts the learning curve 90%.

There's a lot of shit guides out there as well though, so keep that in mind.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[Tradchef]

No. With my job as a chef I work with a ton of farmers and ranchers so getting access to private land has never been an issue. So between private and hunting national forest, BLM, state land etc........ I’ll save my money and spread it around the small towns to buy supplies etc..

 

[BuzzH]

I would be more inclined to pay for access than a guided elk hunt. I've never found elk hunting all that tough if a person is just after average bulls...top end public land bulls different story.

Elk on good quality private are really not hard to hunt at all. A smart 13 year old could guide on quality private.