Falcon
Lil-Rokslider
The guided hunts have roughly 0% of the logistical problems to solve. That alone makes it a whole other world.
You don't have to know the area, you don't have to scout the area and spend endless hours/days/weeks out there figuring out an area.
You don't have to figure out the weather patterns of that microclimate, and on and on that the guide/outfitter takes care of for you.
And that's what you're paying for. I realize non-residents have to hire those guides, but 95% of the cost is paying for that stuff to be done. Not having to put in the time and effort. Not having to put boots on the ground even 1/4 as much time.
No, they don't carry you in a chair for 70 miles to find that sheep(or any species). But most of the time they even dress and quarter it for you. With a moose they probably have a packer show up and help pack it out so you don't have to make six 2 miles trips with 100lbs on your back.
Camping, stalking and shooting any game animal is by far the easiest part of hunting. So yes, a guided sheep hunt where 95% of what actually goes into a hunt is like showing up and writing a check, because you wrote a check to have the vast majority of it done for you.
I'm not saying this to bring others down. I'm trying to point out that you can do all kinds of hunts, including sheep, for a price that normal people can afford(if you're a resident that doesn't require that guide) But there's a LOT more to that kind of hunt.
I'm challenging the notion that a sheep hunt costs $50k. It can. But it does not have to.
I don’t disagree with anything you said. For me, living in Washington many miles away, I wanted to give myself the best chance for success. My opportunity to scout an area wasn’t practical. Even if their wasn’t a guide requirement for sheep, I would have hired an outfitter. There was a lot planning involved, I got in the best shape of my life, and I made the longest shot of my life at 420 yards.
I’ve killed 2 Mtn goats on my own in Washington, so I have some mountain experience for these critters. Thank God I had good weather on my sheep hunt. That seems to be a huge factor in success rates.