As for DIY...the 5/6 of us hunt Colorado every even year on public land out of our tent set up at 9600 feet and do DIY. I remember in 2006 (before fuel prices shot up) it cost less than $900 a head including fuel, food, licenses, everything. We average about 3 elk per hunt and in that 2006 hunt my uncle shot a 300"+ 6x6. This past year I was fortunate enough to take a 250" 5x5.
We love the DIY hunt and are all about it. In fact none of us have ever had a guide involved in a hunt.....and my Dad and Uncles have been hunting a lot of years.
This is probably a one shot deal...once in a lifetime. That is why we want to make sure we do it right. We don't plan on making a habit to involve an outfitter (obviously unless law requires it).
With our Colorado elk hunt, we know we are going to be going back, so each year we learn and improve, knowing that the next hunt we will be better and have another crack at them. For that reason, we are not in search of an elk hunt, because we will hunt them during our DIY hunt. Same story with Whitetails....we hunt them every year on our property in WI.
We are looking for a hunt that we may not have a chance to do again....for that reason we want to give all participants a good chance at a trophy of a lifetime....because it may be the only time in our life.
If we had nothing but time, were all single, with no kids.....we would just do DIY hunts for elk, whitetails, muleys, moose, etc. every year. But that isn't the case. So we choose to hunt Elk regularly (every other year) as a DIY, whitetails regularly (every year) as a DIY, and we are thinking about one shot at a dandy muley.
WOW...what a lot of babbling. Sorry.
P.S. Hunting to us is also all about camaraderie as hunting partners/friends/family.....so we do it together for better or for worse.
