The first thing to know about elk is that the vast majority are taken on private land, while most hunters hunt on public land. Of the elk that are taken on public land, the majority are taken on outfitted hunts operating from wilderness camps put in place with horses. As a result, a small number of hunters who are one way or another paying for access get the the bulk of the elk. Which is not to say that elk are never taken DIY on public land - they are - but it's at a very low rate in most places.
As a general rule, if a state doesn't split out private vs public land hunting and simply gives a success rate for a unit, assume the actual success rate for a DIY public hunt is between 1/5th and 1/10th that. So for example CO rifle seasons have an across the board success rate of about 20%, so the DIY public land rate is about 2-4%.
Have a realistic view of what's going on, and decide up front if you're willing to pay for access vs. what success rate you expect.
I think you need to do some research your numbers.
You can "think" what you want, but facts are facts.
The FACT is that any outfitter or trespass fee operation that can't provide in excess of 50% success (and usually near 100%) will quickly go out of business in the era of internet reviews. In any state that accounts for those hunters in the same statistics as DIY public land hunters, the statistics will be completely warped since they reflect a mix of succeeding pay-to-play hunters and failing DIY hunters.
Personally I don't have a problem with the modern era of pay-to-play hunting, because when you have a scarce resource money is a good way to decide who gets it. But OP needs to understand what the game is.
