Manboy, the statement about using a guide is very interesting, espescially after reading the post on your bear hunt. I am not saying that people should use guides all the time. But Elknut brings up some great points. I would consider myself a very experienced hunter, and I am going with someone this fall in another state. Granted it is not a guide in the sense that I am paying him, but he is providing all the same so called services. A great way to keep the costs down on an out of state hunt, and maximize your chances of success, would be to swap hunts with other people. You can get a good feel for people on here after a while and then plan a hunt with them. Guiding is ALOT of work. I have never been paid for my services of taking elk hunters out, but have taken several out of staters hunting. There is much preparation to do. I have spent weeks scouting and packing in supplies to make sure that their hunt was enjoyable. Most guides are not the outfitter. They are paid meager salaries and usually room and board. The good guides who work their butts of for the clients will make their most money from the tips of hunters. Guides are not in their line of work because of the money, I can guarantee you that, they are in it because of their love for the outdoors. I looked into guiding and was all lined out for school. I was not able to do it because I would not have made enough to support the family. Just because a guide is hired doesn't mean that the animal is a guarentee either. The client still needs to possess the skills to get the job done. Fortunatly with the 6 guys that I have taken hunting over the past 4 years. Only one guy took a tag home, and that was because he chose to let down on a smaller bull at 5 yards and wait for a bigger. I am doing a swap this year and can't wait. Because of a successful elk hunt a couple of years ago, I have an open invitation to hunt Alaska as soon as I can get the money saved. The only cost will be transprtation to Alaska, money for the float plane, and tags.

As far as horses and ATV's. My opinion still stands. I don't have to feed my boots or change their oil.

huntnmuleys, 15,000 is alot of cash. You have to look at another side of the hunt. Brown bears are not as common as deer and elk. There would be alot more people chasing their dreams as you are if the price was cheaper. How many bears would be left if everyone could get one at 1,000 a pop. The outfitters have alot of extra costs that they need to cover also. The underlying prices are guides lisc., insurance, transportation, area permits, supplies, payroll, equipment upkeep etc. etc. Not only that they have to turn a profit to stay in business. Lets say this outfit takes out 10 hunters. That is 150,000 dollars. After paying all the fees and costs that are incured, they still have to make a living in the end. So I don't think that they may be too far out of line considering the dangers of hunting brownies and all the underlying costs that they have to pay.