If you can comfortably find your way around the wood's then by all means go for it. Don't be intimidated by all the rhetoric about gutting , packing out etc. Like you I was a whitetail hunter and deceided to try elk hunting, I did as everyone has suggested to you learn-learn -learn,actually learning is almost as rewarding as hunting,by the time I killed my first elk (opening morning) I thought I knew everything. Only after walking up to a HORSE sized animal did I realize what I had gotten into, but everything worked out ,it was a hell of a hand's on learning experience. I've taken 3 more bull's since then, all hunting by myself on public land in Colorado and I'm 64 year's old, so, if I can do it you won't have a problem. 2 I quartered , boned 1 out and dragged the other one about 1/2 mile to my truck( I try to alway's hunt uphill so that my drag is downhill back to my truck) .As far as whether you should break away and hunt by yourself that's a real personal choice . unfortunately most whitetail hunter's that I have taken elk hunting had no idea how much the altitude and steepness of the terrain kick's your ass, they usually don't last more than 2 day's and then they find excuse's to stay around camp. So I guess my advice would be to go off on your own (telling someone about where you will be hunting) and have the time of your life !! Alway's carry a daypak with everything you need to spend the night in the wood's, it might happen and if you don't panic and you are prepared it can be an exciting experience,Good hunting