ORIGINAL: BGHUNTER00
Here is my insight....probably not very popular, but here goes. Where is the sport/enjoyment in paying someone to set up your camp, cook for you, lead you out into the mountains/woods and point out the animal he has prescouted for you to shoot. I find so much enjoyment in planning a trip, setting up camp, cooking, scouting, and then the self satisfaction of harvesting an animal I put so much effort into locating.
When you are showing your "trophy" off to your friends back home do you think that it took alot of skill and cunning to harvest the animal or just a large billfold.
Don't get me wrong I know some people have to go this route due to personal limitations and time constraints, but I just don't see the enjoyment in it or the ability to take credit for the harvesting of the animal. Sorry, I think the Outdoor channel has made me this way.
BGHUNTER00, please don't limit yourself to this perspective! I don't mean any offense, but as you "evolve" as a hunter you may, one day, want to try hunting in another area that may require a guide. For instance, this past fall I booked an elkhunt in the Thorofare of Wyoming. By Wyoming law, a non-resident must hire a guide to hunt any wilderness area. I know I could've hunted another area, but thisarea is steeped in history, and a place I wanted to visit. I didn't harvest an elk but I had a lifetime experience that I will never forget.
Maybesome day, you might want to hunt in Alaska. Some species can only be hunted with a guide. To some people it may be a chance to buy a trophy. For me, it's an opportunity to hunt in an area that otherwise I could not legally hunt.