It's just going to depend on who you go with.I hunted whitetails in North Dakota last year with an outfitter and took a nice 140 inch deer withmy bow. There were 4 of us that went and everyone took good bucks by the end of the second day. On that hunt, all the stands were hung and it washonestly just an easy piece of property to hunt. There really was just an unbelievable amount of deer living in that little river bottom. I think anyone, regardless of skill, could have taken a good buck with that outfitter. Was it fun? Yes. Did I feel like I had accomplished something? Not really. Now.... I've been going to Illinois every year for the last 4 years and have hunted both with and without outfitters. I spent three weeks up there last year {two of them with an outfitter} and have yet to have been offered a shot by anything that could be considered a trophy by Illinois standards. I did pass on three different bucks in the 120-130 class. The guides I'm hunting with up there do have stands hung but they also encourage you to bring your own stands or will allow you to move theirs if you would like. They pretty much just give you an area to hunt and let you do things however you want to. You take your own vehicle into your hunting area. If you want to hunt for an hour, hunt for an hour. If you want to hunt all day, that's fine too. Theproperty hasbeen scouted before you get there and they do try to put you in what they think is the best area, but the rest is up to you. Over 90% of the big deer they have taken {and there's been alot of them} have never been seen by the guides before. It's not a gimme by any means. It's gonna take hard work and some luck to close the deal up there. I'll be going back with the same guys this year, and trust me, if I take a mature deer, I'll be every bit as excited as if I had killed the deer at home.