Living here in the Mountain West. DIY was the only way we ever went hunting. Usually we drove over to the hunting area Friday evening. Hunted Saturday & Sunday and brought our kill home.

I never ever figured it was rocket science to go hunting and the concept of hiring a guide was never considered.

Guides will increase your odd of being successful, since they know the land and habits of the game animals and you don't.
It may take you a trip or two to figure this out on your own. But it can be done. With the right research, you might do it on your first trip.
A drop camp gets you into an area where elk MIGHT BE. Even a drop camp you will have to figure out where the elk are and how to find them.

I like to use horses. But there are a lot folks harvesting elk off ATVs or back packing on their feet. Even with horses, I hunt on foot and just use the horses to retrieve the downed animal.

As far as equipement. I've spent more nights in a simple inexpensive dome tent, with a sleeping bag rolled out on a Therma rest pad. You don't need Cots, Wall tents, camp stoves, dutch ovens .
They make it comfortable, but they are not needed to successfully hunt an elk.

If you are back packing, Learn to "Bone out" your meat. I don't haul out any bones. Too heavy. I can bone out a entire elk and carry it out on one horse. or I can quarter it, bringing limited bones and use two horses. Same applies to back packing, do you want to make two trips or four.

The mountains of the west will test your endurance. Coming from sea level to 8000' elk camp causes a lot of folks to suffer altitutde sickness. Climbing over the 10,500 foot saddle above camp in the early morning darkso you can be in position will definitely cause you to suck wind. Be in shape, drink LOTS of water, avoid the booze, at least until you know if you can handle the mountains. Some days will be 70* and sunshine, next day it will snow 24" and be 10*. Come prepared for both. Bring the tools you need. Maps, compass, GPS. What ever it takes for you to find your way back to camp. Cell phones probably won't work. Elk are big. You will not drag a elk back to camp like a deer. Bring a pack frame. A good knife, a small bone saw ( your not bringing out the whole head are you? just the antlers and cape) I once had a hunter beg me to go get his elk. He had exhausted himself packing out the whole head of a 4x4 raghorn.

All states have Division of Wildlife websites that list the elk hunts and what can be purchased over the counter and what needs to be drawn. Most states offer antlerless tags to control elk numbers. These are often late in the season when the elk are lower and more easily reached and don't require lots of preference points to draw.