I have used an "guide/outfitter" for a few mule deer and white tailed deer hunts. All of these were on "free range". Two on private land and the others on rather large leases.

To me the No.1 advantage is that the "guide" knew the layout of the land.And a close second is that the guide also knew the habits of the local deer population.Trust me, tactics used to hunt white tails in SE Ala bama do not equate to the right thing to do on 10's of thousands of acres of wide open eastern Montana country !!! And visa versa.When frineds come to hunt with me, I try to put them in a good spot based upon my knowledge of the land and my knowledge of the deer movement. These may equate to a "canned hunt" in some folks' opinion.

However, the experience I have had with each of the "guided" hunts has beenthat there aretwo "heads" trying to figure out how to "make it happen", and in the case of "spot - and - stalk" there are two sets of eyes glassing. This helps no doubt. Every one of these huntshas been "hard" in the respect of hours in the field, managing the weather, in some cases covering miles on foot to try to get to a spotted buck, and in some cases days of scouting for a good spot to set a stand.I don't call this "canned".