I' d say a lot depends on what you want out of the hunt. If you' re expecting to bag an elk the first year out then the outfitter/guide route is the way for you. If you are going for the challenge of doing it on your own, find your own animals, make your own camp, then start reading everything you can find about elk hunting trips in magazines and the net. Something will catch your fancy as to a place then start zeroing in on the location. A little of both type of hunt would be a outfitter drop camp, I saw one on the swap shop on this site, it was in gunnison area of Colorado for ~700 I believe, sounded good.
JMHO
David/MO