this comes up every so often and everyone has their own reasons. I've been on three outfitted elk hunts, bugling during archery season. Here's why I paid:
- Animal I don't know how to hunt, but have always wanted to. Speeds up the learning curve which is important if you don't have years to figure it out.
- Equipment. for local deer hunting I need my bow, a tree stand and a rope to drag em out. Elk isn't like that
- Scouting. I have yet to find a place to scout to hunt elk locally :-)
- Access to the land and knowledge of the land
for the people that equate "outfitter" to pay to shoot, that's crap. Yes there are some, but what I consider an outfitter is far from a guarentee. On my elk hunts I've learned to call, helped in making plans, done stalking and calling on my own etc.
When you have to balance vacation time with hunting time and family time, there often isn't the time to do the "groundwork" yourself. Outfitters allow a shortcut. You pay for the groundwork, then when you get there you participate in the hunt, not just killing.