Paying for hunts has its advantages. In 2007, I paid an outfitter for a self-guided Mule deer hunt in Colorado. I stayed in his cabin. He assisted me with the purchase of a landowner voucher and provided topo / BLM maps and showed me several spots to hunt the day before the season opened. Some of the land was private, but most public BLM. My first trip out West and shot a Mulie buck. I also saw at least a hundred Antelope and about 40 elk.

After hunting the area for a week, I now know where to hunt Mulie Deer, Antelope, and Elk and can do it all DIY. I went back last year for Elk, and plan to go in 2011 for Antelope. Using the outfitter the first time, taught me a great deal. If I was going to another state, I would use an outfitter the first time. But I love hunting CO!