Picking an outfitter cold is scary, you are laying a significant amount of money out to an unknown person, in an unknown area with unknown employees. The trick is to remove as many unknowns as you can!
Here's what I'd suggest:
Step 1: Figure out your budget, total cost, not outfitter cost, how much can you spend on this hunt?
Step 2: Figure out what animal you want to hunt, in what part of the country, including any size goals you want (a 350+ elk is going to be MUCH harder to come by and probably more expensive, than an "elk").
Step 3: Combine 1 and 2, then hit the internet, see if your budget from #1 can be met by a random search of outfitters in step 2. this tells you if you have realistic goals given your budget.
Step 4: Hit the biggest hunting show you can find, they are loaded with outfitters. Start talking, have list of questions:
- What is your succes rate?
- What is "success" to you? (could be anything from guide sees an animal, to an animal on the ground)
- Can you guarentee me a shot chance? If they say yes, RUN AWAY SCREAMING.
- How long have your guides been with you?
- Describe a typical hunting day start to finish?
- what happens if I don't get along with my guide?
- what happens as other hunters tag out (do we juggle guides)
- What's included in your price? (airport pickup, butcher, caping, etc.)
- how do we get to the hunting spots? ATV, horse, truck, walk....
- how much land do you hunt
- how many hunters will be in camp?
- how do you pair up hunters who come single?
- Oh ya, can you give me a reference list? Now that you have hte one he gives you, et another one of unsuccessful hunters.
Hit the references:
- describe a hunting day?
- describe the lodge/tents/whereever you stayed
- how many animals did you see
- why didn't you get one
- how was the guide
- what suprised you about the hunt
- would you go back again?
When push comes to shove, you have to decide if they are being honest, the BEST advertising they can possibly have is word of mouth. But you need to make a gut decision.