Unit 7 has produced some good bulls over the years. It is rough. The most important pieces of equipment you take with you may very well be your boots and pack. Over the years, WY G&F has increased the number of tags available though, and elk aren't stupid. As soon as the hunters show up, they head for places they're not getting shot at - often the private ground.
Private landowners aren't stupid, either. As long as there are people who will pay the 10x rate you were originally quoted, they're gong to charge it. While I am absolutely supportive of landowners controlling access to their land, the moment they lock out the hunters, they lock in the problems the "public's" game may wreak on their hay crops, etc. No hunting/Hunting for a fee = No assistance from G&F.
The solution? You shouldn't "feed the animals", don't "pay the landowners" either. That's what's caused most of the problem with private access out here. They've been "fed" and now they've gotten greedy beyond what most can reasonably pay.
Private access no longer the quick ticket to a big bull in area 7 (unless you have lots of money, which you apparently don't), you can still find elk there, you're just going to have to work a LOT harder for them. More tags = more pressure and competition. If you've not put boots on the ground, I'd pick up the topo maps for the area and pore over them and any satellite imagery you can pick up on the internet. The public access points are fewer than many other areas, so you'll need to come up with a plan. Compound things lately, the area has already experienced two significant fires this season, one of them (Russels Camp) is still burning.
I stopped hunting area 7 years ago. The Game Commission increased the number of tags to address the landowners' depredation complaints. Once there were more hunters and more pressure, the landowners responded by limiting hunter access, further compounding the depredation, causing more tags to be issued, more pressure, increased trespass fees, more tags to be issued, ... You get the idea of the cycle here. It's a screwed-up mess, and it's caused by the landowners and the people who took your slot when the ranch jacked up their fee. If I had the hunt in WRITING, I'd be inclined to take the ranch to court for breach of contract.