Captain,
Regarding butchering fees, yeah, the locals might do a bit better; however, most folks bring them in and have to have the meat and be gone in a couple days and the processors in Craig " ring the bell" on that cash register! My hat' s off to you for cutting your own, it makes the " whole thing" much more personal and rewarding.

BJ,
This area has pretty easy going terrain and certainly is not part of any wilderness area. Colorado got pretty well settled and cut up before they started declaring wilderness; hence, your friend is pretty much right you usually can' t go much more than 10 miles or so with out " punching through the other side into civilization.

Our camp is two miles down the graded road from the " jumping off" spot (we lead the horses behind the pickup, just to " take the edge off of them" before getting down to the business of riding or packing) and then it is four miles back in to where we hunt. That is why we end up getting up at 1:00 am for the pre-dawn hike in or end up using the spike camp which DOES eliminate a lot of walking/riding in the dark.

It is pretty crowded around my main camp and some of these poor souls just hunt around their tent --- most go home empty handed --- as you know you gotta get back in there!