Forking out money for a guided hunt does sound crazy to some people but not everyone has the time or knowledge to go and DIY. I have been looking into mule deer hunting as well as antelope and elk. I find it hard to pull the trigger to gain a guide but I still look all the time. Givin I only get maybe a week to take off for a hunt the driving for a day just to go scout is not an option. In the long run a guide as long as they are reasonable may actually be the cheaper route buy the time you spend gas getting there or plane tickets there and back scouting (as public land is the way most would have to go). Most hunters are reluctant to let an outsider in to harvest an animal off land that they have been managing and I don't blame them one bit. For me being in Oklahoma we have all the game I mentioned but you have to be drawn for the antelope and the elk. I have been putting in for 20 years and have yet to be drawn. We have muleys but they are scarce. So without the help of a guide or someone that knows what they are doing I find it hard to lay down the cash to just go figure it all out on my own.

I have paid for the services of a guide but that was more of a learning experience as I had been hunting whitetails for 7 years without a harvest. I picked his brain and learned all I could and ended up making a friend in the process. Now I would more than likely never pay for a guide to hunt whitetail again but its getting to the point where in a lot of states you do have to pay a land use fee (lease), that is if you want to have a chance at a trophy.

All I hunt here at home is public land and I have no problem helping out other hunters that come in from out of state and have even helped a few out from this site. But alot of the "trade a hunt" folks dont want to hunt public so that kinda leaves me out. Like most hunters I have a long bucket list of USA native animals I would like to have the opertunity harvest before I travel abroad but don't get me wrong if I ever get the chance to go to Africa or New Zealand I will figure out a way to make it work,