ORIGINAL: muley69
In my opinion you have to be a pretty good elk hunter to have success in a drop camp. I don't know what your level of expierence is, but if your a beginning elk hunter I think you are throwing your money away. Keep in mind you will be dropped into an area that you haven't scounted, and you are unfimiliar with. Perhaps your entire hunt will be spent locating elk, and little time will be spent actually hunting them. Secondly, keep in mind that most outfitters that do drop camps also offer guided hunts. If your an outfitter, are you going to put drop camp hunters or fully guided hunters in the best areas? Outfitters have their guides scouting were the guided hunts are going to be, not where the drop camp hunts are, so at best they will say the elk "could" be here or there. Finally, just because your going to the interior of a wilderness, it doesn't necessarily gaurantee success, or that the elk will even be there, or that they will be responsive.
Muley69,.... from my past experience most people who have done this type of hunt (drop camp) have already done all of their homework. They have talked with locals & other hunters in the area about sightings, travel routes, bedding and feeding areas, etc. Have spent countless hours going over topo maps and have studied the terrain to look for the best and most likely areas for an ambush. Sure these kinds of hunts are a little more difficult, but in most cases are the most rewarding when you do tag into one due to the fact YOU as an individual have done all of the work and came up sucessful.
I feel the drop camp or pack in on a horse by yourself type of hunt are the truest type of hunts you can ever go on in the real sence of the word "HUNTING". You are out there man against animal,... testing your skills as a hunter against their instincts of survival in mother nature.
Even if you don't get one,.. or you do see one but do not get in close enough to actually shoot at one, it's the experience and being out there what really matters. There is NEVER a guarentee when you go out hunting that you will come back with one. It is just he way the game is played out,....
That's why they call it "Hunting" and NOT "Shooting" !!