Thanks to CI for taking care of this. I was attempting to moderate from my smart phone and it wasn't working as I couldn't figure out how to access all of the moderating options. Tried to give him a chance, but I guess he'd rather take a break.
-Jake

Guess I won't be finding out what axe he was trying to grind. This whole thread got kind of weird real quick.

Yeah...The poor OP gets jumped for nothing and didn't even post back on his own thread...And ty CI and Jake for doing what needed doing.

Actually the poor outfitter was the one who really got jumped on and then it got to questioning why the OP made his post! FYI I sent him a PM regarding his OP and got a very nice reply. He's just a good old rancher in the se corner of Montana that allows some limited hunting on his ranch for an access fee and he doesn't even take advantage of the free advertising he could do in the Classified Section here on this site

He ought to put something up in the free advertising section. A lot of members would be interested, especially if his elk unit is easy enough to draw. The "Swap-a-Hunt" forum is exploding which is great. However, not all members have a hunt to swap but most of them would probably be quite interested in hunting a ranch for a reasonable access fee. That's the kind of setup that could make for a great annual hunt if it's easy enough to draw for and the opportunities for elk are good.

For what it's worth, a landowner can guide on their own land here in Montana without being a licensed outfitter. They cannot guide on public land or on a neighbor's land even if they have permission.

No one really needs to hire a guide here to hunt deer and antelope....tons of public land, block management land, etc. Anyone should be able to hunt Montana for deer and antelope without a guide and be successful if they do their homework.

It's the same in Wyoming too, as no license is need to outfit or guide on your own deeded property.