Haven’t dropped by in a while, and glad to see the great posts you’ve been up to! I especially like this one, as I went through a similar process of elimination. Sure, you can start out at the same price as a low-end, guided elk hunt… but by the time you get done, you’re in it for the price of a new car (especially if you get your trophies mounted).

By the way, you may have found a solution already, but you should be able to do a reasonable (non-trophy) guided, elk hunt for under $5K (archery is usually a little cheaper than rifle hunts, too). CO has great odds, even for the DIY hunter, but of course there’s always the possibility of getting skunked.

If you’re still on the hunt for an elk, drop me a note.