That could be the case if you are putting in to get drawn for a tule tag. However there are two ranches that I know of in my area that buy landowner tags every year and sell them as guided hunts (almost all of their hunters every year are from out of state). I was able to get my hands on a cow tag this year when another guy dropped out and it just happened to work out for me and them. I decided to bite the bullet because I know of guys that have been putting in for a cow tag at hunter ligget for ten years with no luck. I think the bull tags start around $7,500 for a 5x5 (could be 6x6) and go up I think $500 based on how many points the bull has above that. I saw the pics of the bulls they took this year, they were all great looking bulls.
Thats only the one outfit, I can't speak for the other one.