well i drew my first ever limited elk tag. wyoming 51-1. hired an outfitter to hunt the wilderness to escape people. I did pass up a few very small 6pts and did not get an elk. the camp went 1-5. the nicest october in memory sure did hurt the elk hunting. the way the outfitter hunts, is more of a migration hunt from yellowstone park. the migration did not happen and he did not change his game. we ran out of time and i had to leave. but i didn't. I have killed a fair amount of elk on my own, so i hired an outfitter to put me in front of big bulls and leave the crowds behind. Little did i know outfitters bring crowds with them. and the weather sucked for migration hunting.
so the outfitter did not want me to go hunting on my own. he told me it was foolish. HE was correct. i am lucky, skilled, blessed to be alive. i did see the grizz before he saw me at 40 yards. i was coming down a finger ridge, about 1 1\2 off of the trail. i was able to back out of the situation with out either one of us getting killed. we did have eye contact for about a second, but i never felt like he locked on me. it was a very tense situation, that i can still see in my mind. IF it matters, i was on hunter peak.
oh i was also followed back to camp one night, my head lamp shown off of it's eye. the next morning in camp, an elk quarter was missing and the tree had big claw marks. the camp is assuming the sow, pushed her cub up the meat pole.
so i am bummed about the elk, glad to be alive. my last unsuccesful meaningful hunt was in 2011. I don't know if i am a guided hunt hunter, i wasn't into the crowds. now my guide was kick ass, we where both the same age, he was a dam good guy.