Well, I just got back from my Wyoming elk hunt. I had a good time, did a lot of hiking, covered a lot of ground, saw some beautiful country, and met some nice people. However, the amount of people I ran into was a little annoying. The woods were packed. Everywhere I went, there were people. I covered the area I was aloud to hunt very well, moved camp four times, slept in the truck one night, and really busted my hump to get as far in as possible. Im in pretty good shape, and even had people on horses ask how in the world I got were I was. On the third day, it was obvious that the elk had left the area prior to season, and of course I wasn't aloud back were it looked like they went. One day, after bush whacking for six hours, I stood on the trail going into the wilderness and talked to everyone that went in or came out. I wasn't on the trail head, I was back on the forest/wilderness border. I was only there for 2 hrs and couldn't believe the amount of people and pack strings I saw going in and out. And that was only one of the many enteries into the wilderness. The area really wasn't all that big. The trail heads were packed with vehicles and stock trailers. I talked to a few people that said they usually do pretty good in this area, but I don't personally consider one out of six hunters shooting an elk to be "pretty good". This was very different than what I'm used to in Colorado. I wouldn't mind going back to Wyoming, but I have no interest in hiring a guide.
So here's what I'm courious about- For those of you that know first hand, is Wyoming really worth it for a nonresident DIY hunter? Or, is access to the wilderness areas really needed?