he says are good units to hunt
I would suggest asking him why he thinks these areas are good units to hunt.
You mentioned success rates and number of hunters as measures of whether a unit is good or not. There are dozens of other measures, so what makes a good unit for one hunter may not be the same for another hunter. Just a few other measures people consider are: trophy potential, ease of access, % of public ground, elk being in accessible areas during the season for which you have a tag, type of terrain, etc. Consider making a list of the top 5 to 10 characteristics you would like in a unit, and then include this info the next time you ask about a "good unit to hunt", e.g. "What might be a good unit to hunt
for late September archery, with good success rates, with at least a moderate population density of elk." Otherwise, people are just guessing what a good unit to hunt means to you.
An outfitter the advantages of being familiar to an area, lots of scouting, and usually living close to the hunt area. What is a good area for an outfitter may be quite a bit different than what is good for a self-guided hunter.
I spent many hours researching a general unit for archery in which approx 600 hunters bag 200 mature bulls year after year. My initial thought was, the hunter numbers are low, the success rate is high, I would be a fool not to hunt here! Through my research I discovered that this is a popular unit for nonresident guided horseback rifle hunts. There are hardly any roads, the elk population is modest to low, and elk are widely dispersed, or even absent from the unit, before it snows. If I was hiring an outfitter for a horseback hunt, I would definitely be considering this place. But guess how many bulls archery hunters bagged in 2017? Zero. Yeah, crossed that unit off my list in a hurry.
I am now looking at another general unit in which about 3500 hunters bag approx 350 bulls annually. After really delving into the research, I found that 60% of the bulls in this unit are bagged by bowhunters. Is this a "good" unit? It might be good for me, because I am planning a bow hunting trip.
One more idea: do as much internet research as possible (google earth, government websites, etc.) on where to hunt, and when you've found everything you can, have some more detailed questions to ask the experts, so you can round out your trip planning.
Best of luck to you on bagging a DIY bull in 2020.
