To pay for a Kentucky deer hunting guide or not is the question. My answer would be, “They can't bury you with your money”. I do not offer that service, but let's face it, people with money do not have it for being stupid. They budget their money like everyone else. You just have to decide what type of hunt you want to do. Do you want your Kentucky deer hunt to be all about your success? It's mainly about success. Do you want to know there are deer around and you take on the challenge of picking the right areas to hunt based upon hunting conditions? Do you want someone to carry your gun, load it, let you pull the trigger on a trophy, then hand it back to them to clean the gun? It’s all about personal preference; nothing is right or wrong. Don’t let anyone get pompous on you because you can just tell them to go hunting like the people do on “Naked and Afraid” if they are a “real outdoorsman." It’s all personal preference.
With that said, hiring a Kentucky deer hunting guide is probably not the proper term. Finding a Kentucky outfitter and finding the right Kentucky deer hunting leases would be more appropriate. There is nothing wrong with being taken out to a stand on the opening morning in the dark, but do you really need a taxi service the entire time? Maybe. Some of these Kentucky outfitters have leased 10 different farms . You’ll need to be transported around a little bit. I wish I could tell you my prime Kentucky deer hunting lease is 300 acres, but it only hunts like 300 acres because of the mere 200’ of road frontage. Then I own a narrow few acres leading back to where the property opens up behind other wooded pieces of property. It's not good for resale/development, but it's great for hunting. It’s about a 150 acre piece of deer hunting paradise.
What you do need is a Kentucky outfitter that has spent a lot of time preparing the land and a lot of time preparing for your arrival. You should be provided with a map of the area, the trails, the food plot descriptions, where the stands are located, where the auto-corn feeders are located, etc. That’s really all you need, but again, it’s personal preference.