I’m in southwestern Colorado and yes, there are many outfitters, but more people hunt without using an outfitter.
Yes, that is certainly an option but these folks better know where they are going to hunt (I presume public lands?).
My good buddy (retired professor) and his cousins would go to the public land W of Denver and contract with a local to use his horses to pack in. Turns out this guy’s brother was a local outfitter and he got the Division of Wildlife (DOW) involved with hassling them about bringing their own hay in (weed control), etc. When that option became a pain in the rear, they hired a helicopter pilot to drop them in to their camp site.
Either way, it wasn’t easy and it certainly wasn’t cheap.