Folks, this is the free market system at its best. I think a lot of you are just plain peeved that you will likely never get a monster bull elk like the ones "hunted" on private ranches. Guess what? Neither will I. I will be happy to shoot a nice 5x5 one day and be happy with the experience. However, I don't begrudge anyone a huge set of antlers on the wall, or the money paid to farmers who sold their prized "livestock" to some rich fatcat.
I would also say that I have hunted two high fence ranches in the Hill Country of Texas and a guaranteed kill is all but assured. I spent five hours trying to stalk hunt for an Axis deer on foot over several small hills and through shallow river ravines. I saw only two bucks that day and both were gone in less than five seconds. The guy who took me loaded me up in his truck and we drove for another several hours looking for a buck, any buck really. Towards sunset we spotted a single Axis buck at about 500 yds who stood still for all of ten seconds. On my other hunt, a member of the party I was with spent two days trying to find some exotic that was plentiful on this ranch. He went to four different blinds with two different guides - never saw so much as a hint of this animal. In my experience It is NOT like shooting cows. If the animals truly want to hide, you will not find them. High fence hunting offers an alternative to folks that do not have the time or money to lease several thousand acres for a season, to maintain it, to supply the proper blend of food and nutrients, to build blinds and hang feeders, to have someone keep an eye on it while they are gone during the week. I am sure there are some raches who literally pen the animals for a shot, and everyone jokes about this, but I have never actually heard of one. Those that do exist, yes, they are joke and I personally would get no satisfaction from hunting on one. I look at high fence hunting the same way I do guided fishing trips. You could spend thousands to buy a boat and fishing equipment and seveal years to learn where the fish are grouping at different times of the year, or you could hire a guide for a day and have a halfway decent chance of enjoying the thrill of catching some nice size fish.
Ultimately, the only thing you are getting on a private ranch or high fence hunt is better odds. I have joked with folks that I have THE worst hunting luck in the world. I have been on leases before for a whole season and come away pretty much empty-handed using the same techniques and hunting styles as folks who seem to effortlessly walk into great opportunities. Yes, I did enjoy the experience and gained much from it (sans the actual meat in the freezer). But after years of terrible luck, its nice to know that my odds for a short weekend are going to be dramatically better every now and then.