I'm going to be hunting a new elk area this season and just came back from scouting the area for this years elk hunt and found most of the sign & elk at or above 9500 feet. The mountain is 10800', plenty of water all the creeks are still running, plenty of grass on the higher meadows, the North, & N.E. sides of the mountain are heavily timbered. The N.W. & W. side of the mountain have ALOT of quakeys or aspen.
There is a couple of nice long benchs on the N.E & N.W. sides with meadows

The area is good for the rifle season when the snow drives them down, I assume the same area should be good for bow season?

will the bullsbe bugling before the rut?

there is a huge meadow nearly a mile long with good water but it's about 9200-9300' I didn't find any new elk sign there.
Will elk likely go lower to feed as the grass dries in August?

I'm planning on going back one more time before season to do more scouting.

It's evident I'm not an expert on elk so any input would be appreciated