Hunted this area first time 3 years ago in 3rd rifle season with limited sucess. Had a lot of snow and access was hard. Plus having never hunted the area made it hard without some scout time. We did find the herd towards end of season a more snow came in so we packed camp and left. Lots of realy steep/deep canyons where we hunted above hanging lake and above the colorado river. We did manage to shoot a nice 28" mule buck, and passed on several different shots on cow elk. I'd say what someone already stated hunt HIGH early season. Real pretty country though. Plan on spending a day in Glenwoods Hot Springs Pool if time allows, its worth it.