Here's what you "have" to do to start. Go to your doctor and explain to him what you want to do. He/she will detail out what your limitations are. Your doc will probably even set you up on a work out regiment. Let the thought of elk hunting be your motivation. Trust me you need to do more than just some "walking to tune up". Elk hunting is intensive. You need to be able to walk 5 miles non-stop to even start. Then you will need to be able to walk up the steepest hills you can find for an hour non-stop and this is a bare bones minimum. You'll still have a hard time, but you might survive.

Second, you have to get over the money issue. This is going to cost you about $5-6000. There's just no way around it. I just don't think that a public land DIY hunt is in the cards for you. Save up, take out a loan, or put it on plastic. If you really want to do this it will cost.

There are places that people hunt for very little money. I know of a group of hunters that goes every year to colorado. They hunt a private ranch, don't have to pay much, heck the rancher even moves out of his trailer and lets them use it while there. You are going to be hard pressed to get into one of those type deals. Because they are becoming more and more scarce, and the ones that are still out there someone has to die to open a spot. Heck, the group I know of has been going for as long as I can remember. The same 5 guys every year.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade. I hope you don't take my comments as attacks. This is just the reality of elk hunting. You can do it, you will just have to commit. It takes a lot physically, mentally, and fiscally.