RE: Tips on Montana Elk
Did you put in as a party?
I would buy the best boots you can afford, and get them broken in over the summer. I would also find some hills to climb somewhere around you as well, and get a good pack(there are dozens of threads on packs)and load it up. Lifting weights, running, etc, is all good, but walking around out in the woods with a heavy pack will get you further IMHO. Your body gets "used" to just running and learning just those motions of lifting. That is one of the reasons I started trail camming. It gets my butt out in the woods hiking the hills, high stepping over logs, pushing through brush, carrying a pack. I was right there with my buddy who is a runner, he was dying the first time out. Ask me to run a mile with him, he will kill me, hiking is just different.
Are you going to hike in behind locked gates and camp? Or just stay at a motel and head out early every morning?
Get some good synthetic clothing. Absolutely no cotton. You have to be comfortable, wet and cold is not comfortable. You can stay out and hunt harder and longer.
Are you bowhunting or rifle hunting?