Sounds like you are heading in the right direction. You' re doing everything you should be doing to have a successful hunt. Careful though, elk hunting is real addicting so you probably better prepare your wife for a lifetime of hunts.

I' m not from Colorado nor do I hunt it so I can' t help you with your unit. But I can tell you since you' re worried about it being warm and spoiling your meat you' ll probably be in 2 feet of snow. You should pack for different weather conditions and dress in layers. The weather changes quickly in the rockies that time of year. I' ve gone to sleep after a full day of hunting in a t-shirt and woke up to 6 inches of snow the next day.

That late in October I wouldn' t expect to do much calling. You local boys can correct me if I' m wrong but here in Utah they aren' t calling much and don' t respond to em either by the middle of october. Take a cow call though and it might be useful for stopping a bull for a shot if nothing else.

When you get your topos look for water sources as it will probably be another drought this summer. Once you find good water sources make sure they are reasonably far from roads and a little tough to access to cut down on pressure. Then look for cover nearby with meadows also close by. It will probably take a few days just to locate elk unless you get lucky so I would bust my butt trying to find them once you get there. Don' t get discouraged if you don' t see any for the first couple of days, just look for sign at or near water sources. Once you find fresh sign work the area.

Take a good knife and sharpener along with some sort of bone saw. Elk are big tough animals. You will definitely want some sort of bags for your meat. Robert Scott gave some advice there. If you are on foot a good pack frame would be a good idea.

Hope this helps and enjoy your hunt. Keep doing your homework and it will payoff.