1. How do I find a good spot to hunt and camp? you can camp anywhere in National forest that you find suitable, without cutting down trees, and hopefully, you're not far from your hunting area. Finding YOUR majic spot can be a daunting task for a newbie.
2. When starting out in the morning how do you locate? i.e. is there a locator call like turkeys or doyou spot from high ground.Getting high and glassing will work in some areas, but also by covering ground and calling on and off, much like turkey hunting works very well too. Being new to an area means you will most likely need to cover a lot of ground. The better you learn the terrain, the better your chances of killing an elk.
3.Can you hunt elk all day long? Are mornings better than evenings? If the weather is warm and dry then mornings and evenings will be best, but if it's cool and snows any time of day can be as good, or better.
4. Should a sidearm be carried in case of bear? not really necassary, black bears aren't aggressive for the most part.
5. Do I have to tie everything up in a tree, in camp, to keep bears out? Need to have it covered and hanging to cool any ways.
6. I am under the assumption that the wind is the most difficult obstacle is this true? The winds seem to swirl worse in the mountains then they do any where else. In general, the breeze moves down hill until the warming of the day begins and then the thermals move up hill.