Colorado probably has the best combination of elk permit accessibility and public land. There are several seasons, as someone has already indicated. If you look into rifle seasons, be aware that the elk are located at different places during different rifle seasons: during early rifle seasons the elk are likely to be located near timberline on public lands and during late rifle seasons the elk are likely driven down off the mountains by heavy snows are located down low on private lands. It typically costs a lot of money to pay a landowner for the priviledge to hunt elk on his land. Bear this in mind when selecting your rifle season. If you are interested in applying in Colorado, I suggest you buy the latest "Big Game CD" from the Colorado Division of Wildlife which contains a wealth of information on drawing odds in different units, hunter success rates in different units, etc.

Clearly evaluate your hunting goals before you go on your hunt. I'm a newby elk hunter. My goal is to shoot the first mature elk that crosses my path -- cow elk or bull elk, I don't care how many points (so long as the bull is legal). I personally am not a "horn hunter" or "antler hunter." I'm in it for the experience of hunting and taking home excellent, gourmet quality meat for the table. I hope that if a mature cow shows up 15 minutes after the start of opening day, that I will shoot and be overjoyed if I take the cow, rather than holding off hoping for a 7 point bull to wander past me, maybe tomorrow or the day after or the day after that. Only about 25% of all elk hunters take an elk in a given year, bear that in mind.

Buy a good pair of hunting boots. You will be walking while bone tired over uneven, rocky ground, uphill, downhill, hopefully carrying a heavy load if you succeed in taking an elk. Good footwear is essential. Take an exta change of socks.

Carry a good pair of binoculars -- 8x40. I like my $300 Nikon Monarch binoculars. Other binoculars may also be adequate. You will want to locate elk with your binoculars, stalk close, and then either shoot them or call them yet closer to you.

Weather can vary a lot. It can be sunny and hot; it can be freezing and heavy snow and/or rain. Layered clothing is a good idea. Using clothing that is warm when wet is a good idea. Using clothing that dries out quickly, for example dries out overnight in a wall tent with a wood stove for heat. Wear wicking fabric such as polypropylene and others next to your skin to wick perspiration away from your body. Wear a shirt and pants of material that is warm when wet and dries out quickly -- wool or fleece. Wear or carry an insulated parka with a hood that is windproof and water proof but still breathes. Carry a warm hat that covers your head -- a balaclava or ski mask is a good idea.

Carry two substantial knives -- the second in case the first one breaks -- for dealing with an elk if you get one. You might carry some rope and/or strong nylon cord for tieing legs in position for you to work on the elk carcass. Elk are very big animals. Think in terms of horse size. The back of a deer is crotch height; the back of an elk is eyeball height.

Carry a GPS. It doesn't have to be too fancy. Even a cheap GPS will allow you to set waypoints -- the location of your camp, the location of your truck, where you had lunch, where you parted with your hunting buddy -- and navigate back to those selected waypoints. It can be useful when it is too dark to see visible landmarks, snowing too heavily to see visible landmarks, or when you are across the mountain from the spot you are trying to navigate to. Carry extra batteries for the GPS. Learn to use the GPS at home. Carry a map and magnetic compass as a backup to the GPS.

Get your weight down so your body mass index (search on the Internet if you are not familiar with this term) to close to 25. Get in shape. Caridovascular shape is more important than strength, as cardiovascular conditioning increases endurance, which is the key physical attribute you need to hunt elk walking up and down steep hills near timberline all day for 5 or more days in a row. Your maximum bench pressing strength isn't going to be all that valuable. Your maximum bicep curl strength isn't going to be all that valuable. Endurance. Stamina. Quick recovery. Do lots of aerobic exercise -- running, biking, swimming, whatever works for you. If you are out of shape, be sure to work up your exertion level over time or you will just injure yourself and set back your training regimen. You need to breath hard for 20 minutes or more per session, three to four times per week, to improve. Also work on strength, but focus on diversity of exercises and higher number of repetitions (builds endurance) rather than fewer repetitions with heavier weights. Lunges, squats, and other leg strength exercises are valuable (I do an exercise with 2.5 LBS weights on each ankle lifting my knees up in front of me -- 55 repetitions per leg, three sets -- you do a lot of high knee lifting climbing hills in elk hunting. I do another exercises with the same weights on each ankle, laying sideways on my hip on the floor, lifting one leg up about 3 feet off the ground in a scissors-like motion, repeating 25 times per leg, three sets). Also, sit-ups, push-ups, back strength exercises (I do an isometric exercise where I lay on my stomach and arch my back to lift my torso up off the ground, while holding my arms in front of me for a count of 70). Of course, doing curls and other arm/upper body exercises doesn't hurt either. But don't neglect endurance for body builder type strength. By the way, you WILL breath hard and get out of breath at timberline, no help for that. The endurance helps to keep you from just totally crashing -- either right away or after 8 hours of a 12 hour day or after three days of a five day season.

The best times for elk hunting are first light and last light. Carry a rifle chambered in a serious cartridge, such as a .30-06 shooting 180 grain bullets and heavier cartridges. Some people have confidence shooting 150 grain bullets out of a .270, but the large volume of controversy that surrounds discussions of the viability of the .270 as an elk hunting rifle is enough to dissuade me from using a .270 for elk (flame protection garments ON!!!).

Have a plan for how you are going to deal with the elk you may take. You aren't going to drag it to your truck like you would a deer. Expect to get in the neigborhood of 200 LBS of deboned eating meat off a bull elk and maybe 160 LBS of deboned eating meat off a mature cow elk. That is a heavy load. You aren't going to carry it out in one load, probably not in two loads (remember, you are in the mountains, climbing up and down hills -- down hills punish your legs and feet too). If you take your elk 10 miles into the wilderness from the road, you probably have about 30 miles to walk under a heavy load and 20 miles unloaded to get the elk out (3 trips out with loads, 2 trips back in unloaded). So, think twice about hunting 10 miles away from the road! Some people make arrangements with packers to fetch and pack out their meat. If you are after a head, identify a taxidermist in the area ahead of time.