I can, but it presents a few problems.

For one the elk can be anywhere according to the weather.

Two..It's very crowded with out of state hunters. They think it's the best time to hunt.

The ML season is early Sept. It would be really rare to get enough snow to drive the elk lower. So, we know know where they are. HIGH! They're also in the rut.

Plus we have less than 1/3 the hunters in ML season.

As an added bonus. I don't have to plow through the snow. High altitude in the Rockies during Sept is beautiful and comfortable.

The first rifle season for a tag that's available to me will be Oct 23. There's no way to predict the weather that time of year. It could be hot or a blizzard.

At my age. I'm taking the safe way. I don't mind hunting at 12,000ft, but I don't want to do it in 3 ft of snow.