Muley I am by no means an experienced Elk hunter. I have shot several. But I am not very experienced.
We normally had to go above 11,000 feet to find the elk. It seemed like it was always hot in the early season. And the elk just seemed to be at the higher elevations when we were hunting.
We were not really trophy hunting. And I like what you said about the meat in the freezer. We never wasted an ounce of elk meat.
Even though we were hunting(a couple of times) during the rut, I never really was a person to do any bugling. Although when they are bugling they are prety easy to locate. So we just got as close as we could, then played our chances. Strictly beginner stuff!! Tom.