Tons of web sites will give you lots of tips on how to hunt elk. (not forums) Plus some good books will be helpful too.

It's a learning process. We all had to go through it. Trust me though. Doing it yourself is the way to go. Just have a good attitude, and enjoy the whole experience. It's a lot of work, but it's so so rewarding when you finally have the elk on the ground, and you know you did it yourself.

Will you get an elk the first year? Probably not, but you'll be in good company. Colorado has about a 25% success rate, and this is from very experienced hunters.

You never know though. You could be in that 25%.