I stay out of the dark timber when scouting and try not to leave too much of my scent around.
Glassing at first and last light from a considerable distance does not move the elk out of the hunting area,
but disturbing their safety areas will make them vanish. Elk relocate with changing weather and human intrusion,
so finding an area with a lot of tracks, rubs, and droppings may not mean very much.
They often bed in cool areas away from the sun which is often quite far from water and their feeding area
the above is good advice, once you put a good scare into a group they will temporarily vacate the area,
and may not be back for weeks, but other groups bounced out of other areas may relocate there.
Id also suggest you grab topo maps of the area,
Once your hunting Ive found having several friends slowly still hunt the same canyon,
entering at similar times but widely dispersed access point and concentrating on the easy exit points from that canyon typically ups our odds as a group.
and find the potentially nearest hunter access and camping locations ,
finding elk near those is going to be a fools errand
look over the map and find the least easily accessed areas of dark timber with springs , terraced meadows, rim rock cliff faces, and steep terrain blocking easy access,
if you can locate a side canyon off a larger canyon that will require a long walk or wading across a stream to gain access thats almost a sign flashing ,
WORTH CHECKING OUT THIS AREA!
elk don,t vanish from the face of the planet during hunting season, but they are generally smart enough to avoid areas with easy road access,
and look for dark timber in the more remote areas, with water and grass and cover,as far from road access as they can get, but its not distance, a very steep slope
or a deep and wide creek that forms a barrier to travel provides security, that few hunters will challenge.
,
to spend the day light hours in.