My biggest piece of advice to give a new elk hunter, hunt private ground if you can. With the pressure put on elk on public lands, hunting is difficult at best, times , close to impossible. With the advance of technology so comes competition for public land elk. A person can leave Minneapolis in the morning, and be elk hunting that afternoon near where I live just north of the Missouri breaks here in Montana. People have a lot more disposable income and the time to use it then they did say back in the 60's and 70's. Elk hunting has become a big business, to states agencies, outfitters, ranchers, call makers, firearm manufacturers, the list goes on and on, but lets not forget TV and internet shows. BIG BUSINESS, convincing, YOU, that if you choose them or their services, you will tag an elk, and usually they show big elk being taken. I have become part of this business, leasing land to hunt here in Montana. I grew tired of the parade of other hunters, hunting the same ground, camping where I have seen elk come for water, on every ridge top, the sound of atv's moving in, it grew very tiring. Having access to private ground usually means you have little or no competition, depending on circumstances, that is a huge plus. I have found elk that are not pushed, are really a lot like whitetails, though their patterns are more on a weekly pattern then on a daily pattern, at least where I have hunted. Another plus of less pressured elk on private, if you hunt smart, you will not necessarily push them off of the land you are hunting. I have seen more then 1 elk taken on several occasions, if you are capable with your weapon and knock down an elk with your initial shot, there is a reasonable chance, they will mull around for awhile, thus, if you are hunting with more then just you, another animal or two can be dropped. I have actually had dozens of elk mull around within a quarter of a mile when field dressing an animal, even seen them come back out to timber as dark approached. I know it is not easy finding private land to hunt, and in most cases, certainly not cheap. Most hunters dream of hunting elk in remote mountain areas, and that county is gorgeous, I love spending summer days exploring and nights besides a warm fire, but come elk season, you will find me usually in the foothills of mountains, areas that have some agricultural workings, i.e. cattle, alfalfa, wheat , hay , or blessed with irrigation, in the west, this is a huge plus in most any type of hunting. So, if you have to work a second shift or job, wait an extra year or two, borrow from a rich uncle, or blessed be, marry into a western ranch, hunt private ground, you will not regret that decision....take the family on a summer camping trip up to Glacier or Yellowstone, but hunt elk where elk are at home.