EKM,
I was North of Steamboat this year. Shot at and missed a 5X5 with a few minutes of daylight left on the last day of my 7 day hunt. I'd never missed a big game animal before this. Missing sucks.
For what it's worth, I've got two elk in the four years I've been chasing them. Oddly both animals were taken during muzzleloader seasons and the two years I've gone home empty I was rifle hunting. Seems to be a correlation there.

Bill the Dog

PS, Yeah, I'm addicted too.