I can't say because I've never killed an elk, but my wife drew a cow "B" tag in region 1 MT last year. They are definitely easier to find in this part of the state which is step 1.
A couple years back we found an elk hidey hole. Every day for weeks we would see the same group of cows, but you could only see them from a few select spots and getting close was difficult with open country and terrain. Last year she drew that tag. We joked about how she already had her cow picked out.. We were wrong.
They still do elk stuff. We were on that group every weekend for a few weeks before it worked out. Finally caught them standing still in an opening at 430yds. She made a great shot! It was a super fun season for sure!