Xcutter,
Sage advice from Jason Snyder... heed it.
Get Elk Nuts "Play Book" and calling DVDs. Learn/Practice calling and when/how to call. Buy mouth reeds and practice playing music with them like a kazoo with the radio in your car. Once you can really play songs, then calling will be easier. Don't bother with the Hoochie Mama squeeze call, it's too easy to blow a bad note.
Learn to navigate! This is key to confidence, keeps anxiety low.
Trace streams on your topos to where the topo lines indicate flatter areas, the stream will slow and the ground will be boggy, this is good terrain. Possible wallow area. Find grassy meadows, glass them thoroughly before entering. Try not to walk through the middle, where you will be seen. Walk the perimeter or in the trees on the perimeter if possible.
Use Mytopo or HillMap to pick your target areas using their aerial photos/topo overlay tools. Get off the main trails if you can, you will sometimes use elk trails to move through thick. Elk are strong, but they prefer not to work hard either when possible, so you will find their trails. If using a mule to haul gear up, find a flat spot up high, but near a main man-made trail and water. If you are backpacking and hauling all your own gear, then some of the info below won't apply. In that case, I'd say get yourselves up high in elevation, the first day. Glass from a ridge that afternoon/evening to search for activity and pick your direction. Second morning pack it all up, start moving and hunting. If bivy backpacking w/o a base camp and planned hunt areas are in steep terrain, consider hammock camping.
We are off trail 99+% of the time. We go for days away from base camp and see no one. My brother and I pretty much ONLY use human made trails to gain initial altitude and/or get up the mountain with mules. After that, we navigate. In CO, we base camp high, 10,500-11,500, within close proximity to water, this is usually not on a ridge due to the way water flows. We are typically in a high bowl or a bench in a drainage/draw, short walk from water. Hauling water sucks when you're beat. We use mules/packers to get our gear camp gear up to altitude, set camp a hundred yards or more from the trail (mule & Water accessible). Then send mules back down the mtn w/the packer. Base camp tent is a 6 man with two large vestibules. We set an electric bear fence that I built around the camp. Food that is hermetically sealed is kept within the perimeter of our fence, but off the ground to keep vermin out. No food ever in the tent. Waste- hung in a tree away from camp.
Once base camp is set, we haul/filter many gallons of water while we are fresh and feeling good. Base camp has a 4L gravity bag filter system (Sawyer/it's awesome). We use collapsible water jugs from REI they are cheap and pretty light, fold almost flat, hold about 2-3 gallons each. When out on a hunt we use a mini pump filter. Always carry a pre-filter for your system.
In addition to a base camp tent, we go up with hammocks/tarps, bivy bags and a two man tent. Taking what seems appropriate for our 2-5 day circuits from base camp. Hammocks are the real deal. If I only had one to type of tent system to choose, it would be a hammock w/a large tarp (8.5ftx11ft). We hunt in the steep, where others aren't and set camp at night pretty much wherever we are but away from the elk we've been after. Often it's too steep to set a tent anywhere we go, unless you want to hike an hour in the dark back to a bench. But- there are always trees, so hammocks work great. Early archery season is warm enough usually that we don't carry under quilts for the hammocks your sleeping bag pad is plenty. Late season at 11-12k feet you may need one.
We eat MRE's. Already hydrated and ready to eat, you don't have to use water, boil water, cook, etc. Yes, they are heavier, but we find the trade off fair. We "Field strip" all meal packages weeks before the season, tossing the: outer wrapper, heater pack, pouch w/toilet paper, spoon, cardboard boxes that hold meals, then write on the plastic wrapper for the main course w/a sharpie marker what type of meal it is. Wrap tape around all the meal components to hold them together. Double the tape back at the end to leave a pull tab so it's easy to get them apart. We use nylon strapping tape. We eat them cold, cooking takes too much effort and time. Many nights, you're so exhausted that you just want to collapse w/o eating, but you have to. Get a long handled spoon, it's the only tool you'll need. MREs weigh about 1 lb per meal when stripped down. We don't bring a stove, pot or mugs when we're in the field hunting. They stay at base camp.
Hope this helps!
JL
