Hunting elk is just hard, wherever you do it. Out of all the big game I have ever hunted, Elk are the animal that are (by far) the most opposed to going home in my truck. Things I have learned over the years hunting them (both in south-east British Columbia, and North Idaho). A fair bit of my experience contradicts s**t I've read about hunting elk, and I'm just a sample size of 1 guy, so my thoughts are probably just worth what you paid for em.
1) Scouting is less useful than you think. The first 4 or 5 years I hunted them, I spent weeks scouting, found many great looking spots; lots of sign, torn up trees from big bulls thrashing them, etc. Hit those areas 2-3 weeks later on opening day, and not one elk would set foot within a mile of that spot for weeks.
2) In the same vein, when you find an area they hang out during your open season, chances are near 100% you'll find elk in that area every year. This right here, is the single most important part of repeated success while elk hunting - finding spots where they are hanging out, during your open season, and then going back to them every year. Doesn't really matter if they are super-private or not; the most productive/highest success area I hunt elk, I don't know if I've ever gone a whole day without seeing at least one other hunter in the area, and yet, there the elk are, every year.
3) Calling is useful, but overrated and generally doesn't work like they show it on hunting videos where the elk comes right up to you within 10-20 yards (to make that happen, you need two people, and to find the elk first - then you set up with the shooter closer to the elk, and the caller farther away). I hunt solo, and I have never once had a bull come right up to me because I called, no matter what call I've used, how often (or not often) I hit it, etc. They'll come in to maybe 100 yards (more often 200 yards), and hang up (sometimes they'll scream at me and put on a show, and sometimes, they'll just stand there quiet-like staring at the spot the last heard the call come from).
So for me, to make calling worth doing, I find me a spot (preferably high ground), where the elk are in the area (see point 2), where I have some visibility to about 200-250 yards out, get myself hidden and hit the cow call every half hour or so, and then glass and listen carefully. If there's a bull in the area, he will often come in to about 150-200 yards out, and there's your opportunity.
Bugling is something I've given up on in Idaho; back in Canada, we hunted during the rut when the elk are more vocal, so I could bugle and one would bugle back at me from off in the distance, which was a good method of locating where they were. In Idaho, hunter population is much much higher, and (other than archery), no rut hunting, so I've not found bugling to do me any good in that scenario.
4) Putting in the miles. Elk are herd animals, so in the valley I'm hunting, there might be 50 elk... but the valley is 15 miles long, and they're going to more less hang out in the same area, which may or may not be very close to my start point. So there's some miles of hiking to put in to locate where they are, today.
That said, and back on point 2, once you find a top shelf spot, you can hunt that spot for 3-4 days, and see elk like 99% of the time. That's all I really do anymore, because I'm too old (and lazy, TBH) to hike 20 miles in a day anymore.
5) Water, water, water. Elk need a LOT more water than deer do, and when they hit the water hole, there's usually a few to a lot of them at once, so wherever they are, there will be a source of a lot of water vaguely nearby (eg: creeks, streams, etc). If you can find out where they eat and where they drink, and hang out in between, that's where those magic spots I mention in 2) usually are situated.
6) This is related to 5... "all I ever see are a few cows"... then you have not found where the herd is hanging out, you have seen a few cows (probably with a few calves) doing a mid-day water run.
Anyway, that's my input to this conversation. I'm not a very good elk hunter, I don't think, but over the years, I've killed a few, and gotten buddies in the right spot to kill a few also.
