Tons of good information here I wish I knew when I went on my first elk hunt three seasons ago. If you're finding fresh sign they were that at some point within a day or two. Figuring out when and why they are there is key. To go on a trip like that takes some cojones. Stick with it and you'll find elk. Then you'll get close encounters. Then you'll end up at full draw. Eventually, you'll be tagging out.
How was the hunting pressure?
David,
Pressure wan't bad at all I only saw two hunters the entire time I was out and that was towards the end of my trip when it was getting close to the weekend and they were both using a creek bottom to get to other grounds. Now that I think of that I prob should have been heading that way to as they probably knew something I didn't.