There is so much cool and expensive gear out there that your head spins with the items and their cost. But garage sales and eBay are your friend, your aim is to get this stuff a little bloody so who needs new?
Your cold weather clothing will be great for sitting but you need to dress in layers elk hunting. Hiking in you want to wear as little as you can so you don't sweat like a pig after the first 1/4 mile, then add layers when you stop and sit. Take some off again as the day warms up and you move around. Add some back as the weather cools, take some off for the hike out.
Run the stairs at your local school bleachers wearing a pack full of water - you can't replicate altitude but you can get in top shape starting early.
Decide where you are going and get a couple of leftover cow tags for the kids at least on Tuesday. Nothing makes your elk hunting trip as popular as bringing home hundreds of pounds of delicious elk meat. "Honey we are almost out of elk in the freezer - when do you go again?" are beautiful words.
Unless you are paying top dollar to hunt private land or riding way back in a trophy area you wont be passing smaller legal bulls or even cows like you see on TV.
Other than good boots and necessary emergency gear you can save and skimp and wait on other stuff. Ask your old backpacker friends if they still have the old external frame pack gathering dust in the garage and get your packs for free. You have to dress like a pumpkin anyway so camouflage doesn't matter.
If you PM me your address I'll email you my list and an excellent article from KC on this forum, this tablet and I are both fairly limited.
