Saddlesore is right and Snake has an important point also..
Lucky for me I have shot lots of elk.. A couple things have helped.. First for me, elk are meat.. Deer are trophies.. I have shot many cows, and quite a few bulls.. But given my choice, I will take a cow. Get a few notches on your gun..
Try for a cow.
The second thing that helped me was I hunted with some older guys who showed me the ropes of elk hunting.. Due to our work time, we didn't hit the black timber much.. Time was too short, we mostly hunted after work.. It was easy to slip out for a couple hours hunt in the evenings.. Also I can probably hunt elk with in 20 minutes of my house.. Not the best area, but it is there.. Mostly in the eve. we drove 30- 60 minutes to a hunting spot.. With the guys showing me the ropes, and having elk hunting close, it sure made a difference.. Maybe you can't slip out after work, but try and hook up with an experienced hunter and learn from him.
