Elk were originally flatlanders. Lewis & Clark ate elk all across the great plains but nearly starved in the mountains. As the west was settled, the elk were forced into the mountains. Now the introduced wolves have put the elk in pincers where they're forced to choose between wolves and man. They seem to prefer men and are moving back to the flatter land.
For Idaho, the 2015 figures aren't posted yet but in '14, they sold 76k elk tags and there was a 16% success rate (this includes rifle, ML, & archery). The huge majority are taken on public land. The seasons range from 5 days to a month or more but 3 weeks is the norm. In general, elk season opens Oct 15 and ends on either Oct 31 or Nov 9 depending on the unit. Some units will have private land hunts that open in August to allow ranchers to let hunters haze the elk out of their fields.
Idaho has an unusual trespass law. We have huge areas of private rangeland that can't be differentiated from public land. The law is that if the private land isn't irrigated or cultivated, it must be posted or it's open for hunting without permission. Many ranchers don't bother to post it so it adds a lot of huntable land.
