Eremicus
You sound like I was when starting to elk hunt. One difference is I had a friend who was an elk slayer. He showed me the ropes and the learning curve was shortened. I never was the hunter he was but I got better. One time we were hunting together and were driving a two track up a drainage. It had snowed about an inch during the night. We were on the road at about 2 pm. A lone elk track was seen crossing the road. He stopped the rig and started glassing the other side of the canyon. I was glassing also but after 20 or 30 minutes I stopped. He did not and a bit later said I found the bull that made those tracks. When told where to look and other help rock by rock I finally saw what he saw, part of one side of a 5 point rack but not the whole elk or even part of the elk. He had about 1 1/2 hour to climb that mountain side and kill the elk. Which he did. He came back out in the dark. That is how some kill elk while the rest of us stumble around and if we are lucky we also will kill some times. The elk hunters do it year after year.
Find the best hunter you can and pay him for some on the job training. He can show you the how but you must do the doing. The hardest work you will ever love.
