getting away from "ORANGE" is really not that difficult in my experience,it DOES require a bit of careful research. but hunting the areas that the vast majority of that "ORANGE" avoids like the PLAGUE may be, difficult for someone whose not familiar with it.keep in mind the areas lightly hunted are AVOIDED for a good reason and 90% plus of the time its been due in my opinion a big reluctance to hunt areas that WILL BE RATHER difficult to get to without getting wet, or working on steep terrain, damn few guys want to back pack elk meat out of some steep canyon, or wade belt deep in ice water.

the green dots indicate areas Ive hunted, the key if finding a topo map , getting out a few fairly recent satellite photos and getting the land ownership, BLM, and forest service boundry maps and looking for steep well wooded areas that will REQUIRE you to WADE ACROSS A STREAM or CLIMB DOWN OR UP OVER A STEEP SLOPE FOR ACCESS,larger areas virtually surrounded by private land, and requiring you to wade a creek or climb for access are usually lightly hunted, especially if theres no decent areas near by to park a truck, which virtually mandates you are forced to be dropped off and picked up.
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http://www.mytopo.com/maps/index.cfm
https://www.google.com/earth/
THIS IS A PICTURE OF ONE OF SEVERAL OF THE AREA,S I HUNT FREQUENTLY FOR ELK
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ELK tend to cluster where the hunting pressure is lower and where the timber provides cover and theres access to water, so look for those factors and in most cases DISTANCE from roads MAY NOT be a huge factor, but no place to park a truck and a darn hard climb will.AREAS THAT LOOK LIKE THIS generally don,t have a great deal of foot traffic
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why would I tell everyone the SECRET??
well Ive taken a few dozen guys along on elk hunt back-pack trips and theres been few members of my elk hunt club that have a masochistic streak like I do, so very few do this as it takes EFFORT there for I,m not all that worried I'll be flooded with competition, in fact many years Ive had guys give up and walk back to hunt near the truck after just looking over the destination up close! I'm 67 years old , I'm not in top physical condition, but I plod along and I don,t get discouraged if I have to lean against a tree to catch my breath at 7000-11000 feet altitude every 50 feet I travel,or it takes me 3 hours to get 1.5 miles into steep canyons.
yeah! set in my ways but Ive been successful most years