preparation is key, mentally and physically. Be prepared to hunt all day,everyday. you should be at your 1st glassing point prior to 1st light and return in the dark if necessary after putting your quarry to bed. Good headlamps are essential, I carry 2 rather than extra batteries. Sitting around a campfire is rare for me, I usually return to camp well after dark, eat a mountainhouse then to bed w/ a 0400 wakeup.
Practice hunt a few times. Spend several days consecutively on your feet in the gear you plan on using and prove the efficacy of each item. Practice w/ your binos, range finder, wind dust so you aren't learning when you should be hunting, dry fire every day.
Decide if you are going hunting or on a camping trip, mountain hunting during rifle season in a popular area takes a lot of work or a lot of luck.
Never leave camp w/o a rainjacket, survival gear and enough calories to keep you going 24 hours. If you are ready hunting in the mountains is the greatest fun of all, if you kill something it is a bonus.
To sustain yourself at altitude drink a full gallon of water daily and supplement your electrolytes.
Your 1st Elkhunt will probably doom you to repeat it annually, have fun and become an expert navigator.
mike r
All good advice...I would add PATIENCE! We have had times when the morning brought zero and rather than hike back and forth we just holed up and waited for evening and as Mike said, walked out in the dark many a time.
The other thing I would add is to stick to cover as much as possible, dont expose yourself....the hunters scanning a gorgeous vista may look good on a magazine cover, but it'll give you away in real life.
Dont go out in the open...ever....dont go out into the sunlight, stay in the shadows. The elk may not see you but plenty of other critters will, and they understand each other.
Oh...and everything Scenarshooter said...
