It takes a couple of years to get to know an area but if nobody is killing elk there you should move on & start the process in a different place. I have buddies who hunted 10 years killed 2 elk in their spot. Got tired of hearing about me killing one every year & moved to the adjacent zone now they have one or more opportunities just about every season. Not talking about hard charging guys - very average effort & they all do better than 20%.
