Bmedin,
Fist thing I would do is look to acquire elk preference points various states. Generally you have to give them money for those PP's but even a couple elk PP's gets a lot better chance to draw a cow or even a bull tag that has greater chance of killing one.

For Colorado, get a 2022 Big Game brochure if you can. The 2023 Brochure usually doesn't come out until a month or so before the big game draw deadline and then you have time constraints to deal with. The Big Game brochure is also online.

Then go here and take a look at the PP requirements for a tag for each hunt code. https://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics.aspx

Some units still take zero PP's to draw a cow tag. Sometimes it's because the elk aren't around there during that time of year. In Colorado altitude is sometimes important because it's too high for elk by the time rifle seasons roll around. Expecially because the 2md, 3rd, and 4th rifle seasons are now two weeks later then they used to be.

Casey

Not being married to any particular political party sure makes it a lot easier to look at the world more objectively...
Having said that, MAGA.