With all the brown growlies in that state, I'd think there was lots of elk, especially around the SW part. They seem to keep chewing on all the elk hunters - thinning out the competition I suppose.
I even saw MT F&G put out a statement this year saying "expect to see bears". As much as I love MT, I stay away from elk hunting much of the western half for that reason. I cant imagine running into one in tbe dark. I've been too close to several, one with 2 cubs and I'm not a fan of those encounters. They are certainly to be "respected", mostly from a goodly distance. I feel like hunting in dense grizzly country is simply an odds game - given enough exposure, you're going to have a run in. In the end, I'm not afraid of grizzly's, I'm just really afraid of them