Cody, early season scouting and setting up trail cams for the late hunt is a monumental waste of time other than the obvious being on the mtn is good part. This hunt is totally dictated by the weather. Done it 5 times(have hunted manti for 38 yrs). Your best bet would be to scout AREAS (wont be elk there now) in the transition from high country to low. If you get lucky and its a nice fall, you might hunt the high country, but generally your not gonna so you need to know where to catch them on the move to low ground. One of the really bad years we hunted it we ended up over in spring city at the cemetery watching 50+ bulls hang out on the only tiny piece of land that we couldn't get permission to hunt. I have a few other "secrets" (its one of the most used units in the state so there aren't secrets) that I can give you if you wanna PM me. I primarily hunt from Six Mile to Ephraim. Last bit of advice to those who don't frequent the place. The mud on the manti is GAWD AWFUL. If you leave it on your rigs it will strip paint and turn you tires blue. Second, CHAIN UP. There is a lot of access, but don't think about not chaining, there isn't rock in the road its is just grease mud. THIRD, take the week. You can really have a great time, its a wonderful unit, if you don't find elk, move a drainage or canyon. On any given day you might start in Manti and end up in Mt. Pleasant. Last, we "camped" at Palisade Golf course one year, and Temple Hills in Manti(used to be Yogi Bear) in Manti two others. I know I am admitting I'm a pretty, pretty, girl, but it was nice coming back to my nice warm trailer with access to a nice warm shower, with tons of power to generate my heater all night. I love this hunt, congrats!!
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"
