The unit I hunt 1st season has 10,000 ft elevations. Always hear bulls, always!!
First bull I took in there (01) was bugling his head off the SECOND day of the season after I heard over 100 shots the first day. And while I was quartering him, another bull was going off a couple hundred yards downhill. In 06, we took 10 elk on the opener. While packing elk out on Sun AND Mon I heard bulls. Is this normal??? For there it is since it's happened all 3 times I've hunted the first season. Is it normal elsewhere??? I don't know.
If you see scrape/rubs where you normally hunt, they should be there 1st season. If not, go higher. Even when we had 12" of snow 2 days before the opener, the elk were still on their summer grounds when the season opened.
They tend to hang in aspens more before the shootin starts. Then they move into dark timber.