RE: Valle Vidal
I drew an elk tag in the Valle Vidal a number of years ago and took a 320 6x6. My hunt was in October and the night before the open there was a ten inch snowfall. The next morning the bulls were bugling like crazy, but I never was able to get in on one bull with a particularly deep chuckle who never would come out of the dark timber. I did pass on 50 yard shot on a 280 class 6x6.
The next day warmed up and all elk activity simply shut down. For the next three days I saw no more than four to six elk a day, and nothing of consequence. This hardily seemed like a "once in a lifetime" type experience. The elk were feeding at night and retiring into the timber right at daybreak. The landscape was very dry and most attempts at putting on a sneak in the timber was like walking on corn flakes.
On the fifth day, I was fortunate to locate a nice herd of cows and bulls hiding out in a small, obscure island of timber in the middle of an expansive valley and took the biggest bull of the group, which turned out to be the largest bull I saw during the week.
The Valle Vidal is outstanding elk country and you could see lots of bulls (I did during an August scouting trip), but like all elk hunting, activity is weather dependent and if the temperatures turn warm, you might have to hunt hard to locate a quality bull. I felt that I put in a strong effort, but never found anything close to a 350+ bull. I felt fortunate to take the 320 6x6, which is my only bull elk to date. He now resides happily over my fireplace mantle.
Good luck in the Valle Vidal.