#1 Don?t look for an elk (or deer), if they are standing out in the wide open, you have probably already spotted them.
Look for an ear, or antler tip sticking up, or a leg under the lower limbs of a tree. Look for a tan patch that seem ?out of place?.
#2 Don?t just scan a hill side, mentally break it down into a grid with small enough sections that you can focus on them one at a time. Then, take your time going from section to section. Pick each section apart, look at every shadow, behind every bush or tree, under every overhang. Tell your self, ?There IS a 200 inch buck in THIS section, and keep looking at it until your convinced otherwise, then move on to the next.
#3 Good optics and a good, solid tri-pod are priceless. Eyestrain is your enemy.