I put on a 55 lbs. pack last year for three days in the wilderness area.
3/4 of a mile from the main highway I parked on, I had some idiot hunter bugling in the middle of the afternoon. He just kept carrying on the whole time I was working up this 11,000' mountain to get to another basin. Dang it, was he a good bugler though.
I hunted for three days up there, 3 - 6 miles in, and saw one really nice bull, but couldn't get on him. On my way back over the ridge, I could hear this idiot again, down in the bottom right off the road.
It took me an hour to get down there, but right as I got to the bottom he started to come into my cow calls with the hoochie mama. I thought great I'll call in some dumb a$$ hunter right here by the road.
Next thing I see is two cows feeding off about 60 yards from me. I whipped on my face mask and nocked an arrow. Boom, out steps this beautiful 300 something 6x6 at 20 yards facing me.
I got drawn on him after 20 minutes or so, but he finally winded me as the down draft started right before dark as he was 4 steps from a perfect opening. He screamed at me the whole time he was standing there trying to see his cows come in.
The moral of the story? Elk are where you find them. Sometimes they are right next to the road. Other times you drive for 3 hours on rocky dusty roads, then hike in 3 miles and camp right in the middle of the herd.
Trust what you see for sign. If it's two weeks old, move on. If it's steaming fresh, hunt right where you find it.
This pic is after walking away from that bugger right down there.
Cheers,
Pete