For me and my son, it depends on the tag we draw. That said, we generally only apply in units where we can hunt big bulls. We don't draw often but when we do, we generally have great elk hunts. On my sons last elk hunt, four years ago, he passed up a 361" bull at 38 yards on opening day. I thought he was crazy but it was his tag. He also passed up a 7x7 bull and some other good bulls that day. We hunted some more and he eventually killed the exact same 361" bull he passed opening day.
On the elk tags we're still trying to draw, on most of them we won't kill a bull unless he's pretty damn good, 340-360", depending on the state/unit. When I draw AZ in a few years (I'm sitting on 20 points), I'll probably come home with my tag unless I can kill a bull bigger than my biggest to date, so I'll be hunting for something in the 390's or bigger. Yes, I know, some guys think I'm nuckin futs. I might be.
However, there are other tags we may draw where the bar will be lower and any bull over 300" gets shot. Again, it depends on the state and tag. This year, I did something I've never done before. I applied for a cow elk tag in Nevada and drew. I did this for 3 reasons; I wanted to learn the unit for hunting big bucks, it's during the rut and I love September elk hunting and finally, I'm almost out of elk meat. Should be a fun hunt as I'll get to see some big bulls (and bucks too, hopefully) and come home with some delicious elk meat.
Like I said at the beginning, it all depends on the tag we draw.