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So...there are so many different kinds of elk hunts that certain things may be important during one season, and almost irrelevant during another. 10 day backpack archery hunts demand different things than November rifle hunts. I've been to an awful lot of funerals for elk in my life, from August to January and 400 to 10,000 ft., and my advice would be this; 1.) Understand elk behaviorUnderstanding where elk want to be when the weather is X, the hunting pressure is Y, the terrain is Z, etc. is really the paramount thing a hunter needs to know to consistently kill elk. Once you really know elk behavior, someone can drop you off anywhere from New Mexico to Montana to Nevada and you can quickly solve the puzzle. Everything else you mention revolves around this point, and while you can learn quite a bit from reading and talking to other people, experience will be your best teacher.2.) Familiarity/experience in the hunting areaI know people who can consistently kill elk in certain areas because they've learned a spot, but because they don't hunt different places much if at all they haven't connected the dots.3a, b, c, d, e...) pre hunt planning, physical fitness, ability to shoot, calling ability, etc. all have there place and importance depending on what type of hunt you are doing, but number 1 is the key. No matter how good you are at the rest of it, you can't kill an elk you can't find.
Roll out 2 hrs before legal light, hunt all day, come back way after dark, repeat till done.