My personal preference for hunting SW Washington (and this isn't just the coast) is to go in behind locked gates on logging roads and get up high then bugle down into draws/drainages with a locater bugle. When I hear an elk I try to get in close and talk him in with bugles or cow calls depending upon his mood. It is also possible to spot and stalk in clear cuts or along logging roads as long as you see them before they see you. Clear cuts can be tough because they are so noisy. If you know elk are feeding down from timber up above you can wait in ambush. I have never actually had it come together with this last approach for various reasons, but have had many close calls.
I have had more than one game bio suggest coming in by boat to areas that are hard for other hunters to get to and then tie up and hunt on foot. I haven't tried this technique, but it sounds promising.
