Wish i could help- we struck out on elk last fall in SW MT, elk were super pressured by the time we got there in mid Nov. like anywhere it would take a few years to learn the tricks of a new area- saw some dead elk in trucks but not ours. So funny after so many successful years of elk hunting western WA, then spend all the dough on MT tags i think we mighta got hopes too high, like it should be easy to find a big six point bull because we are in MONTANA ! awesome country and great trip however - maybe earlier towards the opener elk would be a better hunt,but then the deer arent rutting so...