Elk hunting in Wyoming, Colorado and Northern NM is pretty good right now. I hunted elk from age 13 to 20 and only saw a few, then spent some time with some older hunters from Tennessee that had hunted the same place for years. They really taught me how to elk hunt. Killed my first bull at 21 with a 12g slug at 80 yards and sold the mount to pay for a semester of college.
In the last 30 years, I have killed 35 elk (41 if you count the three with the truck and the three I have put down that slob hunters wounded) in CO in several units. I scout the units in the summer and sometimes will go in archery season with a friend just for practice. But when I go to a new area, it takes a while to get used to it, see how they move in that area and get a good plan together. I have a few OTC bull tags unfilled learning new areas. While Deer and Pronghorn have a daily routine, Elk have routines measured in days, or even weeks. When I see an elk in a spot one day, good chance I won't see him there the next day. Most of my elk have been shot 1-2 miles away from a road, or more, and at ranges from 20 to 590 yards, from black timber to open parks where you can see 5 miles. Elk hunting is my absolute favorite thing to do with a gun, and for 30 years, elk meat has been the majority of the red meat we eat. But elk hunting takes time, and patience. Time in the unit to learn it, and patience to stick to your plan.
If you are set on elk, a guide or ranching for wildlife tag is the best bet unless you are going to commit to 3 or 4 years to put in the time and effort in one OTC unit. There are of course high success draw units, but those take 12-20 points to get drawn as an out of stater.
If I wanted to do a one time Western Hunt and was from the east, I'd look at South Dakota Mule Deer real hard.
