oh... if youre not currently a hunter.. hunting elk will either kill your desire to ever hunt again, or will hook you for life.. there is no in between
they are NOT easy to hunt, and success rates are generally much, much lower than deer, hogs, and other large game.. you hunt them at altitude.. its cold.. the air is thin.. they are cautious.. etc.. its not uncommon to spend 3-4 days in a row freezing your butt off, covered in snow, plowing up and down a mountain between 9000-11000 feet above sea level.. and never see or hear a damn thing.. it takes special equipment (cold weather gear, wet weather gear, calls, etc..).. and it takes some skills that arent required on other hunts (you need to know how to call... which isnt nearly as easy as you might think...)..
but the first time you bugle, and a big 6x6 bull bugles back at you.. and then comes crashing through the woods straight at you 10 minutes later... you'll be hooked for life..
there is something particularly cool/fun/exhilarating about hunting animals that you have to talk to, and they have to talk back to you as part of the hunt..
I just spent last weekend chasing Rio Grande Turkeys in North Texas and called in a monster gobbler on the first afternoon I was out int he woods.. I never could get him to come in close enough for the shot.. but spent a full half hour "talking" to him, and had him strutting all over the field and acting like a damn fool before he finally got frustrated and moved on.. I didnt shoot a turkey last weekend.. but it was still a "successful" hunt in my book.. I managed to call one in (just couldnt get him inside 50 yards), and had a blast interacting with him and the probably 2 dozen hens I called in over the weekend... for me, pulling the trigger and filling the freezer is only 1 small component of "hunting".. being out in the woods and interacting with wildlife is a much bigger piece..
With animals like elk (and turkey) there is generally a lot more interaction than with deer, pigs, bears, etc.. where you largely set up an ambush over a food plot, water source, bedding area, etc.. and just wait for them to go where they normally go and do what they normally do... with elk you need to lure him into the ambush.. or do a "spot and stalk" which is a whole 'nother kind of hunt all together..