I had the tag last year and got some good advice, which was to pick a few spots, hunt them and don't worry about what people are seeing elsewhere. The fun thing was that when you found elk there was often a good 300ish bull with them, as opposed to a raggy younger herd bull, as often happens in more heavily hunted areas. I had private land access and saw big bulls, and was close to big bulls but a lot of the alfalfa field type hunting is a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
In the end I shot a nice bull toward the end of September certainly my biggest elk, but not the 350 bulls some people shoot. It was a great experience and I would urge you to enjoy it. Many, many people eat that tag, which is ok too, but set realistic expectations and have fun. I shot my bull about a half mile from the road about ten miles from any private land and I honestly think that there is great hunting on public and block management and the private land is not that helpful. So drive around and hike a bit this summer and go hunting, it's great.
