Good for you man! I've done 3 hunts all DIY and killed one 6 x 6. I had opportunities at bulls every hunt and I've missed two (I know, I know). I've passed a dink bull each of the last two trips. I know a lot gets made of the success rates and all, but honestly, I may have been fortunate thus far but I actually think they are sorta kinda easy to hunt. Sure the mountains beat you down, but I find elk themselves aren't terribly hard to hunt once you find them. If you put the time in I think you'll do ok.
Be prepared to be hooked. If I lived 1/2 way closer I would no doubt hunt every year. The logistics and drive are just a killer from here.
It's physically brutal. I'm not out of shape, really, but I'm not much of an endurance athlete either. More of a quick-twitch guy. It's the grind that beats me down. Take lots of leuko tape and hit those hotspots as soon as you start feeling them.
As far as hunting them, there's a crap ton of internet wisdom out there these days and 7,937 youtube experts. Like anything else there a billion different styles to hunt them and really the experts all just know and pimp their own style. If I had to boil it down into a few things from my style:
Find them. Actually find them and cover ground until you do. Imo that is the big key to elk hunting. See, hear, smell actual elk and you are in business. Elk sign if not hours fresh means virtually nothing, you see good elk sign, those elk might be 10 miles away. Find them, then slow down and hunt just like you know how. Get out in front of them. Finding that proper pace to make your play is everything. You can't run down a herd of elk and when you find them you don't want to blow them to Utah. They cover country in a scope whitetails can't begin to touch.
When you decide to shoot your shot and make your play, dangit be aggressive. Wind is everything, they smell you they are long gone. But beyond that there is nothing subtle about proper elk hunting. They are loud. They stink. They don't see you or pick up movement, especially at a distance, nearly as well as whitetails do. As long as you don't get smelled you can really go at them pretty hard, you don't have to tiptoe around too much.
Not sure what your planned calling strategy is. The bull I shot I bugled in on a string. We've had a lot of bulls hang up doing that. I've just flat out ambushed a few. I've never cow called a bull in. The separated caller/shooter can work, but with elk you want to be responsive and you have to make sure that separation doesn't hinder your aggressiveness and cause you to lose your play.
I could go on all night. I'm dying not to go for the 3rd year in a row. Here's a little memoir I wrote of the bull I shot in '16 if you are interested in some material to get jazzed up.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByglXa-yGmcbcy1qTVJLMVR6bXM/view?usp=sharing
