By July and August, it’s time to get boots on the ground and find where the elk are actually feeding and watering.
In dense timber and swamp bottoms — I spent years hunting country like this up in Washington State — I still use a simple trick with a spool of sewing thread. Tie sections of thread chest-high across active game trails. Deer and coyotes will usually pass right underneath without disturbing it, but a passing elk snaps the line, and the broken thread pushes in the direction the animal was traveling. It’s a cheap, low-tech way to confirm real elk movement versus other game.
Check multiple threaded trails alongside your onX Hunt water waypoints and fresh, dark droppings to build a real picture of herd movement. Then, before the morning opening ever arrives, practice your subtle cow chirps so you’re not fumbling with the call for the first time in the field.