"Looking for green forage in the fall will certainly help you find elk," George said. "Not every place that has green will have elk, but it's a good place to start looking."

Later in the season, expect snows and frost to help the "green line" descend, pushing elk into lower elevations, including some of the region's agricultural fields.

One thing to keep in mind is the effect of hunting pressure on the elk herds located in this part of the state.

"Elk are more sensitive to pressure than deer are," George said. "Wherever the hunting pressure is, that probably has as much to do with their distribution as the forage, even during the archery season and the muzzleloader season."

So what's the bottom line for the 2006 wapiti hunting campaign in Colorado? Simple -- more of the same, as the golden years of Centennial State elk hunting continue on.

"We often talk about that," Watkins said. "These could very well be the good old days of elk hunting."