Krijack - honestly, I haven't hunted Observatory in September (I'm just getting into archery), so I really don't know what to expect. But your experience doesn't sound good! I know there are a lot of elk in 340 and 342, but maybe not that time of year? I will try to put in a couple weekends beforehand to see what I can find. For you other guys hunting Umtanum (or Manastash), let's trade scouting notes (and I'd greatly appreciate ideas of where I should start, since I haven't spent any September time up there and will be hunting solo). And I'll let you ML guys know what I find during the archery hunt. I will probably only hunt the opening weekend because my New Mexico hunt starts the following weekend and I'm taking that full week to hunt down there.