Experience really helps, and it sounds like you are gaining some valuable experience! Finding elk is the biggest challenge.
I think being in reasonable shape is one of the biggest things you can do to improve your chances. You need to be able to cover some ground to find the elk in the first place.
Once you are on them the fun begins. Each situation is different, but it does seem that you need to be fairly aggressive and make something happen. I've found the DVD's and Playbook sold by Elknut productions to have some solid information on how to handle the close encounters.