I live in WV but I hunt in Colorado and their is no comparison to how much more wiley and alert the WV whitetails are versus Elk and mule deer on public land, open permit areas of national Forest in CO. SO I so strongly disagree with the opinion they pick up on you quicker. I matter of factly know better than that. I have called in quite a few now and as long as I stand still not in the open Elk go about their businesss. A whitetail deer in WV does not do that. They pick you out everytime if you so much as breath on the ground and then they vacate the area.
I am unsure about Elk pin pointing better, as they are good to be able to tell where you are at but so are whitetails when you call or move or anything else. I seriously doubt their hearing is better than a whitetails though. But once again their hearing does not matter as if you stand still out of the open parks, they just forget about you and go about their business. i am in no way insinuating they are dumb, but they are pushovers when comparing the two.
Honestly, stay in the shade when possible, stay still when they are looking at you, stay down wind, and stand against or behind something and you will kill your elk. They will not pick you out like eastern whitetails. And if the do, jst stand still, they will forget about you soon enough. If they do get bugered just chirp at them, they have stopped everytime for me as long as they did not smell me. Something else a whitetail will not do here. Motionless or not, Whitetails in WV pick you out than they run away whether they smell you or not.
Be aggressive if need be. They are wary animals as we hunt them durning muzzleloader and right after with bows and we have always killed at least 50 percent per trip and once 5 of seven brought them home. But we have fiured out that they go about their business if their is no one pushing them. A whitetail will bed and stay that way until complete darkness naturally, muchless if they see pressure like the unit we hunt in Colorado. One thing for sure is elk are very condusive for ground hunting and calling. They really do let you get away with quite a bit compared to the deer you hunt.
Get in shape, and get close. You'll be amazed at what you can get away with versus the Whitetail, ecspecially the eastern whitetail. Don't know what the deer in Missouri, Washington, or Arizona are like, but in my opinion and expierence, Eastern Whiteails are the most alert and wary game animal I have ever been around. God BLess