I hunted there this fall in archery with a type 9 tag. I can't speak to the hunting experience during rifle season but would be happy to discuss the terrain, etc.
First time I've ever been tagged out for elk in a season. Cow1 was a week ago - beautiful day and my buddy and I got into a heard of about 75 elk with ~15 bulls/spikes. There were 3 bulls bugling at each other and 2 other bulls sparring - very fun to see the first of November! I harvested...
As a note, the early season shoulder season on August (at least in the HD I'm familiar with) was for private land only; however the shoulder season from 11/28-2/15 specifies "not valid on National Forest" so state land, BLM, private land, etc., are all valid hunting.