First elk hunt

Not sure where to start with this, as it seems a bit overwhelming to try to sift through all the info on western hunting, but bottom line is that myself and two buddies are looking to do an elk hunt in 3-5 years and want to start planning now. Being a farmer really limits me for when i can hunt, because it rules out the second half of September and all of October. We are leaning towards a November rifle hunt but are open to the idea of an early season archery hunt. We are looking for more of an opportunity hunt than a trophy hunt since none of us have killed a bull elk yet and we would love to come home with some meat. So im looking for input on what state you would reccomend, knowing we could start now and build some preference points for the next few years.

Based on the info you provided, depending on what State you want to hunt, you might not need preference points. (?) Here in Colorado, only the 1st season rifle is a Statewide draw tag. For the most part, the majority of game units have over the counter license sales. If you should decide to hunt a November season, you may want to be mindful in your planning how the weather may throw you a curve ball, with snow in the high country that makes it hard to get around. (however snow can make for good hunting too). Here in Southern Colorado, most of the time the weather for Elk seasons is quite doable, however the later seasons definitely have less hours of shooting light too. If I were you, and investing the money to hunt out of State, I'd consider focusing on hunting Cows, as your success rate is likely to be higher, and you have every thing but antlers there.

Im actually heading out on a cow hunt this year is SW Wyoming with my brother in law that lives in Green river, and one of the other guys going on the trip has taken a Colorado cow with his bow. With this in mind i think we will be leaning towards a bull hunt, but this brings up what may be a stupid question... are there any states or units where you can have an either sex elk tag? I know this is very common with deer but i have no experience with elk in this regard.