So this happened to me opening morning and I wasn't sure what to do.
Opening morning of archery elk, I'm using a cow call. Now, I had never done ANY type of calling so I really didn't know what to do, other than the things I had seen on YouTube videos. Around 1100ish I call in a bull. He was 61 yards away, thru thick brush. I am comfortable to 40 yards so even if it was clear, I wouldn't have taken a shot. Well, he comes running up and STOPS. Puts his nose in the air....and I'm busted. He turns and hauls butt in the direction he came from.
I didn't know what to do. I have only been elk hunting for two years and I wasn't sure if I should get up and pursue, keep calling in hopes of him getting interested again, or just call it a day since I was busted.
I ended up calling for another hour or so, then I got up and went to a different location in the same general area. What hurt the most was this bull was the target bull. I had a lot of pictures of him on the trail camera and I was pretty bummed I wasn't able to pet him this year.