How many times?

[Dr. Death]

So the question is, how many times have you been calling elk and had one come in without a sound or undetected?

For instance this year opening day, first light we saw a bull about 500 yards away in a clearcut standing on the road we were on. I said why not, lets give it a try and start cow calling. My partner starts calling and the bull looks our way, I then join in and he starts coming. My partner backs over the bank away from the bull and I climb up a bank that overlooks the road. We continue to call and he comes in on a rope never making a sound, I loose sight of him, but can hear his hooves clicking on the gravel road. I hear him getting closer and pull back, he then comes around the corner and I smoke him at 18 yards. Made me wonder how many times I've been calling and never knew a elk was there, as this elk came in without making a peep and very fast. I've also them come in silent and heard twigs snap or have actually saw them prior to them seeing me, but I have also moved not knowing one was there and watched in disbelief as he ran off after seeing me first...

How about you?

[pendoreilleadventures]

I have messed up a lot of times during the early season with elk coming in silent. I always wait at a minimum of 45 min to an hour on each of my calling setups during the early season because I have got up and took two steps and been busted at least 6 times over the years.

[bucklucky]

How many silent bulls have I called in .... thats a tough one. A bunch I can tell you that . Thing is its usually about the time Im ready to move on is when I see them sneaking in. Some I have busted, some I cought after I was moving in closer , others came smoking in on a dead run but silent as in no bugling, some came  silent  and started racking trees.

[wildmanoutdoors]

I had one coming in a couple years ago. I watched and watched as he got closer. Never thinking to look behind me. 

I thought BIGFOOT had finally got me! Scared the crap out of me when he busted. 

[kentrek]

seems like a typical day goes pretty much like this..

set up on herd bull..play cat an mouse with the herd bull...some time through out the day i almost always have a sneeky rag come up behind us with out a noise..almost always busts us since where set up for the herd bull

this year i only had three days to hunt and i forgot about the big bulls and focused on the small guys..shoulda killed two bulls and both came in sneaky..one bull busted us before we seen him (thick stuff) and one bull dodged an arrow (tree limb)

i think majority of bulls called in quietly more times than not 

[slim9300]

How many silent bulls have I called in .... thats a tough one. A bunch I can tell you that . Thing is its usually about the time Im ready to move on is when I see them sneaking in. Some I have busted, some I cought after I was moving in closer , others came smoking in on a dead run but silent as in no bugling, some came  silent  and started racking trees.

This. ^^^


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[bullcrazy]

More than not that's for damn sure.

[coachcw]

this happens often on pre rut bulls .they will come in in the first five minutes or take 20-30. stay put for fourty min then move asfar as your  calls carried mmaybe 300-400 yards depending on the terran . Jim Horn jr. has a good tape on this.

[h2ofowlr]

A lot.  I had several do this, this season alone.  Find one of my good spots, do my calling sequence and then get impatient instead of waiting and then I get the snort, bark, etc. and I see them go blowing out.  I had a bull I was working in and had him at 40 yards, but had some vine maple in between him and I.  I went to move slowly and as I turned my head I had a spike staring at me from behind at about 8 yards.  Not sure who spoked first on that one.  He totally caught me off guard.

Worst case is when you start a calling sequence and you can see the bull coming then you hear noise from another side and see hunter also coming into your call.  Unfortuantely in that situation the bull is usually smarter and picks up on the movement below as the guys are trying to do a spot and stock and I'm the one camoed out and not moving.   

[huntnnw]

every year..but its hard for them to approach undetected in N ID or NE WA its so thick that it usually sounds like a logging truck coming thru the timber

[LBES]

I'd say more come in quiet than the ones I've had come in talking. Once I called four bulls in a 24 hour period, only 1 had a chuckle, but that was it. Usually, it's the raghorn pair that come in quite for me - happened two years in a row! SUper frustrating when calling into the jack fir. You know they're in there, but they just don't make a sound. I called in two raghorns one year and was very close to killing a 3 point, BUT - a bigger bull bugled in the jack fir so I waited 45 minutes and ended up calling him in to 20 yards. SOOOOO frustrating... I'm not sure if it's hunting pressure, or if it's the fact that they're raghorns, etc. I've got a four point only because I heard ONE branch snap about 100 yards off after I called. If it were windy, I would have never heard it and likely would have walked off in search of elk that wanted to talk.