Close encounters of the elky kind...

[steeliedrew]

Me and addicted2hunting hit the woods this weekend in search of elk. Saturday we climbed way up on this ridge and were just still-hunting along an over grown skid road that bordered an older reprod patch. We had just passed an extremely fresh rub on an alder. Bark shavings still all over the ground. We decided to take a seat and drink some water. Brandon aka addicted2hunting lets out a few soft cow calls for the hell of it and immediately we had something big breaking branches and coming closer. with every cow call it broke more branches as it came our way. Wind was perfect but then it just went quiet and walked off slowly.

We knew we were on em at that point and kept hunting up the along the overgrown road. We decided we should find a place to set up camp and then set up for an evening calling session in the reprod. We were on a mission now to set up camp so we had stopped still-hunting and were walking at a normal pace and not being quiet. all of a sudden about 30 yards in front of us, just out of sight around a corner we hear a stick snap and we hear large animals run up hill and down hill. I look at Brandon and say, it's probly a few cows that we jumped.

At this point we can hear the one that went downhill tearing through trees and bushes. Brandon lets out a cow call. Turns out it was a bull with cows that we had split up. In repsponse to Brandon's cow call the bull fired back with a lip bawl. So then Brandon bugled back and so did the bull with another lip bawl. the bull went back and forth with Brandon a few times and then went quiet. we then let out a few more cow calls but he was still silent and we never got him to get closer.

I'm wondering, if you all were in that situation what would you have done? Got agressive and snuck into the timber he went into? not bugled at all even though we split him from some cows?

Even though we didn't put it all together on him it was still the coolest experience I've ever been apart of. Actually hearing a bull bugling at you in close proximity is something to behold!!! Needless to say, I'm hooked for life now.

Please let us know what you guys would have done. We are just a couple rookie elk hunters hoping to learn from this experience.

Thank you,

Drew

[hntrspud]

I am by no means an expert, but would a challenge bugle and raking a tree work?

[steeliedrew]

Oh that reminds me. We did rake a tree a bit.

[addicted2hunting]

It was a blast for sure! I did some bugles and one of them was just a chuckle.

[steeliedrew]

here's a pic of me standing by a fresh rub. We saw so many rubs like this over the weekend that it became no big deal anymore. Haha. wish we had cooler weather to really get em fired up though. They were there!

[PlateauNDN]

Oh that reminds me. We did rake a tree a bit.

   act like a bull break brsnches thrash trees snort and sit ba ck  and enjiy the shiw and stick'em.

[steeliedrew]

Also I should add that the bull's bugles were pretty subtle. He was fired up and pissed that we got in the middle of him and his cows but he wasn't absolutely screaming. I'm guessing this could be due to the fact it was about 90 degrees on Saturday.