Phelps/Hunt-Wa Elk Hunting Q&A

[JPhelps]

Ok I have two questions.
1. Which way do you think is best for elk hunting? Tree stand, blind, or just sittin in the woods.
2. What kind of calls should I use for each season? And would a rattling call work on elk??

1)I'm a locate/ambush/caller. It may not always be the best but it is almost always exciting.  Tree stand and blind can be very effective if in the right spot. Sitting in the woods most likely won't produce very good results.

2) From about August 25th to October 15th I would use my normal calling tactics. Locating, moving in and using cow/bull sounds to call them into range.  We use a lot of stomping, breaking sticks and raking trees in our setups.

[growler]

Good call on the commander. Picked one up yesterday and was able to make some pretty respectable cow sounds in short order. Got the small frame and bent it just a little to fit the roof of my mouth a little better. By this afternoon I had elk following my truck as I drove down the road. Single reed is much easier for me to use than the double reed ones I have been trying. I figure I only need to make one good sound at the right moment to stop one before I send that arrow out. Got pictures today of a jaw dropper 7x8 on a trail cam.

[JPhelps]

Good call on the commander. Picked one up yesterday and was able to make some pretty respectable cow sounds in short order. Got the small frame and bent it just a little to fit the roof of my mouth a little better. By this afternoon I had elk following my truck as I drove down the road. Single reed is much easier for me to use than the double reed ones I have been trying. I figure I only need to make one good sound at the right moment to stop one before I send that arrow out. Got pictures today of a jaw dropper 7x8 on a trail cam.

Awesome!!!! Just be careful that if you bend them too much you will lose the reed tension but can usually get it back by flattening it back out.

[nastybynature]

Good call on the commander. Picked one up yesterday and was able to make some pretty respectable cow sounds in short order. Got the small frame and bent it just a little to fit the roof of my mouth a little better. By this afternoon I had elk following my truck as I drove down the road. Single reed is much easier for me to use than the double reed ones I have been trying. I figure I only need to make one good sound at the right moment to stop one before I send that arrow out. Got pictures today of a jaw dropper 7x8 on a trail cam.

Where did you pick one up? Thought they had to be ordered online? Thinking about getting one for my son and I to start practicing with for next year on our first attempt at bow hunting.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[growler]

Local hardware store in Elma has 4-5 different Phelps mouth calls

[nastybynature]

Local hardware store in Elma has 4-5 different Phelps mouth calls

Good to know! Thanks!

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[wt]

Hi Jayson,
We're getting pretty close to go  time and I've been practicing my cow and bull sounds with the mouth reeds for a while. I'm struggling with a problem, I've never seemed to iron out my ending wether  making cow or bull sounds. I seam to either fade away to long or stop to abruptly. Any insite you could share would be appreciated, I feel like I'm just practicing error on that part of my calling.
Thanks, wt

[JPhelps]

Hi Jayson,
We're getting pretty close to go  time and I've been practicing my cow and bull sounds with the mouth reeds for a while. I'm struggling with a problem, I've never seemed to iron out my ending wether  making cow or bull sounds. I seam to either fade away to long or stop to abruptly. Any insite you could share would be appreciated, I feel like I'm just practicing error on that part of my calling.
Thanks, wt

Your calls should only use a certain amount of air and come from the chest.  So when I decide I want to end a call, I think about the chest stopping the delivery of air to my mouth and now I've got a little volume to to taper off or finish the call.

On cow calls I use a "hard stop" to finish the call.
On bugles I tend to feather/transition out a little.

[wt]

Thank you, I'll give that a try.
wt

[Muleyman27]

Hey Jason I am brand new to elk hunting never blown a call never been before I am going to go this year and will only have a spike only option. It will be  oct 31- nov 8 what would u suggest for a call I am thinking cow call? What do u think

[JPhelps]

Hey Jason I am brand new to elk hunting never blown a call never been before I am going to go this year and will only have a spike only option. It will be  oct 31- nov 8 what would u suggest for a call I am thinking cow call? What do u think

During that time of year I use calls to stop or settle a herd but have never had good luck calling elk in (it has happened but based on the numbers more bad happens then good).  I would probably just use my EZEstrus external cow call.

[Feelin Hornady]

Jason,

Thanks for all the good info you have shared on here. Couple questions for you if you would be so kind to help me out:
1. I found a really good game trail and got some trail cam pics of cows and calves moving thru just about every day in morning and evening. But, they always seem to be moving in the same direction. Do elk make loops? Just trying to figure out why they go one way and never come back as it's different groups of elk each time.
2. From the above situation, all the elk I've caught on camera (10 or so each day moving thru over the course of 2 weeks), I only saw one bull and it was a small spike. THis was from 7/25 thru 8/6. Do you think the mature bulls will move in closer to September and I should put my cam back out? I am hunting westside archery in the cascades...These are NOT coastal elk.

Thanks,
Hornady

[JPhelps]

Some make loops, some retrace their steps back and forth and some do whatever they want  . What's most important is that they are there.

Don't worry...the Bulls will find the cows when it is time. Typical behavior is for the herd Bulls to move towards the cows.

[Speyrod1]

Jason,

I will be hunting the west side this year.  With this year being so dry, do you think that will have an effect on the bugling?  I have heard the bugling/rut is dependent on the available daylight.  Just wondering if the rep rod areas will still hold elk with it being dry and hot.  Your thoughts?  Thanks.

[MLhunter1]

Jason,  I drew a observatory archery bull tag.  Got an area I get into that is remote as it can be with that tag. It's opening morning on the 12th and you have a large chunk of land to yourself that you know holds several quality bulls.  What's your plan of attack.  Do you start a calling sequence first or would you tip toe down elk trails calling every so often looking for a response?  Let's say you get a response but your hunting by yourself.  How do you get that elk to come in close enough without having a caller setup behind you aways?  Ordered a bugle and a cow call from you and I'm feeling pretty good with them.  As far as cow calling goes is it best to pack a few different ones to sound like different elk or just stick with the one I feel best with?  Thanks.