Your Move, Episode 2

[WapitiTalk1]

Hunting journal: Mid September; archery elk partner hunt in the Evergreen State; day 3 of your 7 day hunt; bull only tag (3 PT or better). You "were" the caller in a cold calling setup. You and your buddy had set up and went through an advertising sequence for a bit over 20 minutes... nothing. No response, no detected movement, nothing for 20ish minutes..... until you see a ninja bull moving pretty quickly past your buddy to the position he is now. You have an arrow nocked (of course you do) with your bow leaning against a tree within reach; it happened very quickly as so often times it does. The bull moved past your buddy too quickly for him/her to shoot. Red arrow is buddy (original shooter) at around 30 yards; yellow arrow is you (original caller) at a bit over 20 yards; white arrow is wind direction. It's mid morning.

Your move. What is this elk "team's" move to potentially get a shot?





Reminder that if you save the picture to your desktop and open in MS Paint, you'll be able to place a spot, X, or whatever on the critter before you save it back to a jpg and add the marked up pic with your post (if you decide to shoot).

[kentrek]

Left side of the red dot would be my choice I believe...yellow would be perfect if there wasn't bone there

pending on how alert the bull was i would consider waiting an see if I could get him to walk by me

[The scout]

sounds like the bull would be to alert to wait for the bull to make a move. kenetrek's red dot and that bulls not going 60 yds

[elk247]

Your busted! My partner would take the 30 yd shot. Perfect setup, broadside, tree blocking the bulls vision, wind not an issue. If i was calling I'd SLOWLY make sure my partner was about to let one fly. He has the better shot at the heart. If he can't make the move due to being busted, then I'd probably never get a chance to draw either. My job would be to provide a window of opportunity for him, take the bulls eyes off him if I can. A hoochie mew or another no-movement relaxing elk noise should do the trick. I figure a ninja bull on the move isn't going to stop and feed, or look away. This is a one chance sorta bull, he will be educated and call shy if this setup doesn't work. You could always hit him with the challange bugle when he slips out but I doubt he'd want to fight after not receiving the visual conformation he came for. This is a good one as always Phantom, I'll be following to see what everyone thinks will work.

[Karl Blanchard]

I'm waiting for him to move.  From where the yellow arrow is, he is quartering my way too much.  Tree looks to be blocking the vitals for my buddy.  If they aren't he is probably getting ready to send one.  He is searching for a cow, so as long as he doesn't see you and the wind doesn't change he is gonna give one of us an opportunity real soon.

 I'm getting my hand on my bow as soon as I can and will be ready to stop him and send one when he gives the opportunity.  Once he is past the shooter all bets are off.  Plus if he starts walking anymore, I will be in the line of fire so the shooter is out unless the bull goes a safe distance to the left or right.  Get an arrow in him.

[Todd_ID]

My buddy is a good enough elk hunter to know he has missed his chance and that he'll need to make some noise for me to get a chance.  There's a shot there if my buddy can rustle enough brush or thump the ground with his fist like hoof beats.  That turns the bull towards him or makes the bull take 2 more steps, and I can draw as his head goes behind either tree.

[WapitiTalk1]

Insightfull thoughts Todd-ID.  An elk hunting partner, particularly during calling situations, has to be "all in" to the overall mission and possess a degree of humility.  I've hunted with a few guys that seemingly went blank during these situations and forget that there are two hunters present (grin).  The original shooter has to react to a changing situation and change tactics accordingly, sometimes becoming the caller to either stop/slow the bull so the original caller may have a shot opportunity (divert the bull's attention with a nervous grunt, needy cow mew, "rustle brush/thump ground", etc.).  Don't sleep on having a few rocks handy to throw to draw an elk's attention away from the shooter.  Each encounter is different and partner's have to be aware of each other's position, shooting lanes, prevailing winds, etc., etc., and be ready to change situational tactics as the encounter requires. 

I know you folks probably know this.  There are oftentimes not a single best/correct answer for these situational threads.  I believe they serve their purpose by sparking some great situational discusison and potential courses of action that perhaps, folks can tuck away in their elk tool bags.  As always, thanks for participating. 

[coachcw]

well honestly If I where the caller my bow would be in my hand well before this point . as his head goes behind the tree I draw and he dies ....

[Jonathan_S]

I would never not have my bow in hand unless I was which I wouldn't be while calling.

I'd wait until he was less alert or had moved his head a bit.  I can draw and shoot in a few seconds and I don't mind if he catches some of my movement as long as I can get pins on him before he knows what I am.

Wind is advantageous and there are trees to blur his vision when he starts walking.  If he gets suspicious and heads out, you can probably stop him before he gets out of range. 

Shot placement:  red dot is a dead elk.