Roosevelt Question

[colockumelk]

I have never hunted Roosevelts and don't know anything about them.  For you West Side guys here's my question.  I have heard the Roosevelts are alot more call shy and are alot harder to call in than Rocky Mountain elk and arent nearly as aggressive during the rut as their Rocky cousins are.  Such as constant bugling etc and being super aggressive with rounding up cows. I guess this is sort of like the difference in aggressivness between Mule Deer and the White Tails during the rut.  One is sort of lax and the other is super aggressive.  Like I said I know nothing about Roosevelt elk and have never hunted them I was just wondering what your thoughts are on that.  Thank you.   

[vfilbert]

i have hunted both, and as far as i can tell they are both equally active in the bugle depending on weather and the particular timing wether late or early, thats just my experience, i have killed bulls on the west side but never on the east, no large factors involved just happend to connect with roosevelts in the rut. check out this website angryspike.com it shows very aggresive roosevelts in the bugle. hope that helped

[colockumelk]

Thanks yeah it helped.  Like I said I wasn't trying to say "My elk are better than your elk" kind of thing.  I just read that somewhere and since I didn't know who better to ask than the experts, the ones who hunt them every year.

[WAPITIHUNTER]

I have hunted the wet side for roosies now 17 years and have had some crazy encounters with some messed up Bulls. They will get absolutley fired up.

Two years ago in the early hunt I stated calling in the evening over behind my place. It took about 15 min's to get a response but then it got psycho. He let out a single bugle from about 1/4 mile away. I let out some cow calls and a high pitched squealy bugle. Then he got fired up and was running in. Three long bugles all in a row. So I called some more. Then he really got nuts. He came crashing through the thick brush bugling and then he got angry. He let out all this grunting and growls real deep down in the gut and started trampling around thrashing his antlers in some bushes. All I could think was HOLY CRAP! He then came right up the trail to 35 yards and pinned me. He would not turn for the shot. Oh well.

[WAPITIHUNTER]

That was on a Monday. The Friday following that I was up at Elbe and we were hunting this piece of private ground. We got there in the evening about 45 minutes before dark and got set up on the field to wait for the elk to filter in. All the sudden it sounded like a chorus had started singing. There were three different bulls all bugling away and they were all moving toward the field. Then the property owners sister caused a ruckus and kicked us out of the field. I could hear the bulls turn and head away.

I knew we had to run them down so I grabbed my partner and boogied up into the clearcut after the closest bull. I was half running because we were running out of light. I peaked over the hill and there he was, head down and heading straight for the dark timber. I called to him a couple times and got nothing, he just kept slowly picking his way along. I am sitting there asking myself what it was going to take to turn this bull around when, with his head down he lets out this short deep growly bugle. That was my Que. I grabbed my bugle and copied it Perfectly.

It worked cause he was coming on a Beeline. He never even looked up once. He just dropped his head and was coming. I looked over and my buddy and told him to get ready cause he was coming in.

Before I finish I will admit that I had been messing with my peep in the field and it turned in the string so I could not see through it. That was the stupidest thing I think I have ever done. I thought to myself " you big dumby now you are going to have to shoot one without your peep."

Well the bull came all the way from 150 yards to my left side and stood at 30 yards broadside. I drew my bow as he was still coming in and when he stopped I looked back and forth around my turned peep lined up the shot and cut one loose. Twang..........swoosh. My arrow blew right through him.

I start calling to settle him down and one of the other bulls comes running right up to 40 yards. My buddie ended up getting a shot off but shot right over his back.

Came back in the morning and trailed the bull 150 yards and recovered him.

Here he is. You have all seen him before so no big surprise. They do respond very well to calling on the wet side!

[colockumelk]

Then the author of that was an idiot. I will believe you guys over a guy who probably hunted them once and decided he was an expert at it so he should write an article on it.  Thanks for clearing that up.  I figured it was BS that's why I asked you guys the real scoop.  Wapati that was a really cool story.  You might change my mind about the east side yet.  Nice kill. 

[Alan K]

Where I hunt them at there aren't all that many big bulls.  A lot of time it's a small bull running the herds, and you have to be careful not to over do it.  If you sound too big a lot of times they take their cows and run!

[sportsman002001]

This is my bull from 07 and he was with 4 other bulls and they were all fired up bugling and thrashing brush.  Got dark and came back the next moring and got on top of them and bugled once to loacate and threw in some estrus calls and they got fired up again thrashing brush and trees.  Moved in within about 60 yards and grunted at this bull and he came running to within 5 yards for a shot.  I think it is just hitting the rut at the right time.  Also I believe they may rutting hard in one area and not so much in another.  That is just what I have found out.  Good hunting in 09 to all.

[WAPITIHUNTER]

Outstanding job there Sportsman and beautiful bull.

[heavy hauler]

i think on the west side the elk may be a little more "educated". i know alot of people have AND use a hoochie mama and call constantly.after just a few encounters the elk shut up for good.plus tons of hunters in a small area = tons of calling and quiet elk.  i am sure the eastside elk clam up also once the woods fill up with people.

[sportsman002001]

wapitihunter thanks for the comment and the same goes to you nice bull and great work. As heavy hauler states the elk are a little more educated here on the west side and that is very true.  I try to get in areas that have very little pressure and do not call at all until I find some elk and sit and watch and see what kind of mood they are in.  If other hunter put their calls away and let the elk tell you what they want I think you would a difference in their action.  I use to call alot and the last 3 years I put the calls away and just watch and listen and go from there. That is just my 

[WAPITIHUNTER]

You and I think alot alike my friend. I also listen alot and wait for the elk to dictate what I am going to do. Elk hunting would be alot more fulfilling and successful if most would just leave the calls at home.

Let the herds mood tell us what to do not the other way around. Usually when we try to dictate what the herd or bulls will do they end up running the other way.

[colockumelk]

i think on the west side the elk may be a little more "educated". i know alot of people have AND use a hoochie mama and call constantly.after just a few encounters the elk shut up for good.plus tons of hunters in a small area = tons of calling and quiet elk.  i am sure the eastside elk clam up also once the woods fill up with people.

I hate that call with all my heart and soul.  Because of that call any idiot can now call to elk and they do.  They sit there and push that thing over and over again.  It's stupid it has the same tone and everything.  So they sound like a single elk just calling and calling and calling which they don't do.  If they would study calls a little bit they'd know that the hoochi mama was designed as a supplementary call to the mouth call.  To be used so you can sound like more than one elk.  Now here's the pot calling the kettle black.  I own a hoochie mamma call and have called elk in with it.  But I use it as a supplement to my mouth calls.  Okay my rant is done.  God I can't wait for elk season to start.  You west side hippies might convince me to hunt over there yet.  Maybe I'll start a reverse trend of east siders going west to hunt instead of the great migration east every year.     I'm just kidding.  But seriously I might come over next year and kill all your elk. 

[Aneoakleaf]

I Have to agree... they arn't call shy when there's no traffic running up and down the roads. The west side has very roaded terrain. Also it has a lot of gated and closed due to fire season ( even when it's raining) priver logging Co. Land All this pushes many of the hunters onto the small areas of public ground and that will make the bulls shut up. I love hunting the rossies! Annie

[spin05]

I hunt out on the coast.I think the true roosevelts out there tend to be call shy.You get a little when its dark if its hot then nothing.I prefer to cow call them