First weekend in October for elk

[HoofsandWings]

Should I still be able to call the elk in then? Peak rut usually is only a week to 10 days prior to that.

[gasman]

I called in the biggest bull i ever seen on Oct 2.......
He had 23 cows with him, to bad i was not hunting, just screwing arund.

[HntnFsh]

Call and they will come.

[Curly]

Last year they were talking the weekend before ML season opened.  Then by the time ML opened, they were done responding.  This year the season may open a little ealier, so we'll have a little better chance of catching them still being horny. 

[bow4elk]

IMO, the biggest mistake the bowhunters in this state have made was to lobby for moving the opener back to September.  It screwed up multiple state hunts because here in WA, the first week in October has traditionally been very good for bugling action.  It was nice to hunt Oregon or Idaho, and still get back in time for WA's opener, and the bulls were hot!

[boneaddict]

Bulls are on all through October.  What shuts them down(makes them queit) is the pressure in the woods.  Muzzelloading season is open during the best time to call them in. 

[Curly]

The unit I hunted last year for elk (by the coast) was open for archery in September with a week or so in between archery and ML season.  We scouted the last weekend of archery and didn't see any archery hunters where we planned to concentrate our efforts.  The elk were bugling that last week of September but by opening of ML (the 10th I think it was) they were done talking. 

Now, we didn't bugle while scouting, but did hear elk tearing *censored* up and bugling.........we didn't disturb them.   And yet, a week and half later, they were not talking at all.  That unit has been taken away from us this year by the WDFW so our scouting and learning the unit during hunting was wasted. 

Anyway, with the limitted pressure that the archery hunters gave the elk, I doubt hunting pressure was the reason for the lack of talking elk.  It seems like in E. WA around that time of year, I could get elk to come in with an estrous cow call.  So, maybe the timing is a little different for Roosevelt vs. Rocky Mtn elk?

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Back when Archery was the first week of Oct. I had a LOT more bugling action than I do now, however as the ratio of mature bulls increased so did the bugling in area(spike only area) I think that mature bulls will be more active earlier with younger bulls getting in the game when they (finally figure it out. (? ) I know it coincides with the cows coming into estrous and that can be anytime from August to November, once early and if not bred 28 days later. Different cows at different times but the peak is when most of them are "in" at the same time. An estrous whine is a very effective way to get a response at any time during this period. Bulls may not be bugling but they ALWAYS are looking for some "action". In areas with a high bull/cow ratio bulls (sometimes) will limit bugling to prevent other bulls from trying to steal there cows. Try using VERY soft cow calls. If you can hear it, they can hear it, loud calls sound too phony, remember that every one has a call and has probably tried to find animals by using them already and these critters are pretty smart (all the dumb ones get removed from the gene pool).

[colockumelk]

Should I still be able to call the elk in then? Peak rut usually is only a week to 10 days prior to that.

It seems that in this state Sept 25-Oct 5 is the hottest they get.  Last year during the second week of rifle deer season I took my friend up in the Teanaway.  I heard a bugle and thought someone was screwing around. Then I heard cows calling.  I grabbed a stick and started beeting the hell out of a tree and that bull came out screaming.  He was hands down the largest bull I've ever seen in my life.  He was every bit of 390.  He also had close to 30 cows with him.  So yes they will definately still respond to your calling. 

[SHANE(WA)]

First week of october is great for calling, some of my best times elk hunting are at this time

[HoofsandWings]

Since I plan to hunt western washington, the next question is should I hunt the cascades in hopes of finding a rocky mtn version or the coast for the oly version?

[shootemup]

Should I still be able to call the elk in then? Peak rut usually is only a week to 10 days prior to that.

the rut will depend on the weather usually and you would be in great shape at that time to call in a bull and the rut would most like still be going on imo

[colockumelk]

Since I plan to hunt western washington, the next question is should I hunt the cascades in hopes of finding a rocky mtn version or the coast for the oly version?

Go wherever the best elk hunting is.  If that means Western Cascades then go there.  Who cares if you shoot a half breed or a pure bred Rosie.  An elk on the wall is an elk on the wall.  I'd plan on going where you are able to scout the most efficiently.  Here's what I'd do.

1. Ask around about different areas.  You've already done that.
2. Ask the wildlife bio's and keep asking people on here to narrow down your search.
3. By the early summer have your areas narrowed down to 2-3 different GMU's.
4.  Start scouting those areas as soon as possible.  The better you know the area the better your chances of getting an elk are. GoHunt.com, google earth and the greentrail maps will save you so much time.  Your map reconnaissance will save you so much leg work and will make you so much more successfull.  I can't stress the importance of good map research enough.
5. Scout like you hunt.  Go early in the morning or late in the evening.  Get to know where they are feeding and where they are bedding so you can ambush them along the way.  This is where you need to be during the season. 
6.  After you've decided on your GMU get to know it hands down. So if the elk aren't in one spot you know another spot in the GMU you can fall back on.  The first few days of the season the elk are going to be where you saw them during the summer when you scouted.  Once the pressure is on they are going to find places to escape the hunters.  When you scout you should look for those spots.  They are easy to find.  They are places where there arn't any roads.  If it's a place you don't want to go then they're probably there.  Also there is food and water nearby so they don't have to travel as much.

Remember how I talked about finding where they bed and where they feed and then getting in between those for a good ambush?  One reason why people call and call and they don't see results is not because they call wrong, they call at the wrong time and place.  If a herd of elk is moving to their bedding area and that's where those cows want to go that is also where the bull is going to go.  There isn't enough calling in the world that is going to pulll a bull off of all those cows.  Now if you're in the way and threaten him that's a different story he'll fight to defend his cows.  But if your on the other hill and their headed up the hill to bed down he aint gonna come to you.  Hope this will help you out.   

[Craig]

I had a bull permit and hunted Oct 1st-6th and had bulls talking every day. The further from the road the more talking I heard. Three miles back I had four different bulls in the same draw talking back and forth.