In a nutshell, elk really make two kinds of "barks". The warning bark (like Branches mentioned, we hate and don't want to hear that sound). Warning barks are just that.... an elk warning their group that there "is" danger afoot. Warning barks can be just a few, but oftentimes, may be given many times throughout the course of a period of time as you see the south end of north moving elk
. You've been busted! The elk has either pegged you as a threat by your human silhouette, human stink, or something else that has ID'd you as an absolute threat to the herd. The other type of bark (which is what I'm talking about to stop an elk for a shot) is the nervous bark. Elknut originally coined this type of elk noise as a popping or nervous grunt; he has since changed the title a bit to a nervous bark. The sound is explained very well in many of Elknut's products. What is it? Well, it's a sound elk make when they want clarification on what they think they hear or see. Case and point: You've set up in a cold calling setup and a bull comes in silently. Once he comes in, he knows that there was an elk (or multiple elk) making sounds but "cannot see it/them". At that point, he may give a
nervous bark which is asking for clarification! "Hey you, Ya You!". At that point in time on Wapiti Mountain, you don't have long before the bull shows you his hind quarters on his way over the ridge. Using this sound
as a hunter is an absolute killer method to stop a moving elk in their tracks for a shot..... Trust me on this, it works almost every...single...time! Now, how to make this sound with a diaphragm? I've placed a VID from Michael Batease from the Elk Calling Academy below. Michael is a former RMEF World Champion elk caller (and continues to compete every year at the highest level), and, is the owner of The Elk Calling Academy in Idaho.
Learn how to make a nervous bark, and, keep it in your elk tool kit folks..... It is the best method to stop a moving elk for a shot
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