Calling in an elk

[shanevg]

Just wondering what people think.  What is the best way to call in an elk when the elk aren't talking much?  Particularly during early archery hunt in the pre-rut.  What in your experience is the best way to get an elk to come check you out?  Do you like being really aggressive with your bugling and raking trees and stuff?  Just spread out, dispersed bugles?  Or a mix of bugles and cow calls?

[Elknut1]

  It just all depends on the elk themselves. Many years you can get fairly vocal elk early on if you're in the right area. The oldest cows, that is in the 12yrs & older come into estrus 1st in late Aug. & first week of Sept. If you're where that's happening you could be into great vocal action? When this occurs, game on!!

  Other times we'll do "setups" once we are in an area with fresh sign, preferably between feeding & bedding area. Once there we imitate a small herd milling around, after 5 minutes or so we introduce a bull that enters the scene & tries calling this group to him. If there's branch antlered bulls within earshot they usually show before the cows or spikes, it can get very competitive with another bull on the scene, otherwise cows show first, & if you don't want them you can get busted before a branch antlered bull shows up.

  We've taken quite a few bulls the first 7 days of archery season, one in particular was a good 320 bull my son took on Aug. 30  We were heading up a mtn an hour before light & near daylight we busted into 3 cows at 40 yds as we were heading straight up the mtn. Crap!!! We didn't want a cow so we ran straight at them & spooked them off, I then ran straight to where they were & screamed a challenge in hopes a herd bull was around. We heard nothing I screamed again 10 sec later & the bull fired back 300yds out & he was on a dead run right at us.

  I set my son up & I quickly got below him over a small knoll & screamed back at the bull & began raking & thrashing. I also added a few annoying cow sounds like I had one of the cows & she wanted out but I wouldn't let her go, it got quite chaotic with my bull sounds & cow sounds, the bull came thundering down & stopped 17yds from my son & he drilled him, he only went 15yds & piled up.

  On another occasion we called 11 bulls in, in 2 mornings but passed on them in hopes of something bigger. We did this the first few days of the opener. In most cases when early we setup & go through a variety of scenarios to bring elk our way. You need to sit & wait up to an hour for it to be effective! Patience is key early on when bulls aren't responding!

  Bugling early is also very productive as long as you're being social & not challenging. Many times early on bachelor bulls will come to check out the new kid on the block! Bulls know each other by sound, sight & smell. As a new sounding one it can get the best of their curiosity & they can show like a ghost so be ready when doing this! Again. call several times & setup, it can take up to 30min before a bull makes it your way, often times silent! Big mistake many hunters do is call & move on within a few minutes if they don't hear or see anything that time of year.

  As you can see there's not just one thing that can work but yet a variety of things. We generally play it by ear & proceed accordingly! There's tons more, but I'm sure you get the idea!

  ElkNut1

[shanevg]

Well thank you very much for the information elknut!  Do you happen to have any pictures of the bull your son shot?  So it sounds like the only option you really don't suggest is being really aggressive and raking trees and such.  Is that a correct assumption, or do you still find that useful at times when you can't get anything talking or moving?  Was this hunt with your son in Idaho or Washington?

[Elknut1]

  We'll see if these photos show up or not? (grin) If so there's 2 bulls there, both were taken what we consider early season, that's the 1st 10 days of Sept.
  As for the question of how aggressive do we get? Again it all depends on what's going on out there! Yes, there are times for aggressiveness but, a low percentage of the time. We generally will adapt to present situations, if elk are very vocal, then OK, if not we try to fit in. But you can bring a lot of elk your way with subtle sounds & the patience to sit there & allow for things to develop! Over-calling at this time is your worst enemy, just let other elk know you're around with natural sounds vocally & natural sounds elk make with normal movement by rustling brush breaking small twigs/branches & such. A few mature cow mews & calf mews & a raggie squeal injected in here & there is a deadly method for producing results. I call it "blind calling setup"  We use mostly between feeding & bedding areas.

  We are never one dimensional though. If we get response to a bugle we will take advantage of it, bulls bugle for a reason, location, advertisement, intimidation & so on. We immediately decipher if it's a herd bull, sattelite, or possibly a small group of bachelor bulls, very important to know so we can proceed accordingly. We do not work all these bulls the same. We try & work them according to what they're asking for. This works well for us.
  I firmly believe if you use sounds that fit the encounter then you're far less likely to bugger them out of there. For instance, let's say you're cow calling & a bull responds to you 350yds out, you get closer & call trying to see where he is exactly & he responds back, he's come a mite closer but not a lot, he's staying back & calling to you but not wanting to come all the way. This would tell me it's a herd bull & he doesn't want to leave his harem to hook up one more cow so he attempts to call her to him. If you don't show in 5-10 minutes tops they generally get nervous & head out of there knowing something isn't right. You just lost a golden opportunity because of not doing the right thing!
  The same could apply for sattelite encounters, you must work them accordingly, aggressive, challenging or intimidation sounds will get you nowhere! You need to remain social & welcome them over, sometimes cow calls are the answer but many times not, bugles & other bull sounds are best!
  On the other hand aggressiveness is needed to take herd bulls when the use of calling is necessary. In their face challenges are the key here & never call your way too them from a distance & expect them to just hang around waiting for this challenger!

  Early on we also incorporate the "Call & Stalk" method. It's common to get bulls to respond socially at long distances. As long as you keep your distance & don't pressure them by approaching & calling they'll hit you note for note! Great time for 2, shooter & caller, the shooter indians his way in as caller keeps bull vocal every few minutes, this works great for the patient shooter. He needs to be abreast of his surroundings as he approaches the bull & be on the watch for other elk so as not to get busted, if he is busted & he's close he'd better be prepared mentally to scream in the bulls face, doesn't matter if cows are looking at you or not, let him have it, he should come on a string!! Of course this is if you're within 80yds or so for best results, although I've pulled early season bulls from 300yds with this tactic in the past, just all depends?

  So yes, there are times for aggressive calling early on, a guy just needs to weigh out each situation & use things that give him the best odds for success.

  The bulls are Idaho bulls but the country we hunt is darn near the same thick stuff you guys hunt. All OTC hunts.

  ElkNut1









 

[funkster]

I'm not an elk expert but have spent my fair share of time in the field watching and learning the behavior of elk at close range. IMPO every bull is different in his own way as is every situation. Knowing when to call is something you don't learn over night. I have found that having a arsenal of calls and not buying the new "thing" works very well. I will not leave the trailor with out at least 8 mouth reeds and three different tubes. Most of us do not hunt on private land and elk are very quick to catch on when you have everybody in a area blowing  the same call. When the elk "shut up" don't be scared to try something different. It's funny how much you can change the sound of your bugle by just adding a few rubber bands to your tube. It is also funny how a lot of people try to make a perfect majestic elk bugle everytime, this early archery season I called in a 6x in to 23 yards using spike sounds. I would say when elk are tight lipped verity is key and when you get one to finally answer you pressure him until he can't  stand it,more times than not he will come.

[MountainWalk]

just make sure you dont call in another hunter!.. that and learn the diff from a real bull and a call.... to me anyway,, an elk bugle , when it ends, it ends,,, and a man bugle kinda trails off,, not sure if i can explain it with clarity...

[Intruder]

Elknut1,
That is some of the best calling advice I've ever read.  While it's impossible to really tell someone how to do it, you did a magnificent job of relaying the essence of the calling scenarios. 

Sounds like you maybe have done that at least 1 time before

[boneaddict]

Are you trying to KILL ME?   I felt like I was on the mountain.....a cold chill went up my spine and the goose pimples were there.  I then noticed my heart rate had almost doubled.  My boss then walked in and said where are you today.....Montana.  Where are you?  Sitting here staring at someone who has things to do. 

[boneaddict]

out, you get closer & call trying to see where he is exactly & he responds back, he's come a mite closer but not a lot, he's staying back & calling to you but not wanting to come all the way. This would tell me it's a herd bull & he doesn't want to leave his harem to hook up one more cow so he attempts to call her to him. If you don't show in 5-10 minutes tops they generally get nervous & head out of there knowing something isn't right.

This is when I hit a weak bugle, or small bull.  A big bull may push him off with his cows.  Sometimes the weak will piss him off just enough to make him come get his cow. 

[Elknut1]

 Yes, there are times when injecting a small bull squeal behind the cow calls can trigger a herd or sattelite bulls approach! Herd bulls are tougher to bring in with just the squeal unless he's showing a very demanding disposition. You'll know this when he switches from high pitched screams although they're short in nature to just chuckling or he ends his scream with chuckles, this shows he's getting very demanding. At any rate I find with public land OTC bulls that in many cases this isn't enough! (draw units can be different)
  I prefer to use pants & huffing type growls along with some light raking, this shows the real bull that he's doing his all in trying to impress this new found cow that he's come across. In this case, a bull will rake to impress the ladies & show her what he's got to offer in his attempts to persuade her to come with him. You can bet the 2nd you do this the herd bull will issue an instant warning to this unknown bull, if you don't hear him coming quick start throwing in the annoyance or light distress cow sounds with some stomping & light thrashing. This has put many a bull in the freezer!

  ElkNut1