bugling in elk question

[big wood]

my opinion is to learn how to use the diaphram!!! try all kinds until you get one that is close and practice all the time. It takes a lot of time to get  where it is 2nd nature to rip a good bugle or a quick cow call. practice every morning when you are driving to work and home when your old lady cant hear you. I hunt all day with one in my mouth ready at all times, hands free. I personally like the old larry jones med bull which is red. good luck, big wood

[coachcw]

mini domes are easy to use , cal tek cow calls can make some good young bull sounds too.

[blacktailcrzy]

i was looking at elk nuts dvds and cds but is all his elk calling systems the same weather its a Rockie mountain elk or a roosie 

[huntnnw]

In my opinion the "snap on" mouth piece bugles have a noticeable sound difference.

I would recommend using all winter to practice and become good with a mouth diaphragm.

Bugling Bull and Primos both offer "mini" or small frame elk calls.  I also know Joel Turner can custom make diaphragms on any sized frame.

 

I can tell immediately when elk hunting on whos using bugles with attachments... people who are good with diaphrams it hard to impossible to tell the difference from a distance

[RadSav]

I too had a difficult time with diaphram calls when I started.  Didn't seem like any of them fit my mouth right.  And ones that did sound good would tear up the roof of my mouth in a bad way after a few days in the field.  Finally one night at the javalina Get-Together Jim Dougherty taught me how to bend the frames without effecting the reed.  After that day they all seemed to fit my mouth correctly.  I now carry around five different manufactures of calls with me on any given elk hunt.  All different tones and all perform well.  Sometimes it's just that one simple thing that turns on the lights and illuminates the whole game.

I do carry a few tube mounted reeds as well.  Some days and some over called/scouted areas that little something different turns 'em on when nothing else will.

Good luck!

[Tbar]

Blacktailcrazy I am kinda missing your question. In my experience elk sounds are fairly general. I have called bulls from the bear river unit in wa to the bob marshall in montana with similar results. Elk are very similar but as different as you and I (a generalization).  I dont know what area you plan to hunt but imo washington elk are a big mix of both (with exception to the OP) rocky and roosie. It even seems to differ from drainage to drainage which sub species they favor. This is just my opinion.

[boneaddict]

Thats a good generalization Tbar.   

[blacktailcrzy]

ya tbar that makes sens i was just thinking more along the line of how aggressive you call because it seem like rossies are in such heavy cover that the just round up the harem and move off as where i think rockie mountain elk tend to be more aggressive and i am just really talking about elk in the thick reap rod and tangled mess around a coasyal river compared to the elk in the more open ground with not as much brush.

[Tbar]

That is definitely an issue we deal with on a regular basis. I have literally ended up at the same jackfir as a bull without a chance of a shot ever presenting itself, that was one of the coolest memories ever(with a witness). Also dont underestimate what the eastside and rocky mountain guys are going through to find sucess. The east slope of the cascades, the high county in idaho and montana get incredibly thick. The elk seem to end up in never ending alder patches or blow downs, I guess that is a part of the challenge, its never easy. Setup is key regardless of location.

[bullchaser]

That is definitely an issue we deal with on a regular basis. I have literally ended up at the same jackfir as a bull without a chance of a shot ever presenting itself, that was one of the coolest memories ever(with a witness). Also dont underestimate what the eastside and rocky mountain guys are going through to find sucess. The east slope of the cascades, the high county in idaho and montana get incredibly thick. The elk seem to end up in never ending alder patches or blow downs, I guess that is a part of the challenge, its never easy. Setup is key regardless of location.

I agree i think it also has as much to do with responding to what your particular bull is saying,Is he calling in your cow call,or responding i am here to to your bugle,or is he a scared satellite looking to sneak some love, or very very rarely is he the big boy who is pissed you just crossed him and he is coming... One thing i do know is the days are over when my dad would tell me he could go into a basin and let a bugle rip and here they come our bulls get to much pressure for that you have to go get em.

[JLS]

Here is the big difference when calling elk in open country vs. the thick stuff.  When you have a poor setup or make a calling sequence that is inappropriate for what's happening, you will SEE the bull round up his cows and run of vs. HEARING them run off.

I've let a bugle rip and had bulls come and find me.  Just depends on the elk and the individual situation.  Doesn't happen all the time like we see on the Primos videos.

[bullchaser]

Man wouldn't you like to hunt that Primos ranch one time. lets see those guys hunt a little OTC public land that would make a good show. not to hijack the thread but you have to love that on your own adventure guy he gets it done.

[Kowsrule30]

I use a Primos bugle tube I think....  I'll have to check it out.... It was $50..... I don't try and sound like a professinal caller or a "real" elk.... I try to sound like a bull that has some problems and might actually take one for the team....   

[JLS]

In my humble opinion, it matters much more "what" you are saying to the elk with your calling, not how perfect you sound in doing so.

Who hasn't heard a bugle and laughed to themselves about the crappy calling elk hunter, only to walk up on a bull?

[Tbar]

Jls I agree with you completely. I was just giving him some general info from my limited knowledge. This conversation would lead me back to elknut and rj calls.