Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: WapitiTalk1 on March 22, 2014, 07:09:36 PM
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It's the last day of your archery elk hunt... September 25, 20??. The night before (after dark) you received a response to your locator bugle above a skid road you'd walked in on approximately 1/4 of a mile. As you walk in before daylight on the last morning of your 7 day hunt, you hear the same bull above you on the side hill of an east/west flowing basin. As it starts to get light and the bugling persists, you've decided you'll move as close to the bull as you can before making a peep. He continues to sound off as you move to within 100 yards of where he's singing. Two, three, then four bugles echo throughout the basin from the same bull and you hear cow mews as you get closer. Nobody seems alarmed..it appears the elk are moving from feed to bed right after daylight started peeking over the high Montana ridge. The thermals are flowing steadily down and you smell elk! As you're hunting alone, you throw out a few cow/calf calls and move rapidly up/downwind and toward the elk immediately after you call. As you set up and wait for an indicator, something, anything..... you hear and see movement above you. There is "an" elk, possibly "the" bull, standing with his head completely covered with Douglas Fir bows less than 30 yards up the slope broadside. It's a bull (3 point or better) area. You draw back, drop the pin in the "V" and let off (you don't touch off the arrow). You're not sure of the target (legal animal) so you do the right thing and let off. Less than seconds later, a very nice, thick beamed 6 point moves away from the fir and walks (not bolts) back uphill to what you assume are his cows. At this point, what do you do? The cover is relatively thick but is littered with elk trails. Do you:
a. Stay put and continue cow calling hoping the bull comes back down, offering you a shot?
b. Figure the bull is not leaving his cows again and move off to the side, use available cover/concealment, and plan an intercept route to get a better angle on the herd that you figure is heading to bed?
c. Have a sandwich, a mini snickers, a drink of water and enjoy the mountain side scenery, enjoying your last day for the year in the elk woods?
d. Charge uphill into the elk, attempting to scatter them, causing confusion and immediately launch some excited cow calls to try to pull the bull back in?
e. Other?
Again, just sparking some elky conversation during this long off season. Thanks for participating :)..
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I had a very similar situation that resulted in taking a nice bull. I threw some pitchy whining cowcalls down the hill, and ran front a little to give a Big Boy Scream. The herd bull came crashing right in screaming and panting. Every situation is different though :)
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e. Its the last day so it doesn't hurt to get agressive. The timing is starting to get really right. You haven't busted them so use knowledge and terrain. Try to move ahead and use cow calls to keep the herd calm. Don't get so focused on the herd bull that you get busted by a satelite bull. Then with the wind right try some love sick music. If the bull responds make a call and try to cut the distance from last call point. If all else fails give him a little challenge but make sure he has an advantage so he might leave his cow. Or you could dog the herd until they stop and try to make a move. Either way your still chasing a bull with stick and string. 8)
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Last day...try all senarios if it don't work go hard or go home with the thought you had a great time in the woods.
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Hit him with a whiny bugle...
Then let curiosity kill the cat
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Few cow calls maybe a lite scream and wait a few minutes. You had him at thirty so he's not that far away. If he don't provide a shot sneak up the side and try it again from another angle.
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I'd wet myself
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Try A and resort to B if necessary.
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He came in once, so odds are you can get him to do it again. Use the same calls he came to first and move to where you have a clear shot at that exact spot. I've had bulls come to the exact same point and then run back to check on the cows and then back to that point again up to 6 times. You'll kill that bull if you can get a shot at that point. This is common if you were close to them when you called with a threat.
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Last day, what do you have to loose. Throw a bugle his way and hope he thinks he has no other option but to turn and fight? Who really knows what to do in these kind of scenarios. The one thing you do know is its the last day and you have to try something.
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Small boy bugle and lots of cow and calf calling and stomping and breaking, and more insistent cow calling - lots of noise indicating that the small bull is really getting some and getting it good.
