elk calling strategies

[bige204]

I'm going bow-hunting elk for the first time and I have been getting conflicting advice on how much calling I should be doing. If anyone has any experiences they can share or advice, it would be very much appreciated. I am going for two weeks, last of September and first of October.

 

[Hiker of the Woods]

I highly suggest you get "Elknuts Playbook" and Elknut DVD "Worse Than Wolves" #4 I believe. There is nothing out on the market that compares to educate a hunter on calling.

 

[sancho]

i think for the first time, bring friends. my bro and i scored back to back bull elk. we cowed called them in. we bugled sparingly. we crashed trees, and sounded like a group of elk. it worked.

we set up the shooter, and had the callers move behind him. they had to listen to the screaming bull, and move to keep the shooter perfectly between the elk and us. it worked. the bull elk thought we were moving. i think it added to the realism. the callers never gets to see the shot. when i was "the cow" i was crawling about. when i heard my bro's rifle shot, i was JAZZED!

 

[easymoney]

IMHO, bugling less...
Where I hunt, the road hunters drive around along the edge of the wilderness bugling continously and the bulls have become silent or move off at the first human made calls.
I bow hunt so we cow call sparingly and rely on sneaking in quietly...

 

[ORElkBow]

Last two weeks of Sept. into Oct. is usually when the bulls are more vocal. You should have no prob with bugling, even then the spikes are also bugling. Early morning, let out bugles to locate. Then cow call your way in for setups using mixture of whines and chirps, breaking twigs every now and then.

Even when bulls have been pressured hard the first two weeks, they'll still answer to your bugles as to let you know they're there, or they'll give their location away by bugling to herd up the harem. In this case, if the herd sounds like they're moving away from you when you call, my suggest is to close your distance as quick as you can to within 100 yrds or less and let out a pretty aggressive bugle. Trust me, most times a herd bull will always charge right in as you are too close to his herd.

Now about how much you should call, really it depends on the elk and the situations. There are times when we call as though there was a circus there and there are also times when a couple mews is all you need. If the bull answers to your bugling every time, he is in for a fight. If he only bites on your cow call, stick with it.

 

[dirtpoor]

great advice by everyone, the only thing I would add is carry at least 3 different cow calls, they learn to recognise a call and if you're busted and still following the same herd switch to another call, sometimes try to cow/calf call at the same time ie a mouth call while you are using a Hoochie mama and don't stand in one place too long , move slowly making a little noise as you go, a montana decoy will serve you well with a wary bull who hangs up and won't come any closer without a visual. If a bull comes to your call but moves away if you can get him to start coming back try to get to where he hung up and call from there , thats his saftey corridor, good hunting

 

[shovelerslayer]

Only things I would add:

1. PRACTICE with your calls ALOT. If you cannot make a realistic bugle you can be okay, but use it sparingly and only to locate long distance. A bad bugle will at the least shut up ever elk in a drainage, and at worst send them all high tailing for a new area. You have to be able to make cow and calf mews. Elk are noisy and vocal, so you can cover your movement if you call when you are walking. Also, a great way to stop a bull is to call at him just before you shoot. If you are not cofident with how you sound, use those sparingly too. I am a mediocre caller, so I keep my calls to a minimum and use stealth and patience to position myself on them rather than trying to call them to me. A herd bull in my experience is not going to leave his harem and travel a long ways to find a "lost" cow. He WILL move a hundred yards to try to push her back into the herd. The bulls that I have dealt with tended to push their cows away from an intruder "bull" unless you have found the dominant bull of the whole area. He has his ladies and doesn't want to lose them to a competitor. If you do not feel good about your calling abilities just use them to cover your sounds and to locate animals.

2. Be in SHAPE. You will not sound like an elk if you are wheezing and panting from exhertion while trying to call. Most of my elk have been a run and gun affair where you had to be able to run, climb and call to get into the herd. As someone else stated elk DO NOT stay in one place and call unless they are bedded in the timber at mid day. Unfortunately they usually give you the opportunity after you have ran and climbed a half mile at 10,000'!

3. Get where you can sound decent on a diaphram call. That leaves your hands free and gives you a lot more freedom when the elk are close. It is almost impossible to squeeze a hoochie mama or blow on a reed type call while at full draw!

Just my two cents, but each of these things got learned the hard way by my hunting partner and I.

 

[dirtpoor]

I'll respectfully disagree with shovelslayer, theres no such thing as a bad call, as far as the elk are concerned you're the new guy/gal in the wood's and they'll judge you according to their attitudes that day, I've killed 9 bull's and my hunting partner has killed 7 with the bow, in my opinion way to much is credited to "correct calling ", we had a bull in WYO that we nicknamed lionking because he sounded more like a lion than an elk, another time I heard what I thought was the worst bugle I'd ever heard, after it went on for 5 minutes I decided to walk over and see who the idiot was making all the racket, the idiot was a 5x5 elk.it's more timing and choosing what to call and when then the actual calling itself, elk callers are judged by other elk callers at a contest but they only know what they believe is the proper way to sound like an elk. By the time the rut rolls around every elk knows every other bull in his territory so you will be the new kid on the block and that bull will decide how to handle you based on his circumstances that day, many times callers think they've screwed up their calling when the elk leave the area but sometimes its for other reason's,such as the bull wants to protect his cows and moves them away or maybe you sounded bigger than he is and he just doesn't want to fight and take a chance on losing his harem or maybe he thinks its time to move along and remember they have amazing nose's. I killed a bull in Colorado that was very aggressive ( which led to his demise ) that only whistled never bugled.

 

[hank4elk]

Agree w/dirtpoor, 4 different cow calls and they can figure them out. Still I had bull come crashing in after flubbing a hoochie-mama..... got most interest in off and light cow calls. Only glunking and my bad bugles very early.