I was on another hunting site & there was a lot of talk about good elk tactics & bad elk tactics. What I feel it really boils down to is the right tactic at the right time. A great tactic on the wrong situation or elk can go array or create major hang-ups which we've all experienced, generally leading to elk going the other way! Anyway just passing some time & figured on sharing this!
Guys will bugle for many reasons, when an answer is received it's common for them to want to continue calling in an effort to pull the bull over to them, rare is the case this bull comes trotting over their way from 100's of yards out this is especially so with a bull who's got cows! This is exactly what took place with my son & I on Sept 6th on an OTC public land hunt like most of us hunt!
We had come across a bull bugling 1/2 mile away, as we got closer we could hear a hunter bugling this bull from up on a small ridge a good 400yds away, it was right near daylight & this bull had a good group of cows which we would later see in a small mdw below the hunter. We were coming up this mtn well below the elk & the hunter with wind in our favor. As we approached this mdw the elk were on the move & out of the mdw by the time we made it up there, the bull & harem were moving to our right & away from this bugler. (primos special bugle) This guy bugling never moved an inch toward that bull, as we stopped there & listened it was very apparent that he was just going to stay there a give his best & very predictable 3 note classic bugle all morning!
I didn't want to intrude but could tell 2 things, this guy was never going to kill this bull & 2nd he wasn't going after him either. The distance between this bull & the original caller was now 1/2 mile but from our new position I could hear both clearly! I told my son let's go & be ready for when things start happening, because you're going to kill this bull. He grinned & we took off after this still moving but vocal bull. We stayed under the bull 150yds & out of sight as it was very thick & eventually cut the distance to where we were under him. This took just under an hour to do & we knew this bull was heading to his bedding area, we never called to this bull once up to this point.
Here's where reading a situation comes into play as well as only using sounds that fit this encounter & will get this bull to break away from all these cows & come our way!
We are now aprox 50yds from this group in major thick alders & the elk are above us, we can't see a thing, we can hear this bull using tending glugs (not glunks) as he checks & smells each cow as they near estrus, he's also huffing in very low tones. We can tell he's excited & very protective as he tends to them, we can hear light stomping & rustling as he moves around & through all these cows but there's this wall of alders a solid 40 yds thick. I set my son up only 10yds away from me on the uphill side & he knocks an arrow on his recurve, it's very thick & I cannot see him at all.
What am I going to do to call this bull over yet not run him off? (grin)
I am going to "Pose A Threat" to him & his cows! I know this is my best odds to get this bull to "react" at such a close distance as I need him to bust through these alders. There's no waiting them out in hopes of a shot with no calling I could see that. Too, this is no place for a cow call & or a spike squeal, the odds are much to low for success. If I use only a cow sound there's a good chance the bull would try to call me to the group & never come my way, 2nd a spike squeal is no threat & in many cases a real bull will only issue a verbal abuse to run off this small guy & I needed him to come over to us!
I am going to represent a real bull here & use a sound a real bull would in this situation. With my son setup & ready I gave a single cow mew a bit longer than average & screamed a short guttural blast that was as big as I could muster up! I instantly started stomping the ground & breaking dry branches from a dead downfall I was behind, this bull came through those alders like shot out of a cannon in a blink of an eye & stopped at 14yds from my son & 8yds from me & screamed a huge unmatchable bugle! My son drew & released & the bull exploded out of there! We found him 65yds later with the arrow through his heart!
It is very common for a real bull to issue forth with one or two mews & scream over the top of these in an effort to call this real bulls cows over to himself! No real bull worth his salt will stand for it when inside a 100yds!
As we stood over that bull my son looked at me & said "I guess you were right" I said what do you mean, he says you told me I was going to kill this bull, I had forgotten that! (grin) We were just lucky!
Bottom line, a bugle ran him off originally & a bugle eventually killed him, timing & selective sounds are key here as well as reading the situation!
ElkNut1
(http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii259/ElkNut1/2007%20Elk%20Hunting/4PaulII07bull.jpg)
Thanks for sharing that! Wish i could have been there! (grin)
Great story. We've got about 6" of snow on the ground as I read this, I think I'll go down in the basement and go through my elk gear!
Nice story and great elk.
Thanks for sharing with us..
Good luck this season..
Todd
Great read and very well said.
Huge hunt & story! Thanks.
Nice story! But lets not give away all the secrets we've learned over 40 yrs of hunting these things. OK?
LOL
Mike
Great story and photo. Nice time for this,5 inches of snow and still snowing hard.Time for another cup of coffee.Thanks for taking us along.
Definition of cool!
I would have been the motionless bugle boy lol. When I finally go elk hunting I hope I have an experienced elk hunter with me! Not aftraid of working for a bull just don't know anything!
Great write up. And you didn't charge a dime for the lesson!
It's all about "Passing It on" I'm happy to share any info I have on any sound or technique we've used over the years. All you have to do is ask! (grin)
ElkNut1
Very cool story, of a very well thought out hunt!
Thanks for sharing Elknut, let's have some more :pray:
Great bull and superb shot placement--doesn't look like it could have been better. Congratulations to you and your son. No better way to spend time with him than that. :thumbsup:
Great job Paul I did my own calling this year on a DIY in CO elk hunt with your calls they were easy to learn and use. I did not have your kind of success I did not even hear a real bull that I know of. I saw some but could not get any to talk I still have alot to learn and with your help I may get there someday. Thanks for giving back. Widow AKA (Darren)
I have a couple things to add to this. One- this was not 'just something that happened'. The bull died because of team work; and knowing when and how to bugle.
If I have a day where I am shooting great; and make fantastic shots; and do everything right; and let myself get real conceited about it- I can never in my wildest conceit get to Elknuts level of reality.
One thing though- is when he said:
" this bull came through those alders like shot out of a cannon in a blink of an eye" - DO NOT THINK THAT WAS AN EXAGGERATION!
If your going to bugle or cow call be ready.
Elk can embarrass race horses. I have gone into areas silently and thought - 'this looks like a good spot to call'; and let out a bugle; or a cow call- and missed up close shots because I wasn't ready to shoot- instantly.
If you step into the elks zone and call- you have to be ready for an arrow to fly. It may not happen- but you need to be ready for it to happen.
a tip of the hat to elknut and congrats to his son for the shot !
I love when a plan comes togather, thanks great read
Thanks- great story. I can dream. . .
Love those black antlers.
Hey, that looks like my Doug Knight recurve.
That is an awesome story. You made it happen. In elk hunting that is so many times what you have to do. You were agressive at the right times. Mighty fine shooting as well. A team Brian said and that is what I read about. Thanks for the story. I learned some that may help me on my next adventure.
Great team work....love it when a plan comes together...Know an animals habits are just time in the field and watching and observing. You win some you lose some but you are always learning and cateloging situations for NEW time.
I remember a sheep hunt we had. We drew straws and I lost. So we had seen him the day before and there was a bowhunter moving across the ridge (he never saw the sheep at all).
He came out of his bed and went up this trail and disappeared.
So I got to be the wandering bowhunter and my buddy ended up taking his escape trail.
I waited for him to get into position and I started my ascent. I couldn't see him from where I was (like the fella the day before), but i just wandered up the slope eating blueberries and trying not to make eye contact.
One thing about bowhunting you don't know if anyone has shot....be hell getting lost.
FIRE THREE ARROWS (fire three more) and then have to walk out of the bush with no arrows :bigsmyl:
Anyway it took me about 2.5 hours to make it up to the basin he was in......NOTHING
No buddy NO sheep....ok waht happened.
Then from behind this huge outcropping came my buddy looking a bit dejected.
I asked what happened..he said that he didn't trust his gut and covered a different trail after I disappeared. He went on a different trail and that ram had comeup the identical trial we had seen him go the day before and he was too far away.
The ram disappeared over the ridge and he followed trying to get a shot but he was already 60 yards below him.
So we chalked that one up to experience too :banghead: .
Jer Bear
:banghead:
It is good to know when to get aggressive with elk. Especially when they have a healthy herd of cows. Something confuses me though, I thought the wolves ate all the elk here in Idaho :rolleyes:
Great story, you never stop learnin' when it comes to Elk hunting.
COME ON SEPTEMBER !!
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/Elk09016.jpg)
nurayb: I notice a drop of about 30% of elk here since last year. ( elk winter here) I can count the elk; they are out there now laying around; but when they are below me on the river- I count 100 elk; and 6 or7 will be calves and no bulls.
The fish and game has not to my knowledge done the aerial yearly count- we shall see what they come up with.
My neighbor shot at a group of 3 wolves the other day- but we are still at 11 kills and have more to fill the quota.
The wolves eat the elk; but they are also reducing calf survival by stressing the elk year round.
The bulls ( except spikes once and a while and the very occasional rag bull) will not stay down low with the cows.
They stay up higher; and it is there that they are in most danger; as they can be driven up ravines and killed.
What our bull cow ratio is: I don't know; but if we really knew - it would shock us. IMHO.
Cow season where I live opens August 1 for anyweapon season near any irrigated land. The ranchers think of them as vermin; as they eat the alfalfa while their cattle are up in the hills eating elk food and leaving noxious weeds untouched.
So - with an Aug 1 opener - by the time the bow season opens there are no cow elk that are not looking for long range hunters; or wolves.
I really question your statement of 'a healthy herd of cows'. Healthy ? Respectfully :I don't believe so.
From my research; how the health of a herd of elk is determined by many factors.
In most areas it is FACTS x KNOWLEDGE - OPINION OF CATTLEMEN + - OPINION OF FISH AND GAME= HEALTH OF HERD.
In other areas; it is by determination of cow calf ratio: which is fairly easy on level ground - but in mountainous country it is SPEED OF AIRPLANE + HOURS FLOWN+ ABILITY TO TAKE PICTURES+ PROBABILITY = NUMBERS + OPINION.
For instance a herd of 600 elk were counted; with 33% calves; and a herd of 200 counted with a 23% calves. So the estimate of calves was based on the higher number of cow elk which = 33%.
If you want to see letters instead of words; and then try to figure out what he heck is going on- then try Arizona ( have aspirin ready ).
Generally though the areas with no wolves; that have been monitored over decades is 35-56 calves.
In areas that were monitored over the same time but with wolves; the calf ratio is 25-27%.
Healthy= 35-56% calves
Low = 33 to 34 % calves
minimum = 25 % calves
little opportunity to hunt= less than 20 %.
So - when I can see a group of 100 antlerless elk grazing in easy view; and can only count 6 or 7 calves.... I am not convinced we do not have an elk population problem !
Paul,
You are a class act!
If you haven't bought Paul's DVD's I highly recommend them. I've watched them over and over and still learn something new.
I've gotten confused about a situation on the DVD's and called Paul on the phone. He has patiently answered my questions and gave me more information/tips. Incredible customer service!
Thank You everyone for taking the time to check out the story! Heck I was just thinking of it & the next thing you know I was writing about it! (grin) It was a great morning of hunting for sure & my son & I built a memory together we'll both remember forever! You gotta love elk hunting!
Rappstar, thanks!
Brian, you have no idea how right you are! Others without such experience would be very wise to heed your advise & be prepared when getting ready to call or calling during a setup because yes bulls can literally explode into action especially so when you're close & they feel threatened or challenged! Many of our setups are designed strategically to put herd bulls in this frame of mind! Can you say major adrenaline rush! (grin) Maintaining ones composure is truly tested during this type of high energy technique! Thanks!
ElkNut1
Thank you Paul. I would like to have a fraction of your experience hunting elk. Well, I guess I do have a fraction, just such a small fraction it doesn't amount to much.
Allan
Learned about not being ready to shoot the hard way the first time I went elk hunting. Cow called below this dark timber bull showed up at 45 yards with me in the open by some rock. Looked around and left. I wasn't ready or in position.
Awesome story, Thank you
Great story and lesson! Congrats to your son on making a fine shot on a great bull! Keep the tips coming, I need all the help I can get, LOL!
There's no substitute for expertise. Thanks
Great story Paul!! Great bull, great tactic! Congrats to your son, and yourself. How about some more stories with different situations? A lot of new guys and us older elk hunters could learn from these. Thanks.
Great story. Thanks for sharing it. Someday, maybe someday.
what a gorgeous, nasty bull!
Congrats on a fine bull.Thanks for sharing your story with us.