HighUintas
WKR
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2020
- Messages
- 2,073
It's my 3rd year of elk hunting and so far I'm 2/2 on my bull tags and neither one utilized calling! I'm still in the mindset of it's better if they don't know I'm there. I also only hunt solo, so that makes the shot presentation harder to get for calling.
Anyway, it was my 2nd weekend out. Yesterday, I was sitting on the ground in some cover at the edge of a small clearing with a wallow/water hole in the thick timber. At about 7:30am, I hear a beautiful bugle maybe 200 yards away at most. It almost sounded fake! I decided to send a loaction bugle back to see what happened. Almost immediately, he bugled back, a little more energetically. I listened to this one really closely to see if I could tell his distance and his mood. Definitely a real bull! I let out another bugle, this time a little stronger and then I heard some branches snapping etc. So I decided to try to paint a picture in his brain that there was a semi interested cow along with me. So I let out a few cow mews and whines that sounded to me like "hey big boy, let's party!" Then I gave out a stronger bugle kind of like elknuts lip bawl saying hey get back here! I could here the bull working towards me, thrashing stuff on his way. I did a couple more mews and followed it with some bull pants. I also did some raking and stomping too, but not sure exactly when. I think it was after I heard him taking at about 75yards and it brought him closer. The bull got in to 40 yards before I could see him, but unfortunately he was looking straight in my direction. I was behind a couple of pine trunks and a pine sapling, but if I moved quickly I knew he'd see me. That's when the blood started pumping. He was a very nice 6x6. Real thick.
I wasn't sure what to do then because he had a lock on my location and was close without enough solid cover between he and I unless he made a mistake and went towards the clearing to get to me. There wasn't enough cover for me to back away making the retreating mews and get back to my spot for a shot.
So I did the dumb thing and slowly moved behind my tree and gave a couple mews and raked again.
I think he either saw me or could see enough of my area to know there wasn't a cow there. He took off. Incredibly silently too! I was impressed.
So what would you guys have done at the point he was 40 yards, without a shot, and not enough cover to move anywhere?
Then today.... I was heading to a different wallow where I had to pass underneath the area this bull came from yesterday, probably by 200 yards. I decided to throw a locator out. Waited a couple minute, nothing. So I started moving again. After walking for a couple minutes, I hear crashing and this same huge bull is taking off uphill! He was behind some deadfall and spotted me. So I gave a couple of mews to stop him and it did for a minute! I can't remember what I did then to screw it up, but he ended up leaving.
What would y'all do in that scenario?
Needless to say, that was a blast
Anyway, it was my 2nd weekend out. Yesterday, I was sitting on the ground in some cover at the edge of a small clearing with a wallow/water hole in the thick timber. At about 7:30am, I hear a beautiful bugle maybe 200 yards away at most. It almost sounded fake! I decided to send a loaction bugle back to see what happened. Almost immediately, he bugled back, a little more energetically. I listened to this one really closely to see if I could tell his distance and his mood. Definitely a real bull! I let out another bugle, this time a little stronger and then I heard some branches snapping etc. So I decided to try to paint a picture in his brain that there was a semi interested cow along with me. So I let out a few cow mews and whines that sounded to me like "hey big boy, let's party!" Then I gave out a stronger bugle kind of like elknuts lip bawl saying hey get back here! I could here the bull working towards me, thrashing stuff on his way. I did a couple more mews and followed it with some bull pants. I also did some raking and stomping too, but not sure exactly when. I think it was after I heard him taking at about 75yards and it brought him closer. The bull got in to 40 yards before I could see him, but unfortunately he was looking straight in my direction. I was behind a couple of pine trunks and a pine sapling, but if I moved quickly I knew he'd see me. That's when the blood started pumping. He was a very nice 6x6. Real thick.
I wasn't sure what to do then because he had a lock on my location and was close without enough solid cover between he and I unless he made a mistake and went towards the clearing to get to me. There wasn't enough cover for me to back away making the retreating mews and get back to my spot for a shot.
So I did the dumb thing and slowly moved behind my tree and gave a couple mews and raked again.
I think he either saw me or could see enough of my area to know there wasn't a cow there. He took off. Incredibly silently too! I was impressed.
So what would you guys have done at the point he was 40 yards, without a shot, and not enough cover to move anywhere?
Then today.... I was heading to a different wallow where I had to pass underneath the area this bull came from yesterday, probably by 200 yards. I decided to throw a locator out. Waited a couple minute, nothing. So I started moving again. After walking for a couple minutes, I hear crashing and this same huge bull is taking off uphill! He was behind some deadfall and spotted me. So I gave a couple of mews to stop him and it did for a minute! I can't remember what I did then to screw it up, but he ended up leaving.
What would y'all do in that scenario?
Needless to say, that was a blast
