Dense Timber in September

[OleoOutfitters]

It’s archery elk during the rut, and you’re hunting in dense timber with little glassing opportunities. Do you move and call until you get a response or sit on a wallow or work harder find a glassing spot?

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

You should read elk nuts playbook


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[Mountain_Life]

You are missing the best option. Stalk through the timber while listening for elk and reading sign.

 

[5MilesBack]

Man, it's the rut........use it to your advantage. That's the best part of hunting the rut......playing the game.

 

[trophyhill]

Im all for anything that involves calling

 

[kbarber]

Being flexible so important no matter the season. Go in with a plan and be ready to scrap it. Can’t go wrong following sign.

 

[Marble]

All really good advice here gents!

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[OleoOutfitters]

Agree. I seem to be getting one decent opportunity per year on a mature bull, but haven’t sealed the deal. I’m thinking I may be sticking around an area too long when the elk have moved on.

 

[Wrench]

How long are you sticking around, what is the bull to cow ratio? How do you setup?

 

[OleoOutfitters]

This past season, I hunted one mountain for a couple days without seeing or hearing much, so I moved to a different area 20 miles away and hunted there for 6 days.

In the second area, I saw a single spike, one group of half a dozen cows, and one mature bull with a group of 8 cows. All of that activity was in the first couple days at the second location, then it was quiet for the rest of the time. I suspect I pressured them out of there, but I stuck around because there were a bunch of wallows and rubs. Seems like I should’ve moved on earlier, but I didn’t know how soon to pull the plug on that spot.

I don’t know the specifics of bull/cow ratio of the unit I was in this year. Are you asking that because it impacts the amount of bugling, or are you asking because you thought I was seeing cows but no bulls?

 

[5MilesBack]

Seems like I should’ve moved on earlier, but I didn’t know how soon to pull the plug on that spot.

I move on immediately if I'm not getting any responses. That's why I always have about a dozen or more options available for hunting spots. A few years ago I went to one area on a Monday morning. I had three bulls bugling back in that drainage. I got 30 yards below one herd in the timber and the bull was above the cows. I could have shot any of the 4-5 cows that were directly above me, but I didn't have a shot at the bull. The thermals were coming down, but they saw some of my movement and eventually got spooked enough to leave.

So the next two days I hunted other areas. Then I went back to the Monday spot on Thursday morning and ended up shooting that same bull within 50 yards of where they were on Monday. He was the only bull responding that morning. But while I was breaking him down, there were at least a couple other bulls up there bugling within a few hundred yards.

 

[Wrench]

The bull to cow ratio is very important to how you will attack the situation. If ratios are high, odds increase of seeing multiple satellite bulls per small group of cows and bulls roaming more frequently.

If low, you will want to stay tight on the cows and take what you get.

One of the biggest hamstrung moves a rut elk hunter can make is to have a plan they are married to. Elk hunting is incredibly dynamic and it will pay to understand when to hold em'....know when to fold em', know when to walk away.....and know when to run.

 

[Beendare]

Being flexible so important no matter the season. Go in with a plan and be ready to scrap it. Can’t go wrong following sign.

Good answer^

 

[Michael Rankin]

I voted to call until I get a response, but I also mix in staying in a spot 30-40 minutes if I’m really close to a bedding area.

As others have stated bull to cow ratios seem to cause the bulls to act differently, at least in different areas I’ve hunted. It seems like the closer the bull cow ratio is to 20/100 or higher the bulls respond a lot more to calls, and bugle more often by themselves. They also seem to come in to calling a lot easier. When I’m in areas that the bull to cow ratio gets closer to 10/100, they bugle way less. Bulls also seem to not respond as well to cow calls or bugles. In these areas they tend to sneak in silent more.

The first day or two I’m in an area I tend to cover lots of ground, checking areas that have produced vocal bulls in the past. If for whatever reason it just feels like they aren’t talking, I slow down and spend more time setting up near where I think they are and call for 30-40 minutes.

I hunt mostly thick timber, and spend 99 percent of my time using the two tactics above.

 

[OleoOutfitters]

This is all great info guys! Thanks!

 

[wytx]

Lots of bulls never make a call, follow the sign and do some still hunting. I've trailed up elk following tracks and saddles make good ambush spots too.

 

[Vandy321]

I move on immediately if I'm not getting any responses. That's why I always have about a dozen or more options available for hunting spots. A few years ago I went to one area on a Monday morning. I had three bulls bugling back in that drainage. I got 30 yards below one herd in the timber and the bull was above the cows. I could have shot any of the 4-5 cows that were directly above me, but I didn't have a shot at the bull. The thermals were coming down, but they saw some of my movement and eventually got spooked enough to leave.

So the next two days I hunted other areas. Then I went back to the Monday spot on Thursday morning and ended up shooting that same bull within 50 yards of where they were on Monday. He was the only bull responding that morning. But while I was breaking him down, there were at least a couple other bulls up there bugling within a few hundred yards.

I get pretty discouraged pretty quickly with bugling, as I've been glassing or watching bulls that just flat out refuse to respond. Makes me 2nd guess cold calling...I do set up and cow call as well, but that doesn't produce much either. I have better luck spot/stalk. It's OTC,aube that's the dif?

 

[trophyhill]

I get pretty discouraged pretty quickly with bugling, as I've been glassing or watching bulls that just flat out refuse to respond. Makes me 2nd guess cold calling...I do set up and cow call as well, but that doesn't produce much either. I have better luck spot/stalk. It's OTC,aube that's the dif?

Cold calling has brought in many cows and raggys for me and an occasional bruiser if we are talking the same language here. Technically though, wouldnt a locate bugle without prior knowledge of elk in the area be considered a blind call?

 

[Vandy321]

Cold calling has brought in many cows and raggys for me and an occasional bruiser if we are talking the same language here. Technically though, wouldnt a locate bugle without prior knowledge of elk in the area be considered a blind call?

Yes, and I need zero fingers to count the number of reply I've gotten from a locator bugle...with the exception of other hunters (I've confirmed with binos)

 

[5MilesBack]

I get pretty discouraged pretty quickly with bugling, as I've been glassing or watching bulls that just flat out refuse to respond. Makes me 2nd guess cold calling...I do set up and cow call as well, but that doesn't produce much either. I have better luck spot/stalk. It's OTC,aube that's the dif?

If I already see the bulls in the distance, I won't make a sound until I'm in their back pocket. But I hunt a lot of timbered areas where it's easier for me to find them vocally, and then I move in close to make my next moves. With OTC and heavily hunted areas, you may have to actually be in their back pocket for them to respond. My biggest OTC archery bull didn't make a peep until I bugled within 150 yards of him and his cows. And his first response was just a very soft almost grumble. I asked my buddy if he heard it, and he said "no". A few seconds later I bugled back and that bull cut me off in the middle of my bugle and he was screaming. Then it was game on! But if I hadn't been bugling, that bull would have never made a peep, and I would have hiked right past him. That was right at 0915 one morning and it was really warm that day. But you had better sound like a threat to him. If you sound like a raghorn, that bull most likely won't even acknowledge that you're there.