Elk Bugle Frequency/Pitch

[Huntin_GI]

So I'm prepping for the season, channeling my inner @ElkNut1 and got to thinking, how do I know if my pitch is accurate? Video cameras mics typically fail to capture the higher and lower frequencies when video demonstrations are made. Everyone's ears are a little different and hear things differently. Couple that with the fact how much different a bugle tube sounds when you are the one blowing it and it becomes hard to know how "accurate" my calling is.

Mind you, I do use the Elknut app but doubt the capabilities of my phones microphone to register the full spectrum of a bugle.

This led me to Google.

North American Elk Bugle Vocalizations: Male and Female Bugle Call Structure and Context

Abstract. Bugle calls of male North American elk (Cervus elaphus) are common sounds during fall in the Canadian and United States Rocky Mountains. In contrast,

academic.oup.com

North American Elk Bugle Vocalizations: Male and Female Bugle Call Structure and Cont​

The findings were published in the Journal of Mammalogy and aren't nessecarily ground breaking but worth looking at. The paper breaks down the duration of the "On-glide" (build up to top note), the whistle, and the "off-glide" to include the frequency of each. It also points out post bugle chuckles are only present 16% of the time and were never measured to account for more than 5 post bugle chuckles.

Have any of y'all ever used quality recording equipment and checked your average duration or whistle (the high note we hold at the top of a bugle) pitch? I've got the gear and think I will at least take and afternoon outside and see where mine falls on the spectrum.

Full disclosure, the sample size in this study was relatively small but I wouldn't expect expanding the study to dramatically effect the averages they found to be true.

 

[ElkNut1]

OK, you're over think it! (grin) Keep it simple. Liken a Bugle or Cow Sound as if two guys/gals were chatting, all of a sudden one gets annoyed & voices raise, the conversation escalates to yelling/screaming & threats! There you have it, Elk are no different. Low non intimidation tones -- raising their voices tone -- high energy aggressive/intensity tones. Stay within these parameters & you will learn them quickly as their levels of emotion change. This applies to both bulls & cows.

ElkNut

 

[Still Hunter]

I am no great caller by any means at all but I do constantly try to improve. I have recorded some of my calling with a Memo app on my phone and then I played them back. It helped me realize some of my cadences were off on some of my calling when listening and comparing my recordings to actual elk. I have then worked on trying to make adjustments. Now if I can just find some elk this year!

 

[87TT]

The real elk haven't read the book. Some of them are just terrible. Like Paul said. "don't over think it".

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

Some of the worst bugles I’ve heard, clients thought were hunters not knowing how to even call but was actually elk. Some of the “best” textbook bugles I’ve heard were hunters. I’ve seen elk run to a awful bugle and bolt from a textbook bugle and vise versus. Every elk is different just like peoples voices.


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[ElkNut1]

Yes, bulls & cows can have different voices, no doubt about it! We hunters too have different voices; so how can we tell the mindset of one another? It's the Tone of our voices that send the message. We can say the same words but change our Tone of voice & now the message can change or be more urgent. It's like when we were kids & your mom would say Don't You Dare Use That Tone With Me!! (grin) It may not have been the words used but instead it was How you said it!

This is likened to elk, their voices big, medium, small, weird, etc, has no bearing, it's their Tone used that depicts their feeling in the situation they're presented with.

As hunters we too use different elk tones from Locating them to Challenging them, as we do this our tones or intensity changes as does theirs depending on the situation. Reading their Tones or Mindset during the encounter is what can make it or break it!

ElkNut

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

Yes, bulls & cows can have different voices, no doubt about it! We hunters too have different voices; so how can we tell the mindset of one another? It's the Tone of our voices that send the message. We can say the same words but change our Tone of voice & now the message can change or be more urgent. It's like when we were kids & your mom would say Don't You Dare Use That Tone With Me!! (grin) It may not have been the words used but instead it was How you said it!

This is likened to elk, their voices big, medium, small, weird, etc, has no bearing, it's their Tone used that depicts their feeling in the situation they're presented with.

As hunters we too use different elk tones from Locating them to Challenging them, as we do this our tones or intensity changes as does theirs depending on the situation. Reading their Tones or Mindset during the encounter is what can make it or break it!

ElkNut

Paul is my go to, all my new guides regardless of experience read his playbook and listen to his CD before they guide. I’ve had “lifetime” elk hunters look at me baffled and say I honestly didn’t know there were that many different calls. Best part is his real audio from the field that really puts into perspective the different tones and everything. I can pick out different bugles and know their meaning which has made me a better guide of reading the elk, some of my clients hate when I get passive and just wait cause they think a bull is full tilt ready to fight but he’s not.


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