I Call

Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
2,591
Location
Tijeras NM
Obviously there is more than 1 way to skin an elk. Just ask any successful elk killer and they'll tell you. I will never go to the elkwoods and not call. And I make no secret about that. I have no doubt personally I will have more killing opportunities by calling, than not.

Calling brings elk to me. Calling takes me to them. Calling locates them. Calling allows me to test their mood. Calling creates opportunities. Calling solicits responses. Calling tells me what elk are doing. Calling lets me know when elk are doing it. Calling tells me where they're doing it. Calling reminds me of where I'm at. Calling tells me where I need to be. And calling tells me where I don't want to be. I call in the morning. I call in the afternoon, I call in the evening. And I even call at night. I call when I'm pleading. I call when I'm screaming. I call when I challenge. I call when I'm dreaming. i call when bulls are sleeping. I call when bulls are awake. I call when bulls are talking. I call when they're not. I call when cows are talking. I call to cows. I call to bulls. I call when they're rutting and when they're not. I call with purpose. And without. I call with emotion. I call with inflection. Sometimes I know when to call, and sometimes not. I have more reasons to call. And fewer reasons not to call.

I will never not call. I'm still learning how to call and how not to call, I'm learning when to call, and where to call. I'm learning which bull to call, and what call to call to that bull. I call big bulls, I call small bulls. I call fat cows. I call skinny cows. I call all cows. I call all bulls. I call elk for fun. I call elk for game. And elk are doing the same. I call elk to keep me sane. My calling drives my neighbors insane.

Is it September yet?
 

Scoutman

FNG
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Messages
93
Location
Texas
I call depending on location, close to private, yes, private close to public not so much, they are on private to get away from public.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

Wapiti1

WKR
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Messages
3,569
Location
Indiana
I go to the elk woods with as many tools in my bag as I can stuff in there. Calling is one of the most used, but not the only one. Sometimes calling just won't work or has a limited window.

I worked on a lone bull last fall, third week of Sept, for two days with different approaches and that dude wouldn't play. So, we set a tree stand at a pinch point between two rock outcrops and shot him going to feed the third evening. First elk for the guy that shot him. It was awesome to see it come together.

Jeremy
 

wytx

WKR
Joined
Feb 2, 2017
Messages
2,057
Location
Wyoming
If you find a hot bull then just move in and don't let him know you're there by calling.
Sometimes calling only alerts them that you're around.

I also like hunting them by calling but the spouse is a still hunter and does quite well with that method.
 

jcc1590

FNG
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
7
Love calling but depends heavily on a million factors. Time of year, temp, location, setup, etc...but I almost always default to at least cow calling


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,247
Location
Corripe cervisiam
This is the one year I'm glad September is a ways out.......

The one thing glaring about elk hunting........hunting them when they aren't calling sucks.....nice too at least know they are there and apx. where they are.

_____
 

jdmaxwell

WKR
Joined
Mar 8, 2014
Messages
778
Obviously there is more than 1 way to skin an elk. Just ask any successful elk killer and they'll tell you. I will never go to the elkwoods and not call. And I make no secret about that. I have no doubt personally I will have more killing opportunities by calling, than not.

Calling brings elk to me. Calling takes me to them. Calling locates them. Calling allows me to test their mood. Calling creates opportunities. Calling solicits responses. Calling tells me what elk are doing. Calling lets me know when elk are doing it. Calling tells me where they're doing it. Calling reminds me of where I'm at. Calling tells me where I need to be. And calling tells me where I don't want to be. I call in the morning. I call in the afternoon, I call in the evening. And I even call at night. I call when I'm pleading. I call when I'm screaming. I call when I challenge. I call when I'm dreaming. i call when bulls are sleeping. I call when bulls are awake. I call when bulls are talking. I call when they're not. I call when cows are talking. I call to cows. I call to bulls. I call when they're rutting and when they're not. I call with purpose. And without. I call with emotion. I call with inflection. Sometimes I know when to call, and sometimes not. I have more reasons to call. And fewer reasons not to call.

I will never not call. I'm still learning how to call and how not to call, I'm learning when to call, and where to call. I'm learning which bull to call, and what call to call to that bull. I call big bulls, I call small bulls. I call fat cows. I call skinny cows. I call all cows. I call all bulls. I call elk for fun. I call elk for game. And elk are doing the same. I call elk to keep me sane. My calling drives my neighbors insane.

Is it September yet?

So now we know you call.....
Great.. feel better
 
OP
trophyhill
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
2,591
Location
Tijeras NM
The way I hunt, they always know I'm there......and they always know I'm coming.

the first couple years, i thought sneaking around and calling from a spot was a good thing. and i had to deal with "hang ups". even though my calling was suspect, i was still able to call them in to "hang up" distance. everyone pretty much knows that i am a big proponent and staunch supporter of Elknut's stuff. even though my sounds sucked, the elk were still coming. i killed a few cows early on because first and foremost, i am a meat hunter. but the bulls would hang up staring thru the timber until they didn't see what they heard and would leave. i was trying everything and the end result were cows in my freezer although i did have bulls within bow range but blew the opportunities.

then i killed my first bull in 2012. i had to end the insanity. on that particular instance, and i won't tell the whole story, but if you search ArcheryTalk "The Day I Killed my First Bull" you can find it there, but instead of calling and waiting for an encounter, i went to that bull and met him on my terms. my set ups had been all wrong before leading up to that point. all those blown opportunities previously could have been remedied with one small tweek. my set up. on that day, i still called him in, but my set up was perfect and i tasted success. the bull came toward the last place he heard my sounds. i watched him at 60 yards just stop and peer thru the trees looking. i had seen that play out so many times before. this time even though he knew where i was, i was able to turn my head and "throw" a soft cow call behind me. he immediately screamed a bugle and walked right toward the trees i had just ranged as if i was the conductor of an orchestra and directed him to meet me on my terms. result? dead bull shown as my avatar. that bull knew right where i was at. since that hunt, i've called in only a handful of cows, and lots of bulls. i hunted with Gregg in a unit to remain nameless in 2011 and what i noticed was how he was picking his spots to call from. what a great caller! but what i took from that was, location, location, location!
 

mavinwa2

WKR
Joined
Sep 11, 2018
Messages
528
Location
Res WA ST, winter>Gilbert AZ , NR>AZ, UT, NM, CO.
I just love flipping open the wall tent door flap, then bugling, chuckling back to those bulls....at 130 AM !!!
Darn nocturnal, highly pressured eastern WA bulls in September.
Called a big bull right to the tent last season, me standing there outside of tent entrance in LJ & camp crocs under a full moon
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
15,525
Location
Colorado Springs
Called a big bull right to the tent last season, me standing there outside of tent entrance in LJ & camp crocs under a full moon

A few years ago one evening I was working a bull about 1/2 mile from my truck camp. It got dark before I could close the deal, and even though I left without making another sound, that bull followed me closer to my camp. And then he screamed his head off almost nonstop until 0330 from across the road less than 100 yards away. But come first light, have no idea where he was.

I had another bull I was working one evening that was 2.6 miles from the truck up this draw. Same thing......got dark before we could close so I turned and started heading towards the truck. About 1/2 mile into my hike out this bull screams at me from on top of the ridge. I kept walking and he kept coming down that ridge line, screaming every so often. When I got to the truck he was at the end of the ridge screaming down at me, so I ripped one back at him. Then he really came unglued. I stood there listening to him raging for several minutes, while a couple other bulls joined in from across the draw. They really do lose their inhibitions at night.
 
Joined
Feb 9, 2020
Messages
737
Location
Idaho Panhandle
I have two options here in the heavy timber: Call or sit water/wallows. Sitting water or wallows requires finding water or wallows. You won't find those glassing around here. Therefore, I call a lot. They're not out there ripping bugles morning to night, but if you can get within 2-300 yards of them, they'll call back.
 
OP
trophyhill
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
2,591
Location
Tijeras NM
I have two options here in the heavy timber: Call or sit water/wallows. Sitting water or wallows requires finding water or wallows. You won't find those glassing around here. Therefore, I call a lot. They're not out there ripping bugles morning to night, but if you can get within 2-300 yards of them, they'll call back.

in a similar situation, anytime i hear that "lazy bugle" in the afternoon, i stand a good chance of having a killing opportunity. i will try to get on the same elevation and hopefully within a couple hundred yards or closer if the terrain allows. i don't know about everyone elses interpretation on that, but it tends to be a bull in his bed. sometimes with cows and sometimes not. typically i've noticed that the bull will do a lazy bugle about once every hour or two. if not a cow call will usually get a lazy bugle response. which is all i want in the heat of the day, just to keep tabs on him. the thicker the timber, the closer you may need to be just to be able to hear that lazy bugle. at around 4-4:30ish, and sometimes a little sooner, i will start calling. about every 30 minutes to start, then every 15. once the herd gets up to feed and or rut, it's game on. packing out at night can suck, but on the flip side, i'm not dealing with the flies and meat bees you have to deal with when you kill one earlier in the day. there is lots of time for the "slow play" in this situation.
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2014
Messages
398
Location
Michigan
Building points this year and OTC in a busy CO unit. I might just leave the bugle behind and get my cow calls tuned up!
 

smbolan

FNG
Joined
Dec 31, 2018
Messages
52
Building points this year and OTC in a busy CO unit. I might just leave the bugle behind and get my cow calls tuned up!

I wouldn’t go that far. I hunt heavy pressure as well. Put miles on. I bugle in these conditions and do well. It is hunting. Your not going to win every time. You will definitely not bugle a bull in if you don’t bugle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Swede

WKR
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
386
Location
Warren Oregon
I always have several calls with me when I am out elk hunting. I use them when I think it can help the situation. I do not go around blowing on one just because I have it. It is not a bragging point or anything else but a tool. I hunt a heavily called area, and indiscriminate calling has all but ruined it. Within three days, 95% of the elk in the area are on a private ranch where they can be seen but not legally approached. You can call them all you want, but they aren't coming. They will engage you in a nice conversation.
I think calling will be a lot more effective when callers do not think their calling is a something to proclaim to the world, and just see the thing as a tool.
I still use an Estwing straight claw framing hammer. If anyone is impressed send money. lol
 
Top