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Thread: Elk hunters

  1. #31
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    Mar 2015
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    Re: Elk hunters

    Quote Originally Posted by rocksteady View Post
    Every elk hunter swears by their methods... does not apply to every herd and bull..

    I have heard bulls screaming that you thought, no way, that us the crappiest bugle i have ever heard, you better practice more and then a six walks out of the bush
    I had that happen with a cow moose one time where you would have sworn that it was some guy doing the calling who had no clue how to do it at all-only there was no way anyone could have been in that swamp.... then she would do some more typical sounds before running around splashing and wailing like a toddler "fake crying" again... I spent an hour as it was getting dark with her wailing and two or three bulls in the timber out of sight that I was trying to call in....3 of us walked up to that spot the next morning and got a bull/...ill put a pic of the bull in the HBC gallery
    Last edited by wideopenthrottle; 08-30-2019 at 01:42 PM.

  2. #32
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    Jun 2015
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    Peace Country
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    2,081

    Re: Elk hunters

    Thanks for the tips rocksteady,

    got the areas lined up, have heard bugles last week, and we have half a dozen good bulls on the cameras. Just waiting to get out Sunday morning. But I am going into a area with a higher elk population next week that I have not scouted before. Then back home to hunt the areas we scouted all year.

    Good luck rocksteady...

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
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    Squamish
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    481

    Re: Elk hunters

    I personally bugle constantly for location if I'm covering ground. Something eventually answers, I personally think it's a very effective start to locate an elk in the area and come up with a game plan from there. That being said I'm sure I've walked right past bulls staying silent.

  4. #34
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    Nov 2003
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    7A
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    20,732

    Re: Elk hunters

    why would a bull stay silent?
    "If you ever go into the bush, there are grizzly bears lurking behind just about every bush, waiting to pounce, so you need a powerful gun, with huge bullets" - Gatehouse ~ 2004

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    8,515

    Re: Elk hunters

    Quote Originally Posted by rocksteady View Post
    Find the sign.. poop.. rubs, tracks.. start there
    Quote Originally Posted by rocksteady View Post
    Every elk hunter swears by their methods... does not apply to every herd and bull..

    I have heard bulls screaming that you thought, no way, that us the crappiest bugle i have ever heard, you better practice more and then a six walks out of the bush
    Yes, good advice there.
    My dad bugles like he is learning for the first time after all these years and still gets them to come in.

    And yes, look for fresh sign is my main goal.

    I agree with the thoughts like this:

    Hunt using your bino's first.
    Some terrain you can see a lot of the area.
    And if you see something, take it on like a goat/sheep hunter, imo.
    Quiet and stalking close is always the best method first.

    But, as is the case for me, the terrain is mostly treed etc, so I have to go with locating calls and mostly cow calls.
    Others like to sit in wait.
    I spent much of my time along a river in one particular area for many years now.
    Can be boring, but have had my best success doing just that and calling.

    Other times I will hit a area where there might be 5 or 6 locations to try and hunt in, and sitting in those locations for several hours at a time.
    Sometimes the call and come in, other times they just show up.
    Squirrels will let you know if something is around (I'm serious!)

    But each morning, no matter which way I intend to hunt or where, I am always searching for even a single fresh track as to tell me if something has changed
    and there might be elk present close by.

    Mentioned was elk travelling many km's in a day (mostly at night, imo)
    That fact alone does not help one locate elk any better, not at all.
    The knowledge of it is to help "keep you positive"!
    I have sat at a river for 5 or 6 straight days, with nothing to hear or see.
    But I remind myself that each day is a new day and today might be the day an elk has traveled into you area.
    And it has helped to know this and stick with it.
    (granted, the last 3 seasons has tested my patience to limit, and may have even destroyed it last season)

    I find that the solo bulls that wander this much tend to be larger bulls.
    The smaller bulls tend to already be around/ or close by a main group of cows.
    Which, if you see small spikers etc, you may not be that far off the main herd.
    (but, they could still be a couple of clicks in the vicinity....nothing is a give me)
    But I find the solo tracks of a bull elk walking straight lines along the river for long distances tend to be bigger bulls, not the young ones.
    Those are the bulls that respond really well to bugling and cow calling.

    A herd bull with cows, bugling from a distance is almost suicide.
    That's when you have to realize, if you haven't seen them by glass, that you have to go after them.

  6. #36
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    Feb 2009
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    Re: Elk hunters

    Quote Originally Posted by todbartell View Post
    why would a bull stay silent?
    I have seen it.
    A bull with a harem of cows and a couple of hunters some distance below them bugling etc looking for elk, and that bull stayed perfectly quiet.
    Hunters moved on because they didn't spot them and didn't hear a thing.
    Got that bull the next morning

    Sometimes a bull will just sit in a wallow all day, not move an inch nor respond.
    Then, for no reason, it decides to respond just before dark.
    Hard to figure out why?

  7. #37
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
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    Where my hat and boots are .
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    495

    Re: Elk hunters

    Quote Originally Posted by todbartell View Post
    why would a bull stay silent?
    human hunting pressure and predator hunting pressure seen it many times ..
    I can tell ya, but you know I' ll be lying to you!!!!

  8. #38
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    7A
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    Re: Elk hunters

    Quote Originally Posted by Bugle M In View Post
    Hard to figure out why?
    because we don't watch enough Primos videos
    "If you ever go into the bush, there are grizzly bears lurking behind just about every bush, waiting to pounce, so you need a powerful gun, with huge bullets" - Gatehouse ~ 2004

  9. #39
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    East Kootenays
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    9,143

    Re: Elk hunters

    Elk are so misunderstood.. do everything ny the book from Primos/Born and Raised outdoors/ elk 101..

    Elk don't play by the playbook.. thats what keeps them interesting
    "It's not the kill, but the thrill of the chase" - Deep Purple

    "Lord knows I'm a Voodoo chile" - SRV (RIP 8-27-90)

    "Know your Land, Know your Prey" - Mantracker

    http://www.youtube.com/user/welderse...e=results_main

  10. #40
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    599

    Re: Elk hunters

    Rattler,

    Completely agree, most hunters/groups are not selective. Some of us are. One drainage we hunt usually has 8-10 cameras between all the hanging valleys, saddles etc. In nearly a decade we haven't got more than a dink raghorn on any of those cams during the summer - cows/calves and small bulls. Once the end of August hits, things change drastically and the real bulls roll in. This goes on well into October. Most guys in our small group will pop a primer on the first legal bull they see but they've been known to change their standards more than once when a hammer is hanging around. No arguing that cam inventory is responsible for that. We don't hang our cams where the bulls are in the summer, it's pointless because they won't be there come September. The areas they roll into during the rut get carpet bombed, however.
    "The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom."

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