Im not new to elk hunting, but am considering hunting some new ground this year during a period I have never elk hunted.
" EK elk hunt 13-25 Sept. "
Plan is to stay as mobile as possible and avoid the obvious easy spots that Im sure will get hammered by quad/truck hunters that drive and call into every cutblock, slide they can park at.
I'll be spiking out in VCA's or camping out of the back of the truck where I plan to head off on foot and hunt the following morning.
Has anyone ever done any locator bugle calling at night (long after sunset or a couple hours before sun rise) and had success at locating animals? The areas Im looking at might cater to such a tactic. Large areas with many ways a hunter could head off on "on foot" and are avoided by or not a accessible to the road hunting crowd.
In the past I have called just before sun up but found as hunting pressure increases, this can sometimes push animals away or call in other hunters. But this was done in easily accessible areas where hunting pressure was higher.
Yes I do it all the time but just for precaution if I have my rifle with me I have it in the gun safe with the trigger lock on in case I get pulled over at that moment.
Never hurts to toss out a locator bugle at 1AM. I think an issue a lot of guys have with that, is they bugle from the same spots as everyone else, a wide spot in the road with a view. Elk know what is going on. I think you need to be cautious about that. Walk off, then bugle. I like those exploratory midnight trips. A nice long high pitch.
I think that would be more successful during a full moon as the elk then will rut at night and mid-day instead of early morning and late evening. Full moon is first week of sept this year so I’m not sure that I’d wake up at that time for that purpose, but being creative does lead to a lot of new knowledge!
I had an incident doing this a few years ago. Was tenting in a clump of thick alder in a back channel and just before I went to sleep I let out a couple bugles in the pitch black just to see if I could locate anything for the morning. No response so I hunkered down for the night. About half an hour later as I was in my sleeping bag a bull screamed right outside my tent and then started thrashing up the alders. I could hear a bunch of cows chirping all around. He was super mad and I was actually quite concerned that he was going to take a run at my tent with me inside. I didn't want to scare him off too bad so I just laid there quivering in my sleeping bag as he huffed and puffed outside for about 40 minutes. Finally he moved off and I went to sleep - excited about the morning. Woke up and combed the whole area but never seen or heard from him again unfortunately. After inspecting the area in the daylight, I could see where he left his mark on the alders within a couple yards of the tent.
Most times i will be waking up to the alarm at about 4:30am in a small shelter (tipi tent and Ti stove this year). I really enjoy sitting in the dark and sipping morning coffee and listening for 10 minutes to see what i can hear first.
One morning i did a locator call about 45 minutes before first light while finishing my coffee. I got two answers on a ridge about 1km away. Both bulls came to within 100 -200m of camp just before i could see and moved off and i believe i got winded.
Other times i have got a locator response from camp or not to far from camp and I was able to wait until first light and move in toward elk knowing they are there. And of course there are the times of no response and i move off to another area to see if i can get a response there and is also very helpful.
I dont like to over call in the dark its 1 call then move if no response. There is also the griz factor so i dont like to sound like breakfast too much when i cant see.
Thanks for the replies. Sounds like it might just be a good tactic for me on this hunt on the evenings where I am spiking out and havent located a bull by sunset.
Agree, the goal is not to have a late night conversation with a bull or draw one in, but to simply illicit a response to try and narrow down a location for to go at in tbe morning. That said, sounds like calling right from the tarp tent is probably not the best idea
Yup, do it quite often.
Before I go to sleep, when things are quiet at camp, as some of my partners are a little loud at night after a few sips of scotch.
Also, when I wake, taking the morning leak, a couple of hours before first light, I send out a couple of call.
And yes, had a bull come down the road with his herd of cows at 11pm once.
Many times, have a cow or herd near by at first light.
Sometimes however, you may have a nice bull with cows near by, and throwing out a bugle gets them on the move, away from camp!
And because it is still dark, you have to wait, and they can move quite far in those couple hours.
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