Elk Hunting Tips, please...

[brotherjack]

Ok, so this is my third year hunting, and I have yet to even see a live elk with the requisite 6 points (though I got the hindquarter of one a friend of mine shot for helping him haul it out of the bush). I've never even seen one big enough to get excited about (4 point was the biggest), and I spend a LOT of time in the bush. There's plenty of elk hauled out of the bush every day around here during hunting season - so obviously, I must be doing something wrong. So, I'm soliciting tips and suggestions from those of you who actually get your elk on a regular basis by some method other than 'drive around in the bush till you see a legal one'.

Assume two things: I know several areas where elk are known to frequent, and I don't know anything else. With those assumptions, then tell me all you know about elk hunting that you think might be useful.


Thanks in advance.

[Ken]

do you call? what calls/ techniques do you use?

[brotherjack]

do you call? what calls/ techniques do you use?

I've used cow calls (both hoochie mamma and several u-blow-it's). I had a bull bugle at me once, but otherwise no luck. I've tried the non-stop cow-in-heat calling thing, per a video I watched on calling elk. Only worked on the video. Tried only using it every once in a while, which worked better, but never got anything to actually come close enough to see.

I've used a bugle, and got an elk to bugle back at me once, but again, never came close enough to see.

[Ken]

basically this is what works for me, early in the season till about the 3rd/4th week in september we use the bugle mostly. I will bugle 2 or 3 times over 20 minutes or so if I dont get a reponse I will slowly carry on, move 500 yards down a game trail, cutline, road or what ever keeping in mind the wind of coarse and repeat (this has been my flaw more than once when a bull comes in silently but I have had much more action by carrying on trying to locate a bull) I do this untill I find elk. If I dont find elk than at least I hopefully learned a bit more about the area I hunt, found new game trails, rubs...

once you get a response if you exchange more than 3 or 4 bugles with him and he isnt coming, then go to him. this works realy well if you have a partner to stay back and keep the bull talking. just becareful and move in slowly

try not to bugle to big, if that makes any sense. you want to sound like a smaller younger bull, throw in a few cow calls now and then if you like, sometimes it helps


later in the season when the bugling doesnt produce I will use my cow call. I cow call 3-5 times every 10 minutes or so while walking or still hunting. It has been my expeirence that this time of year the bulls tend to come slowly and sometimes quietly so take your time and look twice step once

I am by no means an expert but have been lucky enough to take 5 bulls doing just what I have described. I hope this helps.

[Bowhunter32]

Well the way i see it is personally i never use a bull bugle unless i am trying to find where he is at then i will persue him then cow call him , but usually i just cow call wiht a sleezy cow call or a huchie mama, i use mouth diaphrams nostly i have lots og great luck with them, but wha tiend up doing is this..

I hit the bush at dark, find a spot for me i ahve a place thats good traffic of elk...
I find a good stop and sit there and start calling with my cow calls if i dont get a call withing the first 23 hours then ther not interested, there nothing there , i have always and i mean always ahve gotten a call back or seen a elk come into view withing the first 2 hours of my calling, then if i have no luck i will move on a little further into the area i am in to help get my calls to travel farther in distance then i try again after another 1hour or so no luck i move out and try a new area, leave that place, if you get a call with a bugle or a cow call and dont get a responce right away , either its another person that responded to your bugle or its a elk and i have seen in many times they will call and after 1 hour they will be showing up on your door step staring you down and not call after that, meaning there not in complete heat yet and ther interested but not really, but still will head your way to see whats going on, thats one reason why i like cow calls instead of bigles expecially if theres a big abundance of hunters any hunter will call to a elk bugle where as a cow call humans don't..You have to remeber at the begining of the season lots of times you will not get elk to bugle back to your calls and the ywill just walk in on you so Keep a eye on the bush


I have managed to pull in 3 5x5s 2 4x5s and a few spikers in the last 3 days, but again no 6x chances where i am but just have to keep at it and adventuially one will pop out ... yesterday i pulled out a 5x5 called at me once and nexzt thing i hears a twig snap behind me and turned my head slowly and ther as a 5x5 elk standing 10 feet behind me and walked rihg tpast me ,i use scent away, on my clothing face net, cow urin and body scent away, and i tell you i swear by it,

But if you going to use a bull bugle use it only at the begining to locate the elk then either move in on it as close as you can then hit it wiht your cow calls, and keep him interested expecially if hes wiht a bunch of cows already you wanna get him away from them or wonder over your way, but as for the bull bugle in my opinion only use it till you can locate a elk and then go traight to the cow call, i never use them beocusw ei get to many humans responding and its a waste of time trying to call something thats not a elk :roll: , and when using a mouth diaphram it gets hard on the mouth and tiresome...

If you have anymore questions let me know

[rock]

I use one of those straws that are rippled, blowing that sounds like a smaller bull, that's for location, cow calls are when he's interested scent is huge elk, if I knew a spot they traveled that frequent I elevate myself and watch them walk underneath me, that would be a blast.

[brotherjack]

I don't know of much of anything more frustrating than spending day in and day out in the bush for 3 years running and not even getting a glimpse of the critter I'm hunting - while at the same time it seems like everybody I know and their dog drags home a 6 or more pointer - camp out near the highway on any major forrestry road around here, and every day you can watch the trucks go by with elk in the back.

I've spent 3 years of hunting 3 to 7 days a week (morning, evening, and sometimes all day), and the biggest bull I have ever seen was a 4 and a half pointer (he had a nub where point number 5 will someday grow), and he never even got remotely close enough to shoot at, even if he had been legal. Other than that, all I've ever seen are spike's and forks, and nursery groups... agrrrrrr...

I must not do something right with the calls, because the elk do NOT come to me when I call. The odd time I've ever gotten an elk to respond to a call, it never came to me, and headed for the hills long before I got close enough to even see the critter(s) in question.

It's not like there's no elk in the bush I'm hunting - there are tracks, elk rubs, sheds, and stick-to-my-boot fresh sign all over the place (and guys dragging elk out of the same bush, for that matter).

Sigh.... thanks for letting me vent. Now I'm going to go hunt whitetails for a few days so I can feel like I know what I'm doing for a while (which I do, for whitetails).



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Side note - does anyone know if elk return to their rubs or not? I found an area today with a whole bunch of rubs which were way too big to be deer (thrashed bark higher than I can reach), all in very close proximity to each other (5 to 30 yards apart, in a roughly linear patern). None of them looked like they'd ever been used before this year though.

Should I go back and hang out there, or is that likely just someplace that a bull or two thrashed up while passing through and they may not be back through there for weeks?


Thanks in advance...

[Bowhunter32]

you ahve to realize to that elk move alot they could be ther for 2 or 3 days or longer but they move out , a little note the elk move wiht the wind is blowing....

I myself for example have seen a heard of 60 elk in the last few days hunting day in and day out they ther then they vanish as iff they gone of the side of the earth....

Had a 6x6 chance but the fog blew in and when it lifted no more elk , that was yesterday, and now the elk are not even there, had the cow elk mewing out ther and the elk calling but i dont see that the cow elk are in heat yet , wher ei am ate but there getting closer, i am hoping before the 9th of oct i get myself a 6x or bigger , but so far not to prommising,

[Sniper]

Anybody have any thoughts on which bugles work well? I have hunted Elk from the koutenays to ft. Nelson and have tried the Primos diaphram bugle, the Jones metal reed, the Elk inc. Power bugle, the new Elk inc. Royal bugle and mouth diaphrams. The only answers I have gotten have been when using the mouth diaphram in the ft. Nelson area and I am not a good diaphram caller I sound like shit, frankly it's a wonder I got an answer but 3 bulls answered one after the other from different moutain tops. I just got back from the Sparwood area and saw 3 Elk total in 10 days, great area for locals, beautiful big Elk compared to the north but I would not go back to the Koutenays I think the Elk capital of B.C. thing for the Koutenays is more tourism marketing.

[BCHunter]

I've never tried calling in the woods although I do a good Cow Elk call in the house...lol

I bought these two calls last year,



http://images.ebsco.com/pob/knightandhale/catalog/KH5002_200.jpg
The Magnum Estrous Cow is ideal for peak rut conditions, excellent for windy days and is even capable of making a bull elk "shock bugle." The Real Cow Talker is a compact version of the bite-down type cow-calf call. The "Ultimate in Elk Hunting" video features lots of bugling and tips and hunts in New Mexico and Colorado.

[Bowhunter32]

Well for me again i dont use bull bugles becouse all that really is in my opinion used gfor it to locate the elk and move in on them i never have any problems wiht cow calling beoucse one you dont get a human calling back to a cow call,...
Also not every elk sounds the same they all have there own distinctive call so if you think you sound like this dont sweat it, as long as you are doing your best and getting a clall back then good for you , but again i enjoy and always use cow calls i am really good with the mouth diaphrams or a squeese me call or even a sleezy cow call , i myself usually use the squeezme till i cet a call back then i start in on them with my mouth diaphram and the squeezme at the same time to make it out as if i have 2 cow elk over here and make him even more interested,

[mark]

buy a cow call and a bull call, then rent every elk hunting video you can and sit in front of the tv and try to mimic the pros. as well listen to everything they say and do. thats what i did now i can call elk within 10 feet of my barrel every year.

[brotherjack]

now i can call elk within 10 feet of my barrel every year.

Care to share any of the secrets you've learned? I can sound like any sound I've ever heard on any elk hunting tape (and I can't say I've watched hundreds, but I've seen and studied a couple), and it doesn't do me one dang bit of good. Everything on the tape is all "oh, go into an area where you know elk are, and make this sound", and the elk all come bounding out of the woods to see what that was. I go into an area with elk and make sounds EXACTLY like that, and nothing comes anywhere near me.


As I stated in my original post, I really think I am doing something wrong, or not doing something I'm supposed to - and I have no idea what it is... Any tips are appreciated.

Thanks.

[palmer]

in the last two days I had BULLS screaming all over" POWER BUGLE " all the way...a little HOOCHIE MAMA don't hurt......

[brotherjack]

in the last two days I had BULLS screaming all over" POWER BUGLE " all the way...a little HOOCHIE MAMA don't hurt......


See, this is what I'm talking about. I have got to be doing something VERY WRONG and I can't figure out what in the heck it is.

In the last two days, I've seen dozens of cow elk. Seen 0 bulls, and nothing responds to a bugle or a hoochie mamma or either of my other two cow elk calls.

In 3 years of hard elk hunting (I usually hunt at least an hour or two, every day of the sesaon - yeah, every day), I have seen 5 live bulls - 3 spikes, a 3 point, and a 4 point with a nub where point 5 will grow next year.

I saw a dead 6 point after a friend of mine shot one. Close as I've ever been. To add insult to injury, I turned him on to the area he got the elk.

Sigh... I just have no clue what to do - it's not like I can try harder, and I have no idea what trying smarter would be...

[palmer]

if you are seeing that many cows at this time of year...just sit down the bulls will be close...if you don't mind which area are you hunting...maybe i can give you some spots

[brotherjack]

if you are seeing that many cows at this time of year...just sit down the bulls will be close...if you don't mind which area are you hunting...maybe i can give you some spots

I do - I spend hours and hours in the bush watching and stalking the stupid cows - never any bulls that I can tell.

Anywhere in the southern East Kootenays works for me. I've been spending most of my time northwest and west of Cranbrook, or down south just west of lake Koocanusa - other than the odd trip here or there if someone gives me a tip.