BiG Boar
06-25-2010, 12:13 PM
ELK Calling 101
Mew or Low Mew, Roars, Bugles, Chuckles, Contact or Aggressive Grunts, and Gurgles. This all seems a tad too complex for the rookie hunter. Well it’s easier than you think to call elk. Almost anyone can do it; you just got to find the right one, with the right amount of points. If you call they will come.
4 types of calls for each of you to know:
1. For cows and young bulls; Distress Call or Fighting Squeal.
2. For any elk; Contact/Cow Mew, Fighting Squeal or Contact Grunt.
3. For any bull; Contact/Cow Mew, Contact Grunt, Fighting Squeal, Glug or non-dominant Bugle.
4. For dominant bulls; Social/Low Mew, Contact Grunt, Fighting Squeal, Loud Inhale/Exhale, Cough, Glug, Dominance Grunt, Gurgle, Growl, Roar, Bugle, Chuckle or Full Bugle Sequence.
1 - Tone your calling down to a more submissive level, don’t scare everything off.
2 - Raspy, growly calling can be counter-productive when hunting, actually scaring most bulls away.
3 - Be flexible; be willing and able to make instant adjustments when you are onto a bull. No two situations are exactly the same, so don’t get hung up on something that has worked before. Some bulls like it sporadically some like cow calling and bugling. Give him what he needs to hear.
4 - Be more careful with movement. Learn not be sloppy.
5 - Practice calling before the season starts. People will shoot bows and guns for months before the season starts to get good, but seldom pick up a call and practice. By the end of the season though they have the call mastered. You will be too late!
6 - Always carry a cow call and blow it every 100 yards or so if nothing is going on and your still hunting. You will break twigs and knock over rocks under foot so another elk might think you’re just a cow walking about.
7 - Don’t make human sounds. No metallic sounds from your gear. No talking. Whisper already or better yet, learn sign language.
8 - Use your sniffer. Elk like to bed just over the top of ridges. So smell for their barnyard smell and glass as you crest over a ridge.
9 - Cow calling can make a bull stand up, if you only smell them, they may come to check out the noise
10 - Calling in wind is tough. Get out of the wind. Other side of the hill, gullies, wherever you can hear a response.
11 - If hunting with a partner and using a locator bugle, get him to stand away 10 -15 feet as you bugle, your loud sound may cover the noise of a response, that may happen while you’re in the middle of your bugle.
12 - Keep at it. If you know there are elk in the area, never let your guard down. Sometimes you hunt for days and don’t hear a thing, and then all of a sudden he’s there. It’s just a matter of time, you will call bulls in.
13 - Get off the beaten path. Every hunter and their dog use the main areas near to the roads. Get in the thick stuff, the blow downs and bad necks of the woods. Elk that normally don’t respond to the most commonly called areas may respond better in those areas. Go to areas that aren’t easy. Down in a thick timber hole that people don’t think look easy to get an elk out of.
14 - Watch elk calling videos and learn the sounds. Even a bad caller can get responses.
15 - Learn how to react when elk respond to you.
16 - Watch the wind, and know where the elk want to be.
17 - Don’t call near noisy rivers as you may not hear responses.
18 - Bulls respond better to cow calls. Don’t use them sparingly. Elk use these calls talking between cow and calf all day long.
19 - Bugles can scare away heard bulls, and run off satellite bulls.
20 - Don’t put an obstacle like a deep river or swamp or cliffs in the way of elk coming to your call.
21 - Expect a response. This way you can act right away in getting set up or figuring out a plan.
22 - If you get a response to a type of call, bull or cow, make it more intense when you do it next time.
23 - Don’t overcall as he comes in. You will be pin pointed rather than having him look for you.
24 - Only bugle for a challenge if in really close range of a herd bull. Be in a wooded area.
25 - A fighting squeal can be used to call in entire herds of cow/calf coming to figure out what all the ruckus is. Sometimes the bull will follow them over and then try to round them up.
26 - If you hear a bugle a mile away, don’t get all excited and start bugling. The lead cow in the herd might move the herd away from your herd. Instead close the gap first. Watch for cow that might bust you. Try to get within a couple hundred yards before making a sound if possible.
27 - Have your shooter set up between the herd and you calling. Then move around back there and call. Left right and what not.
28 - Bulls are more aggressive at the beginning of the rut. Use more cow calls near the end of the rut when the bulls aren’t so aggressive.
29 - Elk like to approach using cover. Don’t expect them to be in the open.
30 - Learn what type of calling works during the time you are heading in. Pre rut, rut, post rut, late season.
31 - Try to match the sounds of the bull you are calling. If they are screaming loud. Scream loud. If they are chuckling, then chuckle.
32 - A lot of bulls ignore bugles as every hunter and his dog has one and they have learned not to respond.
33 - If you start bugling in another hunter, really screw with him and try to convince him you’re a nice big tasty bull. Then start calling, “shoot me! Shoot me!” See how pissed off he gets. Then hide and watch him get angry.
34 - Use any products like scents and decoys if you can to attract elk, more so if calling from a stand.
Mew or Low Mew, Roars, Bugles, Chuckles, Contact or Aggressive Grunts, and Gurgles. This all seems a tad too complex for the rookie hunter. Well it’s easier than you think to call elk. Almost anyone can do it; you just got to find the right one, with the right amount of points. If you call they will come.
4 types of calls for each of you to know:
1. For cows and young bulls; Distress Call or Fighting Squeal.
2. For any elk; Contact/Cow Mew, Fighting Squeal or Contact Grunt.
3. For any bull; Contact/Cow Mew, Contact Grunt, Fighting Squeal, Glug or non-dominant Bugle.
4. For dominant bulls; Social/Low Mew, Contact Grunt, Fighting Squeal, Loud Inhale/Exhale, Cough, Glug, Dominance Grunt, Gurgle, Growl, Roar, Bugle, Chuckle or Full Bugle Sequence.
1 - Tone your calling down to a more submissive level, don’t scare everything off.
2 - Raspy, growly calling can be counter-productive when hunting, actually scaring most bulls away.
3 - Be flexible; be willing and able to make instant adjustments when you are onto a bull. No two situations are exactly the same, so don’t get hung up on something that has worked before. Some bulls like it sporadically some like cow calling and bugling. Give him what he needs to hear.
4 - Be more careful with movement. Learn not be sloppy.
5 - Practice calling before the season starts. People will shoot bows and guns for months before the season starts to get good, but seldom pick up a call and practice. By the end of the season though they have the call mastered. You will be too late!
6 - Always carry a cow call and blow it every 100 yards or so if nothing is going on and your still hunting. You will break twigs and knock over rocks under foot so another elk might think you’re just a cow walking about.
7 - Don’t make human sounds. No metallic sounds from your gear. No talking. Whisper already or better yet, learn sign language.
8 - Use your sniffer. Elk like to bed just over the top of ridges. So smell for their barnyard smell and glass as you crest over a ridge.
9 - Cow calling can make a bull stand up, if you only smell them, they may come to check out the noise
10 - Calling in wind is tough. Get out of the wind. Other side of the hill, gullies, wherever you can hear a response.
11 - If hunting with a partner and using a locator bugle, get him to stand away 10 -15 feet as you bugle, your loud sound may cover the noise of a response, that may happen while you’re in the middle of your bugle.
12 - Keep at it. If you know there are elk in the area, never let your guard down. Sometimes you hunt for days and don’t hear a thing, and then all of a sudden he’s there. It’s just a matter of time, you will call bulls in.
13 - Get off the beaten path. Every hunter and their dog use the main areas near to the roads. Get in the thick stuff, the blow downs and bad necks of the woods. Elk that normally don’t respond to the most commonly called areas may respond better in those areas. Go to areas that aren’t easy. Down in a thick timber hole that people don’t think look easy to get an elk out of.
14 - Watch elk calling videos and learn the sounds. Even a bad caller can get responses.
15 - Learn how to react when elk respond to you.
16 - Watch the wind, and know where the elk want to be.
17 - Don’t call near noisy rivers as you may not hear responses.
18 - Bulls respond better to cow calls. Don’t use them sparingly. Elk use these calls talking between cow and calf all day long.
19 - Bugles can scare away heard bulls, and run off satellite bulls.
20 - Don’t put an obstacle like a deep river or swamp or cliffs in the way of elk coming to your call.
21 - Expect a response. This way you can act right away in getting set up or figuring out a plan.
22 - If you get a response to a type of call, bull or cow, make it more intense when you do it next time.
23 - Don’t overcall as he comes in. You will be pin pointed rather than having him look for you.
24 - Only bugle for a challenge if in really close range of a herd bull. Be in a wooded area.
25 - A fighting squeal can be used to call in entire herds of cow/calf coming to figure out what all the ruckus is. Sometimes the bull will follow them over and then try to round them up.
26 - If you hear a bugle a mile away, don’t get all excited and start bugling. The lead cow in the herd might move the herd away from your herd. Instead close the gap first. Watch for cow that might bust you. Try to get within a couple hundred yards before making a sound if possible.
27 - Have your shooter set up between the herd and you calling. Then move around back there and call. Left right and what not.
28 - Bulls are more aggressive at the beginning of the rut. Use more cow calls near the end of the rut when the bulls aren’t so aggressive.
29 - Elk like to approach using cover. Don’t expect them to be in the open.
30 - Learn what type of calling works during the time you are heading in. Pre rut, rut, post rut, late season.
31 - Try to match the sounds of the bull you are calling. If they are screaming loud. Scream loud. If they are chuckling, then chuckle.
32 - A lot of bulls ignore bugles as every hunter and his dog has one and they have learned not to respond.
33 - If you start bugling in another hunter, really screw with him and try to convince him you’re a nice big tasty bull. Then start calling, “shoot me! Shoot me!” See how pissed off he gets. Then hide and watch him get angry.
34 - Use any products like scents and decoys if you can to attract elk, more so if calling from a stand.