ELk Calling

[pupper]

I got the primos sound dome diaphram call today and have tried to make it work but I suck bad. Does anyone out there have any tips on how to use one of these things. I also got the hoochi moma squeeze one.

Pupper

[Fred]

I lkie the Hoochie Mama but like you I just can't get the hang of that darned mouth call. :???: Fred

[bochunk2000]

The mouthcal I have says to make the sound "eeeeeeeeeeoooooooooo" as you breath out. and hold your tongue to it. Practice practice practice!!!:smile:

[Sniper]

Pupper I have spent a lot of time gaging and choking on a lot of different diaphram calls trying to make them work while watching video's of experienced callers simply popping one in there mouth and blowing awesome Elk calls. Here is what I learned after trying about 16 different diaphrams and throwing most of them into the camp fire. !st I would like to say I'm not trying to pass myself off as an expert! But, I have come an awful long way. No.1 recommendation! spend the best $9.95 you will ever spend on the Hunter's Specialties DVD The Complete Elk Caller with Wayne Carlton. After watching Wayne Carltons Calling Tophy Moose I thought he was an absolute BUFFOON! But! this Elk calling video for the beginner is one of the best I have come accross. Learning to call as well as I can has taken me a long time not an overnight endever likely for most. Diaphram calls will gag just about anybody and they sure gaged me. Realize that not everybody has the same shaped tongue or roof of the mouth and some manufacturers diaphrams may never work for you because of the width of the open horse shoe end ect. After many practice sessions lots of squawks ect. the gag reflex will very likely disappear it did for me totaly. Try several different brands starting with double diaphrams, start by learning each part of the bugle seperately then combine them afterwards. It is like learning to whistle when you where a kid. Easiest diaphrams I found are the Bush in the Bush double diaphrams, designed by and manufactered for a Canadian hunter in the Kootenays. Knight & Hale Double Aspen double diaphram, and the Miniature Blue Sonic Dome is very easy to learn to make small bull sounds with. Best of Luck:smile:

[Jetboater]

pupper come by my shop in abbotsford and I will show you how to use it, I will be there latter tonight shooting my bow, I am at tnt marine in the fraser valley automall. Ill be there till around seven tonight.

[pupper]

I might take you up on that

[Schmaus]

Man the one thing that I have learned is this......
call in whatever way that you can get out there. If a bull is horny he will almost answer to crows kawwing in the distance. You just have to learn when to call and where to wait. It is in my experience that you can call anyway you want but if you don't do it at the right times and frequency or in the right spots they won't come out. Most elk that I have heard didn't sound like the ones on tv, some of them sounded pretty sick. But upon further investigation they were definately elk and not small ones either.

Just my 2 cents not trying to start something about someone with "the perfect call" cause I believe that there isn't one.

[FullDraw]

Pupper get ahold of Greybark he's a master at calling elk.

FullDraw

[Jetboater]

elk hunting and calling effectively are one of the most challenging hunts around. anyone who says you just squak into your bugle tube has not hunted enough elk to understand the different sounds and reason in the rut they sound that way. throughout the rut the bugles change as does the aggression of each bull.
to be very effective in the elk country arm yourselves with a few cow calls, NOT JUST A HOOCHIE MAMA!!!! this one call is not enough, especially if you are trying to make an estrous whine on a first contact call. what are three elk calls worth $50 whats your whole trip gonna cost you? also if using diaphragm reeds buy a few extras and get different sounding reeds not a triple reeds will bring out the big bulls!!! vary your reeds from single right up to triple reeds, seems like every bull needs a little bit different sound to get him fired up.
when you get a bull to respond to your bugle do not change the way that bugle sounds try to get a carbon copy sound each time you respond to that bull, he liked the sound of it so thats how you keep in contact.

dont be afraid to change up your bugle when you are searching for a bull to call, throw s couple chuckles in before you bugle or bugle twice in a row.
keep your bugle short!!!!.
last but not least elk a noisy animals if you sneak up on a bugling bull and hit him with a cow call at eighty yards, he will turn his tail and run almost every time. break branches as you are walk , dont be afraid to make noise, and constantly cow call as you are walking once every fifty yards or so.
these are only my opinions but they have worked for me on numerous bulls that hang over the mantle and many more that have slipped away from me in the thick timber. remember when you get the elk hunting bug you might as well sell any of your other hobbies.

[pupper]

thanks alot blacktail, very helpful info.

I have been practising and I am pretty good at cow calls now.

I am going to order a 3 pack of calls as well.

Pupper

[Jelvis]

I"ve only been out elk hunting a couple times at the bull, quinn creek it was fantastic. Hey black tail, whens the best time to call for a bull, I mean the month, time of day do you wait until you see them or just hear them? Will a big bull elk leave cows to come to a call. How long in between calls do you wait to call again? So many questions I need an experienced hunters opinion.I heard a bull will come straight in on ya when your calling is this true? Sorry for buttin in pup.

[Tonto]

I found that If I trim down the Diaphram a little it fits into the top of my mouth better and less gagging.
Just use a sharp pair of scissors.

Im no expert but there are a couple of racks hanging in the shop that were called in using an assortment of calls, most of them cut down to fit the roof of my mouth.

Just remember...when your out there and you hear that buggle responding to you DONT SWOLLOW YOUR CALL......
Its a pretty exciting moment.

[greybark]

Hey Pupper , Give me a call - 824-1493 .

REMEMBER -- Keep Your Fingertab On --

[Jetboater]

Jelvis the time of the month to call is very weather related. I ahve had bull come running in on the last few days of the october season and then had bulls come in on the first of september. Normally I try to find a hot bull first thing in the morning and put him to bed , around 10-12 in the morning most bulls in the rut will get up and move around and rake the odd tree, so many hunters are back in camp right after the morning hunt. the last bull I killed was at 10:45 in the morning so hunt hard and late.
we tend to try to get above the elk in the morning before the wind shifts. that way we can hunt down across. when you find an area and smell all the elk beds and see the trees that are all freshly rubbed you know your in the right spot!!! Jelvis, My favorite time is sept 15 -oct 5

[Jelvis]

Thanks wow thats fantastic, I appreciate your experience. sounds real.

[RiverOtter]

Lots of good advice above. I will add a few things that have worked for me over the years.

1) I always give a couple cow chirps and wait a few minutes before giving a bugle. If there is a bull real close that your not aware of, you are much less likely to intimidate him, especially if he has been beat up a few times before.

2) Find a diaphram that you are comfortable with and make it work for you. Once you get practiced, you will find your own brand preference; For me it is Berry Elk calls, they fit my mouth perfectly and work awsome. I have about a dozen mouth diaprams, but use the same 2 about 90% of the time.

3) Find a grunt tube that fits your mouth and gives you the sound your looking for. Most guys just buy whatever tube is on the shelf at the time and go with it. I currently use a chunk of industrial ribbed vacuum hose that I wrapped in camo mesh. I take a little ribbing around the campfire, but I have called in way to many elk(and elk hunters) to care about asthetics.

Lastly, go out and have fun. You do not need to sound like the perfect elk. Most elk are far from perfect sounding themselves.

RO :)

[Jelvis]

Right on RiverOtter, you must of called in a few bulls.

[pupper]

wow, thanks for all of your help. I am practising while I drive in the truck.
I wonder if people can hear me through the windows?
anyways I also ordered a video from primos " Primos Mastering The Art Guide To Calling Elk DVD" it should be helpful.

Pupper

[cwocarsten]

Practise makes perfect. Perfection builds confidence. Confidence keeps your composure when they are bugling real close. On another note called a nice bull in once with my 7-11 ribbed slurpee straw (forgot my bag with my hunting calls at home but had the straw). That's my 2 cents worth.

[mainland hunter]

ive heard of that straw thing working

[Jelvis]

blacktail3113 and RiverOtter, I liked what you Elk callers had to offer in this thread. I learned a lot from what you explained and I'm going to implement it along with my brothers expertise when I go to the Albert River in 4:25 this fall. Thanks again for sharing. Jel

[brotherjack]

I've had better luck doing the old 'hide and wait' than I ever did doing the 'call and stalk' method.

[Rainwater]

Yah I have to agree Old Greybark can call alright and he will give you tips. However it is also vitally important to be able to assess the situation very quickly so you can act or not depending on how a bull is reacting. That may be even more important than how good a caller you are.

[KMH]

I just bought the hoochie mamma 3 in 1 push call, and after watching this video i rented on hunting/calling i sent my dad to pickup a diaphram call, would anyone know of any good websites that have audio to give me an idea what I "should" sound like:confused:

[hunter1947]

I just bought the hoochie mamma 3 in 1 push call, and after watching this video i rented on hunting/calling i sent my dad to pickup a diaphram call, would anyone know of any good websites that have audio to give me an idea what I "should" sound like:confused: The hiper hot cow call is a reall fantastic cow call ,it is a cow in heat and whants atention now,it is a woodswise call and norm pint from arizona develped this call it has been on the market for 8 years now, hunter47.http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Jetboater]

Hide and wait tecnique is good for some if you dont mind going home most years without a bull, or if you live with the elk nearby ,
but if you want to give yourselves the best chance out there you have to be aggresive but subtle in how you call and hunt.
the other thing people have to learn is elk dont just come running down the hillsides because you can cow call or bugle, you still have to get up to where the elk are. and you still have to hunt extremely hard. bugling and cow calling is only a very small portion of elk hunting. dont forget you will only get a bugle if there is a bull nearby that is willing to repond. but if there is no elk in our area you can call all you want without a reeponse.

remember to watch as many viseos of elk hunting you can as elk do respond like on the videos. remember elk are elk!!!

[brotherjack]

I guess I'm in that "elk nearby" catagory - last year's elk was less than 10 kilometers from home. :)

But seriously, I seen more and bigger elk at closer range by setting up next to a heavily traveled elk trail than I ever did using any kind of call, and I've tried hundreds of dollars worth of em. Probably me technique or something, as so many other people have great luck with them; but that's my honest experience.

[quadrakid]

thanks for info from rookie elk caller, i had tried one type of diaphram call and just could not make it work for me. after reading this thread i bought two new ones.first one was just right, i,ve been practising with it and getting some good results. trimmed up second one and my original call and they both work for me know. well another month and we,ll see what the elk think! thanks to all the experienced callers.

[WOLVERINE-RIDER]

you know it's funny sitting here reading these posts and I swear I can hear bugles in my head. Is it oct yet?? For those of you that haven't heard it.. when you do...that will be it. All over. Nothing is better than an elk bugle my friends. It's adictive.