eagle 1

I have been hunting since I was 12 and consider myself to be a pretty fair hunter. Through the years I have progressed to be a pretty good caller at least untill this year. My camp was fortunate to draw branched antler tags last year. The bad thing was I was the only one to get a shot out of 8 guys. The day before the season I had a nice 5 pt hot to trot the next day he shut up. Then after that i had run ins with eight bulls coming in all the way to about 80 yds the turn around. except the one I missed. So my question is what did I do wrong?Oh by the way my brother and I teamed up on a spike so we didn't go meatless, but no calling involved.

salukipv1

you were calling and hunting? alot of guys set the caller up back 80yds from them...so the bull heads for them, and when he holds up out at 80yds he'll be right in front of you. Least thats the way the plan is suppose to work. I know many bulls get close, and hold up, I'd have a guy calling behind you 50-150yds.

beech18

Could of been a number of factors. Elk are elk. Ive found even just the slightest swirel to the wind will blow a elk out. Ive seen elk stick there noses in the air, turn 180 degree's and boltat distancesover 500 yards before when I thought I had a favorable wind for a stalk. Doesnt take much of a shift in wind or thermal changing with the sun warming things or cooling the mountain drafts. Other factors, if its a pressured area,elk listen for sounds that dont "fit". A treebranch brushing against your pack or bow. Or objects out of place. We are in there back yard and they know what is suppose to be where and its suppose to smell and sound like. Windwill killmost the stalks than anyother thing combined.

Muliefever

Very true beech. Are you hunting Rocky's or Rosie's? I grew up hunting elk in Idaho. I would also say that I have been very productive. When i was stationed out on the olympic pennisula I got the chance to hunt the elusive Rosevelt Elk. Man they are different! I ended up sticking a wall hanger on 9/11/2006! Makes 7 total for me.

beech18

Never hunted the rosevelts. Will someday just to try them out. Have plenty of elk in Montana and theneighboring states to hunt each fall. When elk hunting gets in your blood its hard to get out the blood. I love to hunt anything that walksbut elk are pretty close to the top..Even a vetern elk huntercan learn something new. The challenge they pose eachseasonmakes the thrill even sweeter and keep coming back for more, esp. walking up on a downed bruiser.What part of the state of Idaho did you hunt?Pretty sure Im heading to the Frank Church this fall unless something comes up, already have the tag in hand.

elknut1

The most common reason for bulls getting away once committed to coming to our calls is they reach a certain point & hang-up! They hang-up for various reasons, first & foremost, they stop & scan the area visually where the sound/sounds came from. They can pinpoint where they came from by a matter of feet. It's true when there's a shooter/caller tag-team a shooter can be in front of the caller, distance may vary according to terrain, cover & wind & calling sequence or encounter. Anytime one setsup for a calling senario he should choose spots where elk cannot stop & look from out of bowrange shots. That is very important, elk must come close enough to investigate the sounds, they only do this when they cannot see where they're coming from because of obstruction.

You don't say if you were using bugles cow calls or both in trying to coax elk your way. This will make a difference in how to handle particular encounters. At times when there's 2 hunters the caller needs to start pulling back & going away calling sparingly as he does as if he were leaving. Snapping branches & light stomping as he retreats, this can pull a bull right passed the shooter.
I would say from your comments you were using more cow calls than anything once you were working those bulls to the 80-100yd range. If so, what happens is a bull will stand back & try to call this cow to himself. He may start with a high pitch bugle which is asking thios cow to come on over, if she doesn't show he in most cases will come closer but he'll get more demanding in his sounds such as the high short pitch scream with a light growl added & or chuckles at the end of his bugle, this shows he is getting demanding for this cow to come now!! Unless you show him why you are not coming he'll get nervous & bugger out of there as that most likely wasn't his first rodeo! (grin)
When I'm hunting & this senario takes place I will normally throw in some bull pants & huffs, this shows an intruder bull is coming on the scene & most likely the cause for her not coming. You can really play it up once you inject this into the equation! Creating a skirmish creates excitement ! There's tons more to be said, but you get the idea! Bulls hang-up for a reason, as elk hunters we need to know how to combat them before they ever happen so we are ready for nearly any encounter! Understanding what elk are saying is a huge key to ones consistent success, once you can do this you can tailor your style & next move to "fit" the encounter.
Next time also consider Call & Stalk approach! Leave a caller behind to call every few minutes to keep bull vocal as a shooter coyotes his way to the unsuspecting bull. Yep, there's tons of ways to handle an encounter! (grin)

ElkNut1

beech18

Calling during the rut is awesome, when the elk are not call shy. Elk are getting smarter and smarter as time goes on. Just another factor that could of been in last years situation? With out actually being there tough to say exactly. Ive also seen elk in many cases want nothing to do with calls, they rather get out of the country as they have been taught by other hunters what calls are. Esp the mature animals.

elknut1

Hunting bull elk on public land is no gimme or an easy task to say the least. With more & more hunters out there wanting to hunt these great animals it's no wonder they get educated. It's up to us as hunters to understand what makes elk tick? We need to know when to Stalk/Ambush elk & with no calling. We need to know when to call & what sounds are best depending on the encounter at hand! We need to know the best times & what wallows are best to hunt considering time of month & day?
We need to establish a herd bull or sattelite by appearance or by sound. You cannot work both with the same techniques & calls with any decent level of success, they must be worked differently. Herd bulls hang-up much more so than Sattelites. You shouldn't use intimidating sounds towards sattelites. You can & should against herd bulls when everything is right & in your favor! Closeness is key! Never call your way to a bugling bull, you will bump him more times than not.

Knowing these basic things & other sounds so you can understand what's happening when one is fortunate enough to hear these animals is very important, as you may only have a few close encounters each year. Knowing what to do & handle each one accordingly is crucial to ones consistent success! To take full advantage of every opportunity one has to be knowledgeable & on his A game, if not, the elk will win most every year! By educating ones self & not the elk we can stack the odds in our favor more so than the other way around! It's a continual learning process & a school no one ever graduates from!

ElkNut1

fishm@n

Being a Washington hunter and having also lived and hunted in Montana, they are two completely different states to hunt in. In Washington we have the curse of too many hunters in the woods, although not as bad during bow as rifle. We are also cursed with both short season's and a bow season that generally closes before the rut gets into full swing. While I've had good luck calling bulls into range in Montana, in Washington, not so.. they tend to get exposed to more people.. that and if you're hunting the west side of the Cascades, the brush is thicker than most jungles.

They are one smart self preserving animal that can cover an amazing amount of some of the steepest nastiest earth on this planet in less time than it takes a human to go 100yds... they have my complete respect. Deer just don't compare. Consider yourself lucky to have gotten bow range close especially in WA.