elknut1

BareBack Jack

You pose a good question, about public land hunting, it' s a crap shoot at times isn' t it? I' ve been in the situation Wolf killer is in. As mentioned before, odds are the cows will show up first if you follow the herd and try to cow call the herd bull over to you. Wolf Killer and myself can speak from experience on this one.
I also hunt public land, but I don' t let that hinder my calling decisions. If I don' t do it someone else will. The good thing about it I' ve discovered is that most hunters cow call these days, especially early season. The way I combat this is to bugle, I ' ll tell you why. Let' s take Wolf killers situation, he knows where a herd of elk are with a good bull as we speak, he wants that bull not a cow or spike. His best chance of getting that bull is to get his attention before someone else does. Let' s say the whole herd is moving from feeding to bedding, and someone cow calls toward the herd, but Wolf killer bugles, what do you think would happen? who' s the threat? which one would recieve the bulls attention? That bull would not ignore this other bull to go after another cow, he already has a herd and doesn' t want to sacrifice any of them. In the meantime this other guy is calling in a cow or spike. So by all means work the bull, he couldn' t care less about some old cow call at that time, she poses no threat and as far as he' s concerned she' ll join up anyway. So I would act fast, get in close pressure the bull, don' t let let him reason out what' s happening, believe me he' ll put up a defense, cut him off everytime he bugles back, this really pisses him off. We killed a 322 6 point two years ago with this exact setup. Not a monster but respectable. I wish I was there Wolf killer, we' d give it our best shot. elknut1

By the way, I start off with a location call just to see what frame of mind the bull is in, he could answer back a half doz. ways. I respond accordingly.
Those cow calls I suggested earlier(excited) are not cow in heat calls or estrus calls, they' re calls cows make to get others attention and actually asking them to come on over, unlike social calls or herd type mews which don' t require attention by other elk.

121553

Nut, you are absolutely right, its just that I hesitate in useing a bull call too early in the season as maybe the bull might take his harem and herd them off up the mountain if he thinks his harem is going to be threatened by another bull, no doubt its a crap shoot and that succsess is based on experience, if it works, then I would not change it. Its just that in useing a cow call that the bull doesn' t feel near as threaten and will come in more relaxed thinking he can head up another cow as opposed to comfronting a bull wanting to move in on his regime.
I am still looking forward to you doing my calling this year. Good luck this season and enjoy reading your post. Bobby

elknut1

121553

You' re exactly right about bulls wanting to grab their harems and run off, I call them " runners" . The reason they do run, is because the caller, once he gets a response from the bull usually doesn' t know what the bull said. If he did he could put the bull at ease with the very next call. All calls don' t have to challenge the real bull. Most guys when getting an answer usually bugle again to try and pinpoint about where the bull is, the next thing they do is move in his direction 75 to 100yds and call again to find ouy where he is, by then the bulls starting to pack his bags and head over the mountain not wanting a confrontation. And of course the hunter is now bugling repeatedly trying to stop the bull, fat chance, you' ve already blown it, worst thing about it is they' ll do this all over again on the next bull.
Cow calls can work great in early season and after for bulls who haven' t collected many or any cows yet. In most cases the bull at that time comes in quiet and it takes real patience convincing oneself a bull is going to coming in. This can work, but it' s not exciting enough for me, I like to get them vocal, then work them from there. Again as mentioned before, if you stick to mainly cow calling in an area where a bull has cows and what not, 9 times out of 10 you' ll call in the cows first and that can mess everything up, unless you turn the tables on him, and that' s exactly what I do.
I have various techniques that I use depending on the response I get from the bull. But my main intent here is to get the bulls attention with no challenge involved. Bulls at this time have already " staged" and he knows every bull in his area by sight or by there bugles, so to him I' m a newcomer, he wants to know who and what I am. (a threat or not) He will only run if he feels threatened. So in some cases I' ll bugle 3 or 4 times in a period no longer than a minute, that lets the bull know I haven' t advanced on him. I then give some soft rapid chuckles, (not grunts) followed by several different cow mews and a calf mew or two. By doing this it shows the bull that I' m pulling my cows together. As far as this real bull is concerned this puts a new light on the situation, he certainly isn' t feeling threatned. What I do next puts that bull right in my lap, I' m sure you can guess what it is. So you see, I feel bugling in early season can and is productive, provided it' s done right. Wolf killer, this small tidbit may help you this season as well with that bull you' re after. elknut1









I can envision this bull already calming down

121553

Absolutely right Nut, timeing is everything and you have got to know if its a good time to use a bull call or cow/calf and when to mix it up, you my friend know when and what to call, I would be hesitate about suggesting some of these bull calls unless one know how to talk Bull and when. My season here starts Sept. 6 and that is when the bulls will be herding up their harem, I will have a bull call, but my first choice at this early in the season is a cow/calf call in locateing the herd, and then depending on the situation, a non-aggressive Bull call would not be out of the question. Thats what makes it fun, trying to play with its mind and at the same time, try not to be busted by the inferior ones in the herd. Good Luck, Bobby