Tim Buma

I know you guys use all sorts of fancy scents for White-tail.
Do you use any sort of scents for elk.
Reason I ask, is I'm off Elk hunting at the end of March.
(Our Rut is March/April, here in Southern Hemisphere.)
I have done quite a lot of Elk hunting (9 times.) but have never used scents, and only in the past three years used calls. (Cow calls.)
I'm still learning, and interested to hear advice from you fellow hunters.

cherokee_outfitters

Realistically alot devices such as scents, calls, and decoys are promoted and mass produced saying it's the hottest thing going. I've called and lured tons of elk over the past. Even pursued the big ones long enough to make them come back for a challenge. Some use reed type bugle calls others use diaphrams. I'm a diaphram user when it comes to bugles. They work well for me(notice the part where I said its for me). Some people may spend years trying to make an elk call from one. Sceery makes some really good and easy to use elk calls. I can't use the reed style due to a cleft pallet. So I use the Sceery cow call that you bite down on and blow through. But the main thing is to use a tape recorder while practicing so you know wether you sound atleast close. Elk make several different calls saying different things. Until you have heard these calls and seen the actions of the elk taking place its hard to discribe it. Primos makes a pretty decent video on elk calling that gets it pretty close. It's call Mastering the Art. Some will say elk calling is easy. Its not every elk has his own mind. And that's what your trying to do is sway an old hard headed bull into coming to you. Alot of times I merely use a call for a locater and put the slip on the old bugger. It all depends on the circumstances like hunting pressure, weather, and the stage of the rut. The guys that call on private ranches and trophy draw units have a much higher success rate. The elk just dont have the human contact or education of the ones on public land. Rent the videos and the tapes so you can have a better idea. Best experience is first hand in the field but you'll educate a few bulls in the process.

H.S. Scents work pretty well for me when i'm trying to bring the bull to me. Cover scent is more important. Alot of people talk about wind direction but in the rocky you get swirls of wind all the time. So you just try to stick with the dominate wind direction and use cover scent. I like the H.S. fresh earth scent. Or use existing elk urine found on the trail.

I've always thought the day I knew everything there was to calling and hunting elk is the day they scatter my ashes over the mountain. Every year brings a new challenge.

Goodluck on your hunt.

Hiawatha

i go with an earth scent on my scent lock suit and a little red fox urine on my boots and a few steps away from my stand. I really like this wild fire elk scent form Wildlife Research it seems to work great. I usually spray a little of that about 20 yards away from my stand and leave the bottle open on the ground. My friend was using this scent and he had a cow come in and pick up the bottle in her mouth and throw it back all over herself. While all this was goin on he stuck an arrow in her.

txhunter58

I must stink more than most. I think I have tried just about every cover scent made, and bottom line is that if an elk gets down wind of me, he spooks.

Dirt2

I backpack in for 4-8 days at a time in peak rut, and consequently, I smell like Sasquatch after a few days. I have to stay upwind, period.

I have tried cover scents based on elk urine, but quickly gave them the boot, simply because they messed up my ability to smell elk. For me smelling the elk is an important part of hunting. I should stop being amazed at this by now, but I probably smell a majority of the elk I find before I see them.

noway

Tim,
I saw the pictures you posted from your hunt last year.
You are hunting some nasty stuff and really working for your elk if you are hunting the same area this year.

For a hunter who is driving to a water hole and sitting there all day and not really doing much he may get some benefit from scents and cover up.

For the hard working hunter who is busting his hump over the country just to get to the elk, no amount of scent is going to cover you. It is just one more thing to carry and have to mess with. Keep it simple and play the wind.

As I am sure you already know once an elk gets the slightest scent of you he will be gone, and keep on going.

Good luck on your hunt and if you get the time post pictures.
Really enjoyed your shots from last years hunt.
That looked like a real adventure!!

Tim Buma

Thanks Mike,
I kind of figured as much. But did wander if there was something that the Elk really go nuts over i.e. Not a cover but maybe an attractant.
Yes we're heading back to similar country next month, a little further south this time.
We drew block 19 (Charles/Caswell sound: For the benfit of someone who may have been there.) Steep and coastal. Can't wait, we go down on 22nd March for 8-10 days, four of us. (A chopper load.) Hoping we get a bugle like last year. In NZ the hunting pressure is right off, as there is no commercial harvest. (Price of venison is very low.), as a consequence the numbers are building and animals are venturing out into the open a bit more.
Will post pictures etc
NB: If you're interested in Trout Fishing, check out some of my posts in the freshwatewr forum.

noway

Tim,
Two things that have really worked for us.
As you are traveling the country blow lots of cow calls, LOTS, I usually try to sound like a couple cows with a couple calves and a spike bull.
Often when a larger bull hears a small group like this moving through the country they will come to investigate. Often they will come in silently but sometimes you will get a bugle back.
Just use short high pitched spike bugles once in a while, but hit the cow and calf calls a lot as you move along. We have killed our last three bulls using this technique, two were trotting in at 40 yards and one at 100 yards as he was coming up to the trail we were on.
This is also a great trick to use if you come upon a herd in the timber and they go three separate ways. They will be looking to join back up.

If you come upon a very elk looking spot sit for 1/2 hour making these herd sounds and keep a sharp eye out for one sneaking in.
These techniques work whether the bulls or bugling or not.

The other is a small decoy, just a cows butt decoy or a cows head decoy.
Or even a shed antler works for this.

When you get a bulls attention and they hang up out there at 80 yards if you can wave the decoy at them or just stick a horn out and rake a tree where they can see it they will have their visual reassurance and likely come on in.

Remember bulls expect to see movement and hear noises when other elk are present. It won't put them off unless they can see you or smell you.

Do you guys also hunt the red stags in your area? I have seen hunts from your area on TV. Some of those animals are awesome looking.