My first elk bugle - 1974
Elk
Going through my 92 year old mom's basement and I came upon some of my old bowhunting stuff from Days of Yore. This was my first bugle. Got it at the import store. By taping up all but one hole it makes a nice, mellow four-note bugle. The end has a hole drilled in it like the modern open reed calls.
My little gang used these instead of the popular coiled gas pipe of the day, because we thought the coiled gas pipe was too "tinny" sounding. (Too bad we didn't have the internet back then so we could've argued about it!) :)
It worked then, and I'm going to try it this fall to see if it will still work today. For reference, it's 18" long.
Also found the arrow with which I killed my first mule deer. Easton Gamegetter dipped in green paint, tipped with a Bear razorhead shot from a 66" Wing target bow. Blue and orange fletch, of course! (Broncos colors!)
Really cool. Thanks for sharing. Let's see the arrow too.
Yeah Lou, we had to improvise quite a bit back then. My first call was the old coiled tube. Funny thing is, years later I actually called in a few bulls with that thing when they wouldn't respond to the "new and improved" calls. Dang we're dating ourselves! ;-)
Hahaha! Bugle my a$$. I still see a little resin stuck in the end of that peace pipe!
Seriously though, that is cool.
Very cool (except for the Broncos colors)
Lou, you're not fooling anyone! Pass it this way!
Very nice! You probably could sell it to some pothead for big bucks!
Heh, never thought of a "double-duty" bugle. :)
Bugle a few times, eat all the Snickers bars in the pack, closely examine a spider web and the veins in an aspen leaf, make friends with an interesting bug, study cloud formations, take a nap in the woods, wake up ready for the evening hunt. That, my friends, would be called "stopping to smell the roses"!
It may be way cooler than you think! Here is a little story that happened to a few waterfowl hunters.
With everyone switching to the new short Reed goose call the last couple decades. A buddy had his old collection of olts long Reed calls in the blind one day, to show off. We each took turns honking on the old goodies. We thought the hunt was over that day, until we noticed a flock had turned back to take a look! They liked old school, and so did a few other flocks to wrap up the season! Now we have all dug out our old calls and are eagerly waiting next season.
Lou, My son is in fifth grade and has to play the Recorder for music class. Your bugle looks just like it (minus the electrical tape)! I'll let him know that it should be an easy transition to elk calling. A new approach to introducing the youth of today. Haha! TODDY
Toddy, when I brought it home I was playing it in another room - I can get about 7 notes out of it even with the tape - and my wife yelled in to ask if I was playing a recorder and said it sounded like "that New Age stuff".
It worked pretty well for elk back then, with far fewer elk bowhunters and not many calling. I put it away after I learned how to voice bugle, which changed the whole game. Looking forward to trying it again.
Cool, looks like it needs to be in a museum! (grin)
ElkNut1
Mine was made out of black plastic drain pipe about that same era. It worked amazingly well too.
Ben, I knew a couple guys who used those and they did sound good. Maybe we should start a Bowsite virtual museum. I'll contribute this if Bigdan tosses in his missing bottom two "bugler" teeth!
I was 2 when you made that.
Lou, I hope you don't mind, but you had me digging out my old stuff, too! I bought this Olt Elk Call in 1976 and used a plastic pipe to cobble together an extension for more volume. I was so naïve and dumb, it was a good thing the bulls were, too. I called in and messed up on a bunch of them with this call. So many great memories. It was so much fun, it started a lifelong addiction.
That's cool! I remember those Olt calls. Seems like we were spending our money on beer and other stuff back then instead of those fancy "commercial calls".
I'll bet if you stuck it in the end of a cutoff wiffle bat it would still work great. I plan to try that with Old Woody this fall.
Well, I tried the recorder for kicks... I'll stick to the diaphragm and the bugle tube. Haha! TODDY
Double-duty elk call.....with a positive response......must be the middle of winter. homebru
Jaquomo, sweet call!! That looks like a recorder from the 4th grade music class! Pretty sure the elk will not be call shy to that particular call and I would suggest you apply for a patent before we all want one!
I bought this elk call in the early 70s at Henderson's Archery shop in Phoenix. It was sold as the "World Championship Elk Call". Not many bowhunters in the woods in those days. Chad
Love the nostalgia with the old hunting equipment. I ran across my first range finder the other day. Look through the view finder, turn the wheel until the object comes into focus, look at the dial to see what the yardage was...wow, how times and technology have changed!!! :)
I have that exact same rangefinder. Primitive.
I also have a Rain-Bow combination bow sight and rangefinder from about 1970 that's still new in the box. Seemed like a good idea at the time....
Then we had "new school" in the early '80s. Today's Young Guns don't know what they missed out on ;-)Heck, I only had turkey diaphragm mouth calls at the start. Then remember the first Larry D. Jones stainless reed bugle tube? Wayne Carlton and Abe of Oregon deserve lots of props too ...
I still break out the gas pipe bugle every now and then. Sometimes it really pisses off big bulls. Of course mine doesn't have a fancy wooden mouth piece as I bought mine at Home Depot and cut the end off.
I actually lost my dad's Herter's Elk whistle many years ago. It also was basically just a flute type recorder. Funny thing is that the gas pipe and the old flutes often work well I believe in part because no one is using them.
My first was that same red and black Olt call. I was rifle hunting with family up the Poudre and everyone but me went home the day before. I half heartedly hiked up the mountain in the rain. I was late and not even close to where I figured the elk were at. I pulled out the call as I rummaged through my pack for a snack. I figured it was as good a time as any to practice a couple bugles since I wasn't where the elk were.
A bull cut me off mid bugle and then two more fired up right above me. For a half hour all four of us bugled while I tried to get eyes on a bull. They were headed up and I would catch a glimpse of a rear end and a flash of antler but no shots. First time I ever heard cows. When the woods fell silent, I was totally spent and pretty well hooked.
Lv2hnt,
The calls of my youth! Wish I could find my old one. These are why I learned how to voice call at an early age. Although, we did call elk in with those stovepipes several times.
I dunno...I don't think it will work anymore...Looks like the FOC is off.
Oh yeah, I love these nostalgia threads.
Bought this old pipe back in the 70's when I was still rifle hunting. Even after I started using a diaphragm, I still carried it in the backpack. Many years ago, we had a bull going pretty good one morning. Problem was, he had cows that were on the move, so there was no way he was leaving them to come check us out. Didn't matter what I threw at him, we could never get closer than 100yds. All the while we were losing ground. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I grabbed the pipe out of my pack and gave a whistle. Long story short, that bull came back and got to 10ft of my buddy. Problem was, he set up BEHIND the tree, instead of in front. Haunts him to this day! lol!
There are bulls that won't commit to anything, regardless of what you throw at them. Then again, there are bulls that will commit to darn near anything. You just don't know what that "anything" could be. Could be an old coiled pipe. Could be a whistle that resembles an Indian peace pipe. You just never know.
Yep, Larry Jones was big when I first started, I remember seeing him give an Elk Seminar in Sacramento CA, he's a great guy! My favorite was his challenger bugle & red double reed diaphragm.
This ole bugle was one from him! Man I loved that squeaker! (grin)
ElkNut1
I grew up listening to Larry D Jones elk calls. My dad was a big fan of him. Thatsucks was back in the eighties or so.
Paul: I've still got that L. Jones bugle. You're right --- kind of sounds like a bull w/ his you know what caught in a door!
LOL! You lucky guy! I'm not sure what happened to mine but I sure wish it was still with me, it brings back lots of memories! (grin) Thanks bud!
ElkNut1
Not an elk call but still nearly on topic.
Not sure how many here are old enough to remember Herters. Everything they sold was "World Famous". Most of their stuff was good quality. Lots of dreaming and planning took place over a Herters catalog.
That was before internet, videos or hunting shows on tv and social media. Not many distractions.
Chad
Herter's "Model Perfect"!! Can't get any better than perfect.
Chad, I've got one of those too! Sounds like no other elk call when the reed is positioned just right (secret weapon). I do end up a little red in the face afterwards though ... ;-)
I used to have lots of Herters stuff. The fabricated catalog stories about each product were the best. "Selling the dream".
Jaq, you mean this marketing thing isn't something new? ;-)
My first bow was a herters recurve, herters cedar artows and herters broadheads. The only thing missing was the uniform
