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Solo Hunting Strategies

Due to out of shape and un-enthusiastic hunting partners, I am going solo. Does anyone have any strategies they'd like to share? With 2 or 3 guys we always set-up with 1-2 shooters upwind of the caller (hopefully between caller and elk). When going solo do you let out a couple calls and then move up, sit and wait 30 mins or so quietly?

Thanks for the help.

I just found out my hunting partner said he could't go this year so I'm depressed to say the least.we had planned to leave yesterday for colorado.I'm thinking of going on my own but not sure about the added expense from alabama gas alone would probably cost me an extra five hundred plus 1500 miles is a long drive alone.anyway good luck and what I would suggest is to call and move forward.watch the wind, elk will always try to come in downwind of you.

I think solo is a good technique. In my opinion you are better off sneaking in on bulls then you are calling them in. Well at least that has seemed to work for me.

I mixed up calling and spot and stalk on my Elk hunt this year. It worked well. I passed a couple cows and should have shot a nice bull I called to 15 yards, but he popped up over a ridge and by the time I could clearly see it was an Elk and a shooter, he was too close to draw on. This was a solo, public land, DIY hunt.

How about when the elk aren't talking? Last week when we were up we didn't hear a single bugle in 9 days! We were anywhere from 1 to 4 miles off the roads and didn't see any hunters. Silent calling turned up a couple of bulls that came in one to get our wind and the other hung-up. Is there a method for silent calling solo?

I will call and move downwind 50 to 80 yards, dont call directly at the bull. They almost always circle downwind to pick up scent.

I have hunted solo every year since 1994. I hunt in the wilderness areas of Colorado and New Mexico. Wilderness usually means high elevation. I pack in a camp 3 to 5 miles, and then hunt out from there. I usually adapt to how the elk are reacting. But I have good success getting elk to come in if I climb to the transition area right at timberline. I do what I call “bedding” between 11:00AM and 2:00PM. I quietly find their beds and just set up in them. Call and relax, mix them up (cow and bull calls) but with reduced frequency. Stay ready because the big bulls will come in quiet after they have set their harem to bed in late morning. Some bulls will respond, but I usually don't go to them, I just stay put. I will stay there for 3 to 4 hours and kind "become one of them". Then at 3 to 4:00 PM if I get some responses, I will move toward the elk a little just to let them know I'm still there. I stay patient and I will usually get them to come to me, but if not I will go to them, but only if they are responding enough for me to zone in on their location. So once I get more aggressive with my calling (breaking sticks and rubbing) and start to move toward a vocally responsive bull, it works well I think because I am not really new on the scene. The bull has been listening to me off and on from late morning to late after noon and they start to accept me as a legitimate challenger that needs to be dealt with. The herd bull may take off with his harem or come and run me out of there If it’s a satellite bull with no cows, I can usually can get him to come in for a closer look if more cow calls are mixed in. So I guess what I am saying is, I have slowed down a lot more when I hunt alone, and really like it for elk and mule deer. I leave for the mountains for 10 days starting tonight, so good luck to you all. Mike

herdbull what you wrote makes sense thanks for the input .it seems im always hunting alone ...

I harvested a solo bull last thursday at noon using Elknut's lost cow call. Just as Herdbull said he came in quiet. After blowing several setups with estrus whines and bugles that subtle approach closed the deal.

I called in two bull solo, nope I didn't connect but it was worth it all just to call each of the bulls in. I'd start by giving a lost cow call while moving through the timber, not to often, once I found where I wanted to set up. I'd do the lost cow call, not too frequently, and then I changed and mixed it up with other mews and sounds to make it sound like the lost cow had found some friends...the first bull came in close, bugled and then moved down wind and got me. I used the same set up during a rain storm and bull came in to 25 yards and locked up behind a row of blue spruce. He took me by surprise but he was a lot of fun running back and forth playing hid and seek with me. But he would move down wind and I needed him to try to move down wind of me for a shot...nothing doin' we played that game for about 20 minutes..it was hoot.

use cow calls to locate bulls, then don't call straight at them, but off to the side a little. that way they won't be coming straight at you. And if you do call straight at them and hear them coming straight at you, move 10-20 yards to the side if you can from the spot you called from.

I've been solo hunting cows for the last two seasons where in WA, DIY on public land where there is a lot of pressure, and a lot of folks calling.

My best opportunities, they have come from glassing at first light to locate the animals, and then moving quickly and stealthily into position to catch them on their feet.

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