ElkNut1
If I hear no bugles. Maybe some cow calls and set tight a bit. It is dark on the face you are on and the thermals should be good for a bit longer. Maybe something might come in to see who you are and you could deflate some lungs with a sharp pointy stick >>>------->
it appears you are facing west. if correct, my 1st guess as where the elk will be is below you between the hunter and the lake.
later in the morning I suspect elk with head to the drainage areas off to the left.
One thing I know for sure is if there was any chance of elk being directly below me I would not be there at 8:30 in the morning!!
Try getting up at 4AM, then hike with headlamps to get into your spot before sunup. Heck, you can even walk right into them in the dark...you don't need to be up on that ridge.
But, It's never too late to bugle, go ahead and try....
or
Sit and glass to find their bedding areas.
I agree with unit 9er, if that was the spot I was wanting to get to first thing in the AM I would have been there before dawn and do a location bugle in the dark.
If I got there late I would have lit up a fatty and just watched for about an hour and then I would proceed to go plum crazy with the bugle and cow calls and then if no response I would hike back to camp and have lunch and a beer and a nice nap then dream about what to do for the evening hunt! HAHa JK
Swede its the most stupidest question . I will tell u why cause this elknut guy all ready has the answer in his head LOL
its a picture not a real situation so much more comes into play before i throw out a call , then just a picture , but again master elk hunter Paul has it all figured out
Swede Paul is only trying to show some that Paul thinks he is a master elk hunter caller thats all he is trying to do.
830 or 9 about time to use the toilet !
The best way to learn from it is to lay out a broader picture with more details and tell us why he did it the way he did and what the response was, In the first place! Then we could add what we might have done.
And yes, there's many experienced elk hunters that could add perspective, but Paul's managed to alienate the overwhelming majority of said bowhunters. As far as decency, what goes around, comes around. Hell, it didn't take him 2wks to tell the rest of us how stupid we are.
Lots of good comments, as we all know there are no wrong ones, we all have our ways of creating interest. This was the first time we'd ever been there, we actually did about 90% of what Elkhunter stated. What we didn't do was move down the mountain half way before bugling. We cow called first to check if anything was close by, we started on low volume with just a few mews, nothing, we then escalated into a whiny tone & higher volume, still nothing. We did this here because in the past we've had bulls ignite with these sounds very close by.
We then waited a few minutes & bugled 1/2 dozen times over a 10 minute period, still nothing. Doesn't mean there were no elk, it just meant there were no rutting elk nearby.
If there was a hot cow below us we would have known it, it wouldn't really matter the time of the morning, we would have eventually received a response from a bull. The time frame was around the 1st week of Sept so no real surprise we didn't receive a bugle back but you never know you gotta try.
We too do lots of calling an hour to hour and a half before daylight, this just wasn't one of those times & we didn't feel like going to the top here any earlier than we did.
Bob H in NH, this is exactly why the thread was posted! So many times we hunters that live here in elk country take for granted how good we have it. I realize most hunters only enjoy this type of scenery 10 days a year so many questions come up such as where do hunters call from, what sounds do you use & how often, etc. A simple photo with many thoughts on how to handle it by all you here & why can really help folks out that have a desire to hunt elk but are baffled by questions that many of us just assume everyone knows. It's as simple as that!
ElkNut1
Paul if nothing else, it does get me thinking, I have definitely been in that situation before and spent the morning glassing and listening.
cityhunter you have some character issues that you need to work on.
One instance this year... We were out all day and found ourselves on this beautiful north slope. It was 1:30 and decided to let out s bugle. Initially there was no response...until maybe a minute later. A scream from 150 yards away. I moved up and my brother kept calling at him. Bull got pissed and so my brother started raking the cut off the bull. By now we had two other Bulls screaming nearby. One bull even cutoff my brother. This bull finally came into view of me at 40 yards, a big 6x6. Never could get a clear shot. Sucker always kept something in front of his vitals.
So I'm curious, why is 8:30 too late in the morning to bugle?
Elk can bugle all day, so why would it be not right to bugle anytime?
If I find myself in a spot like this at 8:30 am, I would probably start with glassing as I catch a snack, and as Paul said, some light cow calling followed by some louder cow calling. Then bugling. Then I'm on the move to wherever I'm going.
Which brings up a good point about cow calls- It's very important to have several different cow calls in your arsenal. Having a cow call that can project loudly from a spot like this can help, or use your bugle tube to project the cow call (I still have my Elk Nut Tube and it has called in many a bull :)). If they can't hear you call then they won't answer! Just as if you are trying to call in a 30MPH wind, no go. In contrast, a cow call you can softly mew when they are in close is also critical.
You aren't hunting elk from a ridge like this and It's not likely you are going to call one up the hill to you. You are locating from here. The elk are down below.
Shark Paul was PMing guys on this site trying to lure them to his new place .. I can get one of the guys Paul sent PMs 2
I get the wind part and where we were hunting it was frustrating, even at first light or near dark, the wind was never consistent. It's always be swirling no matter what time it was.
All these threads have given me a lot of insight on being a better elk hunter. There's so much to learn and only being in the woods 2 weeks a year makes it hard to shorten that learning curve. This stuff helps, thanks guys for sharing.
When I hear an imitation bugle presentation, I know not to respond. There are many on here that are very good in recognizing a fake bugle and they too know better than to respond or engage and will go ‘Meh’ - Don’t waste my time’
Imitation bugles can be very deceptive at times. Sometimes it takes a couple experiences to learn. I would encourage readers to recognize the differences and choose accordingly.
You will not see me reply to certain ‘presented’ elk threads again, and from what Im hearing offline, others are going to do the same.
‘Meh’
Thanks guys! As far as the time of morning it's generally a non issue when bulls are rutting (hot cow)as it's possible for bulls to bugle at any time as they compete for a hot cow, especially not close to the crowds! Any elk in that area would have seen few hunters if any at all because of the climb to where they could have been.
We had not been in that area before so no we didn't know what the area actually looked like beforehand especially if it had burned in the many forest fires we experience each year. There was a small burn area but nothing to worry about. From my sons position we could easily see a 100 yards down & more in certain spots so wind was not an issue even if it were heading down & it was in fact doing that. No elk was that close & wind is generally not a factor when a hill is as steep as it was there, elk would have had to be inside a 100 yards for any chance at all in winding us. Plus we carry a wind checker & knew what the wind was doing in case of a response. After a 100 yards with the steep hill it was like sitting in a 100' treestand, pretty tough to be winded that high up. (grin)
As far as how the morning went here's what took place next. After sitting there a spell we decided to sidehill to our right where the country looked elky to us, there were a few nice meadows & a small basin that way. As we were heading that direction we had moved aprox 150 yards, the wind was going down so all was OK. I caught a movement a head of me about 60 yards out, I could tell by the colors as it slipped into the trees it was an elk & not a deer.
My son was just behind me & I signaled to stop & whispered ELK! The elk wasn't really sure what it saw & I believe it was heading in the direction we came from possibly to the calling it had heard from us, hard to say for sure? I gave a nervous grunt in an attempt to stop it as I didn't know what if it was a cow or bull? It now was 15 yards below our elevation but still out in front of us so wind was perfect. The elk started coming back after the grunt as I saw small movements creeping back through the timber, I turned away from the elk & gave a soft nervous grunt & it stepped out at 40 yards broadside, it was a 6 point bull, wow what a surprise! My son promptly put an arrow right into the bull. Talk about right place right time heck you just never know what can happen.
No we didn't receive an initial response from a bull but all turned out just fine! (grin)
ElkNut1
Paul are u saying u never sent these PM to guys .
No, I did not PM guys to leave the Bowsite & join the ElkNut Forums! I assume this is what you are saying.
ElkNut1
I have killed a pile of bulls between 10:00 and 2:00, and i don't mean bulls that are rutting their asses off !!
Sometimes you guys over think this stuff, or should i say one of you is.
I would zig-zag hunt across/up that whole basin as it seems to have many micro draws and it looks as if I would have to content with a lot of blow down.
By starting to hunt it at first horizon I would hear any hot bull as I hunted and could play my plan accordingly.
By scouting it in May/June I could get to have very valuable knowledge before summer green up gets it all thick and dense.
That is a sweet looking basin.
Good luck, Robb
nice scenario elknut, way to react in the moment.
There are no trails here so boon-docking is the only way to get into much of it but if possible I would have come from the bottom. Thanks!
ElkNut1
ElkNut1
from what I can see, it appears to be about mid day. good time to sound off and see what happens. again as others mentioned, need to know what the wind is doing. there's gotta be a wallow nearby.
if there's fresh elk sign in the yard and I did not know the surrounding area well, I would hang there until dark.
ElkNut1
And on the second: of course, never bugle from the middle of a meadow. Obvious why you asked the question, but we have all made rookie mistakes and that is one I have done.
if you want to spook elk stand out in the open.
area looks good need to be prepared don't let the easy ones get away.
You never know where the Bull will come from, especially if he's silent, but a good bet is he will try to wind you, so always be aware of your downwind side.
No arrow knocked can be a big mistake when calling, be ready.
