It was Sept 23 & one of the finest days to be hunting elk, many elk have hit the dirt on this date or close to it, it's Prime time for sure! On this day I was hunting with a fellow Bowsiter here, we left just before daylight, we had left the rig off an old dirt road to head into an area I had hunted several times in the past. We covered 2-1/2 miles & a 1000' in elevation over several benches to crest a ridge to access a bench that I knew held elk if they were there!
(grin) We'd bugled a 1/2 dozen times here & there over a one hour span on our way up to see if anything was around before they heard or spotted us. This is Running & Gunning elk hunting. Once on top we called again & no response. This benched area is a mile long & choked full of downfall from old burns & now was littered with brush & willows growing up years after the burns. There was still a few green timber pockets that survived the burns here with a few 1/2 acre meadows strewn about with small tributaries of water that would pool up here & there. This area is up & down not flat at all.
It's away from most the crowds so this rugged area sees little pressure. Of course we are hunting OTC Public Lands so you never know what you'll run into. We spend a good hour on this bench rummaging around looking for sign that elk were there. No sign to be found as we checked & called into various areas looking for life! We continued along the bench doing our best to follow game trails through this tangled mess of downfall, it was working OK for the most part but really slows your advancement down to a snails pace in many spots.
As we approach the end of the bench it pours off steeply down into a long running east/west draw that runs for a couple miles. We are aprox 3/4 mile & 1600' above the bottom of the draw, the other side of the draw we can see is about the same pitch as where we are. We are now on top but on the south facing slope looking across at the north face. We thought we heard a bugle on the face we were on way to our left which would be east from our position.
Continued!
ElkNut1
Not sure about the bugle we heard as it seemed distant so we stopped & just listened. Sure enough we heard it again so started moving towards it but staying on top of the mountain. It was near 10 a.m. so knew this bull was bedded or about to. We cut the distance 100 yards or so & now heard a 2nd bull near the same level as the first. Cutting that short distance helped with hearing them better but we were still a long ways off. As we stood there we hear a bugle from down below, it was on our side & aprox a couple hundred yards off the valley floor. I had him pegged as a hunter by his sound right off, bummer! This must have been what the first bull was bugling at? We just couldn't hear the hunter until we changed position. The bugle from the hunter appeared to be 500 yards away from the bull.
The hunter kept moving towards the real bulls bugling every 50 yards or so, the one bull most likely the herd bull responded back. It was hard to hear him clearly, we could only hear the end of his high pitch but that was about to change! (grin) The hunter continued up towards the bugling & continued bugling himself. He was now close to 300 yards from the bulls, we could not see a thing we could only hear what was unfolding! I looked at my new friend & said he's going to turn that bull into a runner, he looked back & asked if I was sure that lower bugle was a hunter, I said absolutely just listen to his sounds, they are very predictable & unmistakable. Shortly after that the bulls bugle was now getting further away from the hunters bugle, he has now pushed them out of their bedding area on that south slope. Where would they go? Hopefully up to us on top! (grin)
The hunter didn't give up he kept coming up the steep brush choked mountain, kudos to him for putting out a serious effort, he's already come a couple miles just to get to that point, he was persistent for sure. Well we felt like it might be a stroke of luck that these elk would head our way, heh you never know! We could see the hunter was fighting a loosing battle, the real bull had now increased the distance to 400 yards+ & moving away from him. We could tell now by the bigger bulls bugle it was definitely a herd bull with a satellite trailing the group as they were closer to us. We tried to guess where they would top out on the mountain we were on so moved towards the bugles best we could. Within a few minutes we were under 200 yards from the bugling bull & it appeared we were on a collision course, sweet!
As we headed for a landmark above us we felt if we could just get there first we'd have a chance. I wanted the bowsiter to shoot so we both knew that. We got to about 80 yards from our landmark spot that would put us on a knoll looking into a shallow 30' drop drainage that the elk sounded like they were coming up. At this point we had lost all sound of the bugling hunter, not sure if he had given up? That last 80 yards was killer! We hit a wall of downfall that was unbelievable choked with 10' high willows & chokecherry thorny brush. There were spots where we were off the ground 12' high on the pick up stix downfall & no where to go but bail off & struggle like hell to get through & under it. We looked like pretzels trying to navigate those precious few yards. No kidding!
We could now hear the herd bull bugle within 150 yards & coming with his cows, they were making a ton of noise & heading right up the drainage we had hoped for, we could see at the rate they were moving we had little hope of making the top of the knoll before they crossed in the draw. We were beside ourselves struggling like mad men trying to get through but to no avail. Our only hope was that the elk decided to cross the knoll to our side, they didn't & we could hear them going by out of sight, the herd bull even rubbed in in a bit by bugling coarsely as he passed! Grrr!! No reason for us to call there as we had zero chance of a shot.
Gotta love the burns! (grin) Guys it can get ugly in this stuff! Well this bull & harem ran out of our lives with us stuck in this mess. We still have not heard or seen the hunter! --- It's now creeping up on 11:30 or so & we are out of the downfall & back on a game trail. We decide to head back into the middle of this mile long bench but this time we drop off to the west side of the main bench where we can see a pretty cool view of unlimited mountains & drainage's. We park our butts there & decide to take a snack break it the coolness of the shaded white firs. About that time well above us we hear the hunters bugle, he's 100's of yards away overlooking the bench I presume. He bugles there a 1/2 dozen times from the same spot then gives up & we never heard him again. We remove our packs & settle in for a needed snack & rest.
We are there 30 minutes or so doing nothing & hearing nothing, we have a few items scattered out of our packs & generally when in this situation of resting I eventually toss out a bugle or two for grins because you just never know, most times I do it before I sit down but that hunter wasn't far away then & didn't want him coming our way. Well I tossed out that bugle & all hell broke loose a few hundred yards above us but not from the bench area!
Continued!
ElkNut1
Instead it was more to our left coming from another ridge that died into the bench above us & to our right. The bugle was 200' higher than us but thermals were still coming down in our direction even though it was getting close to noon. It was one of those shady spots on the west face we were now facing where sun hadn't poked through to heat the earths surface.
When that bull bugled back we looked at each other & said hey that's the same bull we were trying to ambush earlier that had eluded the bugling hunter! His bugle was embedded in our minds at least for the moment! We hustled & gathered our crap together & stuffed it back into our packs where ever it would fit. We shouldered them & I screamed a bugle back, the bull fired back at us instantly & I turned away from him & chuckled 5-6 times making him think we had cows & I was keeping them close. He screamed at that as well & I cut him off with a coarse challenge. You could tell he was going to come fast so I set my friend up on top of a knoll that was a dozen feet higher than me & about the same distance away. He could look right into the shallow steep draw the bull was going to come in on. One more challenge from me & I could hear him storming down the mountain!
I saw my friend draw & anchor & I started panting through the bugle tube then bugled hard again all the while I was raking & breaking dry branches from a downed tree that had branches sticking up everywhere, it was a perfect setup. I heard the bull bugle again & there was no way he was more than 15 yards from me on the other side of the knoll, he had to be so close to the shooter that he could smell that bull. I could now hear the bull thrashing everything in sight & giving guttural growls no man could imitate, this went on for a solid minute as I continued to keep his attention with raking & growls of intimidation of my own in hopes of hearing that arrow release. I kept peeking up at my friend & he was still at full draw moving inches left & right & I'm thinking all the while shoot, shoot shoot he's gotta be right there! (grin) He had held at full draw for at least 90 seconds & this bull must have bugled in our face a 1/2 dozen times or more, it was absolute mayhem & an adrenaline rush most elk hunters will rarely experience!
All of a sudden it got quiet as quick as it had all started & no arrow was released, I saw my friend back off on his draw & looked at me like he'd seen a ghost, he was speechless & in awe as was I! He went on to explain that the bull was 7 yards away & thrashing & bugling so violent that he couldn't get a clean shot through the brush he was planted in. The bull had enough & retreated back to his cows unscathed the way he had come in but what an awesome encounter. It was like bugling you will rarely ever experience, I told him that I'd called in 100's of bulls over the years & that was the 2nd most awesome experience I'd been involved in so cherish it, ones like that don't happen very often! Wow, what an experience it was incredible!
That day was one not soon to be forgotten, I know I made a friend there for life, it's an encounter that will be etched in both our minds till the day we leave this earth!
I took this bull the following year 1/2 mile from that area, I often wondered if it was him or kin to him! (grin)
ElkNut1
The guy that busted them out of the bedding area, what should he have done differently to increase his odds of an encounter.
I now would head up to them in silent mode, they are in their bedding area & have no reason to move for hours. If this bull & the satellite continue to bugle on my approach this shows good aggression & gives me an exact location! I like coming in from the side at the same elevation as the bull. Which side would determine on wind direction.
In this country you are doing well to get within 80 yards undetected as conditions are generally not suitable to walk right up to them silently. This is where I'd try to bring the bull over to me. Level I of the Threat is a great place to start, I would cow call with two low volume short mews with a 2 on a scale of 1-10. Then I would give one long whiny mew on a level of 8. This should trigger a response from the herd bull, as he does I'd scream a short intense bugle right over him, he should bugle back with a challenge of his own. Give 2-3 excited cow calls & scream your bugle immediately. That should be enough to have him come your way if he isn't already! Have an arrow nocked once you get to that 80 yard mark or closer before you start your method!
As you noticed we do not bugle every 50 yards towards the bull, this will spell out disaster in most situations & turn him into a runner.
There's a couple of other methods that come to mind that would apply but I like this one quite a bit, it has worked for us for years! Thanks!
ElkNut1
1 - If the herd bull is bugling back & forth with a satellite or multiple other bulls get to that 80 yards or closer & call his cows towards you with a coarse lip bawl bugle, this can get the herd bulls attention very quickly, at times I will walk right at the bull & hammer away with a 2nd & 3rd bugle before he can bugle back his anger. Watch closely & maintain wind direction & cover as he can come at you fast!
2 - Herd Bull is not being pestered by other bulls but may give a lazy bugle now & then from his bed with his cows nearby. It shows no hot cows. At this time it's common for the bull to be bedded 40 yards to 80 yards above his cows so be aware of this. A tactic that has proven deadly here is to get close as possible once again & give that same 2 low mews & one louder longer mew in a way that almost shocks a bull into taking notice. Now stomp your foot around as if elk are scuffling around, roll a larger rock or 2 if nearby simulating elk moving back & forth. After 30 seconds of this start raking a tree or whatever is around showing there is a bull present with this cow & he's displaying for her. Add a few more agitated mid volume cow whines. Keep this up in high & low fashion stopping long enough to watch & listen intently, the herd bull can come in silent. No need for any bugles here unless herd bull challenges you!
3 - You get to your 80 yards spot or so & start with the mews & whine & the herd bull bugles instantly! You could now bugle right back at the bull with intensity! I've had bulls shut right down when injecting the bugle but the 2nd I mewed & whined again he fired right back, I will switch gears quickly when I see what he's favoring! He's demanding this cow to come over his way! If cover & wind are right go right to him & do not worry about making noise, you are doing what he asks of you & he fully expects to hear your approach, at this time I call my way right to him as I escalate my mews & whines in a pitchy manner.
It's just a matter of tailoring your method to fit the situation as things unfold, be prepared for the unpredictable! (grin) We've taken bulls in all these situations many times over. It's like a golfer choosing the right club for his shot to the green! One club does not do it all no more than one sequence gets you a shot on all elk!
ElkNut1
ElkNut1 's Link
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ElkNut1
LOL! Awesome experience. I probably would have shipped my pants.
12 yards, I know, but no not a teaser, heck it was a real life story, sometimes things go that way so it's nice to relate dead ones & almost dead ones! (grin) You know how real elk hunting can be! Thanks!
ElkNut1
In this area we hunt we have a low bull to cow ratio, it's aprox 20 bulls per 100 cows, satellites can really get spread out in search of hot cows in the various groups. I've come across herd bulls with hot cows & no satellites around because of a lack of satellites.
The herd bull bugled a plenty for sure when we were within hearing distance.
As far as why he was short fused on my single bugle I suppose he had, had enough being fooled with. I've seen bulls like him before, they don't need an explainable reason to see red like that. He could have felt I was too close & was a threat to him & his harem & was going to make sure I wasn't going to get any closer. I chuckled myself at his first bugle to sweeten the pie that I had cows too, this at times can bring them in to run you off & hook your cows up. Who's to say if it made a real difference for sure. Fact is he came running in hot & heavy so the chuckling sure didn't hurt! (grin) Thanks!
ElkNut1
