What’s the best early season elk tactic?
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: Mike Ukrainetz
04-Sep-21
If you were hunting elk Sept 1 to 10 what would be your best elk calling, hunting tactic in a thick woods area with abundant water, no good place to glass and do spot and stalk?
Would you cover lots of ground and rip off bugles? What kind of bugles? Would you cover less ground and sneak around doing cow calls etc?
From: HDE
04-Sep-21
Act like a cow or small bull.
From: Rickm
04-Sep-21
Tried it all. Non aggressive calling in likely spots has worked. Looking back it has been getting eyes on bulls, moving in and minimal calling or strictly spot and stalk.
From: Bowboy
04-Sep-21
I like to spot and stalk. Also if their bugling on there own no need to bugle.
From: BULELK1
05-Sep-21
I like to leave early in the dark and hike into where I want to hunt and listen for any cow calls or bugles and then try and put glass or eyes on them and spot-n-stalk quite------>
Good luck, Robb
From: Grey Ghost
05-Sep-21
I used to run and gun, trying to chase down every elk I saw or heard. I did way too much calling, and covered far more ground than necessary. I probably alerted more elk to my presence than I had encounters with.
Then I realized hunting elk isn’t much different than deer. The less I spread my scent and presence around, the more encounters I had.
I’ve had my best luck setting up on known travel corridors in the mornings. I’ll usually do a few soft cow calls, or a non-aggressive squeal, just to give the illusion of other elk using the corridor. Then I sit and wait.
Matt
