elk calling

[pumatrax]

just wondering how many of you use elk calls and if you have been more successful when using one or not..seems like I hear a lot of calling out here anymore...I tend to think most people are calling WAY too much...what's the consensus ?

[Ragnarok Forge]

Yep,  way to darn much calling, educates the elk and keeps them on the move.  Particularly early in the season before the bulls are bugling.  I can't begin to count the number of elk run off and hunts ruined by idiots calling at the wrong time and in the wrong way.

[ren sarns]

Well I agree most buy a call and try (emphasis) to bugle and cow call and do it way too much.  I thin k everyone who is or wants to get serious get some good training videos or attend "elk college" given by some of the better callers like Rocky Jacobsen (Bugling Bull calls) or someone they know who is successful..  I try to only do a locater bugle,  if the timing is right for the rut,  then do some cow and calf calls.  Now if I get a bull who is ready and willing,  then game on.

[just_a_hunter]

I used to say people call too much, I still think they do. However, I don't know how else they will actually learn. Gotta get the hands on experience...

Good luck this season,

Todd

[wapitimike1]

Just alittle bit sometimes. The Huchi Mamma has scored for me.

[cch]

It all depends on where you hunt. If you are hunting in an area with lots of people it can be tough but if you are in an area where there are few people calling is great. The area that I like to hunt is a draw area and there are few people. I usually bugle before light to locate and to get a bull excited and then try to cow call them in. If you are halfway good at calling I don't think the elk know it is a human until they see or smell you. The problem I see in areas with lots of people is that I have seen people calling out the windows of their truck.

[FerretWYO]

Me personally if I am hunting alone I will call very very seldom if at all. If the elk are talking I see no need to tell them I am there.

If I am hunting with someone else and I the situation will allow it I will call. I have bugled in several bulls and had a great time doing it. This year Dad and I had a bull come from a long long ways away to my locate bugle.

Are there people that call to much yes. I have seen them. I have seen people come in straight up wind of a bugling bull screaming on there call.(these were experianced hunters as well). That Bull did not hardly talk at all for the next five days. It a stupid hunter why. My guess would be yes. If you are going to be calling you want to be smart. Listen to the elk they know how to talk elk. Keep all calling to a minimum, that is what the elk do.

Ok so i said a lot that is just what I have seen.

[elktalker]

It realy depends on the indevidual elk. Oregon has rosevelt elk on the west side and rocky mtn. elk on the east. In my expirience rosevelt are mutch quieter animals. But that is not always true. No mater where you hunt you have to go to them. be a little lucky and a lot persistent. It is always different, I like to mimmic them once I have there attention they eat that up. the best way is to get out there and talk to them, when you find elk that want to play there is nothing like it. I know not every body has elk an hour from their house to practice on. Its good practice to sit down in front of a good elk video and practice all the different sounds their making, I've found Primos to be the best. those guys can really hunt elk.

[twitchstick]

I find myself not calling all that much. But I wouldn't be without my cow calls. Are season here is usally way before he bulls get into the rut,and alot of units are spike only here. I use my cow call more to cover noise I make, giving a chirp her and there. Don't get me wrong I have called in bulls and I can come a herd down with cow chirps. Even if they are bugling I don't like to give up my location and will go in silent. If with a partner I have had better luck to call from a distants(100 to 200 yards) keeping the bull volcal while the other sneaks in for the kill.

[PAPA BEAR]

elk are very vocal animals,this is how they keep track of each others location.there are different types or tones used in different calls that they make to each other.if i get a cow talking to me then i keep up the conversation.i bugle generally to locate a bull then move in on him and start the cow talk.sometimes the bull will respond to cow talk sometimes they want the bugle.if you have ever been close to fifty head of elk grazing you know what i mean.the talking is almost constant.the best and only way to learn these different types of calls is through trial and error.i have talked my way into herds and walked right next to cows while talking to them.i had a hide draped over me and this was unreal.most incredible adrenaline rush ever.a person just needs to learn what call means what and use it accordingly.there are a bunch of guys in burns that i have problems with because they place treestands in the transition areas between the feeding and bedding areas and then shoot the first thing that walks past.makes them mad when people call (too much they say)but then i ask them how the hell would a tree dweller know how to call elk? you really cannot over call if you are making the right calls at the right time.hey elktalker...lets go hunt some rosies..i have some great areas down on mt hebo and vicinity.

[PAPA BEAR]

also...i use a new call(new to me anyway) by primos called the cowgirl.this call is awesome.when i first used it i wasnt very impressed by it,then i pulled the rubber bell off of it and now its the first cowcall i grab,softened it up and the cows really like the tone it puts out.bulls scream at it.

[acolobowhunter]

If you don't know what you are doing - leave the call at home.  Practice at home - not when you walk into the woods.  We have all heard someone walking through the forest tooting their call.  We have educated a new breed of elk.  35 yrs ago, we made our own calls from bamboo or pipe.  They were only whistles really and the elk responded.  Today the elk are so much smarter because of over bugling.  Now everyone is using cow calls - won't be long before they don't work as well either.
I agree with Randy - if you hear them, you don't need to call.  You already know where they are.  Now is time to practice the stalking not the calling.

[San Juan Slim]

I think too many elk hunters watch the TV shows and videos and think all they have to do is sit down, call, and the elk come running.  I am a very agressive caller and know that calls work when used properly and in the right situations.  But walking through the elk woods bugling with every other breath is not smart hunting.

Mike

[Elksong]

How many of you guy's kill elk or have numerous opportunities to kill elk EVERY YEAR? or every hunt?  Just curious?   I know Ferret does very well, but what is the actuall success rate of the people giving their input to this thread?  Not being a jerk just wanting to know?

[PAPA BEAR]

i'm usually on elk every day.killed my share.love calling them in for other hunters more than anything.guess you could say i have made it my hobby.

[widow sax]

This past year was the first year I did my own calling I was by myself I did not call very many times just every now and then. I would use mostly cow and calf calls and every now and then throw in a spike bull type call I learned everythink I know about calling from Elknuts Dvds. I have alot more to learn! Widow

[Brian Krebs]

Elk talk year around; I just tried to record some cow calling tonight; and heard a bull bugle.

 In the winter- I believe- but have no proof of it;  family groups stick together. A cow elk can live for over 30 years; and she can have a big clan.

 This time of year; the elk are really sensitive to calling; as they pretty well know each others voices as well as we know our friends voices.

 Now during the rut - the spikes get in trouble being around the cows - and the bulls start getting ready for cows in heat; and things start happening differently than the rest of the year.
 
 Bulls will pick up cows when he can and cows come into heat and they start calling differently; and calves get separated from cows; and bulls get angry at other bulls.

 This opens the door for deception.  

But if you call incorrectly; its like picking up the phone and not saying 'hello' but saying 'nice talking to you - goodbye'.

 What seems to work best is to locate a bull with a shrill bull bugle; and then - then trick a cow into thinking a calf is lost. When the cow comes to find the lost calf- then you let her get by you- and start with a bull call that says ' I got one!'. The herd bull the cow came from: will often come running.

 But whatever your call- and 'elknut' knows them best- your setup determines your success most times if not all times.

 You want one person to go forward for a shot; and then the caller to call the bull past the shooter. Its tricky as the bull can change his 'flight path' in - and it is often dang near impossible to get a shooter to believe- that they should not be holding onto the caller.

 Wolves and too many hunters can make elk call shy. But - it still works and an elk hunter should be ready when it does.

 One thing I have noticed over the past two decades of elk hunting - is that very often people practice their bull bugles like they do at home with their wife in the other room.
 When they get to the woods; they sound like they are a bull bugling 3 miles away.

 When you stand next to a good caller- it will hurt your ears.

 When you call a bull in and it screams in your face - you realize that they are incredibly loud.

 A lot of hunters call well; but so quietly that other bulls think they are well out of range; and pay them no attention.

 Its great when calling for elk comes together- and worth being ready for.
 (ie: get elknuts DVDs) and for techniques on hunting watch how Will Primos hunts elk.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I think it all depends on individual elk, I went back after Roosies last season after chasing Rockies for 18 years.
After having a conversation with a guy that told me they were not bugling yet because it was too early (Sept 6th) I watched a herd of 9 elk feed out into a clearing and listened to them bugle....
I spent the next several days listening to a lot of other hunters bugle, and a few elk.
Talked to other hunters that either said they weren't talking, or that they were screaming at them..........
I saw 78 elk in 6 days of hunting and called in several by VERY softly cow calling, (like my wife was in the next room) and a couple by calling loud.....
You pretty much have to try different stuff until you find something that works.

On a different note, in my experience Rocky Mtn. Elk walk at a faster pace and come in a lot faster breaking branches and otherwise announcing their presence. Whereas the Roosies would show up after I was about to give up on them, usually without warning or noise other than an occasional crunch, I swear the squirrels made more noise.
But that is just my experience, last season. Who knows what it will be like this year?

[rappstar]

I have 2 years of experience calling elk so have a lot to learn and this is just my experience.

My first year I just got a call and could make a decent mew sound and that was it.  I spotted a bull at daylight on day 3, closed the distance and he would answer my mews and eventually snuck in on me to about 40 yards.  Ended up being a legal raghorn but never got a shot.

I decided to learn how to call and fully subscribe to Elknuts methodology.  He believes that the reason people are unsuccessful calling elk is that they don't respond to the situation accordingly.  Elk make sounds for a reason and they are actually saying something.  If you know what they are saying, you can respond with a sound that they are looking for and call them in.

I practiced all summer and was able to call in 8 elk on opening morning.  Two were bulls and my friend killed one of them.  Second morning I called in bull that had cows with him (he left his cows) for a shot.  Fourth day, got the herd bull bugling at 3pm in the afternoon and missed my opportunity to get him in...should have screamed over the top of him.  Fifth day, called in a rag-ish 5x5.

All of this happened the first week of the CO season and I was hunting public land OTC.  

Might have just been a fluke but I was comfortable with what the elk were saying and I was giving them what they wanted.  

So right now, I believe calling works!    

I might change my mind after this coming season!

[elkhunter752]

Around here, I do a lot of bugling after elk along with cow/calf calls.  They work great, but variation is pretty key.  The elk are definately getting educated and I am having decreasing success throughout the last 10 years or so.  If I go anywhere close to a town, there are often people I can hear and distinguish easily who call very excessively.  With cow calls, new ones are often dynamite for a year or two until so many people use them that you can watch elk run away from them when you use them...the hoochie mama is a prime example.  i really love calling elk and am around elk daily along with calling them in for other hunters, but there are starting to be too many people in my opinion.