Getting close to Elk

[bartcanoe]

I know nothing about Elk, so pardon my ignorance.

What is the most important factor in getting close to Elk?

I've hunted Whitetail and Blacktail successfully from the ground.  I've never used any calls, just careful about my scent, paid attention to the wind, moved slow and had a little luck.

Is using a call the only way to be successful with Elk?  If so, what type of call?  Is bull or cow call more effective?

[ArkyBob]

Use the wind in your favor as much as possible, which is hard to do with swirls and thermals.  Elk have an extremely good nose.  Also move slower than slow.

BOB

[LoneWolf73]

Nailed it, let me drive it into the wood a little further!!!

[L82HUNT]

Calling is what you see on TV all the time.  It works SOMETIME but the best method for getting a animal every year is so sit and wait.  Find where there going ie waterhole, wallow, feed.  
  If you find one of these that are being used(you can tell) and sit it for a few days you give yourself the best chance of scoring on a animal.  Yes its not as fun as hearing a bull bugle, although they do bugle coming into water and wallows.

[Whip]

If you can keep the wind in your favor you have beaten their best defense.  Eyes and ears are fairly easy to fool, but you will never fool their nose!
If you can keep the wind in your favor, don't be afraid to be aggressive and move in.  Elk make a lot of noise themselves, and I've had them extremely close without them seeing me.  But give them one little errant breeze and you'll know immediately what the north end of a southbound elk looks like!

[longbow2364]

Whip you hit the nail on the head.  Best advice I've seen in 5 short sentences.  Now tell us how to find them when the hunting pressure is on.

[jhg]

Originally posted by ArkyBob:
Use the wind in your favor as much as possible, which is hard to do with swirls and thermals.  Elk have an extremely good nose. ...BOB

If you will be hunting in terrain with a lot of changes in elevation the swirls and thermals will be yur biggest challenge by far. Aslo, when working up a slope into dark timber the elk can easily spot you if they are bedded and will be gone long before you get there. Hunting INTO dark timber takes a little forethought and tactical thinking. Its not an accident they like laying in or on the edge of these areas.
I will say going slow is a great tactic, but usless if the elk are in another area. Find them first, then slow down.

Joshua

[4Blade]

It took me seven years to kill my first bull.  I was slow and careful up to that time. After that first bull I got bolder and more successfull.  Like everyone else stated try to keep the wind in your favor, but don't be afraid if it is not perfect.  I have found that bugles work best from far away and very close and I only use cow calls when I can see the bull I am after or smell him. (Primos make very good elk calls.)  I hunt all day.  A bull will continue to bugle from his bed but not with the same vigor or frequency.  So I sneek as close as possible to the bedding area and wait for an opportunity to present itself or for the action to pick up when the sun starts to go down and the thermals become more consistent.  Try to approach the animals from their elevation rather than down or up hill.  And never think that the elk are too far away, too deep in a canyon, or to high on a mountain. Go after them for the experience and decide to shoot or not shoot when your fingers tighten up on the string and your heart is in your throat.  I remember every close call I had with a bull or cow, not just the times the arrow found its mark.  Good Luck!

[Arrow4Christ]

All I can tell ya is it's friggin' hard  :D  lol I have yet to kill an elk but I've gotten close. It takes a lot of patience and attention to the wind.

Craig

[twitchstick]

I think the key on elk is to really watch the wind. I rarely use calls or if I do it's slim mainly to mask my noise, our hunt starts in august here rut dosen't get going to hard most years . I do alot of ambush set ups and still hunting. When still hunting I walk with the wind in my face and when it changes so do I. A lone bull is much easier to sneak on than a bunch of cows,to many noses and eyes. If you can find a active wallow ground blinds and tree stands are great.

[Whip]

Originally posted by longbow2364:
 Now tell us how to find them when the hunting pressure is on.

Much easier said than done, but keep looking until you find fresh, and I mean FRESH sign.  Tracks, droppings, etc.  They might be close to a road, but most likely will be a drainage or two away.  If you don't find fresh sign, don't keep going back to the same spot day after day or your hunt will be over before they show up.  Go find them, and then be careful not to bust them out of the area.  Pick your opportunities, and then get aggressive when things are right.

[PAPA BEAR]

elk are very tricky critters,just when you think you have them where you want them poof they vanish on you.they circle around you when you are calling them in,trying to get downwind of you.not to see if its a human but to put two and two together.they hear elk and either see or smell elk then things get a little calmer.myself i do not wear any type of elk scents at all.i dont want the elk to be able to pin my location down.i will be packing a foldup decoy though and i will spray scent on that.that works great sometimes.bulls are funny critters.they wont come in if they think the only thing waitin for them is a butt whippin.try using lighter bugles,try sounding like a wimpy bull if you bugle.if an elk hangs up on you then he/she is not seeing whats supposed to be there.if cowcalling...i mean there is a lot of different scenarios that can happen.if you have the moxy do what i did and get a cow hide,head ears and all then drape it over yourself and mew your way right into the herd with a lost cow type of wail.that ought to be plenty close.just watch behind you and for gods sake dont have any estrus scent on you.        

[Bonecracker]

It took me seven years to kill my first bull. I was slow and careful up to that time. After that first bull I got bolder and more successfull. Like everyone else stated try to keep the wind in your favor, but don't be afraid if it is not perfect. I have found that bugles work best from far away and very close and I only use cow calls when I can see the bull I am after or smell him. (Primos make very good elk calls.) I hunt all day. A bull will continue to bugle from his bed but not with the same vigor or frequency. So I sneek as close as possible to the bedding area and wait for an opportunity to present itself or for the action to pick up when the sun starts to go down and the thermals become more consistent. Try to approach the animals from their elevation rather than down or up hill. And never think that the elk are too far away, too deep in a canyon, or to high on a mountain. Go after them for the experience and decide to shoot or not shoot when your fingers tighten up on the string and your heart is in your throat. I remember every close call I had with a bull or cow, not just the times the arrow found its mark. Good Luck!

Very, very, good information! It took me 9 years to finally kill my first bull!! Good luck !!

[Elk whisperer]

Theres no one thing when it comes to elk. I am about to throw my calls away. I have called elk in for 20 yr to 20 yrd.but its getting harder and has messd up things more than helped lately One thing I do now is go like hell till I get into them. Elk will bugle more from hearing you walk then calling. if you are not getting into them dont waist time hussle till you do.

[Mark U]

Really some sound advice in the above posts.

Personally, I quit cow calls about five years ago.  Every bull over two years old has probably heard every cow call marketed today.  Not saying bulls don't respond to them, but I think the calls are overused and overrated.  

  I try to go with sounds that a bull thinks may be another bull, but he hasn't heard before.  Half bugles, chop grunts, moans, anything that doesn't sound like a hunter calling elk.

[PAPA BEAR]

one thing i do know is an elk cannot think.it cannot reason.i have been hunting elk in the same area with the same type calls for over 15 years in this same area and the elk are just as talkative as ever and as long as you put yourself in the right place at the right time they will walk right to you.if the elk are answering you every time you call then pour it to them,they are very vocal.learn how to make different calls.ie...lost call,lonely call,estrus call etc etc....example: i was hunting with my hunting buddy carl in eastern oregon.we worked this bull for over an hour.i threw everything at him but my bow.he finally spotted me moving around and jetted outta there doin 60 and barkin like a dog....i still shot that bull ten minuts later just by talking sweet on the cow call,calmed him down and he came in to 30yds.elk cannot think,if they could they would be shootin back at us.

[FerretWYO]

Ok I will throw in my 2 cents as long as you take it as that.

You have got a lot of good advice in the previous posts. I think that Joe(whip) really nailed it as far as how I like to hunt. I have have said before that I dont call to much. I am not saying calls dont work though. I have a pile of them and practice a lot.

I tend to wait for the right time watch the wind closely and be very aggresive if given the chance. Sound is not a huge issue. The bull that I got this year only went to where he did because I made a lot of noise running down a trail and purposly breaking sticks and kicking rocks. (You see the bull that had been bothering him he had just chased off on that trail.) Is this a form of calling? Many would say yes just not in the way we tend to think of it. I would agree. He though that was a bull coming to take a lady from him and he came to run him off.

Bottom line at the right place and time noise is not a huge deal and can help you if you are making the right noise. If you get the wind wrong you are screwed. As elkherder said before me you can call one back ofter he has ran. YOU CANNOT CALL ONE BACK THAT HAS WINDED YOU. Hunt the wind. I could say alot more about this but I think that is enough.

[fido dog]

I had one literally sniffing me over the top of a wire blind on my first deer hunt. A big 'ol 5x5. THAT was awesome! I couldn't move a muscle. They really do make a lot of noise. I heard branches breaking like crazy when he came in.

[Hud]

Elk can cover a lot of ground in a short time, and live in the thickest, roughest country you can find. They are frequently in groups, more noses, eyes and ears. The lead cow will guide their movements. Be prepared physically to cover ground, look, listen, and use good binoculars like 8x40 Nikon. The weather is a big factor in the rut in the areas I hunt. If they are undisturbed, the will stay in an area, bust them and they will go a long distance and won't be back.  I prefer not to call too much, you can certainly over do it.

One time while hunting in the Blue Mtns of SE Washington, I walked into a herd, bedded down on a ridge. The fog had rolled into the valley and then up the ridges and it was so thick you could only make out a tree if it was within ten yards. I only saw, one or two, there was one cow that past me about five feet. They couldn't see either and were actually nocking over small firs, when things exploded. I followed one cow down the mountain, and she jump off several rock ledges ten to fiften feet high in steep terrain. I knew I'd never see them again, and was only interested to see how far see would run. I never found out, because she was still running when I got down the mountain.

Hunt alone or in pairs, if there are other hunters in the same area, go find another area.

[Hud]

Elk can cover a lot of ground in a short time, and live in the thickest, roughest country you can find. They are frequently in groups, more noses, eyes and ears. The lead cow will guide their movements. Be prepared physically to cover ground, look, listen, and use good binoculars like 8x40 Nikon. The weather is a big factor in the rut in the areas I hunt. If they are undisturbed, the will stay in an area, bust them and they will go a long distance and won't be back.  I prefer not to call too much, you can certainly over do it.

One time while hunting in the Blue Mtns of SE Washington, I walked into a herd, bedded down on a ridge. The fog had rolled into the valley and then up the ridges and it was so thick you could only make out a tree if it was within ten yards. I only saw, one or two, there was one cow that past me about five feet. They couldn't see either and were actually nocking over small firs, when things exploded. I followed one cow down the mountain, and she jump off several rock ledges ten to fiften feet high in steep terrain. I knew I'd never see them again, and was only interested to see how far see would run. I never found out, because she was still running when I got down the mountain.

Hunt alone or in pairs, if there are other hunters in the same area, go find another area.