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Pressured Elk

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Pressured Elk

Postby Glacier Country » 06 24, 2014 •  [Post 1]

Everybody talks about hunting pressured elk. Nobody likes it but it is a reality in many places. I have seen as many as 7 pickups parked at one gate here. How far do you have to go to not bump into some of those guys? We have adjusted by getting there first and hunting some pretty thick timber even though other guys will probably show up.
IF you want to talk about " PRESSURED ELK"This bull was hunted everyday of the 5 week bow season.On October 12th there were 4 different pickup loads of guys hunting this small herd of elk.This was opening morning of the rifle season October 26 th! I had to shorten this clip on both ends to fit it on the forum. I bugled to locate this bull and we bugled back and forth. I bugled and did some raking and as we decide to move up on him he decides to come in to us. My wife shot this bull 40 seconds after this clip ends. There were guys parked within 300 yards of us. Probably cussing that some "Dude" was bugling during rifle season... Well until her rifle went BANG! She shot this bull at maybe 50 yards.
Turn up the volume on your computer! This is exactly how it happened. Troy Glacier Country Hunting Calls
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[ Play Quicktime file ] Calling Deb's Bull Elk Trimmed Audio Clip 2013.m4a [ 1012.48 KiB | Viewed 5218 times ]

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Re: Pressured Elk

Postby wawhitey » 06 24, 2014 •  [Post 2]

okay, so tell me if you guys would consider the elk im after pressured. basically, during rifle deer season there are a decent number of road hunters, with virtually nobody leaving their trucks. also theyre always at their camp fire during the first and last hours of daylight, go figure. anyway, none of these guys show up for elk season. none of them know the elk are here. its a pretty good secret. so would you say that the elk are "unpressured" during the september archery season, but sort of pressured during the deer rifle seasons? even tho nobody is out pursuing the elk, they hear vehicle traffic and other disturbances. id have to think that would put them in nocturnal ninja mode during mid october - late november.
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Re: Pressured Elk

Postby BrentLaBere » 06 25, 2014 •  [Post 3]

Troy, Awesome clip! Thanks for posting that.
I know we had talked about this before, but would like to bring it up again. I even think I have heard Dan Moore bring it up in one of his interviews.....the bark in-between your bugles you used. Or can be used at the beginning.
I have seen other videos where it almost sounds like a grunt before the bugle. Do you think this helped lure the bull in and why do you use it?

The bull in the audio clip seemed to respond to the raking you were doing. How far away would you say the bull was? I have yet to use this tactic and get any response, so I am curious to how far a bull will pick up on this. It seemed like that pushed him over the edge, towards the very end when you were saying to move up, it sounded like he was coming in and was grunting? That's what I picked up on anyway.

Cutting him off and copying his bugle seemed to keep him going an get him fired up but wasn't the only thing that sealed the deal from what I understand. Many things to learn from this audio clip.
All in one of the more pressured areas?...in rifle season! That's just awesome. Being able to call elk is a huge tool in just locating them! Understanding the language and elk behavior will get you in close after locating them. Using calls is a HUGE tool to have going to the woods. Pay attention to what Troy, and others have to say about calling elk here guys! Looking forward to putting your calls to use this September.
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Re: Pressured Elk

Postby twinkieman » 06 25, 2014 •  [Post 4]

Troy proves a very important point here. Even pressured elk are not call shy, they are WRONG call shy. Elk talk to one another, they are herd animals, and want to be around other elk. They speak the language of elk, and when we call and use this language, and say something that is total gibberish to the elk, how can we expect them to respond to us in any other way than to leave or to shut up, as they know a real elk would not have said what they just heard. Troy called to this bull, made sounds that made sense and applied to his situation. His outcome was what we strive as callers to achieve, he made the right sounds at the right time. What he was saying made sense, much to the elk's demise :D
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Re: Pressured Elk

Postby Glacier Country » 06 25, 2014 •  [Post 5]

WaWhitey, I would call your elk Slightly pressured. If they get bumped and not Chased around then, they will still go to where ever they feel the least amount of " pressure" or encroachment.
Your elk will adjust to the annoyance of the deer hunters. They will adjust to the road hunting pressure and parallel the roads until they find a spot they like to cross. These elk would seem Very Callable to me in September, especially if no one else is really hunting them then. At least that's my take from the info you posted.

twinkieman wrote:Troy proves a very important point here. Even pressured elk are not call shy, they are WRONG call shy. Elk talk to one another, they are herd animals, and want to be around other elk. They speak the language of elk, and when we call and use this language, and say something that is total gibberish to the elk, how can we expect them to respond to us in any other way than to leave or to shut up, as they know a real elk would not have said what they just heard. Troy called to this bull, made sounds that made sense and applied to his situation. His outcome was what we strive as callers to achieve, he made the right sounds at the right time. What he was saying made sense, much to the elk's demise :D

You should all read twinkiemans post again!! This is exactly the point I have been making! I call in elk in because I have made the right sounds at the right time. Even with pickups driving by and other hunters afield.

Brent, Yep the bark in front of the bugle is an old trick from Dan Moore, It is a play off the nervous grunt... the nervous grunt asks the other bull to come into sight, or come over here. In this situation I used it in conjunction with the bugle and raking to Dare him to come over.I think that it definitely helped to seal the deal. This bull was never more than 150 yards, most of the time he was within 75 or 100, it was just too thick to see him. You are right, he was coming our way as we were moving toward him, we were moving to where the jungle opened up a little more and he came to our original setup,Which we were only 15-20 yards away from and Deb saw him and plopped down and Shot him when I cow called to stop him.and was scurrying to get the camera tripod set. A nervous grunt might have been better right then , but it worked. He was about 45-50 yards away at the shot. He went maybe 60 or 70 yards to the edge of a small clearing.It worked out this time but we had other hunters almost blow it for us right at first light and they never even knew this bull was there. It took an hour for me to locate him. I bugled and he bugled back. Bingo game on. Although he was only a 5x5 I had seen this bull many times and he was the herd bull. Glad you liked the clip.
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Re: Pressured Elk

Postby Toby » 06 25, 2014 •  [Post 6]

Can't open the attachment, is there something special I need to do
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Re: Pressured Elk

Postby Glacier Country » 06 25, 2014 •  [Post 7]

IF the play button on the audio doesn't work... Try this... click on Play Quicktime file or Calling Debs Bull Elk Audio Clip at the bottom of the audio clip.
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Re: Pressured Elk

Postby ElkNut1 » 06 25, 2014 •  [Post 8]

Troy, great evaluation & explanation, it's spot on sir! A grunt in front of a bugle is an intimidation or challenge to another bull! Great job & congrats to Deb for keeping her composure & making the shot, it's not easily done when ones adrenalin is running high! Good stuff!

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Re: Pressured Elk

Postby Glacier Country » 06 26, 2014 •  [Post 9]

Thanks Paul.I really think that there is a lot to learn from this audio clip. I might also mention that the raking sequence I did in this clip, I basically copied a bull that we had worked during the Archery Season, and he was raking pretty much just like this. So I did to this bull what the other one had done to us! Flipped the switch on him! Both of those Bulls are in the freezer!
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