Bull Elk Escort

[Wapiti]

My hunt from September !!

Sept 19th 2012. Went out at dark and did some locating bugling and got a great response.

Sept 20th 2012. Hiked in in the dark and was in location as the sun was coming up. Elk are hanging out in a meadow surounded by a poplar tree (aspen) ridge all the way around it. The meadow is 150 yards wide and 1000 yards long in the middle of the bush. It also has multiple wallows that get used often. The meadow runs north for 400 yards then quarters away to the east slightly for 600 yards.

I am sitting halfway down the ridge. The ridge is 100 yards above the meadow. My approach was from the southwest as the wind was blowing from the east. I hear the bull bugle and I letout a soft young bull bugle. The bull heads north with his cows and exits to the north up and over the ridge at an elk pace that can't be matched by me !! I am sure you all know the pace i'm referring to !! LOL

After 1 day of waiting to let the pressured elk relax I head in again.

Sept 22nd 2012. Wind from same dirrection. I slowly get to the meadow edge at the south end and wait for dark to slowly turn to sunrise !! There is no place on earth I'd rather be than right where I am at that moment !! I live for this !! So I wait and wait. One hour goes by and the bull finally lets out a grown !! Perfect he is still here. I let out a light cow call with my mouth reed. The cows head north once again taking the bull with them. He's bugling all the way as he goes over the ridge again and out of sight !!

I'm back the next day and ease along the ridge on the east side but this time I go north along the ridge further up then previous days. I'm trying to get to the high point but the bull let's out a grown and I am stopped in my tracks ! He's to my right and north of my location about 150 yards down at a wallow in the meadow. This time I'm uncertain if I should bugle or cow call as I don't want to run the elk off again. So I grab a stick and lightly rub a tree. The bull bugles and heads east to the ridge i'm on. Then he bugles again from on top the ridge. I rake the tree again and he bugles back but is not coming in. We have a stand off for 3 minutes and he won't budge !! So I throw a couple cow calls down the ridge to the south of me to try and get him to come down the ridge.

The bull heads back to the meadow and follows his cows as they seem to be getting nervous. They head north up and over the ridge again !! Crap I think to myself . "What a chichen he keeps running away !!". So I slip out frustrated once again. As i'm walking south along the elk trail I still have the stick in hand so I smash it out of frustration on a tree !! Them I hear a loud challenge bugle from up on the ridge. So I rake the tree hard and loud and the bull screams again and is closer. But as I raked the tree I accidentally hit my bow string with the big stick. My bow is hanging at my waist from my "bow getter" bow sling. It's always there and ready for action. But this time I noticed when I hit my string with the stick by fluke of nature the string poped off !!!!!

So know I'm standing there with a bow that is out of commision and a bull that is coming in fast !!! I decide to get out and try not to scare the bull as I leave. So I head south along the game trail and get out about 200 yards out so it's safe. I then can look at my bow and try to get thestring back on !! I am scrabbling trying everything but to no avail, then to my right about 80 yards the bull screams again !! So I quietly keep moving south heading for my truck, which is about a mile away.

As I keep walking the bull parallels me the whole way out bugling his head off !! This is one awesome experience !! I am actually getting escorted out by this bull !! finally the bull stops and fades back into the bush and is gone.

That was my last encounter with him as it turned to gun season and quads took over the cutlines and roads !! All the pressure must have made the elk go quiet. But I'll be there next year and i'm sure the elk will be as well !!

I am wondering now why any time I made any elk sounds they leave ? It seems the cows always head out taking the bull with them !! They just do not want any interaction with other elk they don't know it seems !!

Any input is more than welcome.

Trav

[T/H]

It sounds like something about the cow calls just didn't seem right to the lead cow. Like the sounds didn't fit the encounter. Maybe a more aggressive approach was needed. I liked the raking. It seemed to have fit the encounter and that's when a bit of bad luck entered for you unfortunately.

[ElkNut1]

Travis, great story, that scenario happens way to often to hundreds of hunters every year. I will respond to what I'm assuming happened, please correct me if I'm wrong.

First off I'd examine your entrance, is it one used by you & other hunters in most cases, if so these elk could have heard many different elk sounds by hunters in the past & have been busted & educated over the years from your same entrance. Just imagine elk checking out such calling & not seeing elk representation multiple times, this can definitely educate them in time. I seriously doubt your sound quality is the issue.

Too, when we hunters call, many times we do not have a good setup, if elk can look in the direction of the source of the calling & see nothing even a couple hundred yards away then suspicion quickly enters amongst them in heavily hunted areas. Even when we think we are hidden & cannot be seen, elk still can scan the area, they expect to see elk, when they don't their survival instincts can kick in. My guess is when you cow called they may have responded with a cow call of their own or the bull may have bugled or chuckled for you to join them or these elk just looked in your general direction & didn't like what they saw, looking like a bush & sounding like an elk will net hunters very little in most situations as that.

If none of this applies then it's possible these elk managed by the bull does everything to avoid a confrontation with any elk moving into his area, you've caught them in this meadow, this is their night time bedding/feeding area, elk like staying in open meadows or parks at night to see or hear oncoming predators first. At daylight or a bit after they will start moving off towards their bedding direction, it no doubt is in the direction they leave you each time. Finding that travel route they use routinely from feeding to bedding can really up your odds for success. Getting the wind right & within bowrange for an ambush could prove deadly for you as they move through routinely. Once there, do not call.

This does not mean calling will never work on these elk, it does mean that there is no real rutting action taking place at that time, if there was there would most likely be multiple satellites harassing this group. When this happens aggressive action can be money here as long as you get tight to the group. Strategies & tactics of use can be adjusted as things unfold.

So for this year, don't call your way in to your spot, instead find that trail or route these elk are using out of that meadow come Summer. Once found check wind directions for morning & evening hunts. Once you've found your good setup/ambush spot it can really pay off. Icing on the cake is if you get to ambush spot before light & another comes into meadow calling as you did. (grin)

Yes, on a few occasions I too have been escorted by the bull out of the area.

ElkNut1

[elkmtngear]

If none of this applies then it's possible these elk managed by the bull does everything to avoid a confrontation with any elk moving into his area, you've caught them in this meadow, this is their night time bedding/feeding area, elk like staying in open meadows or parks at night to see or hear oncoming predators first.
ElkNut1

I've had this happen before, it is very frustrating. You can hear the cows respond like crazy and start to move in, and then the bull in the back basically say "OK girls, that's enough...we're outta here"!

A smart bull with a bunch of cows knows his assets, and will not risk losing a single cow in his harem. Fortunately, that is what exactly makes him vulnerable in the right scenario.

[Swede]

Good story, but a common one too. In heavily hunted areas calling to elk is a dicey proposition. Where I hunt and where I understand Elkmthgear hunts, hunters give elk calls names like "Hoochie Cow Scare." Over calling, and heavy cattle useage have pushed most elk onto private ranches. Those that remain are skittish whenever they hear an elk call.