Hunter or Real Elk?

[Glacier Country]

Time to test you guys.I will post an audio and let you guys guess...
A. Is this 2 real elk?
B. Is this 2 hunters?
C. Is this an elk and a hunter?
D.Is this a hunter and an elk?

[ElkNut1]

Troy, It's nice to see the comparisons, it will be interesting to hear a few thoughts & guesses. Thanks.

ElkNut1

[Elkonthebrain]

I really do not know just a shot in the dark C. It will be good to see what everyone says and what there determining factors were.

[NCelkhtr]

I'm going with C too. No real science behind it just going by sound and what I think is right

[ctdad]

c

[WapitiTalk1]

1st choice..B: It's Troy from GCC and a buddy deploying the old dueling bugle method somewhere in NW Montana 2nd choice..C: Without being there and just going by sound (which many times, isn't the ultimate deciding factor), it's an elk bugling first and Troy mimicking the bull he heard/recorded, sounding better than the actual bull

[BrentLaBere]

This is tough.
C - To me it sounded like one of your calls when you had to brake it over in the beginning.

[Still Hunter]

I'm not positive about the first one. I'm leaning towards elk. The second one sounds like a hunter.

[>>>---WW---->]

Hard to judge the first bugle only hearing it once. But if I was hunting and had to make a move on one or the other, I'd go for the first one and not waste my time on the second one. But I would like to hear more than one call from both before making my move. So I would say either B or C.

[rowdycwby1]

I'm going out on a limb and say A couse bouth sound horrible couse most hunters try to sound perfect and mostl elk ive heard sound like me first learning how to bugle lol

[ctdad]

Rowdycwby makes an interesting point. First morning of our hunt this year three of us split up from camp. I immediately ran into two bugling bulls. My partners thought it was me bc the bugles didn't sound real to them. They were surprised to learn I wasnt the one making those bad sounding bugles. Ha

[Glacier Country]

So I have been watching this thread. At this point 116 people have listened to the clip I posted and only 8 of you have posted up an answer....
This leads me to believe that there are a lot of you out there that are very unsure and even some of the posters mentioned that they are unsure.
Hmm interesting.
WW was looking at this like I would. With this info is there a real bull ? IF there are 2 real bulls which one do I go after. IF there is actually a hunter ... Would I be interrupting another hunters hunt if I did go after one of the "Bulls"?
I'm hoping to get a few more of you to post up some replies. This is how you will learn, not just how to call, but how to pick what to call to.

[Glacier Country]

Rowdycwby makes an interesting point. First morning of our hunt this year three of us split up from camp. I immediately ran into two bugling bulls. My partners thought it was me bc the bugles didn't sound real to them. They were surprised to learn I wasnt the one making those bad sounding bugles. Ha

Exactly the point of this thread. There was a thread awhile back about how to tell real elk from hunters. I posted on that thread. Some of the responses got me thinking .... maybe we all could use some practice at this? Not every bull makes a "classic 3 note bugle"! In my experience most don't. So I went through and found some sounds and put them on my iphone and then on here.

Two weeks ago I had a conversation with a Local guy that is widely known around here as a very good caller/elk slayer, and his friend had a bugle that does the classic 3 note job. They were hunting pressured elk and heard a real bull and a hunter. So Brad's friend thought both bugles were from a real bull. Brad said no, one was definitely a hunter. He bugled and brought in the hunter closer. When his friend saw the other hunter they backed out and went back to the truck and down the road. As they were driving Brad's friend says pull over.... He pulls out his bugle and bugles... looks at Brad and says does that sound like the guy we just called in? Brad shrugs and says yep just like him. He hangs his bugle and tube on the tree and they drive off. He looks at Brad and says " time to learn how to use a diaphragm!" Brad if you are out there I hope you don't mind me sharing our conversation on here. I think we all can use some help at times trying to figure out if a bull is real or not and the variables that go into that decision! There are some fantastic callers here where I live. Sometimes it is not so easy to tell if it is a real bull or not. This is the whole point of this thread.

[Still Hunter]

So I have been watching this thread. At this point 116 people have listened to the clip I posted and only 8 of you have posted up an answer....
This leads me to believe that there are a lot of you out there that are very unsure and even some of the posters mentioned that they are unsure.
Hmm interesting.

I wouldn't go by how many listened. I listened to it 10 times trying to figure out the first call.

[rowdycwby1]

After listening to it again I now thank its C to the fact first bugle is not a perfect and the 2nd is too close to being perfect. Now im woundering if I dont make my calls sound perfect everytime I call with my tube if I'll have better Iuck calling them in our would I just end up calling in more hunters. This is a really good thread.

[ElkNut1]

One thing to remember especially for the newer guys/gals, do not over think this, keep it simple, identify the bull heard & his message sent & react from there! -- Here's my take ! (grin) ---- Listen to the pure sound of the 1st bull, I feel this is the real bull, note how his beginning bugle is coming from inside & is half hearted, this is tough to duplicate, yes we can come close but it's extremely tough to do with a mouth reed. My guess is the 2nd bull ( a hunter) is merely mimicking the 1st bull & puts a little extra in his calling as he does this. -- The 1st bull you heard is addressing a call already made by the hunter that was not heard on the clip, most likely a cow sound, this bull is looking for this elk as he most likely has come closer from callers original contact with him, he does not see it so he calls for it wanting to know its where abouts. Also note the tone used by the real bull, it's a non intimidating bugle by a younger bull, most likely a 5 point.



That is a very callable/killable bull there!

ElkNut1

[Glacier Country]

It was Oct 19th, the 2nd to last day of the MT archery season. I was raising my bugle tube up to let out a location bugle and a bull bugled on his own.
How Sweet is that? ! So I checked the wind and we circled to get the wind a little better in our favor.We could only do so much so we had to let the bull walk off a little bit so we could get a better wind situation. After about 15 minutes I thought I would give a bugle to locate or in this case relocate the bull. I bugled and he bugled back.We circled a little more and moved in on him. I let out a few cow calls, 4 altogether over the next minute or 2. No answer, So I bugled behind me, he answered back and started racking a tree to shreds. I bugled again a few minutes later and he just intensified the racking. I waited a couple minutes, then did a nervous grunt and then I immediately bugled.I was telling the bull that I want to see him. The bull again intensified his racking and we could see pieces of him through the brush ripping a small tree limb for limb. Maybe a few minutes had passed from my last bugle and he let out the bugle heard on the audio clip. I mimicked him back and gave him a little bit more aggression to my bugle.... I remember thinking that was perfect in this situation!!! Seconds later I could see him moving my way.... It was 63 seconds after the last bugle in the audio clip that I shot this bull.

1st choice..B: It's Troy from GCC and a buddy deploying the old dueling bugle method somewhere in NW Montana 2nd choice..C: Without being there and just going by sound (which many times, isn't the ultimate deciding factor), it's an elk bugling first and Troy mimicking the bull he heard/recorded, sounding better than the actual bull

So I guess RJ second guess is probably the closest with the info given in the audio clip.

One thing to remember especially for the newer guys/gals, do not over think this, keep it simple, identify the bull heard & his message sent & react from there! -- Here's my take ! (grin) ---- Listen to the pure sound of the 1st bull, I feel this is the real bull, note how his beginning bugle is coming from inside & is half hearted, this is tough to duplicate, yes we can come close but it's extremely tough to do with a mouth reed. My guess is the 2nd bull ( a hunter) is merely mimicking the 1st bull & puts a little extra in his calling as he does this. -- The 1st bull you heard is addressing a call already made by the hunter that was not heard on the clip, most likely a cow sound, this bull is looking for this elk as he most likely has come closer from callers original contact with him, he does not see it so he calls for it wanting to know its where abouts. Also note the tone used by the real bull, it's a non intimidating bugle by a younger bull, most likely a 5 point.



That is a very callable/killable bull there!

ElkNut1

Elknuts assessment is pretty good as well. I do think the real bull was answering a bugle , not a cow call though... JMO Rj posted his opinion first so he gets the nod.

I almost wish I had more audio taken from a distance away... I think you guys would have had a lot harder time figuring out which "bull" was real. My opinion anyway. I was only 7 feet away from the microphone. When I was calling. The real one was around 80 yards away. I know because my family can just about fool me from a distance away and I hear them a fair amount at home. Well anyhow I hope this was of some help to some of you.
--->Troy