Saturdays scenario

[Lefty]

How should have I played this: The sun is just glimmering over the west mountains. I bugle and get an immediate bugle back. The call was from a long ways away. I ran( yep, I sort-a ran)250 steps and set on the top edge of a low bench. The bull bugled in a deep bugle and a moment later a chuckle. I know the biggest baddest bull is on his way, At that time I guessed he was 120 yards out and moving in The area is fairly open with mixed timber.
I stay put: The bull slows to a walk and stops 70 yards out. Well he didn’t look as big as he sounded a “small” 6x6 he poked around, looked my way; shuffled a bit more and just hung out at 70 yards. He bugled a couple more times and again tossing in some chuckles.( now Im sure he’s laughing at me)
After about 10 minutes he moved past some cover, He bugled again. My mouth was so dry I couldn’t make a sound with my mouth call then grabbed my bugle, opened my pack reaching for water. Even after a couple swallows I still had a dry mouth I grabbed the Montana decoy. We are now 15 minutes into this.
I move ahead 8 yards.
The bull is behind cover 65 yards away He bugles, I call back, well something came out of the bugle but it wasn’t anything either of us recognized as an elk sound. He really didn’t react to the strange sound I made. He stepped into an opening at 65 yards and just sort of looks, like he was looking for something else. I made a quiet calf sound and showed the decoy,.. He seemed to have no interest in the “lady”.
He turned and slowly walked away. I bugled one more time,.. he just kept walking,..
20 minutes of adrenaline. And now a long walk out in the dark.
How should I have played this hunting solo?

[ElkNut1]

When you know they're coming & it's the bugle that is getting their attention stay with the bugle! At 120 yards turn around & cast your bugle behind you with coarseness to it & take 3 seconds to smash dead branches loud enough to hear imitating raking, now move ahead 40 yards & setup silently, stick to cover on your re-positioning. Don't look for the bull too far out creating an opening where he could see where the last call & raking came from. Put him in search mode! The fact you could see him at his hang-up spot meant he could also see vividly where he last heard an elk & sees nothing thus stopping him there!

Other reasons for hang-ups is impassable terrain with downfall & streams, etc.

ElkNut1

[mjblowers]

My initial thoughts were similar to Paul's... if you can see him clearly, he can clearly see you which means that you were in the best possible spot you could've been in as a solo hunter short of army crawling up to him and bopping him in the nose.

[Lefty]

When you know they're coming & it's the bugle that is getting their attention stay with the bugle! At 120 yards turn around & cast your bugle behind you with coarseness to it & take 3 seconds to smash dead branches loud enough to hear imitating raking, now move ahead 40 yards & setup silently, stick to cover on your re-positioning. Don't look for the bull too far out creating an opening where he could see where the last call & raking came from. Put him in search mode! The fact you could see him at his hang-up spot meant he could also see vividly where he last heard an elk & sees nothing thus stopping him there!
Other reasons for hang-ups is impassable terrain with downfall & streams, etc.
ElkNut1

Thanks
The area was fairly open , So at about 100 yards he could see where the bugle had come from.
I did send the call behind me and tried to keep quiet. I also tried to sound smaller. There really was any way to move after I made the one bugle , that small group of trees that I did move to and a clump of trees the bull walked around. It was while the bull was walking past his clump that I moved forward. I thought I was too close to try anything like raking other than the decoy.
This elk hunting in the woods makes me feel like when I first started goose hunting effectively,.. but now I know my mistakes, just how to correct them

My wife said I need to shoot any elk next Saturday,.. she had to buy a beef roast for Sunday dinner