What should you do 2025, scenario #1

[WapitiTalk1]

I'll start a few of these and see what kind of interest/discussions they draw. It's been a minute since I posted these scenario driven threads.

It's the last day of your archery elk hunt... September 25, 202?. The night before (after dark) you received a response to your locator bugle above a skid road you'd walked in on approximately 1/4 of a mile. As you walk in before daylight on the last morning of your 7 day hunt, you hear the same bull above you on the side hill of an east/west flowing basin. As it starts to get light and the bugling persists, you've decided you'll move as close to the bull as you can before making a peep. He continues to sound off as you move to within 100 yards of where he's singing. Four, five, seven bugles echo throughout the basin from the same bull and you hear cow mews as you get closer. Nobody seems alarmed..it appears the elk are moving from feed to bed right after daylight hit. The thermals are flowing down steadily down and you smell elk! As you're hunting alone, you throw out a few cow/calf calls and move rapidly up/downwind and toward the elk immediately after you call. As you set up and wait for an indicator, something, anything..... you hear and see movement above you. There is an elk, possibly "the" bull, standing with his head completely covered with Douglas Fir bows less than 30 yards up the slope broadside. It's a bull (3 point or better) area. You draw back, drop the pin in the "V" and let off (you don't touch off the arrow). You're not sure of the target (legal animal) so you do the right thing and let off. Less than seconds later, a very nice, thick beamed 5 point moves away from the fir and walks (not bolts) back uphill to what you assume are his cows. At this point, what do you do? The cover is relatively thick but is littered with elk trails. Do you:

a. Stay put and continue cow calling hoping the bull comes back down?

b. Figure the bull is not leaving his cows again and bust balls (as quietly as possible), planning an intercept route to get a better angle on the herd that you figure is heading to bed?

c. Have a sandwich and enjoy the mountain side scenery, enjoying your last day for the year in the elk woods, possible take a nap ?

d. Charge uphill into the elk, attempting to scatter them, causing confusion and immediately launch some excited cow calls to try to pull the bull in?

e. Other?

What say you elk hunters?

[RanchoSueno]

B. If they aren't busting out, sneak into bed with them
That's kind of what I did last September. They went up to bed weary but didn't blow. I left and came in from the other side the ridge and managed to catch them leaving back out from their bedding at a wallow

[Swede]

I Always mess up in this situation. The bull is not coming back so don't waste your time bugling or cow calling there. He and his cows will continue on to their bedding area. The bull is not interested in entertaining you. He has his harem. If I move, I need to watch the wind and the eyes of the cows. I think I would try to go behind (below) the cows out of sight and move up on the other side of the herd and then give out a distressed cow sound and then a raspy bugle. If that does not look like a possibility, I would stay put and immediately try some distressed cow calls and the raspy bugles right there.

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

Continue cow calls. Then rake a tree and let out a small, short, whiney bull calling cows bugle. That should be enough to make him think you have just stolen one of his cows. It may draw him back to your location. And, if there are any satellite bulls ragging the herd ,it could certainly draw one of them in to you

This has worked for me several times when working a herd that is unalarmed and moving away..

[Elkhunttoo]

I’m probably trying some sort of B

Try not to get busted and stay close to the heard….when they get close to where they are going to bed or when they bed try and slow play the bull.

[Tigger]

I would get out my cell phone and call the Elknut. If I couldnt get ahold of him, I would climb a tree and perch with my knife between my teeth ready to pounce on any elk that ambles by.

Orrrr, I sneak up as far as I can safely without getting busted by walking quietly on a trail and set up again. If I think this bull came to my sounds, I do the same thing as before. If he doesn't come, I amp up my intensity a little. It is at this point where luck plays a role. Either you hear them still close so you continue to play the game, or you hear them moving and you tag along like a red-headed step brother. However, if luck is not on your side, you dont hear them, thus figuring they moved out and you sneak ahead only to be busted. Or you still think they are there and waste the next 1/2 when they are long gone.

[juglow]

Unread postby >>>---WW----> » 01 16, 2025 • [Post 4]

Continue cow calls. Then rake a tree and let out a small, short, whiney bull calling cows bugle. That should be enough to make him think you have just stolen one of his cows. It may draw him back to your location. And, if there are any satellite bulls ragging the herd ,it could certainly draw one of them in to you

This has worked for me several times when working a herd that is unalarmed and moving away..

This... and I would move up slowly give the thick brush and consistent downhill wind. Adding in a few longer cow calls showing a bit of urgency for him to come over then intro some racking that another bull has entered the scene to take the cow. I would try to loop and get to their elevation not where they came from or "trail them."

[Lefty]

I Always mess up in this situation. .

That was the last hours of my season, sort of. A little bull and cows calves doing their thing in the wide open in front of me,,, High winds. while the heavy 6x6 stayed in the quakies 65-70 yards away. As the cows feed uphill and away my calf sounds provided no interest to the cows or the bulls. I figured the big bull was allowing the little bull to hang out , a little bull squealing did nothing . It was too noisy and the didnt care about the other bull and lost calf( me)

Im always waiting on the bigger bull, and I had muzzleloader season,,, well that never happened either

[Lefty]

I would climb a tree and perch with my knife between my teeth ready to pounce on any elk that ambles by.

what kind of knife

[Tigger]

Pocket knife. I might strip down to my loincloth too as that should help.

[Lefty]

Maybe I posted this story years back.
My brother and I were up along the west side of Roseau Wildlife management area 1.5 mile's from the Canadian, Minnesota border. There was a deer trail through the thick quakies crossing the road that looked like a highway, Weirdest thing I had ever seen; deer crossing back and forth every few minutes mid day.
I grabbed my yellow motorcycle helmet, and told my brother I was going to jump on a deer.

My brother grabbed a big stick, baseball bat size. He wanted to beat me while on the road instead of retrieving and dragging me from the woods before hauling me in for stitches

[Swede]

I did jump on a deer many years ago. I was setting chokers on a cat side. That is, I was placing short cables around logs that were later attached to a main cable at the rear of a large logging dozer. As the D8 Cat came back from the landing about 4 deer were walking in front of it. They were on the steep skid road that I was standing on. As they continued toward me, I just stood stationary until all had passed by except the one at the rear. I jumped on it and brought it down. The dozer operator got off the cat and gave it a drink from his canteen, then I let it go.
I have heard it is dangerous to grab a deer that way, but the deer offered no resistance. Maybe people just try to dissuade knot heads from doing nonsense like I pulled off that day back in 1968.

[Lefty]

I did jump on a deer many years ago. I was setting chokers on a cat side. That is, I was placing short cables around logs that were later attached to a main cable at the rear of a large logging dozer. As the D8 Cat came back from the landing about 4 deer were walking in front of it. They were on the steep skid road that I was standing on. As they continued toward me, I just stood stationary until all had passed by except the one at the rear. I jumped on it and brought it down. The dozer operator got off the cat and gave it a drink from his canteen, then I let it go.
I have heard it is dangerous to grab a deer that way, but the deer offered no resistance. Maybe people just try to dissuade knot heads from doing nonsense like I pulled off that day back in 1968.

l
we had an antelop try to kick the snot out of us as we got it out of a fence

[cohunter]

I'm a bit late to the party here, but I think you should call and immediately move up to the area he was at when you saw him until you can confirm that he (and his cows) have moved further ahead OR he comes back in to your calls. I don't think he really spooked and he's obviously interested. He came and advertised (raking) but nobody showed up in return so he went back toward his cows. If you keep dogging the herd without giving yourself away, you've got a chance. Something similar to this happened to me, and while it sounds like in my scenario, the elk weren't moving as quickly to bed, the third time was the charm - just because the bull left before I had a good shot the 1st two times, he was curious enough to come into the call a third time and I got my shot at 14 yards.