It's Your Move

[Swede]

With fifteen minutes left in the shooting hours of the day, you get a strong response from a bull over across the basin meadow. You are pretty sure of his location, but do not have time to circle down wind and get in a position to make a play on him. About that time you hear another bugle from a bull on the same hillside you are on. You assess the situation and decide to back out and return early the next morning.
The next day you arrive back at the bottom edge of the meadow in good cover. The wind is down hill and you are confident the bulls are not aware of your presence. You make the same call you made yesterday evening, but NOTHING! The whole country is quiet. You call again and nothing. I know this has happened, in one form or another, to every minimally experienced bow hunter. Now what do you do?
P. S. cnelk did not shoot one of the bulls, at the water hole, just after you heard the first call, and spend the most of the night in there butchering and packing out with a buddy. That is not the answer your dilemma this time.

[Mikeha33]

This is a total rookie response, but I'll give 'er a whirl. I would back out of that spot again, and get to a good vantage point where I could glass for the animals on the nearest North facing slope, hopefully catching a view of them going to bed, or already bedded. If i was lucky enough to find them, I'd try to get in between them and the spot where they were the previous evening, especially if you have a decent idea of where they are traveling, or try to find a good saddle between the elk and where they were before. If I couldn't find them, then I'd probably stalk and cold call a different area not far from there throughout the late morning, and then early afternoon, bust it back to where you think the elk were the previous day, and wait for them there, out of sight, but near the meadow, and try and make a play on them when/if they return.

[cnelk]

I think you made a mistake by going in there the next morning.
I would have went to another area the next morning, then back to the spot where they were bugling, but earlier in the evening.

Elk have travel routes. That may be their evening spot, not a morning spot.

[ishy]

I'm doing a calling sequence. I'm there and know there have been elk around, response or not I'm calling. Would've missed lots of call ins if I quit after two calls with no response.

[Elkduds]

Most "rational" hunters will deny this, but aliens abduct elk every autumn, usually in response to vigorous bugling. So find the nearest crop or timber circle, and set a downwind ambush for when the elk are returned, disoriented. Caution: calling abducted bulls could result in an involuntary transgalactic bus ride or worse, permanent placement in an alien trophy room

[WapitiTalk1]

The hunter is this situation must have either slept in, or, Elkdud's aliens have abducted the elk. The elk should have been in the same general area come daylight (if in fact moving to or in a feeding area) and if there, they WILL respond to my calling I see two COAs for this scenario. 1. Agree with cnelk to let this place "rest" the following morning and instead come back later in the day, a bit before you encoutered them the night before. 2. If the decision to made to hunt the following morning as you mentioned, I would be there before first light and listen..... if I hear no unsolicited bull(s), I would then do some calling.. If no response, I'd have to push forward to where I heard them the night before and determine where they were and possibly, where they went and/or came from.

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

I guess I'm just a little more aggressive than some of you guys. I know there are at least two bulls in the area. I don't have enough legal shooting time to go after either one of them so I'm going to back out. They never smelled me and I only bugled one or two times and they both answered. So as far as they know, I'm just another bull or a new bull that has entered the area.Usually, but not always, when you put elk to bed in the evening, they won't be all that far away the following morning unless something drastic happened at night to push them out.

Taking everything above into consideration, I am going to be right back in there just before day light the next morning. If they don't answer my location bugle I'll wait a short while and then go to my silent calling routine and give it at least an hour to develop. If still no luck, I'll back out of the area and try another spot.

I may go right back in there that evening and give it another try. So long as I feel they don't know I'm a hunter, I'll keep after them.

So my theory is, keep after them as long as it takes. Eventually your efforts will pay off. But if they ever get a whiff of you, the ballgame is over!

[easeup]

ol >>---WW--->> is doing what I would choose also unless I saw the alien ship pad.

[Swede]

There are always decisions that need to be made and differing opinions. I agree with WW on this one completely. His assessment of the situation and his plan to deal with it are, excellent. In the past I have made a big mistake in the morning by believing that the bull had left the area. I moved along calling away. I was not patient and did not set up and wait long enough. That was a huge error on my part. As I moved on I ended up just pushing the bulls away. Bulls are not vocal every day. I can't explain it, but have observed it many times. Even on quiet days they will come if you are making the right calls.

[Trophyhill]

I'd attempt to find the trail leading to 1 of the bulls bedroom and patiently lay in wait for a potential ambush on his way back to bed