Basic Herd Bull Tactics!

[ElkNut1]

Ok folks, the season is getting much closer & many are scouting their areas on foot & with trail cameras! Some of us are after herd bulls! We can come across countless encounters with these ole boys. Some are mere 5 points & some are some real bruisers even on OTC public land hunts that have eluded hunters for years! We've even given some of them names over the years & feel some years it gets personal because they keep outwitting us! (grin) Let's consider some of those battles where the bulls have won & why & some of the battles won by us hunters! This can prove extremely helpful to all here! You just never know what little thought or trick may payoff this year with the tip we may share here!

What's your plan/strategy if you are after herd bulls only? Do you call, if so how? Spot & Stalk only? Some bulls require both! Thoughts?

ElkNut1

[otcWill]

I do it all but I find the most important factor for us has been timing. If you can hit that window between when they are solo and when they start to push the little guys out of the herd, thats the golden opportunity. We've killed some big ones in otc units public land over the last few years and they were all called in before rounding up any cows, one came to two squeezes on a hoochie mama. The "window" where I hunt here in CO is always between the opener and the 12th of September. After that they (the big boys) get MUCH harder to kill. Good luck to all the Elknuts this season!

[Trophyhill]

I like what octWill says here. Last year I called in 3 big bulls for friends on the 6, 7, and 8 of September in Central NM. The year before that I blew a couple opportunities on big bulls on the 4th and 5th of September and killed a nice one on the 9th. All using calling or call n stalk. The year before that I missed a 15 yard opportunity on a giant CO bull on the second of September as I was stillhunting thru black timber. I think the more experience we get, we start to develope a feel for the mood of the elk and elkwoods which helps us determine what works best for us individually in terms of methodology (hunting style) versatility is huge during this time IMO.

[foxvalley]

In northern ID where I hunt it's mostly dark timber, and thick tangles,and visability is on average 30 to 80 yards,I find the elk in pretty much the same spots year after year.I will still hunt thru these ereas with the wind in my favor,not only so the elk don't smell me,but being such thick terrain,and being fairly close to the elk already, lots of times I will smell them.In this case,I will act like a satalite bull,and try to call the cows to me by chuckling,and rakeing,pacing back and forth.If there is a herd bull there, he will tell me to stay away with a bugle with hard grunts on the end. This also happens lots of times as I still hunt thru an erea,and I think I'm being so quiet,but in reality,I am being heard sneeking around,like a satalite bull,and also get told to stay away.
One of the mistakes I have made over the years is not realizing this, that he is talking to me,and that he just didn't happen to bugle and grunt for the heck of it. Most of the time I will be above him, as the thermals are going up in the morning,and I found that comming directly down on him does NOT work! As soon as he bugles the threat,I like to crash down to his level,right or left, which ever way the wind is right, kind of circle around,or flank him.He is not likeing you at all now, and his temp is riseing,and you can tell how mad he is getting by every tone of his sounds.Sometime he comes in right away,and sometimes you have to really spend some time to get his dander up.
Lots of times, at this point,I will mimick every sound he makes exept for grunts,while still trying to call his cows away by chuckleing,and I no longer am using my grunt tube,I like to just bugle with my diaphram,which sounds like a stinkin little spike,and now he is about to blow a gasket.You elimminated any chance of him thinking he could loose his cows,because he knows he can kick the tar out of this puny spike.
One of the biggest mistakes that i have made at this point, being alone, is not moving downwind after I called.He comes in all right,but sometimes they like to hook down wind the last 30- 40 yards,and thats where you need to be.

[twinkieman]

I won't be able to hunt before the 14th of Sept., I will go to areas that have produced in the past initially, when I do find herd bulls, that is when I really start my hunt. The herd bulls that I have killed, missed, and called in for others have all required aggressive actions on my part. My experience has taught me that you have to be in close, 100 yds, or less. I don't depend on any one action on my part, I use different actions depending on the situation ( most learned from Elknut material) or by others on this forum. I have also learned from past encounters, both successful, and unsuccessful. I've raked, stomped, rolled rocks, crashed brush. If I give a location bugle, and get a stay away response, I will move in as tight as I can, and use some form of the threat, bugle over the top of the bull, something to piss off this bull. I have called in a few herd bulls with cow calls only, but the # is small. Bugling in some form has been my best trick.

[Toby]

Fox valley, that is some great information, thanks for sharing.

[foxvalley]

Another tactic that i like to use is sneaking in on a herd bull that is tending a cow. She is in heat,or close to it,and again, the thick terrain that I hunt, it seems that the herd bull has a hard time keeping a lot of cows,and the average amout of cows seems to be 1-3.The fewer cows the better,and if really lucky,he just has the one. I don't happen on this senereo every year, but when I do,it's a great oportunity to sneak in as he will be working her in the bedding erea,moving around and making noise,and this can go on for hours,or all day.They are both preoccupied,and you have all the time in the world to play the wind, and slowly work your way towards the noise.Rutting glugs arer a dead givaway to whats going on.
Another version of this has been,( and I don't know how often this happens)that I had a herd bull chasing a cow in large circles.They are also in the bedding erea,and crash, crash, crash.....gone....crash crash crash...... gone etc. I have only had this happen twice, but both times the cow was running over her same tracks,and eventually the circle gets smaller and smaller.I waited till they where gone,which was only a min or two,then ran as fast as I could untill I could hear them comming,stop, let them run by, start running etc. untill I was down to the circle. Odds are extremly high if it's just the two of them,of getting a shot .

[elkmtngear]

One of the biggest mistakes that i have made at this point, being alone, is not moving downwind after I called.He comes in all right,but sometimes they like to hook down wind the last 30- 40 yards,and thats where you need to be.

Excellent post, Foxvalley! We've capitalized on this behavior many times in team hunting/ decoy situations; the bull will track to the decoy/caller like radar, and then when he gets the visual, he will arc toward the downwind side to try to get the wind off the decoy.

Having a shooter there makes all the difference in the world, so I always keep a visual in my head of the bull's position/ wind direction. If I'm solo, I push the decoy down to give him the presentation, call, and then quickly move 30 to 40 yds downwind.

[LongShot]

Thanks for all this information, guys. I've got a 7day pre rut hunt this year, and I'm after a herd bull, at least for the first few days.

[ishy]

Foxvalley, not moving cost me my biggest elk I've called in North Idaho. I was actually only about 100 yards off a road above one of those wallows that unless you stand on it you have no idea it's there. I had my brother-in-law in tow that had never elk hunted, and never bow hunted and was just along for the ride. So he was about twenty yards behind me and we were heading from the wallow to known bedding spot cow calling very lightly. Heard a crunch, then another and then here is this toad staying 40 yards but behind the brush doing the circling downwind thing. Never gave me a shot, but if I would have ran down wind probably would have had a chip shot. When hunting alone I do much better not growing roots.
Anyway back to the question, last year I sat a wallow more than anything for the first time. Ended up being very slow year with no elk while I was there. This year I may sit a little, but need to get my rut on after last year so this year will be running and gunning for the most part. Not much spot and stalk up in North Idaho where I'm hunting due to the cover.