Read the Situation #1

[WapitiTalk1]

So much of being a successful elk hunter is reading a situation correctly and reacting in such a manner that will potentially provide a shot opportunity.

Tale of the tape: You've worked uphill on a series of game trails, periodically hearing a bull bugle above you from before daylight, to where you sit now watching and hearing what is unfolding on the large bench. "Uphill" is directly to your front from where you now kneel. It's not quite 8:30 AM on this beautiful September morning, archery season, bull only tag, with minimal hunting pressure in this area.

Read the situation and tell us what you see and hear, and, what your move may be to take a bull home for dinner.

[Elkonthebrain]

I like these. It would probably be wrong, but I would use an immature bugle then real whiny cow calls. Trying to get the bull to think a smaller bull is stealing one of his lady's. ??

[Fridaythe13th]

I like these also... To me this bull is pushing cows away from you. Looks like it is in range (50 or less) only call I make is a nerves grunt when he is in a shooting lane. If not in range work fast, couple of soft cow calls and hope the thermals don't change on you.

[msd1228]

He is using a bull calling cows bugle over and over and hes clearly agitated. Lots of excitement in that setup. Judging by how fast those cows are moving you aren't going to have a lot of time, so the options are 1) act now or 2) hope he keeps bugling and you can follow them to their bed.

Judging from whats going on and how hard hes trying to wrangle his cows I'm going to try to put a bunch of trees between the bull and I so he can't see me as easily as he can in the setup shown in the video. Once I get a decent position I'm going to turn away from the bull and throw some whiny cow/estrus style cow calls behind me and then I'm going to rake a tree to make it look like a bull has moved between the bugler and one of his hot cows. If that doesn't break him free then I'm going to throw some more estrus cow calls behind me and launch a bull calling cows bugle of my own. If that doesn't work then I'm just going to try and follow them to their bed and figure out a new plan from there.

[razorback]

Okay I have one season under my belt so my response is based off tons of inexperience He's moving his cows or either a cow is moving the herd either way, I'm taking my new chuckler and turning away from him and ripping the meanest bugle I can to challenge him. I want to cut his bugle and let him know there's a bull that is about to come in and take his cows away from him. Now this may not work but the herd's leaving out anyway so I have nothing to lose. If it doesn't work, I'll go silent and follow the herd until they bed, at that time I'll do the same thing, get close and hammer a mean bugle to try and force the bull to come and fight.

[WapitiTalk1]

It appears there are two bulls in the mix here. Listen to the bugle right at the 36 second mark (bull #2); it may be this second bull you hear again at the 1:05 mark. Does this change your situation analysis and prospective plan of attack?

[msd1228]

The other bull sounds like hes a bit further away and may be the reason the main bull keeps flanking back to pick up straggling cows. If that's the case then another tactic would almost certainly be a surefire grand slam if you have the cover to pull it off would be to get between the bull and all of the cows that keep running to the right. The cows seem to be covering a fair amount of distance going left to right, and the main bull keeps running back left to round up the stragglers. If cover allows I'm going to sneak right between the bull on the left and the cows on the right. A guy could probably sit there and not even make a noise and get a shot, but if you want to have some fun I'd rip a bull calling cows bugle from that position. There is no way the bull is going to risk losing that many of his cows. That would be as close to a sure thing as you are going to get I would think.

[Heartwood]

I agree, this bull is talking to his cows trying to control them. He does seem pretty worked up and maybe doesn't have control of the situation. If I'm calling for the camera man or a hunter at the camera position, I'm back over the lower edge of the bench where the bull can't see where my calls are coming from. I'm going to try to call this bulls cows with a lip bawl bugle. I'm pleanty close to him to get a reaction. The shooter may already be in range or close in which case it is up to him to use a well placed nervous grunt to stop said bull for the kill shot. There is also another bull bugling not to far away and calling him is plan "B". If I decided to use the threat, i would first cow call away from the bull directing my call down hill then cut his bugle off with a challenge directed in his face. Either way, I'm using the terrain to hide my position and allow me to move laterally to draw the bull past the shooter, roll rocks and break branches (make an elk ruckus). The aspen stand doesn't look like it has enough cover to use as a calling position and not be seen.

[Trophyhill]

Whatever I decide to do has to be done quickly. As fast as those elk are moving around, and as close as they are, there ain't much time to decide. I think there is more than 1 way to skin this bull. If you're good enough, call his cows from him. He'll probably come quickly. Or challenge his elk hood. As a lone hunter I expect either way the shot will most likely be a frontal or hard quartering to opportunity. Seeing that video gets my heart to pounding that's for sure. If that bull is further than 100 yards I'm moving closer because I have nothing to lose. If I get busted I break out the Long Ranger and plead to the second bull to come my way and move toward him hoping to meet him on the trail.

[jedbuzz]

So the cows are moving right, the second bull is above and left? The small cow (calf?) moving left seemed confused so I would quickly back off the bench and haul butt to the right. Try get between the cows and bull while he is occupied with number 2... It seems like he is going to meet the challenger. Otherwise he would've just ran his cows and followed along? I think one would have enough time to set up in his return path. I wouldn't call or anything... But because it's elk hunting, I'm sure I would've guessed wrong! If it didn't work maybe one could mimic his challenge bugle and move up after #2...

[under H2O hunter]

Thats a dead bull. At :45 That bull is in a window QT away and is in a clear shooting lane. He stands there long enough for me to draw and settle and release. If I miss he doesn't know I am there. As he runs that satellite bull off at the end of the video I am hustling to my right trying to get between him and his cows. I stop him with a nervous grunt when he steps into my window. If he blows by my window I let him go and I start cowing and I try to grab a satellite looking to pick off a lost cow. Nothing comes I am hustling my ass off to catch up to the herd and blowing bugles to locate and get caught up. Once I am caught up and they are settled down. I am Busting midsize to weak bugles. He is pushing his cows cause he is not looking for a fight. I want him to come take a peak and investigate why this weak satellite is hanging around after getting pushed off before.

[ishy]

I'm all but running forward and to the right to cut some distance and get between him and his cows while he is distracted. Covering ground is priority over stealth given this boys mood. He is pretty worried and seems there are lots more cows to the left given his body language.

[WapitiTalk1]

I'm all but running forward and to the right to cut some distance and get between him and his cows while he is distracted. Covering ground is priority over stealth given this boys mood. He is pretty worried and seems there are lots more cows to the left given his body language.

Ok, ok I'm with you Bryan. A bird in the hand may be worth two in the bush, (or in the bed). Are you gonna just move quickly when he's moving to the left (using available cover and concealment without making any elk noises and considering the bulls mood to possibly overlook/mistake what's moving) to get in reasonable bow range of where Bullwinkle may move back thru in pursuit of the cows to the right, set up and wait?

[pd]

Thats a dead bull. At :45 That bull is in a window QT away and is in a clear shooting lane. He stands there long enough for me to draw and settle and release. If I miss he doesn't know I am there. As he runs that satellite bull off at the end of the video I am hustling to my right trying to get between him and his cows. I stop him with a nervous grunt when he steps into my window. If he blows by my window I let him go and I start cowing and I try to grab a satellite looking to pick off a lost cow. Nothing comes I am hustling my ass off to catch up to the herd and blowing bugles to locate and get caught up. Once I am caught up and they are settled down. I am Busting midsize to weak bugles. He is pushing his cows cause he is not looking for a fight. I want him to come take a peak and investigate why this weak satellite is hanging around after getting pushed off before.

Good eyes, James. You are right about a good, long shooting window there. How far do you reckon that shot is?

[under H2O hunter]

Pd, 47 yards exactly I ranged it. ;-P

[Wapiti]

Classic Bull Calling Cows bugles !!

The only thing he wants is a cow so give him cow sounds and bring him right in for a 10 yard shot !! Easy.

Shane you can hunt with me anytime bud !!

[otcWill]

What ishy said! No rocket science here. Put the calls away and get out the range finder. I'd sneak in FAST and stealthy, probably on hands and knees. He appears to be very close to bowrange already. A quick 20 yard scamper and he's done. This is EXACTLY the type of situation where the killers are separated from the tag eaters . Aggressive elk hunters punch lungs! Get him boys

[twinkieman]

I may be reading this wrong, but it appears to me the bull on the left that we can only hear, has one of the cows the bull we can see going to him, and the bull we can see is having a hard time controlling her. I believe that is why he is screaming at her. I'm all for moving up, and to my right, and closing some of the distance. I'm going to have to be careful because of the cows that are already to my right, and the bull that should be coming back to them, and at this time, I'm not going to call at all. If he continues to try to re-gather the cow he appears to have a hard time controlling, I'm going to slip up and to my right as far as possible. At this time I still don't know if I'm going to give him any sounds, but if I did I would most likely start with raking, trying to get him to think that another unknown bull has slipped in, and is trying to entice the rest of his harem away. I might even let him hear an immature sounding bull, followed by cow sounds, painful cow sounds, to make him believe a bull has slipped in, and is physically trying to horn a cow away from him.


If he returns fairly quickly, and I've moved up, the only sound I'm making is a nervous grunt, to stop him exactly where I want to shoot him.

[Tigger]

Fantastic situation for people and it sounds like a lot of good answers. for someone that is new to calling elk, this was the best mock situation I have ever seen! It really made me think.

My answer before I read all of the other answers was that he was clearly rounding up his cows so I would have hit him with some cow calls. Pleading cow calls. My initial thought was to hold off on any bugling as I didn't want to send him packing with his cows as it seemed he was trying to hurry away from the other bull. Slipping closer didn't enter my mind .

[ElkNut1]

This is basically a "do not call" situation for me! No need to give your presence away in such a wide open space where you could be detected. Those aspens aren't going to hide an elk & if I called that's what he'd be looking for. Too, I feel by the bulls action we can see he's the thief here, you'll notice he is doing no calling of his own, he stole or hooked those 3 cows up you see in the video. Two are heading to our right & the 3rd is wanting to return to the bull calling her back. You can tell by the unseen bulls sounds that he's bigger bull than the one we see. If I were to want the satellite we see I'd head over in the direction of the cows to the right, they are probably a good 80 yards from him now. This satellite will most likely head right back to them with or without the cow he was chasing. If I used any sound at all it would be the Nervous/Popping Grunt to stop him once I'm at full draw as he heads to the two cows. There's an 80% chance if the wind holds up that he's a dead bull!

On the other hand if I were wanting the herd bull that I feel is doing the bugling to the left then I'd use a tactic to pull him over if needed. There's a good chance that he's already heading this way to grab what's his. If I stay patient & let the satellite return & keep moving out of sight I will call then if I feel the herd bull is not coming fast enough! Level two of the Threat would seal the deal here! In doing so I'd have to bugle aggressively 6-8 times in a 90 second span if needed, I then inject excited cow calls while facing the herd bull, you need a good concealed setup for this to work as a lone hunter. -- If two hunters & the herd bull can only be heard & not seen then we'd send the shooter right at the herd bull whining away with those excited cow calls & a caller stays back bugling those aggressive short screams for her to come back!!!! This has worked well for us in the past but you need cover & wind in your favor! On one occasion we took 2 bulls in 10 minutes with a very similar encounter.

ElkNut1