Favorite estrus call

[82ndreddevil]

I have an assortment of estrus calls, just trying to see which one sounds the best and easiest to use. So far I have a hyper lip single single which the sound does not carry far at all. A matriarch and Carlton fight n cow which sound very similar with equal range. And a wood wise hyper estrus call which has good range and sounds like nothing else. What do you guys use?

[otcWill]

Of those you mentioned, the hyper lip is my favorite. The whole "estrus" thing is a bit of a gimmick though. The estrus buzz, which is rarely used by cows in estrus is really just an excited sound. I hear cows make it most often when they get jumped and are in the process of calming back down or nervous because they don't know what happened. All the sounds that an elk makes while in estrus can be made with all those calls so don't get hung up on the whole "estrus call hoax". Good luck!

[ishy]

I have lots, but woods wise hyper hot gives you more possible variations than any other reed I've tried. +1 with otcwill, not sure about the "estrus" claim. Different emotion yes, doesn't necessarily equal a hot cow.

[Trophyhill]

I have 3 that I like and not necessarily in this order. Fightin Cow, Long Ranger and the Temptress. With the Temptress I get softer sounds when needed the most, the Fighting Cow doesn't need an explanation as Wayne Carlton hit a homerun with this call and when I really want to get loud and pleading the Long Ranger fits the bill.

[ElkNut1]

Yes, excited cow talk along with an Estrus Buzz sound can be made with nearly any mouth reed or bite & blow type cow call. Single reeds work very well for these sounds. I agree many are misled in the definition but doubt they are doing it intentionally, they just don't have a complete understanding of its use by elk themselves. I do my best to explain these various cow sounds in this podcast, please feel free to check it out.
https://soundcloud.com/elknut1/elknut-t ... zz-defined

ElkNut/Paul

[T.B.]

Just listened to you're podcast elknut. Good stuff
Thanks for sharing

[Charina]

I ran across this video the other day where numerous estrus buzz sounds are made, and it clearly is not in relation to breeding.


I don't doubt cows may use it when trying to urgently/excitedly communicate to a bull that it's time, and he better get over here now, or miss out. But the sound clearly is used for purposes other than that as well. It has taken me a little bit to wrap my mind around it. To me, it makes sense to think of how we might use "hey". Low and soft as we approach someone in a friendly way to ask how they are is like a standard social mew in my mind. Then there is "Hey!" as I try to get my kid's attention when he is about to wander off into a crowd. Perhaps that would be something equivalent to a regathering mew. More intensity, more volume, expressing more emotion. Then there is "HEY!!!" when I see my kid running toward a street where traffic is going to hit him. Perhaps the buzz is something akin to that.

But I might use "HEY!!!" in several different circumstances. When my kid is heading for a busy road. When I find some stranger trying to unlock my car with a slimjim. When someone takes the last backstrap steak off the grill and I haven't had one yet. The same highly emotional sound is used for all sorts of situations to get attention and express myself

Can't we just decide to call it a buzzing mew? Urgent mew? Urgent buzz? Excited buzz? Excited buzzing mew?

[WapitiTalk1]

Charina said: "Can't we just decide to call it a buzzing mew? Urgent mew? Urgent buzz? Excited buzz? Excited buzzing mew?"

Ha ha, I agree. The estrus buzz misnomer should be sacked

Here's a another short VID that show this unique elk sound. I make my "excited buzzing mew" with a berry sleezy cow diaphram.

[Charina]

I recall reading Paul's explanation on the background of that video. I may have the details off a bit, but the gist of what I recall is that the hunter was making either a lost, or regathering mew, and heard this cow coming from afar. Perhaps she was lost herself, or perhaps she was simply trying to make contact with the lost cow (the hunter) she heard. The point being . . . this wasn't just a cow wandering around making chimpanzee sounds. She came there in response to calls, and those calls were not a horny bull's bugles.

[ElkNut1]

Yes, the cow was actually coming to cow calls given by this hunter taking the footage. The cow could not locate the elk it had heard so was doing its best to make contact with them. I think a better name may be the "Contact Buzz" -- How about that folks? (grin)

ElkNut1

[WapitiTalk1]

I second the motion to changing the name of this sound to a contact buzz.

[82ndreddevil]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

[82ndreddevil]

That was a great podcast Elknut!