Elk: Bowhunting for Big Bulls

Elk
Bowhunting For Big Bulls: Tactics & Tips for successful calling.
Steve Chapell

Well elk hunters, summer is upon us and it won’t be long until we’re in the woods chasing bugling bulls. As luck would have it, I was finally lucky in the draws this year! Or, a better term might be persistent. I drew my second choice hunt for archery elk here in my home state of Arizona with eight bonus points and, if that weren’t enough, I also drew a limited-entry bull elk tag for Utah after ten long years of applying! I guess when it rains, it pours! Oh well, I love a good drenching so there’s no complaints here. My elk drought is finally over!

Since the archery elk season is fast approaching and big bulls are certainly on my mind right now, I thought there would be no better topic to write about than bowhunting tactics and tips for calling in and tagging your bull this fall.

The first thing to understand about elk is that they must have three things to survive. Those three things are water, feed, and cover. While you are pre-season scouting, it is crucial that you find good water sources that elk are using. Water becomes even more important to a bull during the rut due to extra energy expenditures from bugling, chasing cows, and fighting other bulls. Find good water sources in proximity to cover and check the area for elk sign. During your hunt a good water source will be a hot spot for elk activity. You don’t necessarily have to sit on the water source, although this can and does work, but you can also hunt the area surrounding the water and get on elk as they move to or from their bedding areas.

If you are hunting high mountain country in September where there are natural streams, springs and wallows, the elk will typically be using these water sources and then utilizing good cover on north and northeast hillsides to bed down. Most elk that I have hunted will move at least a mile from where they are feeding and watering to where they are bedding. Sometimes they move much more than this depending on the terrain. I believe that this characteristic of elk is part of their natural defense against hunters. In mountainous terrain, elk will move uphill to bed while the air is still cool enough to be sinking down the mountain. If you’ve ever tried to keep pace with elk headed up the mountain to bed you will agree that you must be in top physical condition to stay with them. Make your conditioning as much a priority as shooting your bow and you’ll be glad you did when you are climbing a mountain at 10,000 feet of elevation!

If you have scouted and have an idea of where the elk are headed in the morning, you can do some hiking in the dark to gain some elevation on the elk. In order to do this you must stay far enough away that they don’t pick up on you in the dark or they will bust and then you will probably have no chance of getting on them. The real difficulty in getting ahead of a herd of elk is that they are going to be moving with their noses into the wind. If you get directly ahead of them they’re going to smell you, so you must stay at least somewhat crosswind from them. The same holds true in flatter terrain, which is common in many Arizona elk units. The first rule with elk is that when they move, they point their noses into the wind and go. Use this knowledge to your advantage by figuring out the predominant wind patterns in an area, using your “wind checker” to verify the direction, and then counting on the elk moving into the wind. Obviously, the same holds true for your evening hunts when the elk are moving toward good feeding and watering areas.

Now let’s discuss my favorite topic – calling! I’ve had great success over the years calling in lots of bulls, but one thing I’ll say is that it typically is not easy. Sure, I’ve had bulls come running from half a mile away to my calls, but more often than not I’ve had to earn my call-ins by doing everything right. You can make calling as difficult as you’d like, but it really boils down to these three aspects.

1 – Getting the wind right, as I’ve already alluded to. You will simply never call bulls in from downwind of your position. It doesn’t matter how meticulous you are about your scent and wearing scent loc suits, etc. An elk’s nose is 1,000 times as sensitive as ours. If a bull is coming in from downwind, 99 times out of 100 he is going to smell you before he gets into bow range. I will say that I have used elk urine (by spraying it into the air) to fool an elk’s nose a time or two, but I don’t make it a practice to ignore the wind. My wind checker is always one of the most important parts of my gear.

2 – Second, your distance and positioning/setup are extremely important in a calling scenario. Typically, elk are moving into the wind and going somewhere with a purpose. A herd bull is especially hard to call in because he’s already got what he wants – our worst enemy, COWS. For those of you that haven’t heard, a big bull’s motto is, “A cow in hand is better than two in the bush.” A herd bull’s attentions are focused on his cows and keeping them together and away from other bulls. To call him in, you’ve got to get so close that you are on the edge of busting the herd – and sometimes you will. If you don’t bust elk now and then by trying to get close, you’re not being aggressive enough!

I’ve had my frustrations with calling herd bulls in as well, but I’ve also called many of them in by getting super close to the herd and making it very easy and convenient for the elk to come to me. Many times all the cows will come to the calls and the bull will follow along. I’ve also had herd bulls break away and come over for a look. Bulls usually have a distance that they will travel away from their cows and it’s usually not much over 100 yards, so keep that in mind.

With satellite bulls, your distance and positioning are still important but not nearly as crucial as with herd bulls. Catch a satellite bull in a love sick mood and many times he’ll practically run over you. What I love about satellite bulls is that they are eager for an encounter with a cow and will come readily to good calling. Realize that quite often the bull controlling the cows in the area doesn’t necessarily have the biggest antlers, but the most aggressive attitude. Here in Arizona, I’ve seen many 320 to 350 bulls controlling the cows while the monsters hang off on the fringes waiting for cows to come into estrus before they make their move. So, satellite bulls aren’t always younger, smaller bulls!

3 – Your calling. Probably the two questions I’m most often asked are, “How much do you call at a bull?” and, “When should you cow call or bugle?” My response to the first question is that I always let the bull dictate to me how much and how often I call to him. The scenario is usually this; I’ll move in close to a bull that is already bugling without making a call until I’m somewhere between 100 to 200 yards depending on the terrain and vegetation. Basically, I’ll get as close as I can without busting him. Is my heart beating and my breath a little shorter at this point? You bet it is! But, I take just a moment to compose myself and relax before blowing a call. It’s all a mind set that is the result of practicing and being comfortable on the calls.

I introduce myself to the unsuspecting bull by blowing a couple of cow calls away from him. Sometimes a bull will answer right away and sometimes I have to hit him again with a couple of calls. Usually, after a couple of sequences, a bull is going to decide to come in or he may just bugle and want you to come to him. Keep in mind that on public land most bulls have been called at so not every one is going to come running, especially if they’ve had a bad, recent encounter with one of us stinky humans! If the bull does bugle back to me, I’ll give him one to three cow calls back right away, but not jump all over him. Every time he bugles as he approaches, I’ll respond to him and encourage him that I am a sexy cow and he is doing the right thing by coming to see me. Again, I am blowing one to three calls each time he bugles at me. You don’t want to go crazy on the call or the bull can get suspicious, but you don’t want to be so shy that he loses interest and moves off. If the bull isn’t real aggressive and not bugling a bunch, I’ll tone down my calling to match and make him wonder a little about what this cow’s intentions are.

You’ve probably heard me say this before in past articles, but I’ll mention it again since it’s so important. You’ve got to practice on your calls to where they are second nature so that you can blow them soft, smooth and mellow. I can’t stress how important this is! If you get close to a bull and blow a call like a fog horn, you are going to spook him. Even if you get lucky and a bull comes from a long ways off, as he gets inside of 100 to 120 yards, loud, harsh calling will not sound natural to him and he’ll hang up on you. So practice and get confident and in control of your calls.

When do I bugle versus cow calling? I’ll be honest. I call in nine out of ten bulls by cow calling alone. Bugling has its place and I’ll mention here a couple of scenarios when I’ve used it. Last fall one of my archery clients and I had moved close to a bugling bull late in the morning. As we approached the bugling, we closed the gap to within 100 yards of the bull when we noticed he had company. Several “bowhunter’s worst nightmares” (cows) were bedded around the bull. I positioned the hunter and my awesome videographer and friend, Nevan Shippy, in a little grove of jack pines and I literally crawled back behind them 50 or 60 yards in order to call. I cow called off and on for several minutes with basically no response from the bedded bull. At that point I knew that I really had nothing to lose and so I readied my Terminator Bugle. I didn’t hit the bull with a full on bugle in this situation, but started off by just growling at him on the call. The bull immediately reacted to the call and, when I growled again, he ripped off an angry bugle. I growled again, picked up a stick and started raking a tree. The now agitated bull screamed, got up and came at me with a purpose! At this point, I knew he was committed and I would cow call a couple of times and then give him a full bugle. He approached fast and then stopped once he could see my calling position. The 330-inch bull stayed within easy bow range for a couple of minutes and then moved back to join his cows. Lucky for him, my hunter chose to pass him.

I’ve also used bugling in combination with cow calling to create excitement and the illusion of a herd of elk. Occasionally bulls can be hesitant to come to cow calls because they may anticipate another bull being there. I think once they hear you bugle they know where “the bull” is at and they’ll come in and take a look. I try to closely match the bull’s bugling when I do this. I don’t use this technique often though since cow calling is usually magic for me. If a bull is coming to my cow calling I never, ever throw in a bugle. If he likes what you are saying, why risk throwing in a bugle, glunking or growling and potentially setting him on edge?

Bulls can also respond to bugling during the pre-rut before they are really ready to join up with cows. This can occur any time from the last week in August to around the middle of September. At this time, bugling appeals to their curiosity and their desire to establish the pecking order before the hard rut. If a bull is bugling at me in this situation, I again try to match and imitate his bugles. For some reason, this seems to really agitate them.

I’ve also had herd bulls come in mad when I’ve accidentally bumped one of their cows and then started bugling and getting aggressive. If you encounter an aggressive bull, trust me, he doesn’t like another bull moving in on him and trying to cut away his cows! Remember, you’ve pretty much got to be in the middle of the herd in order for this to work.

If I had to give you a hard and fast rule for calling the most bulls in it would be this. Always try cow calling first. If the bull likes it and responds, stick with it. If cow calling doesn’t strike a bull’s fancy then you can try something different.

Everyone’s got their favorite calls, but the way I’ve narrowed down what I use is by comparing the tone of the call to the real thing. If a call doesn’t sound elk-like it won’t consistently call elk in. My favorites are these for this reason alone – they sound like an elk. I prefer the Primos Hyper Lip Single as my open reed call of choice. For my mouth diaphragms, I prefer the Primos Sound Plates. I like the Ivory, Imperial and Hyper Plates. Each one has a different tone and this can be an advantage to you in the elk woods. For a bugle, I have carried the Primos Terminator for years. I love the blue silicone reeds on the call because they are durable and sound so “elky.” I also like the grunt tube on the call for bugling with a mouth call. The resonator end really gives the call a more three dimensional sound. You may have other preferences on calls and that’s fine. These are just the tried and true calls that have proven themselves over many years for me.

There are also many other tactics that time and space don’t allow me to cover in this article that can work during an archery hunt such as stalking in silently on bugling bulls, sitting water and wallows, and spot and stalk. But, since calling is my passion I devoted this article to that. I wish all of you fun, success and safety on your elk hunts this year. I hope to read about your hunts and see your pictures in upcoming issues of Hunting Illustrated!