Call Wise Bulls

25contender

Veteran member
Mar 20, 2013
1,638
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I wish more people would read this. Everyone watches TV Elk hunts and the show bugling every few minutes. When I was in Montana in Mid Sept I can't tell you how many Elk I watched move either to another drainage or into Idaho. More than a few hunters were lighting up a bugle every 50yds. It was the worst season I have seen for bad calling. Drove us nuts as we were trying to pattern 3 nice bulls. If it wouldn't have snowed so bad we would have scored atleast one of them as we finally figured out where he was escaping along a pinch point along the bottom of a rockslide.
 

mallardsx2

Veteran member
Jul 8, 2015
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I cant speak for where most of you hunt but where I hunt it is thick timber with an extreme amount of blow-downs.

Binoculars and spotting and stalking are literally a waste of time.

There is no patterning elk where I have hunted. The hunting pressure is and has been extreme and has the elk constantly changing patterns and areas.

In a perfect world where spot and stalk is an option I would agree that calling should be limited but your only chance in the OTC areas I have hunted is to locate the bulls by either cow calling or bugleing and hope they respond.

Definitely a double edged sword and a hard decision to make on when to call and when not to call.

The elk get extremely wise to calling by the second week in the areas I have hunted.

Your not going to hunt a "lead cow" in the areas I have hunted. You'd be lucky to even see a cow there.
 

25contender

Veteran member
Mar 20, 2013
1,638
90
I guess my issue is they know they are pushing them. They think they can catch up with them. Not going to happen. Calling is fine but every 5 to ten minutes is ridiculous. If you hear a bull try to move in closer and see what you are dealing with don't call him into the next county. Not one of the people we heard had any consideration for the wind, thermals, or the time of day. They were just going gun ho with the calling. Stand back and take a look at the big picture. My thinking might be wrong but why drive him out of his bedding or core area when you can hunt him in the afternoon and have a better chance at him. I don't get it.
 

mallardsx2

Veteran member
Jul 8, 2015
3,811
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I always said the best elk hunters are people who know how to play the wind and know how to kill turkeys. If you can do both of those successfully then elk hunting is easy. lol
 

Shane13

Active Member
Aug 8, 2012
315
221
Hawley, Texas
"
If the full moon rises early in the morning and sets early in the night, then it won’t matter; it’s going to be a dark night anyway.​

Moon phases are not caused by the shadow of the Earth falling on the moon. Instead, the moon orbits the Earth and is illuminated directly by the sun and how much it is illuminated depends on the position of the moon in its orbit. And finally, your position on earth determines what phase of the moon is visible to you. "​

Huh?? Full moon never rises early in the morning. Full moon rise is always near sunset, always at its peak in the middle of the night, and always sets in the west near sunrise when the sun is rising in the east. It's impossible to have a moon rising in the east early in the morning, near sunrise and in close proximity to the sun in the sky, and have the moon fully illuminated at the same time. That's when the new moon rises. The moon is between earth and the sun then, and all we see is the dark side of the moon from earth.

And your position on earth doesn't determine moon phase. Everybody on earth sees the same moon phase. As stated in the previous sentence, the moon's position in its orbit around the earth determines how much of the illuminated half of the moon we see from earth (moon phase).​

Other than that, it's a great article with excellent information.