Bark before bugle

W

WW

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Mar 3, 2014
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At the end of this short video is a classic example of a bark to a bugle sequence. It\'s a great call to put in your bag of tricks. And it will often get them cranked up when nothing else is working.
 
Nice vid WW!

What does everyone think the meaning of the bark before the bugle sequence means?

For me, the bull is nervous about the encounter because he just ran into the hunter. But the instinct to breed is outweighing the instinct to survive.

If the bark means \"Alert - possible danger\", why would the bull use is in front of a bugle?

FYI, I\'ve had bulls do this exact thing when I got close to challenge them. ;)
 
I totally agree with John. They bark when they\'re nervous. That\'s all. I\'ve heard a group start barking only to calm down shortly after and go back to bugling/mewing and chewing grass.
 
I like that otcWill! They are nervous about something. That really sums it up.

It could be another bull close by, they heard something, or they\'ve seen movement. But like we discussed before, it can be give once or many times depending on how nervous they are. But it\'s means the same thing. Can intensity all be defined by repetition?

Simplest answer is correct, right? :upthumb:
 
While out working in the forest, I have spooked elk on occasion. Normally I hear one bark and the sound of hooves. I see elk butts as they run off. I have had bulls bark and pace around nervously before leaving. So one bark means they are nervous while several means run. As the Aflac goat says, \"naa, naa, naa\".
 
Sorry to start digging through old threads, but I got here late and stumbled on this one and thought I would throw in my two cents. I have never heard a bark to bugle that close together, but I have heard barks a lot. I totally agree that barks can be a nervous or warning call, but in probably half the scenarios I have heard them I\'m pretty sure it is just a \"where are you?\" I have had bulls come in close, see something isn\'t right, bark five or more times at my area, back out and then get called right back in. If you get barked at and the elk doesn\'t run, he just slowly walks out and he walks out of view, make a lot of \"herd noise\" stomp around, roll some big rocks, rake a tree. Sometimes they won\'t come back in, sometimes they slowly come back in, sometimes they run in.

A bark is one of my favorite calls. Going back to elknut\'s advice, if you are having a back and forth with an aggressive bull and you get close and beat him to this call, it can be extremely effective. Last year a 320ish bull and I had a back and forth for about two hours. It was all challenge bugles, he was worked up but was slow to come closer. We finally were in a swamp at the bottom of a drainage and about 100 yards apart. I got into shooting position and blew a bark and he came in at a trot to about 10 yards. I didn\'t get a shot on that bull thanks to some heavy cover, but that has not been an uncommon event.
 
This is a great tactic,that I use as well. A bark before a bugle is asking who or what are you??? Show yourself!
[attachment=0]<!-- ia0 -->Calling Debs Bull Elk Trimmed Audio Clip 2013.m4a<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment]
 

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The message I read from the sequence is general and simple. He was \"Nervous about something\" followed by \"Announcement of the geographical location of the dominant bull\"(well dominant in his own mind). The bark was to hurry her up to respond to the bugle. Nervousness denotes a little urgency.

And maybe it\'s possible the hunter gave a bugle when the camera was off? :wtf:

My 2-cents and worth nothing more!
 
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@ 35 minute mark, corey gives his explanation on a bull bark. He also compares a cow to bull bark and how they sound a bit different. I found it interesting how he separates the two sounds.

This is something I am adding to my calling for this year if the situation shows itself.
 
\"BTL\" said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0pz5PIf6dU

@ 35 minute mark, corey gives his explanation on a bull bark. He also compares a cow to bull bark and how they sound a bit different. I found it interesting how he separates the two sounds.

This is something I am adding to my calling for this year if the situation shows itself.
Click to expand...

Good video! Corey is da man.

The first question I have is can a hunter really tell the difference between a cow and a bull bark out in the woods?

[youtube]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FicHJ-T3kPg[/youtube]

If a cow barks, why do they sometimes stand around and look for the other elk(ie just like what Corey says bulls do)?

[youtube]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kyoQte5Itd4[/youtube]

Is it the high pitched bark that determines that it\'s a bull or the chuckles that follow? :crazy: So does the chuckles determine what the bulls trying to express or the bark itself.

Just questions that came to mind as I listened.
 
\"If a cow barks, why do they sometimes stand around and look for the other elk(ie just like what Corey says bulls do)? \" John Said...

This brought up an old question I had been asking on the elknut forum a couple years ago. It was you and another that I was talking to about it (don\'t remember the other). Not sure if you remember, but the situation was an elk barking continuously, maybe a minute in between, until I saw a cow come out of the timber and run to the calls. Shortly after the cow ran from a timber patch a half mile away, a small bull squeal came from the area the cow ran from. It in fact was a bull, because I crept in at that location and shot him (I only add that to confirm it was an elk responding to the cow leaving him or the small bull responding to the bark). I cant confirm other hunters were around but I believe there wasn\'t any. The elk barking wouldn\'t have smelled me in the early morning thermals where it was at. Later I hiked down to the area and found a few wallows on the mountain side. Still confused by what happened, but from what I can tell a cow responded to the calls and went running to the bark......certainly interesting way to call to other elk if it was the case.

I know there is no way I would be able to tell the difference between the two unless other information was available to me before the bark. Seeing an elk, hearing cow talk or hearing bugles, ect...

Sorry for the side track from the original post. Like WW posted about cranking them up and how Tyoy posted his clip of working a bull, I have been practicing this call and ready to use it. Thanks for posting those up.
 

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JF\'s 1st Q: The first question I have is can a hunter really tell the difference between a cow and a bull bark out in the woods?

I have heard both a bull and cow bark in the woods. The bull\'s bark was definitely a higher pitch than the cow\'s bark which surprised me. In the heat of the moment, I may not be able to tell difference.

JF\'s 2nd Q: If a cow barks, why do they sometimes stand around and look for the other elk(ie just like what Corey says bulls do)?

I always thought of a single bark as a \"Show/Identify yourself\" call. Therefore, it makes sense the cow or bull stays there waiting for the thing they heard to show themselves or identify themselves. Elk are herd animals, so they want to be with other elk most of the time. They are also curious animals.

I do not have enough field experiences to back up my conclusions.
 
I am a skeptic about some of this. I have heard cows and bulls bark, and I can\'t be sure which it was unless I see the head of the animal. Sometimes they stand around a little while and sometimes they immediately run off after one bark. Sometimes I think the elk is just getting nervous when it barks, and sometimes they are panicked enough to leave immediately.
 
\"BTL\" said:
\"If a cow barks, why do they sometimes stand around and look for the other elk(ie just like what Corey says bulls do)? \" John Said...

This brought up an old question I had been asking on the elknut forum a couple years ago. It was you and another that I was talking to about it (don\'t remember the other). Not sure if you remember, but the situation was an elk barking continuously, maybe a minute in between, until I saw a cow come out of the timber and run to the calls. Shortly after the cow ran from a timber patch a half mile away, a small bull squeal came from the area the cow ran from. It in fact was a bull, because I crept in at that location and shot him (I only add that to confirm it was an elk responding to the cow leaving him or the small bull responding to the bark). I cant confirm other hunters were around but I believe there wasn\'t any. The elk barking wouldn\'t have smelled me in the early morning thermals where it was at. Later I hiked down to the area and found a few wallows on the mountain side. Still confused by what happened, but from what I can tell a cow responded to the calls and went running to the bark......certainly interesting way to call to other elk if it was the case.

I know there is no way I would be able to tell the difference between the two unless other information was available to me before the bark. Seeing an elk, hearing cow talk or hearing bugles, ect...

Sorry for the side track from the original post. Like WW posted about cranking them up and how Tyoy posted his clip of working a bull, I have been practicing this call and ready to use it. Thanks for posting those up.
Click to expand...

I actually remember that thread because it really puzzled me and I think there\'s to many unknowns to really understand. What do you think happened BTL?

I\'ve heard plenty of barks out hunting. Some I can tell cow/bull but others are just questionable.

Interesting, Corey says the cow/bull barks sound a little different but he really doesn\'t say the have different meanings. He says the hunter should hunt them differently but that\'s about all. Did other pick up the same message?
 
\"BTL\" said:
I know there is no way I would be able to tell the difference between the two unless other information was available to me before the bark. Seeing an elk, hearing cow talk or hearing bugles, ect...
Click to expand...

I agree with BTL and J.F. on this. Interpreting elk barks reminds me of Elknut\'s nonsense. No offense to anyone intended here. I recognize Paul is a knowledgeable caller, but he pushes this elk sounds stuff too far. He extrapolates on what is known and gets into the weird too often.
Different elk make different sounds. The terrain, vegetation, distance and other things influence sounds. I have heard elk bark numerous times, and have concluded nothing about the gender or the meaning based on just the sound. Sometimes they run off immediately, sometimes they don\'t. Sometimes they just mosey off a little ways. Sometimes it is a stampede. I can\'t tell the difference between a \"popping grunt\" or a alarm bark or whatever.
Of coarse I have to admit, I can\'t tell the gender of a barking dog based on the sound either, and I may not know its meaning. :D
 
\"Swede\" said:
Of coarse I have to admit, I can\'t tell the gender of a barking dog based on the sound either, and I may not know its meaning. :D
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Fortunately, science has sorted all that out:

FarsideDogTranslator_zps638b4b68.jpg
 
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