iccyman001
New member
- Apr 30, 2014
- 5,489
Is it common for elk to bugle mid day during early season?
Lets say for mid day purposes I am saying 9-4pm.
Lets say for mid day purposes I am saying 9-4pm.
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Do elk bugle mid day? (Early season)
- Thread starter iccyman001
- Start date
Obviously I only have one season under my belt due to the trip to the sandbox last season but the year before I didn\'t have any luck with the elk bugling mid day. After around 730-8am they shutup until right at last light. But that was a different unit then what you were in. I\'m still a elk newbie in my book.
iccyman001
New member
- Apr 30, 2014
- 5,489
\"vthokee\" said:Obviously I only have one season under my belt due to the trip to the sandbox last season but the year before I didn\'t have any luck with the elk bugling mid day. After around 730-8am they shutup until right at last light. But that was a different unit then what you were in. I\'m still a elk newbie in my book.
This was my experience last year too, but obviously it was only ONE day lol
This is not an OTC unit, so that is good to know, Brad!
Lou, Ive been tracking the wind in my area and I have places that I can hunt mid day and places that I definitely can\'t.
It\'s good to know they are calling mid day though.
Francis, it\'s funny how smart animals are like that.
There is a huge buck out where I hunt that lives RIGHT over the property line.
The only time I have a chance at him is when he comes on to public land to chase does.
x2......\"Swede\" said:It has been my observation that they don\'t bugle a lot midday in the early season, and when they do it is a short one or two note sound.
JohnFitzgerald
New member
- Mar 31, 2014
- 1,108
\"Swede\" said:It has been my observation that they don\'t bugle a lot midday in the early season, and when they do it is a short one or two note sound.
x3
There\'s really no rhyme or reason to how and when elk bugle during the rut. Even undisturbed elk will totally clam-up sometimes during peak rut, only bugling a little in the early a.m. enroute to bedding and shortly after they get there to let the others know where they are. Sometimes at night, even during full moon, it\'s totally silent even when we\'re inn the middle of elk. Other times they\'re going nuts.
But if you have a place where you have consistent one-hour blocks of steady wind during mid-day, you should be able to call them in on the downwind side of bedding areas, setting the shooter up on the downwind side of trails. Bulls will almost always follow defined trails to investigate other elk moving into their bedding area. After my partner and I had bagged out we would go into the ends of bedding areas and if the wind gave us a break (rarely) we called bulls in and photographed them all the time. they would answer benign locator bugles, then come in to herd talk. Sometimes took 30-40 minutes to get them in, which is why you need an hour of steady wind to risk it.
Otherwise, adios elk, head to a new area to hunt.
But if you have a place where you have consistent one-hour blocks of steady wind during mid-day, you should be able to call them in on the downwind side of bedding areas, setting the shooter up on the downwind side of trails. Bulls will almost always follow defined trails to investigate other elk moving into their bedding area. After my partner and I had bagged out we would go into the ends of bedding areas and if the wind gave us a break (rarely) we called bulls in and photographed them all the time. they would answer benign locator bugles, then come in to herd talk. Sometimes took 30-40 minutes to get them in, which is why you need an hour of steady wind to risk it.
Otherwise, adios elk, head to a new area to hunt.
StartMyHunt
New member
- May 3, 2015
- 84
Interesting topic. Since I have only hunted the 2nd - 4th rifle seasons (although I am definitely leaning towards bow season, but a little on the reasons later), I have heard elk bugle while I have been hunting only twice. I have heard plenty of cow calls, chuckles and lots of grunts, but only two instances of bugling.
The first bugle I heard was only one, and it was a long way away. The second happened when we were hunting third rifle season. I left our base camp to go check out an area that I was familiar with to see if anything had crossed during the recent snowfall. As soon as I stepped out of my truck at about 5:30 AM, there were two bulls about a 1/4 mile away yelling at each other on the ridge that I had planned on hunting that day. There is no other sound in the world that compares to that for me.
Anyway, I started walking to the ridge where I knew they were located. I was less than 200 yards from my truck when a third bull let out a bugle right in front of me in an area that had been logged pretty heavily about ten years prior with a lot of nasty stumps and debris left behind to maneuver through. Then all hell broke loose.
Elk were running everywhere in front of me and the bugling and cow chirps kept on coming from all directions. I had the good fortune of being in the middle of a herd that was at least 100 animals scattered over about a 1/2 square mile area. After about an hour of this, I finally lined up with a cow that I could good get a clean shot at through the timber and she ended up back at our camp. After I shot the cow, all the elk chatter stopped. One of the best hunting experiences I have had in my life and one that is not likely to be repeated that late in the season.
The first bugle I heard was only one, and it was a long way away. The second happened when we were hunting third rifle season. I left our base camp to go check out an area that I was familiar with to see if anything had crossed during the recent snowfall. As soon as I stepped out of my truck at about 5:30 AM, there were two bulls about a 1/4 mile away yelling at each other on the ridge that I had planned on hunting that day. There is no other sound in the world that compares to that for me.
Anyway, I started walking to the ridge where I knew they were located. I was less than 200 yards from my truck when a third bull let out a bugle right in front of me in an area that had been logged pretty heavily about ten years prior with a lot of nasty stumps and debris left behind to maneuver through. Then all hell broke loose.
Elk were running everywhere in front of me and the bugling and cow chirps kept on coming from all directions. I had the good fortune of being in the middle of a herd that was at least 100 animals scattered over about a 1/2 square mile area. After about an hour of this, I finally lined up with a cow that I could good get a clean shot at through the timber and she ended up back at our camp. After I shot the cow, all the elk chatter stopped. One of the best hunting experiences I have had in my life and one that is not likely to be repeated that late in the season.
