Elk Hunting Forum - Temperatures and Calling

[Swede]

What is your experience and observation about the correlation between air temps and your ability to get elk to answer a call? Do they respond to one call better than another when the temperatures are in the 70s or 80s? Are bulls more likely to come in quietly to a call if the temps are high? Should cnelk stay in his tree when the temps are in the 70s or higher? How many think he should just stay there all the time, regardless of the weather?

 

[bowhunter]

I see more game on the cooler days, but they have to be somewhere we just have to find them.

I don\'t mean to hyjack your post Swede but I just thought of how hunting treestands for deer on hot days. I can\'t help but break a sweat on my way to the stand and know I must stink yet I have deer close and downwind. I also notice cool cloudy damp days I can be as scent free as I can and deer wind me even before they get in range. I can only relate this to thermals carrying my scent up un sunny days and holding my scent down and spreading it on cool days.

 

[cnelk]

Cold crisp frosty mornings have treated me well for calling in elk.
Cloudy and cool temps seem to set off bulls to bugling more.

 

[Msd]

I certainly prefer a cold morning or evening and find that animals tend to be more active in general on those days, that being said, on each of the last 3 years the days that had the best calling were all over +30 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit). By best calling days I mean those rare days that occur only a couple of times per season where the woods turn into a full on bugling frenzy. Its not the funnest working on a downed elk at those temps, but if you aren\'t willing to elk hunt in those temps then you won\'t be doing much hunting in southern Alberta during the entire month of September.

 

[otcWill]

Any cold front seems to set em off a bit, especially when accompanied by a storm. IMO these \"spikes\" in activity are more related to weather events than they are temperature. Nothing seems to beat the calm before or after the storm; or a break in the weather after some serious precip.

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

I\'ve noticed that cold night/mornings set them off as well.

Who has a theory or knows why?

No cloud cover usually means colder nights and more moon. During the cold do they need to feed and water more to maintain their energy level?

 

[elkmtngear]

I\'ve noticed that cold night/mornings set them off as well.

Who has a theory or knows why?

No cloud cover usually means colder nights and more moon. During the cold do they need to feed and water more to maintain their energy level?

I always figured the cold snaps help to set off the urgency to breed (winter is coming...gotta get this done)!

I could be way off base. :think:

 

[ORelksniper]

After seeing how crazy my dogs react to a cold morning I\'m starting to believe that elk simply feel better and much more active, and vocal, on a cold morning.

Just my theory and nothing more.