Glunking - What does it mean?

Simply savoring what he just got a good whiff of. Any time you hear this sound, you can bet your boots it is a bull and he has cows with him.

By the way. that is the best video of a bull glunking I have ever heard. Thanks John!
 
\">>>---WW---->\" said:
Simply savoring what he just got a good whiff of. Any time you hear this sound, you can bet your boots it is a bull and he has cows with him.

By the way. that is the best video of a bull glunking I have ever heard. Thanks John!

Yep,What Bill said. Notice in this clip how this bull is glunking ,He smells the Estrous scent , Bugling to ward off the other bull,but at the same time to let the cows know he is the boss and he is also acting like a bird dog on the cows scent trail here.
 
\"Glacier Country\" said:
\">>>---WW---->\" said:
Simply savoring what he just got a good whiff of. Any time you hear this sound, you can bet your boots it is a bull and he has cows with him.

By the way. that is the best video of a bull glunking I have ever heard. Thanks John!

Yep,What Bill said. Notice in this clip how this bull is glunking ,He smells the Estrous scent , Bugling to ward off the other bull,but at the same time to let the cows know he is the boss and he is also acting like a bird dog on the cows scent trail here.

Is he bird dogging the scent trail or herding his cows? Looks to me like he\'s keeping the cows tight. Especially since another bull is nearby.
 
So is glunking a way to prove his dominance and/or expressing his dominance to his cows? Essentially, is he courting?

If a hunter was to glunk in close proximity of a herd bull, would this challenge the bulls right to the throne? I hear a lot of people talk about getting in close and bugle/screaming at bulls as a way to challenge, but what about soft gentle sounds up close? Maybe soft chuckles followed by soft glunking! Thoughts anyone?
 
John: I suppose anything is possible. And glunking may or may not cause another bull to react. Personally, I have tried it a few times and got no reaction what so ever.

So, let me give you my theory of what glunking really is or what it means. Hopefully others will chime in with their own thoughts here.

First of all, if you pay close attention to the video, The bull is glunking when he does a lip curl or doing what we call flemin (sp). This is when they smell a cow or her urine and try to analyze if she is in estrus. If you think of it as gulping instead of glunking, it helps to realize that he is trying to gulp in more scent.

Sorry, I\'m not good at explaining things very well. If you want to talk about it, PM me your phone # and I\'d be happy to discuss it with you.
 
Here\'s another video that supports your theory WW. Doesn\'t look like he\'s protraying any dominance.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtPAFB88Z2I[/youtube]
 
Has anyone seen a bull glunking that wasn't the herd bull and busy tending/herding cows?
 
A couple years ago in the Gila, I had a bull or bulls walk all around my camp at night. Couldn't sleep. Loved it. Prime rut in full swing. Anyways, a bull would come thru with a bugle or 3, with or without chuckles, but always glunking after the bugle. These bulls were coming thru camp solo. In this situation, it tells me these bulls were searching for hot cows trying to pull them his way. Of course, I've been wrong before....
 
I have been up close in herds many times with bulls glunking and it always reminded me of cowboys working a herd and making sounds to let the herd know where they were while pushing them. When I can hear a bull glunking, I KNOW I am on top of them...way in the red zone.
I've only heard it when I see bulls herding...working their cows, especially when other bulls are sounding off, they are constantly moving from spot to spot...chasing down strays and letting them know their location by glunking. It is really obvious in thicker cover when other bulls are in the area. It's different from a moving herd in thick cover, moving from or to food or bedding, where a bull bugles to let his and other cows know they are on the move and the direction he is moving. Or he is just moving them out of town, so to speak.
The glunking happens when the herd is more stationary, for the lack of a better word,...eating, drinking or he is working cows in, or coming into estrus.
I have never used glunking to call in a bull, but I have used it many many times as one of those "elk" sounds that sell the scenario that I am portraying.
On of my techniques or setups in my bag of tricks for a bull that is hanging is when I am "putting on a show". The whole idea is not to challenge a bull directly but instead I am trying to portray a herd bull, with cows being challenged by a different bull with the whole deal getting hotter, closer and more aggressive between them.
Glunking, raking, grunts and cow calls sell the story.
 
I have yet heard a bull glunking while hunting.  Now I want to!  It?s definitely a good indicator for the pulse of the rut. 
 
I've heard that bulls use the glunking sound when rounding up their cows to get outta Dodge. WW's theory that they are gulping up as much scent as they can to determine if a cow is Hot is interesting. Could be true. Either way, I'd probably not use it as a "challenge" type of sound. But it couldn't hurt to try and report your findings!
 

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