How close is a call in?

[WW]

I have often wondered how close an elk has to come before the rest of you guys consider it to be a legitimate call in. I have known so called elk experts that have shot elk at distances of 70 yards and claimed they call it in.

So here are my views. For me, anything that is called in to a distance of point blank out to 20 yards is a definite call in. 30 yards would still be an extreme distance call in. 40 is pretty dang iffy in my book. And anything past 40 is what I personally would have to call a hang up, not a call in.

I\'m just curious what the rest of you think.

 

[flystrait]

I agree with you WW anything under 35-40 yards I consider a call in. Going a step further for me is anything that has a clean shot opportunity is that, only a opportunity. Ones we don\'t get shots are just that \"call ins\"

 

[Swede]

I have never really quantified it before, but I agree with Bill on this. Just because an elk reacts to my calling and I see it, does not mean I have a legitimate \"call in\".

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

+1 for WW

And it\'s also considered a call in if the elk is taken at 45+ yards.

 

[OldMan]

If you move the elk from where it was towards your direction with a call. How can it not be a call in?

 

[flystrait]

If you move the elk from where it was towards your direction with a call. How can it not be a call in?

That\'s the accent Chinese secret! There is a lot more to calling in elk then a lot of people think?

 

[cnelk]

I think the term we are looking for is \'commit\'
Even tho we may call in an elk, there is a difference if the elk commits or not.
Sure they come into our view, but if they dont commit, its just an encounter.

If they commit, THAT is a call in.

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

What if the shooter is 40+ yards from the caller? Bulls can come close to get a visual on the source but don\'t really commit. And the shooter arrows the bull. Call in?

 

[Swede]

John: I would not refer to that scenario as a \"call in\". The reason you had the shooter well out front is because you could not call the elk in, or you did not want the elk coming in seeing or smelling you.

 

[cohunter14]

I am not a calling guy, but I would think that getting an elk anywhere close enough to put an arrow through him would constitute a call in...who cares if that is at 5 yards or 40? It seems to me that a lot of times elk get hung up at 40 yards or don\'t seem to commit isn\'t a lack of trust on their part, it is because they got to the spot where they thought the calls were coming from and are not seeing an elk. I would venture a guess that not all elk have perfect hearing, just like humans. So if they come in to a call and stop 40 yards out, where they thought the call came from, I don\'t know if I would always consider that a \'hung up\' elk. You got them to commit and come in from wherever they were initially...isn\'t that a call in? Either way, if an elk comes in because of your calling and you are able to put an arrow through him, I wouldn\'t get too hung up on the details - you have an elk down, which is the goal in the end

 

[OldMan]

So, if one guy can shoot to 60yds, and calls an elk in that close, and shoots it. That\'s a call in. If another hunter calls in an elk to 40yds, but his range is only 30yds. That\'s not a call in even though he called it in closer?

Is it only a call in if you call it into your range?

 

[elkmtngear]

I think it\'s situational.

My longest shot was 45 yds. It was a last evening, last chance hunt. We were cold calling and watching a South Face, had a bull bugle 150 yds up the canyon, hit him back with an estrus call, and a second year cow came running in full steam. Stopped broadside on the open face at 45 yds. There was no available cover in between us, so I took the shot opportunity and fortunately hit my mark.

Would that be a \"hang up\"? \'Cause we sure as heck called her in! :eh:

 

[Swede]

it isn\'t a lack of trust on their part, it is because they got to the spot where they thought the calls were coming from and are not seeing an elk. I would venture a guess that not all elk have perfect hearing, just like humans.

I have to admit that I have a different take on this matter. Elk hang up due to a lack of trust. They stop behind cover where they can see where there should be an elk. They don\'t commit until they see what made the call. If they don\'t see the elk they leave. One common trait they have is to walk back and forth a couple times looking. When that proves unfruitful they turn and go back. They don\'t commit without verifying what made the sound. Another point is do not ever believe an elk does not have incredible hearing. They can zero in on where you are in the timber from hundreds of yards away. They do not just know the vicinity of the area where the call came from. They can pin point it exactly.

 

[elkmtngear]

I have to admit that I have a different take on this matter. Elk hang up due to a lack of trust. They stop behind cover where they can see where there should be an elk. They don\'t commit until they see what made the call. If they don\'t see the elk they leave. One common trait they have is to walk back and forth a couple times looking. When that proves unfruitful they turn and go back. They don\'t commit without verifying what made the sound. Another point is do not ever believe an elk does not have incredible hearing. They can zero in on where you are in the timber from hundreds of yards away. They do not just know the vicinity of the area where the call came from. They can pin point it exactly.

Spot on, Swede.

This is the beauty of having a decoy...helps eliminate the trust issue!

 

[Msd]

John: I would not refer to that scenario as a \"call in\". The reason you had the shooter well out front is because you could not call the elk in, or you did not want the elk coming in seeing or smelling you.

I\'m on the opposite side of the fence here; I definitely consider it a call in. The whole point of the team concept is to have the caller be able to draw the elk into a pre-determined position for the shooter. The caller will often have to manipulate his own positioning in order to influence the travel pattern of the incoming bull. Having that sort of control over the situation and bringing him into the shooter\'s lane is a call in, in my books. Also, just because the shooter shot the bull before it made it to the caller doesn\'t mean that the elk wouldn\'t have carried on all the way to the caller had he not been shot. It\'s all so subjective. Like somebody said above, If I call an elk into 50 yards from 150 yards out and shoot him, I don\'t see how that can\'t be considered a call in - my calling influenced the bull to change his position by over 100 yards and placed him into a position for me to make a fatal shot. Likewise, if a longbow hunter calls a bull in to 30 and still has no opportunity to shoot due to his effective range, is it still considered a call in? Doesn\'t call in imply that you called a bull into an effective killing range? Think about a rifle hunting scenario - a bull is bugling in some heavy timber 400 yards across the canyon. The hunter bugles at the bull and calls him out of the heavy timber to the edge of the opening and shoots him at 300 yards. Is that a call in? His calling influenced the bull enough to bring him into an effective shooting position - what else can you really call it? Just some different perspectives.

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

Pete does make a good point. Maybe a \"call in\" should be defined as calling an elk from outside your effect range to inside your effective range? Maybe?

 

[Swede]

I\'m on the opposite side of the fence here;

Outrageous! LOL
J.F. brings out a good point for a change. We use terms and expressions that have no real meaning to anyone other than the writer. I like John\'s definition, but I doubt it becomes a standard for wide spread usage. \"Call in\" will probably always be in the same order as terms like \"close\".

 

[cohunter14]

it isn\'t a lack of trust on their part, it is because they got to the spot where they thought the calls were coming from and are not seeing an elk. I would venture a guess that not all elk have perfect hearing, just like humans.

I have to admit that I have a different take on this matter. Elk hang up due to a lack of trust. They stop behind cover where they can see where there should be an elk. They don\'t commit until they see what made the call. If they don\'t see the elk they leave. One common trait they have is to walk back and forth a couple times looking. When that proves unfruitful they turn and go back. They don\'t commit without verifying what made the sound. Another point is do not ever believe an elk does not have incredible hearing. They can zero in on where you are in the timber from hundreds of yards away. They do not just know the vicinity of the area where the call came from. They can pin point it exactly.

Swede, that is exactly what I am saying. If they come up and stop at a point because they think they should see an elk there, can you really call them in farther than that? Where the elk stops would be where they think they should be able to see the elk. That, essentially, is based on how much cover you are in. Some areas, an elk might come to 10 yards and stop and in others, they might come to 40 yards and stop. But if an elk comes in to that point and doesn\'t see an elk, can you really lure them closer at that point? I guess I am confused on how you could possibly call them in closer than that \'hang up\' point.

 

[elkmtngear]

Some areas, an elk might come to 10 yards and stop and in others, they might come to 40 yards and stop. But if an elk comes in to that point and doesn\'t see an elk, can you really lure them closer at that point? I guess I am confused on how you could possibly call them in closer than that \'hang up\' point.

As I mentioned before...decoy!

I\'ve watched several bulls \"go on point\" when they see the decoy, and then visibly relax (a soft cow call helps if you have a caller behind it), and come at it in an arc to try to get to the downwind side of it.

Another tactic if team hunting, would be to have the caller sneak back away from the bull and call, in an effort to get the bull to close the gap to a shooter who is dug in out front.

If you are hunting solo...sometimes a decoy can hold a bulls attention long enough so you can crawl into bow range. I like to be as close as I can be, stab the decoy down, call, and immediately move ahead and to one side of the decoy. As Swede said, that bull will know exactly where the call came from...and just might \"hang up\' in range if you can get to a shootable position.

 

[cohunter14]

That makes good sense to me Jeff. But, the initial question was how close do they have to be to consider it a call in. So, without a decoy, does that change the distance then?