Only time I\'ve heard them do this is when there\'s obviously a cow in heat. Bull going absolutely crazy to herd up his cows as well as fend off satellites. I\'d guess it is simply the most excited/ferocious sound they\'ve got used when they are really pissed or horny. This is just my guess. You won\'t get too many opinions on this because most seasoned elk killers can\'t discriminate it from another bugle. It takes a lot of listening to elk to start to \"get it\". At least it took me quite a bit. DVDs with actual elk sounds (not just one or two real examples) are a great place to start for those who are scratching their heads on this one.
I do like this Quote from otcwill as I think it sums things up pretty well.
I need some Dragon software to type as much as I think I need to,to try to explain this?
Anyway I watched the video John posted from 1:55 to the 3 minute mark. That bull is warning other bulls but is also trying to court his cows about the 6th bugle he does at about the 2:47 you can barely hear another bull in the background and this bull escalates his Intensity of his bugle into a higher pitch.
That being said these bugles are not on the same intensity scale as the videos flystraight posted, IMO the bulls on the Hwy rail are doing more of a MAD Pissed off Scream, this is the highest most intense warning they give. Notice how The bull on the road goes after another bull that bugles to the left of the car doing the video. Now the Herd bull in the river is the definition of the Mad scream escalating into the I will kill you scream as he runs toward the interloper and notice he also adds barks in front of his bugle. This combo and the intensity of his bugle is Def Con 9. He means to kill the other bull if that is what it takes.
IMO there is a definate difference in intensity between the bugle of the bull in Johns video example and the bulls in flystraight video examples.
The bull in the river is what I always called the Dan Moore Scream. The guys here that know Dan have done this bugle as WW describes with an extremely high pitch and then adding their voice to get a growly scream.
Some of us have now learned how to sputter our lips also to get what is called a lip bawl. Which I just always called a growler bull.
I would also say that some bulls just have more of a growl in their bugle naturally than some others. That is just their natural voice is more hoarse or growly than some others.
For instance Marlon Brando\'s voice in the Godfather is more \"hoarse than say mine is.
Imo as I have always said, Tone, Intensity and Pitch is Always the key. no matter if we are talking about bugles or cow/calf talk. I will say that most of the time a growly sound is used in the elk language it is an escalation of the meaning they are trying to get across! Take a Cow sound and a So called Estrous Buzz. this is a cow call on the same scale as the bugle of the bull in the River Def con 9, but in this case it means come here NOW!!!
Also We need to change the name of the Estrous buzz to something different. Although it can be used during the rut,I have seen it several times when it is used by cows to call calves to them in the spring and summer. On every occasion the calves turned like a cutting horse and raced over to the cows. Here again it is about the Intensity and the Tone of the sound. Those Cows meant business and the calves knew it.
That is my take and opinion at least... Hope this helps---->>> Troy Glacier Country Hunting Calls
