The Staredown

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Deertick

New member
Mar 2, 2014
1,763
My greatest \"fear\" in elk hunting has changed from \"I can\'t find elk\" to \"I\'ve found an elk, he\'s well in-range, and I can\'t draw\".

If I come home without an elk this year, this will most-likely be the cause.

So ... Put here your tips on how to deal with it, including:

-- Proper Setup. I\'m sure proper set-up could prevent a lot of this sort of thing.

-- Proper placing of audible decoys (callers) and visual decoys (decoys). Could this be the secret to success?

-- Proper timing on drawing the bow. Can\'t draw too early, can\'t draw too late! (Sounds a lot like \"You\'re screwed either way.\")

-- Nervous grunt after he bolts. I\'m sure many have made this work. How\'d you do it?
 
Very interested in this too as I\'ve been in this situation three times with bulls and one with a cow. One of the bulls came in to a partner calling and I think I know why I failed. Was by myself with the others.
 
What?
No one wants to tell their stories?

Who hasn\'t had this happen?

Setup:
I like to have cover in from and cover behind. Or or two shooting lanes. 30 yds max distance.
Will I see them before then? Proabably. I look for legs movement as they come in 50-60yds out.
A soon as I see movement I won\'t call. Even if they stop. The only time I will call is if they turn to leave.

Decoys:
Ehh... Not the magic wand for sure.
Do they work? Yes.
All the time? No.
If the cover is thick don\'t use one. If its fairly open, try it.


Audible Callers:
Put them out in front (if one) just so you can\'t see them. If three, split 2 out front. Just so you can\'t see them.
With 3 callers, the back one is the most aggressive caller. The others contribute minimally.
Just to keep the sequence going.

When to draw:
Well, this may take some practice. And I hate to say it but the best time to practice is \'show time\'.
So you see an elk coming to your calling. It may drift in, going to the left, then going to the right.
You gotta be ready to pivot. Look ahead of where the elk is headed. You will see openings.
Will you have the to draw when it steps into the opening? No.
You betterr draw fast and shoot faster.
This isn\'t the time to draw and hold.
I hate holding at full draw. I will let down and draw again.

For you WT hunters, you can get away with ALOT more movement with elk than you can with deer.
Forget about stealth. Draw your damn bow, settle the pin and shoot.

Practice shooting your bow in 3 seconds. Anyone can draw and hold and shoot.
Not everyone can draw and shoot.
 
brad. I have been inside of 40 yards twice, both bulls, that I have let them know that I was there. both times it was too thick to see them and they left going directly away from me. I had shooting lanes if they went left or right.....
 
\"cnelk\" said:
Practice shooting your bow in 3 seconds. Anyone can draw and hold and shoot.
Not everyone can draw and shoot.
Click to expand...

This is why anchor points can be good. You can close your eyes, draw and need to hit the same point every time.
The quicker you hit that peep, the quicker you can shoot. So if you\'re not using anchor points, then you\'re spending more time in the peep looking for the pins.


I\'ve done a LOT of research on draw times. Last year I was set because I was in a tree, but had I been on the ground I would have been fine.
My research is silly, but based off youtube videos.

I watch the hunters and the elk. I make a mental note of when they draw and times it takes the elk to get in.
A lot more often, the hunter is drawing before the elk is close. That way they are already drawn when they hit the lane.
Practice your long holds.

I do all the time. Draw, pause 30 seconds, shoot.
Then do like Brad said; Draw, shoot, draw, shoot.

When I am walking around or set up in a blind or stand, I look for my draw points.
Whether it\'s a bush, tree, or something, it\'s my quick second or two that I can draw and be ready.



I don\'t know enough about drawing on elk verse whitetail, but one thing that I can recommend to ANYONE and EVERYONE.
Draw on anything that comes in.

Lets say you\'re out on a cold call set up. It\'s been about 40 minutes and a spike comes in....
Well... use the situation as training.


Treat him as if you were going to shoot him. Pick a time, draw on him, and then you can let him go.
If you don\'t practice your draw on him, then it\'s a wasted encounter.


my 1 cent lol I don\'t have enough to give 2
 
What\'s the likelihood that a bull, mildly startled by something that \"isn\'t right\" -- like a camouflaged hunter moving while drawing a bow -- will stop with a \"grunt\" vocalization, perhaps presenting a shot opportunity?
 
\"Deertick\" said:
What\'s the likelihood that a bull, mildly startled by something that \"isn\'t right\" -- like a camouflaged hunter moving while drawing a bow -- will stop with a \"grunt\" vocalization, perhaps presenting a shot opportunity?
Click to expand...

John,

Are we saying that it was middy startled, ran, and will it stop for a grunt?

Or It saw movement, is walking still (extra cautious and on alert); now will it stop for a grunt?
 
I have had better luck stopping or calling a bull back with the same calls that brought him in.
 
\"Audible Callers:
Put them out in front (if one) just so you can\'t see them. If three, split 2 out front. Just so you can\'t see them.
With 3 callers, the back one is the most aggressive caller. The others contribute minimally.
Just to keep the sequence going.\"

Brad, I\'m not sure I understand this one? Are you saying that you\'d like the callers in front of the shooter??
 
I am sure Brad meant for the shooter to be out front. Sometimes the caller never sees the elk before it is dead, or he/she is hidden behind something and visibility is obscured.
Timing the draw is critical to success. You have to watch what the animal is doing enough to anticipate his next step. It is easy when they are moving at a steady pace, but sometime they come in very cautiously. They stop and wait, then take one or more steps and wait again. The bull that is the most cautious, is the one that will bust out of the area, due to the slightest mistake on the hunter\'s part. Draw when the bull won\'t see you. If you have a good body shot with the head behind something, great. Otherwise you will need to be ready and anticipate your shot opportunity.
 
John, I still struggle with all these issues, there doesn\'t seem to be a \"magic bullet fix\" for any of them.

As far as setup goes, all you can do is try to anticipate the direction the bull will come in. Sometimes you\'re right, and sometimes you are wrong.
I always keep wind direction in mind, and evaluating where to go from a vocal bull\'s position, try to anticipate him circling to try to get my wind. But, If there is a good trail in that direction, in my experience, he will use it. So I always try to get off the trail on the leeward side in that case.

As Brad said...decoys are not always the game changer. In the right situation, used intelligently, they can be a great asset though. I think the placement of the shooter in relation to the caller and/or decoy is most important...but that gets you back to the setup issue again. No guarantees.

Personally, I can draw very quickly, as in when a bulls head is behind a tree for just an instant. I\'ve had a little luck drawing slowly in a frontal shot situation at close range when a bull is looking \"through\" me at the caller or decoy. Once I\'m drawn I\'m just looking at that spot...and when the vitals are properly aligned, I release. I usually do not draw until a bull is very close (the majority of my kills have been under 20 yards).

If I stop a bull with a nervous grunt (bark), it means the vitals are right where I want them. I do it with my voice (sucking air in quickly). I would already be at full draw, and the release is quick after the bark.
 
\"rudyc\" said:
Brad, I\'m not sure I understand this one? Are you saying that you\'d like the callers in front of the shooter??
Click to expand...

Rudy,
Very seldom do we just set up to have a silent shooter.
We all call, make it sound like an \'Elk Paata\' :)

Like we did last Labor Day..



[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=t7c56LRv9A4[/youtube]
 
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