You get barked at........

JohnFitzgerald

New member
Mar 31, 2014
1,108
First day of season, early morning, and you come across some elk.  Wind is in your face and you get a single bark from an unseen herd.  What do you do?

Callers?

Non-callers?
 
It is the first of the season, so the big bulls are not cowed up. Bachelor groups are likely still together. If I had good cover, I probably would stomp around a little and take up a good sized hard stick and beat the brush and stomp around a little more as I whack the brush. A good decoy could be an asset here if you could get it out without being busted. I think Jeff\'s Slip System would come in handy in this situation.
 
This happened to me 2 years ago. Exactly to the T
Never saw the elk, wind was good, just bad luck I guess.
We kept on our morning course but not an elk was seen or heard after that
 
I\'d do exactly what an elk would do if he heard a nervous bark. I\'d freeze in my tracks. Then I\'d give it a minute before doing a sweet, soft cow mew. Just remember the emotion you put into it is what counts. Make it soft and reassuring that everything is cool.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn\'t. But I\'ve had real good luck with it in the past. You are always better off if you can beat them to the punch and do your bark before they do. But in the senerio you mentioned, you had no idea anything was there until it barked at you.
 
I would stop and listen. A bark doesn\'t mean a bust. They are basically designed to get the herd\'s attention that something potentially dangerous is in the area. Obviously the intensity of the bark and whether or not they run is crucial to your reaction. Seeing as how it is the opener, they probably have not had a whole lot of pressure and you could probably stay still and wait for them to calm back down. From here you have to be super careful since they are already alert. Every situation is different, but options for calling for me could be barking back or chuckling.
 
I drop down, put on my cow elk hat, show myself and ask the cow (or bull) what the heck they\'re barking at. I look around behind me, converse with them some more and slowly work my way out of sight, usually by feeding into a low spot or over a crest.
 
I bark back and put the ball in there court !! Then they come looking and it calms them down as they now know its another elk !!
 
Bark means they want to see an elk. So, I pop my walking stick open...and show them an elk!

I might bark back once, then move ahead and away from the decoy quietly. Wait and see what happens.

timberelk.jpg
 
Jeff,

Your slip system elk works like a charm. I had mine with me the other day while putting up cameras and walked into some elk. I deployed the slip and let out a couple cow calls and they could have cared less that we were there !! It saved our butt and saved my area for getting elk pictures on my cams !!

Great product and I thank you a million for coming up with this awesome idea !! I\'ll be sure to get a picture of my bull this year with the slip system elk beside him !!

Good luck Jeff and shoot straight my friend !!

Trav
 
\"Wapiti\" said:
Jeff,

Your slip system elk works like a charm. I had mine with me the other day while putting up cameras and walked into some elk. I deployed the slip and let out a couple cow calls and they could have cared less that we were there !! It saved our butt and saved my area for getting elk pictures on my cams !!

Great product and I thank you a million for coming up with this awesome idea !! I\'ll be sure to get a picture of my bull this year with the slip system elk beside him !!

Good luck Jeff and shoot straight my friend !!

Trav

Very cool Trav, great review!
 
\"Wapiti\" said:
Jeff,

Your slip system elk works like a charm. I had mine with me the other day while putting up cameras and walked into some elk. I deployed the slip and let out a couple cow calls and they could have cared less that we were there !! It saved our butt and saved my area for getting elk pictures on my cams Trav

Travis,
Wow! What a great testimonial (unsolicited...I swear)! I hope I get many more customers that reward me with such good news this Season!

I am very much looking forward to using your calls as well this Season. I hope we both get to share our success with eachother.

Keep the wind in your face, my friend!
 
\"elkmtngear\" said:
Travis,
Wow! What a great testimonial (unsolicited...I swear)!

Yeah, sure Jeff! Just pay me $10 more than you paid Travis and I will post the same review! :lol:

In all honesty, if I were a bowhunter, I would be trying this in a heartbeat Jeff. I am honestly debating it for rifle hunting, and truthfully I rarely get close enough to where the Slip System would have any effect at all. But I have seen enough to be a believer, that\'s for sure!
 
\"cohunter14\" said:
\"elkmtngear\" said:
Travis,
Wow! What a great testimonial (unsolicited...I swear)!

Yeah, sure Jeff! Just pay me $10 more than you paid Travis and I will post the same review! :lol:

In all honesty, if I were a bowhunter, I would be trying this in a heartbeat Jeff. I am honestly debating it for rifle hunting, and truthfully I rarely get close enough to where the Slip System would have any effect at all. But I have seen enough to be a believer, that\'s for sure!

Derek, I get very nervous using it during muzzy week! After being a sponsor for a short time on one Utah based hunting forum (initials = MM)...I do not think I would ever use it in Utah. They even call the locals \"Utards\"...1000 yd shots are not uncommon :wtf:

Actually, one of the great things, is you can always switch your cover to camo, or a moo cow. Much safer way to go. :upthumb:
 

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