Quote:
Originally Posted by KBF
Ive taken a couple elk but im gonna call it blind luck. Ive never been in a situation where its been heavy communication between cows and bulls or even having a bull come to a call, bugle or cow calls. Typically how long do you wait in a spot if you dont hear any vocalization back from a bull? When to move on?
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It depends on the situation;
1. You visually saw an elk lay down in a piece of bush, or know 100% that they're in there. Call (bull and/or cow call) - wait for reply, and listen to hear if the bull sounds a little lazy, or more fired up. Lazy means probably a slow-play. Fired up means you should probably start closing the distance while still calling and play the wind, because odds are he's on his way in already. If the sound keeps moving away, them you have to decide whether to try and catch up, or just cut your losses and try that spot another day - depends on how much walking you want to do
2. You haven't seen elk yet, or even any fresh sign; move along, while still playing the wind. They're likely not in that area. If for some reason they are, you might have a curious bull circle downwind a little to investigate, but they usually aren't put off by hearing something moving through the timber.
Check out Elknut on youtube, he's got some excellent stuff on elk calling and behaviour.
Full disclosure, we've yet to connect on a legal bull (we hunt 404 which is a 6 point zone), but have called in many big 5's, and have had lots of heated 'dicussions' with bulls in the last few years using a lot of his pointers. It's an amazing experience, and we learn something new every time.
If there are elk in an area, we almost always get them replying. It's a chess match!
Good luck