Elk Calls and Calling

Elk calling has reached epidemic proportions. It is the most dramatic way to hunt elk. It has all the appeal of turkey calling with the added adrenaline rush of calling a massively antlered, brush-ripping trophy bull right up to you.

The bugle is the loudest and most dramatic elk call. The high-pitched, keening whistle of a mature bull has real ear appeal, whether it is made by you or, even better, by a big bull in the black timber, answering you.

However, bugling can be overdone and often is. Many hunters bugle all the time and the bulls get both tired and wary of it. Also, it can drive sub-dominant bulls away and cause harem bosses to take their cows and leave.

Cow calling is far more subtle and subdued. The mews and chirps made by cow elk (bulls make these same sounds, but less frequently) are confidence calls that assure all is well. Most elk, including bulls, will investigate cow callseven after the bugling season is over.

Of Bulls and Gobblers

The calling strategies for bull, elk and gobblers are very similar.

A strident bugle call can cause sub-dominant bulls to fade away and cause a bull with cows to avoid competition. Too much gobbling on a call does the same thing to turkeys. Both bulls and gobblers seem to catch on when they hear repeated calling from the same spot. Hold back on the call at log landings, along roads or on trails well-traveled by other hunters.

Go out into the woods a bit so your calling is coming from a new and more natural area. Both bulls and gobblers go silent when they've been exposed to too much calling. That doesn't mean they won't come in for a look, but they will do so quietly. It takes a lot of patience to wait out a hard-hunted bull in a high odds area. Use subdued cow calls and keep your eyes open.