Early season elk tips please

This will be my secod year going on a early season elk hunting trip (archery) in the Rocky Mountains. Last year I had very little action so I'm looking for some tips for chasing elk in the first 2 weeks of September. I was told that for the most part all you really need is a cow call (handy for me as so far in a terrible bugler) but I didn't have much luck with that. Any advice/techniques is appreciated.
4,999
killerbee
alot depends on the type of country.
if it's glassing country, locate the animals first by glassing them. then get your game plan- get the wind, get ahead of them.

calling is a trick question really. It depends 100% on each individual situation your in with the elk your hunting at that moment.

no-one can say you only need to cow call, or only need to bugle, heck half the time you shouldn't be making any call.--- bull-to-cow ratio plays into it alot, and simply the mood a bull is in plays into it.

but a couple things that rarely ever fail-
1.if you can locate the elk without a peep your 1 step ahead
2.get the wind IN YOUR FACE!
3. WATER!! if your in a dry area, and you can find a water hole they are using,if your a patient stand hunter ( my biggest downfall) you have A GREAT chance of killing a bull off of a wallow

as for being crummy on a bugle-- alot of elk are pretty crummy too- i used to have guys that were horrible on their bugles just forget about trying grunts for a while( practise on those but leave them out of the woods for now) and simply use your bugle from high to low, NOT low to high- then back dow to low-- take that high to low down in 3-4 seconds the last 2 seconds moan while your blowing. your done, with that bugle you can do 90% of what you need to do in the woods.
but IMO, i've called in a ton of bulls, for shear excitment- nothing beats it! but if i'm putting my odds on releasing an arrow, i'd rather be quiet as long as possible to get into range, if they dont think anything is there, their senses are alot on the alert. even if they think your truely 100% another bull, THEY WILL BE LOOKING FOR MOVEMENT.

have fun!
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Hunting water is good. You're a little early for lots of rutting activity. You'll pick some up the end of the second week of your hunt. Glass lots and pattern the animals before you move on them. If you spook them it's hard to tell how far they will go before they stop. Five miles is nothing for an elk. They are a big animal and eat lots so they tend to move anyhow unless there's a big food supply like an alfalfa field. I would say water is your best bet early. Good luck.
Mark
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ARCHER11
"killerbee" wrote:alot depends on the type of country.
if it's glassing country, locate the animals first by glassing them. then get your game plan- get the wind, get ahead of them.

calling is a trick question really. It depends 100% on each individual situation your in with the elk your hunting at that moment.

no-one can say you only need to cow call, or only need to bugle, heck half the time you shouldn't be making any call.--- bull-to-cow ratio plays into it alot, and simply the mood a bull is in plays into it.

but a couple things that rarely ever fail-
1.if you can locate the elk without a peep your 1 step ahead
2.get the wind IN YOUR FACE!
3. WATER!! if your in a dry area, and you can find a water hole they are using,if your a patient stand hunter ( my biggest downfall) you have A GREAT chance of killing a bull off of a wallow

as for being crummy on a bugle-- alot of elk are pretty crummy too- i used to have guys that were horrible on their bugles just forget about trying grunts for a while( practise on those but leave them out of the woods for now) and simply use your bugle from high to low, NOT low to high- then back dow to low-- take that high to low down in 3-4 seconds the last 2 seconds moan while your blowing. your done, with that bugle you can do 90% of what you need to do in the woods.
but IMO, i've called in a ton of bulls, for shear excitment- nothing beats it! but if i'm putting my odds on releasing an arrow, i'd rather be quiet as long as possible to get into range, if they dont think anything is there, their senses are alot on the alert. even if they think your truely 100% another bull, THEY WILL BE LOOKING FOR MOVEMENT.

have fun!
 +1

Killerbee hit it on the head! Spot and stalk is the way to go. The quieter the better IMO
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Thank you all for the tips. I'm going to be getting myself a bugle here soon and am going to really try to practice with it and I think that despite if I get good or not I will still try a couple bugles this season. Maybe I'll get lucky and a big bull will think I'm a annoying little spiker and come to kick my butt. This last year I did a bunch of scoutinng and found some great wallows and other water areas that I'm planning on going into early and setting up some stands. The one area will also be a great spot to do some glassing out of so hopefully it helps. Now that I've been lucky enough to get a mule deer, whitetail and moose a elk is what I'm really setting my sights on.

Thanks again for the great advice. I'm open to anymore ideas.

Jay
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Never under estimate the power of internet scouting. I look at sights with maps and google earth for hours even in the areas I know pretty well. Finding waterholes, feeding areas, and possible travel routes to where I think they bed.

I agree, the only time I call is to stop an animal for a shot or smaller bull bugle when I am almost in the herd.

Make sure your set up gives you good shooting lanes. I have killed more trees than a forest fire by not paying enough attention to the woods.

Last if you are hunting solo get a decoy. Set it behind you half way behind a tree when you get close to a bull with cows. He will have to look a little harder.

Hope it help.

Jeremy
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'Ike'
"South_slope" wrote:Never under estimate the power of internet scouting. I look at sights with maps and google earth for hours even in the areas I know pretty well. Finding waterholes, feeding areas, and possible travel routes to where I think they bed.

I agree, the only time I call is to stop an animal for a shot or smaller bull bugle when I am almost in the herd.

Make sure your set up gives you good shooting lanes. I have killed more trees than a forest fire by not paying enough attention to the woods.

Last if you are hunting solo get a decoy. Set it behind you half way behind a tree when you get close to a bull with cows. He will have to look a little harder.

Hope it help.

Jeremy
 That's it, I spend hours on it 'scouting' from home...My girlfriend swears I have a internet fling going on... :))
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I'm going to add to being quiet. I get an elk every year, and I don't even own a call.

For me it's all about scouting, and not letting the elk see me, hear me, or smell me. I shoot the muzzleloader season, so getting close is my main goal. I don't want to shoot an elk that is alert, or looking for a cow. Hunt like a sniper. A very short range sniper.
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