LE Elk Hunt

Well I made it out on my first installment of my LE archery elk tag. We are hunting in southeastern Utah. I only could swing 2 days down there this time, but will be back at the prime time for 8 days come September. We saw 10 BULLS!!! 6 were shooters (300"+), one was a monster around 360-380 I'm guessing, could have been bigger. He was about a 1/2 mile off. But was with another 6x6 that looked small next to him. Awesome bull. I had the chance to stalk another bull that was a perfectly simmetrical 6x6 around 330". Couldn't get close enough and he was gone. Every single bull was around 10,000 feet or higher. We showed up on Monday after the opener and it seemed that the bulls had been pushed into the thick/high stuff. They were in bachelor herds and away from the cows. Anyway, I was really happy with the results as I was viewing this as a scouting trip anyway, with not a lot of time to hunt it.

My question for all of you seasoned archery elk hunters, and I know it changes depending on a myriad of factors, including when the cows begin to go into estrus, weather, elevation, area, etc... but in your experiences when have the cows begin to go into estrus and when have bugles begun to ring out in the area you hunt? According to local family that know, my area seems to start that first half of September. I'm sure it's different everywhere. What have you found?

Thanks,

Brandon