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early season calling?

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early season calling?

Postby JJ Overkill » 07 12, 2013 •  [Post 1]

my ideas/methods of calling are geared towards the end of the season. ive been wondering what types of calls to use in the first couple of weeks.?. do bulls answer to location bugles in the early part of the season? what type of calling do you use?
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Re: early season calling?

Postby Swede » 07 13, 2013 •  [Post 2]

Jerinmn: I see your question has not been touchéd so I will give it a try. I mostly sit in a tree early season and keep quiet. Bulls do answer location bugles. Generally I have had more silent bulls early season. The key is not to over call and be patient. I like to set up at a good location, rake a tree for a minute, give a short one second, two note bugle then quickly move into a pre-picked pre-prepared location and wait. I will repeat what I did 3 or 4 times and wait an hour to see if something stupid slips in to assess the new bull. If I am hunting with someone then I like to get a bull to answer and have my partner slip ahead while I keep the bull talking. Also I enjoy trying lots of short squaky one note bugles, that Elknut calls "lonesome Charlie". When they work they are fun. I hunt a heavily hunted area, so I try to be careful not to push them out of my area. I am altogether too close to a ranch the elk go to for a refuge from too many callers. I try to be very subtle with my calling.
I think most of your initial calls that you would do late season are fine for the early season, but the bulls are more likely to come in quiet, so always be ready, even when you start to think you are just wasting time calling.
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Re: early season calling?

Postby Bullnuts » 07 13, 2013 •  [Post 3]

I've called in and killed more elk during the first week of the season than at any other time. I use a combination of cow chirps, which are a very effective gathering call, and light locators combined with light raking. If I hear a bull bugle I'll immediately chirp at it and sit tight and wait for the magic to happen.
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Re: early season calling?

Postby welka » 07 13, 2013 •  [Post 4]

We used to only hunt early and you really can use almost any call. Cold calling set ups, locators, lonesome/lost cow, cow chirps all will work. Most of the time, we had the elk come in silent in the early season. The important point is to match the elk. If they are quiet, you don't need to be doing much of any calling. If there are plenty of bugles, adjust accordingly. If you don't get "burned" by hot weather, the early season can be great because the elk have not been pressured and cows are starting to come into estrus. Good luck.
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Re: early season calling?

Postby otcWill » 07 13, 2013 •  [Post 5]

Easiest time to call in a bull in my opinion. Some stomping/raking with some chirps and mews becoming more excited and then maybe a spike squeal and some agitated cow sounds has been quite effective for me. Basically sounding like a herd that has been disovered and is being pestered by a horny lil guy tends to peak some curiosity early.
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