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Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hunt t

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Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hunt t

Postby Lefty » 07 06, 2012 •  [Post 1]

"When this fails call at night, locate, hunt them come mornings!"
I hunt big open country. Elk work different in open range.
The elk might be one place last night and 5-10 miles away the next morning. If they get bumped hard they could be 8-10 miles away. sometimes they will go 5 miles for good water, 10 miles for good feed and another 8 miles to bed
For those that hunt very open country with wide ranging elk what and how do you hunt them?
My elk have certian tendancies. But seldom do they feed the same field 2 nights in a row, seldom do they bed the same place two nights in a row and once they herd up they will cover lots of distances each night. With satalite bulls and a few hunters the herd stays worked up and moving.
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Re: Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hu

Postby eltaco » 07 06, 2012 •  [Post 2]

Im not trying to call you out, but how in the world do you track elk movement of 8-10 miles? I would honestly guess that elk in my area don't move more than two miles unless forced to do so by pressure or lack of food/water. If I'm calling to responsive elk in the morning, they're usually within earshot in the evening... whether they want to respond at that time is another thing. If I set a trailcam at a wallow, I see a lot if the same elk with a few random passerbys depending on the rut phase.

Maybe I'm just in a special area, but I try to hunt areas with good feed/water and with cows present. As long as people don't force them out of the area they don't seem to roam far.
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Re: Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hu

Postby Lefty » 07 06, 2012 •  [Post 3]

eltaco wrote:,... track elk movement of 8-10 miles? I would honestly guess that elk in my area,.....Maybe I'm just in a special area, but I try to hunt areas with good feed/water and with cows present. As long as people don't force them out of the area they don't seem to roam far.

Im guessing your elk are more the norm.
Part of the reason for my post. I know the elk I hunt cover a lot of ground and have a low denisity . Also very few hunters because of the difficulty of the wide range. Ive watched elk move in the evening, then down to the irrigated fields to feed .. Ive glassed and followed those elk and have tracked them in the snow. These elk dont do much elevation but lots of distsnce.
Ive glassed these elk leaving a field, watched them move 3 1/2 mile as the crow flies to where I was, then followed them 3 more miles, to get bumped by ATV'ers and watched them disappear in the dust 4 miles away.
Last year there wasnt water on the range. From what I could figure some bulls traveled 6 miles to water and feed, some bulls maybe traveled further.
I believe that was the reason I wasnt seeing elk early no water and they traveled into where I was hunting after dark
Image

These bulls crossed the road exactly 4 miles(and a couple hundred yards) Where I was sitting on water, It was 1 1/2 miles to the nearest field. How far from that road they crossed had they been bedding? , likely another 1 1/2 - 2 miles
Image
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Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hunt t

Postby Freebird134 » 07 06, 2012 •  [Post 4]

In that open country you shouldn't need to hear them to locate them. Can't you just glass from a good vantage? I think elknuts comment was about finding elk, and in the thick country that makes seeing them difficult. So you need to get them bugling. And if they won't bugle in the day, try it at night.
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Re: Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hu

Postby Lefty » 07 06, 2012 •  [Post 5]

Distance is the problem so Yes I glass, alot and hike a lot. Where they are at 3:00 AM isnt where they are at dawn, which isnt where they are at sunrise, and is often miles from where they bed
I think my advantage, is there are no high locations,.. so no hunters glassing where I hunt. I do have some locations where I can see across low locations, but miss huge amounts. Other archers get up on a hill and can glass from there,.. but I think the elk are often aware of the activity on the hill and avoud the surrounding 1-1/2-2 miles I hun6t the outside of that edge for that reason

My first year as a rookie archer I could see a herd in the distance,.. not knowing anything I tried cow calling and buggling,.. the bulls answered but why would a bull leave that many girls.

I have caught bulls in the distance bugling,.. as open as the country is I didnt have time to work them before dark,..
I have tried cow calling then a locator bugle through out the day on windy days,.. It hasnt worked yet. They seem to hunker down and shut up
The guys that Ive met who kill bulls watch and follow , wait till they bed than stalk in
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Re: Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hu

Postby ElkNut1 » 07 07, 2012 •  [Post 6]

Lefty, the comment about calling at night is purely for location purposes! Many times during a hunters elk hunt he cannot find elk period, not through glassing or vocalization, so one of the things that he can do is to try a different option in locating them, calling at night is one hunters can try, when elk are found by sound at this time it's nice to know that elk are around! What & where they go from there & how to plan out a strategy is now up to the hunter! But you do know there are elk around! Sometimes the "night calling" is done an hour or so before daybreak, this will give you a great idea where they are right then.

When calling at night it is normal to drive 10 to 30 miles in trying to find elk at that time, it's not as if you are only covering a short distance, you keep trying & driving until elk are located by them bugling back, you are not trying to call them in, just locate! It will work where you hunt sir! You must also take into consideration there will be nights or early mornings that you will not get an answer, it's rare but can happen. Don't give up, wait till the next evening or early morning & check on different areas!

As the rut picks up & cows come into estrus bulls will be bugling in a competitive manner as they do their best to advertise themselves to the ladies, this is done by both sound & sightings. This can happen on nearly any day in Sept especially from the 10th on, cows will come in & out of heat, they are in heat aprox 12-15 hours. When they are bugling/rutting at this time the bulls are very vulnerable & killable. A lone hunter can slip in on these vocal bulls & get within bowrange as he slips in quietly & patiently awaiting his opportunity, you must have the wind in your favor & just enough cover to slip in unnoticed, you cannot hurry it! At times a selective sound generally a very aggressive one may be needed to "seal the deal" but you are not trying to call them to you at long distances, if you do this can alert them, they will scan the area where your sounds are coming from & not see the two or three elk you are imitating, they get skittish & can move off, you must be very smart & careful in using sounds in open country, elk do not just come trotting over because you called!

One of your best methods in open country is with two hunters when bulls aren't bugling enough on their own, it's called Call & Stalk! One hunter stays back as caller from 100's of yards away to 1/2 mile from elk that he got to respond, he gives off non intimidation Advertising Bugles every 5-10 minutes to keep a bull or bulls vocal, since he stays back & does not encroach on the bugling bulls they do not feel pressured to run, yes they can move at their pace or even mill around but a shooter should be able to catch them or cut them off because he has a huge hearing advantage by your "Caller" keeping them vocal. The shooter slips towards these elk or gets into a position where these elk will come by him, the shooter must be monitoring the wind constantly with a "wind checker" -- No guarantees but give it a try a few times & you will start to see positive results. This method can work in any terrain! You two hunters may cover miles on each open country attempt but that's part of the hunt!

There's always sitting the water or trails to it!

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Re: Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hu

Postby Lefty » 07 08, 2012 •  [Post 7]

Thanks Paul. So much of this elk business is new to me." I know; what I dont know" or "I dont know what I dont know"

Driving is not really an option where Im hunting,.. when a vehicle shows up the elk either move or blow out of the area. Ive watched fellows pull onto a hill 1 1/2 miles away and the elk switched directions and picked up the pace.

I have been hunting alone,
The-two man situation you discribe is what a father son team where I hunt use. They generally just call for a couple hours in the morning and go home ( how nice would it be to live next to where you hunt!)

I hope to do that type of calling with my daughter where she calls and I walk ahead up wind. We have really good mid-day till dark winds for using that method.My question is that a good idea or method to use before the elk herd up? Seems like a good way to get busted once the elk group up without trees or decent cover.

I tried doing something simular last fall on a wiindy day ,.. a couple calls in two minites, look and glass for ten more minutes, move 300-500. I had one bull anwser down wind of me. I tried to back out and circle down wind but Im sure he left the country,... I did discover some new bedding area that I didnt know existed


While the country is open it is amazing where elk can dissapear. a small bowl, the other side of a rock pile. in a few sage brush etc. The pic I posted with the two bulls I had walked past that location 3 times looking for them. It was packing out the cow I killed when I bumped them, then dug out my camera to get the pic
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Re: Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hu

Postby elkaholic » 07 08, 2012 •  [Post 8]

I too have found that elk move a ton out in the wide open spaces. The difficult (lack of cover) makes for fewer hunters but it is also harder to get in on the elk. Lefty have you tried hunting them like mule deer? Bed them down then try and spot-n-stalk? What Paul said about call-n-stalk sounded great too.

Its pretty weird seeing elk in the wide open spaces where there isn't a tree for 50 miles..
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Re: Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hu

Postby ElkNut1 » 07 08, 2012 •  [Post 9]

If those elk are that difficult to hunt then choose different areas! Find areas where there are some sort of hills, trees, junipers, aspens & a lot less pressure even if it means hunting different units, you need to get out of there! We hunt some of the most heavily pressured units in Idaho, over 6000 hunters in all, we do not try to hunt amongst them or we would have similar issues as you are having! We do our best to put distance between us & them & then elk hunt! This takes a lot of homework & topo maps being scoured to locate such areas, this is what OTC Public Land hunting is all about!

Is is possible to find a different area for you lefty? If so we can help you out here in doing so!

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Re: Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hu

Postby Lefty » 07 08, 2012 •  [Post 10]

Elkaholic
I see elk about 1/4 of the days I hunt; Every other trip out I see elk. So I feel pretty good with those numbers
Most of my efforts are; I show up and sit on water the last hour in the evening. In the morning I walk listen and once it is light enough I glass. follow them till they bed then stalk.
After the first hour I just start glassing looking for bedded elk. I can say that I havent spotted a bedded elk,.. so maybe that is a method I should give up on.
As far hunting like mulies,.. I better not try , my wife says I hunt mule deer wrong, too many midwest white-tail habits (GRIN)!!

Being a new elk hunter and unsure of my calling abilities( dispite the elknut DVD's) I tried the calling and moving calling and moving once last fall and did have that bull respond,..again I would say that was succesful . So I will spend the day light hours calling and hikinf and hoping to

ELknuts
Thanks for the offer
I really enjoy the solitude of the area, It reminds me of traplines in western SD, lots of country and no people. With the low elk density comes low hunter density. I perfer not to be bothered by other hunters. It is easy to see hunters for long distances away and I avoid them. Hunters do impact the herd but I believe I have capitalized on others movement and the way they hunt and can do that from a couple miles away
I have other areas I could hunt,.. I just like the open
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Re: Elknuts words "When this fails call at night, locate, hu

Postby ElkNut1 » 07 09, 2012 •  [Post 11]

I guess it boils down to how much do you like elk meat!! (grin)

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