Night

[Kessler10]

I have alwasy talked about and wanted to go sit on a ridge later at night to listen for bugles to try and locate for my morning hunt/next day hunt. Like between 10PM-5AM and see if I can locate any bugles, but never have.
But seems night bugles can be a great way to locate, especially if your having trouble during the day.

Is this a regular strategy anyone has?

And is there a time during the night that doing this would yield the best results? For example, doing it at 10PM before I go to bed for the night. So just getting to bed later than I usually do. Or the other option is getting up at 330AM and going to sit a ridge and listen the first few hours before sunlight. Versus my normal wake up time of 530AM.

thoughts?

[Swede]

Bugling at night can help locate bulls for sure. I can't say what time is best. When I have gone out early, I tended to stop as soon as I heard a response. I don't want to have them check me out too early, and I don't leave the area to look for other bulls either. I may go back to the truck and wait there or just move back for hundred yards or so.
If I go out after dark, or stay out late after my hunt and bugle; I check out several spots. After that I decide where to go in the morning, but none of this is a panacea for killing elk. For me finding elk and killing elk are two entirely different things. A part of that killing thing is due to where I hunt, but I have never had the howling success some claim to have.

[jmorr]

I think Elknut recommends 10-12PM and like Swede said, shutup after you get a response. I have had some success during those hours. I always have illusions of grandeur that I will do this during the season but I'm always too tired after hiking 10+ miles a day..

[Swede]

When I have gone out at night, I mostly drive around. I get to a spot then walk down the road for a ways, then wait and bugle. It is just a location bugle so any bite and blow call will work fine.
I did that some when I was in Idaho hunting with Wapititalk 1. I would go out to phone home. While out I would stop in places and bugle. There was no success in Idaho, but there has been in different places at different times. RJ believes it was the wolf situation in Idaho that had the elk quiet. That seems right to me. He hunted the area for years. I was there once.

[ElkNut1]

Calling elk after dark is an excellent way to locate killable bulls! Choose what works for you best. I like about an hour or so before first light to an hour or so after daylight. We have taken countless bulls with this early bugling, little to no cow calling for me!

ElkNut/Paul

[Swede]

As the Elknut said, I would not cow call. I want to reach out as far as I can and find out what is out there. A simple contact bugle will do what you want. You don't want to engage them any more than determining where they are. One of the bugaboos in calling before first light happens if you decide to stick around after locating the bull. As you wait in the dark , you may find the critter you called, or another bull coming your way to check you out.
One of the reasons I stay on the road, if I can, is because I want to minimize the artificial light I use to get around in the dark. I don't know if it matters, but it could. I also want to make the least sound possible. Or option #3; Swede is too lazy to get off the road.

[WapitiTalk1]

Absolutely! That first hour after darkness falls till around 10:00 PM and the first hour before the crack of dawn has worked well for me in the past to locate singers.

[jmez]

Read and article a few years back about using this as a hunting strategy. Guy would head out about 3 am and just listen, he didn't call. Once he heard an elk he would keep the wind in his favor and follow the herd in the dark. Used the darkness to get in close to them. Then hunt them as soon it was light. Then would spend most of the day sleeping after he had hunted them.