Nervous Grunt -- for an hour

[JGH]

Got to camp Saturday evening ... and there was a cow and calf 100 yards from camp, then another about 30 yards from her. It was past shooting light (and not open season yet, anyway) ... and so I went about the work of quietly setting up camp after the elk wandered off -- apparently not "spooked".

In the dark, I crawled into my sleeping bag, and heard -- out where the elk were -- a nervous grunt.

Then a weak bugle.

Then a grunt, followed by a groan of sorts, over and over ... for almost exactly an hour.

What am I to make of this? I've heard them grunt and then disappear, spooked. I've heard them grunt several times or for even 5 minutes, then wander off. But an hour?

By the way, there were still elk a couple hundred yards from there at first light. I called-in but couldn't get a clear shot at a cow. I'm not sure they were the same elk -- but the bull bugled and chuckled several times.

[Hill Hunter]

Last year I had a similar experience about a half hour after dark within 75 yards of our tents. However, it only went on for about 15 minutes....I was afraid the elk making the sound would have alerted every other elk nearby and spooked them, but come sun-up, we were into elk not far from camp.....I thought the elk was making the noise due to our presence, but the way the thermals were working and where the elk was, I doubted it could smell us.....