Passing Oppportunities to Call for Others? Not

[Trophyhill]

this year is the first time I've called for anyone other than myself. when I ended my 1st hunt early and was called to duty by a good friend in NM I jumped at the chance to gain much needed experience and glad I did. on day 1 of my time with Harold I was working a herd bull pretty hard as we both moved in toward the bull with cows. he was a giant. my buddy is a meat hunter 1st and when a small 3x4 still in velvet came running in he drilled him at less than 20 yards. his brother, wife and nephew all witnessed the whole thing from down below thru glass. this is the highlight of my short career so far because people I care about were in tow.

Sunday and Monday I switched off and called for 2 other friends (brothers) on their first ever bow elkhunts. on Sunday I was with Dusty. after trying to call down a very big 6 point from a ridge top with no success I suddenly saw him fighting with another bull. first time I've seen this and it was spectacular. but we didn't "dilly dally" around. I told Dusty we have to move and move fast while the 2 were getting it on. as we were moving up the mountain the clashing of antlers stopped and 1 of them bugled. I knew the bigger one just kicked his little butt. on the way up Dusty kept stopping and looking back at me like "what do I do now"? i kept a 30 to 40 yard distance behind him. I kept pointing him forward in an emphatic way like get your azz up that mountain lol. we stopped when I felt like he was 30 yards from the herd bull. then I challenged him with an aggressive bugle and hard hitting grunts. that bull ran in and stopped 15 yards in front of him. I held him there as long as I could by Raking a tree. I was not gentle with the raking either. Dusty did not have a shot and froze up instead of moving 1 way or another to open himself up for a shot and after a few intense moments the bull went and gathered his cows to live another day. I've made that same mistake as he did by freezing up so I recognized that right away.

Tuesday it was John's turn. went back to the same spot and I started with some sweet cow calls. a different but very nice 5 pt came down thru a cut in the timber silently as I got him into bow range. again the bull stopped short of an opening and John froze up and after 15 or 20 seconds the bull did not see what he heard and slipped away. another opportunity gone.

that evening I had them both with me and told them if we see or hear elk we need to go at them. about an hour before dark we spot a few cows bedded on top of a steep ridge right at a burn line from 2 years ago. you had a burn area several football fields wide all the way to the top, then dark timber several football fields wide all the way to the top and then another burn from bottom to top a couple football fields wide over to and onto private property. since we had been hearing bugling up there daily in the mornings and right at dark I surmised there was a bull with those cows. then he stood up. another huge bull. so we get going. I cow called all the way up as he was chuckling to his cows and I think to me. it was reaching last light when we were about 3/4 the way up. by now we had split the herd. now I know I wasn't quite close enough to challenge him yet but at this point I had no choice because of daylight time left and knowing we split the herd, I did just that. I ripped another aggressive bugle and followed up with grunts, then raking. the bull actually started towards us as the 2 brothers were moving in. the brothers started back towards me and when I asked them what happened they said that when I stopped raking the bull pushed the remaining cows over the top. darn chicken elk!

so what I am getting at here is I feel like I gained another 2 years of experience during these 5 days of calling for others. I took a "no holds bar" approach since it wasn't my hunt and I had nothing to lose and we all had everything to gain and they both had an opportunity to kill. so if some of you guys with limited experience like myself get the opportunity to call for others I highly recommend doing it. especially if these people are your friends. i'm going to cut up my meat the next couple of days, catch up on some much needed sleep after averaging 4-5 hours a night since Aug 30 and head back out and try to fill my antlerless tag. I called in numerous cows during this time so I have high hopes killing a cow and not buying any beef this year. best of luck to you all!

[JJ Overkill]

man sounds like we all could have tagged out if we came with ya. with our calling styles we would have had some fun. sounds like a great time. give me a call when your on your way up. I have a few areas in mind. travel safely.

[easeup]

thanks for your experiences. noted in my mind for next weeks hunt......you know, trophy said,.....and everyone stops to listen.

[Trophyhill]

thanks for your experiences. noted in my mind for next weeks hunt......you know, trophy said,.....and everyone stops to listen.

your very kind but giving me a lot more credit than you should lol. I feel like things are really starting to click in my elk brain in my 6th season chasing elk. it seems like every year hunting elk just keeps getting better. I owe a lot to a bunch on this forum and a few others and you being one of them. I hope you get some great opportunities this year and are eating elk this winter.

Jeremy, i'll do that!

[elkmtngear]

Great Stuff, David!

Congrats on another public land bull!

[Trophyhill]

man sounds like we all could have tagged out if we came with ya. with our calling styles we would have had some fun. sounds like a great time. give me a call when your on your way up. I have a few areas in mind. travel safely.

well i'll tell ya Jeremy, i got a lot of responses from those cow calls i showed you and then it was game on. these elk were primed and rutting hard so that was a huge difference in that area and the area you me and Cameron were hunting. you would have had some fun working these bulls.