The Nervous/Popping Grunt In Action!

[ElkNut1]

I'm bringing up these points & couple of stories for DeafIrishman & others as well of course, they are great teaching aids for ones to sorta prepare themselves for the up coming elk season on how possibly to handle certain elk hunting encounters! Thanks.

ElkNut1




Elk Hunting can be every bit as frustrating as rewarding! To increase ones chances at downing an elk this season, ones must put the odds in their favor & be willing to adjust & adapt to the various encounters as they arise. Those that enjoy yearly success can appreciate this common sense approach! Using the same methods or sounds for every bugling bull can be a disadvantage to the hunter! Not all elk want or are looking for the same thing, in other words not all bulls are of herd bull quality & not all are subordinate bulls! Whether you're running & gunning or treestanding over wallows/water sources or trails evaluating an encounter wherever it may be is very important so one knows what he's saying or asking of other elk. These things are especially true for hunting the different phases of the rut! Those that bowhunt elk realize there's far more concern in the vocalization/rutting aspect than what are the elk feeding on that day! Of course not all encounters require calling, a great stalk or ambush can prove deadly, this is as important a thought as good timely calling!

When calling is needed it's to the hunter’s advantage to choose his choice of sounds wisely! Considering this thought we need to know why elk make certain sounds. Cows/Calves will mew & chirp for social/ contact reasons, they will also use sounds when separated from one another or lost from the group such as busted up by predators or hunters. They will use a re-gathering tone/mew instead of social mews. Too, they have distress & nervous mews & chirps; they are more rapid than social/contact mews when alarmed or excited. All elk can sound off with "warning barks" or "nervous grunts" we hunters need to know the difference between these two as they sound similar. Most hunters have heard this single note Grunt/Bark, which one of these is asking for a visual or satisfying sound? Knowing the differences between these two sounds and identifying them can be a huge part to ones success or failure! One of these can aid us in its use at just the right time; the other can spell disaster, in some cases it's a "Seal the Deal" sound! Which one is it? The Nervous Grunt! As hunters there are times for quick decision making & this is one of them! How can we tell the difference between them? A Warning Bark is shrill in pitch & several are given inside a minute & generally they are getting further away, other alarmed elk in the area can also start barking as they retreat. However, Nervous Grunt is given a single time & they stare down the area of concern awaiting a visual or comforting response, another single grunt can follow within 30 seconds from near the same spot asking the same thing again & can be repeated without the elk retreating!
Once we get a feel for tones & variation of such sounds you can now communicate with them & share sounds that make sense to them on a given encounter instead of just giving an elk sound because you heard one & you're not sure what to do next!

Here are a couple of examples where we used them in hunting conditions. My Son & I located a bull with a location bugle, next thing you know 2 more bulls started bugling as well, and they were less than 1/2 mile away in the dark thick timber. It was 30 minutes till shooting light would be gone for the evening. We looked at each other wondering if we had time to pull this off before it was too late! We were 5 miles from where we had parked our rig & so hesitated for just a second, but that was it, our decision was made to go after him. We hustled to the area led by a few good bugles by the bulls themselves. We were able to slip within 60 yards of the herd bull; we could not see him but could hear him. We were fortunate not to accidentally spook other elk in our hurry there. My son moved up another 10 yards & I went back 5 more & now am 15 yards from him but cannot see him! I started off with a Nervous Grunt & a challenging scream, the herd bull came unglued in an instant bellowing his challenge, I challenged him again along with raking & stomping, he was just out of our sight but going nuts with his screaming/bugling, I gave another nervous grunt, waited 2-3 seconds & gave another, I then added the clincher, I panted 2-3 times heaving heavily through my grunt tube & screamed at him as hard as I could muster up, I could hear branches snapping & hooves pounding as he came in like a freight train to 12 yards from my son. My son was shooting a recurve so he had to wait for this bull to show before he could draw, this bull was close & it was getting dark fast, he drew & fired instinctively at point blank range & saw the arrow stick into a pine tree over his back! Yep, he missed, I did not get to see the bull but he said it was a true toad pushing 340” that is huge for an OTC Idaho bull in a heavily hunted unit. Point is, the combination of sounds including the nervous grunt is what made for a very exciting close encounter!
Another example we've used it in was when we startled a bull on our way out of a hunting area. We apparently surprised him but couldn't see one another at 40yds because of the thick pines & alders. This bull hit us with a single note Nervous Grunt! I immediately mewed, I hand signaled my Son to stay right there as the shooter & I retreated with soft cow mews & chirps putting distance between the bull & I as if I (the cow) were leaving, this bull didn't know what to think but decided he should take a closer look at why this cow was leaving, within a couple of tense moments my Son had the bull on the ground with a double lung shot! Man this one happened fast!
On another hunt I used the nervous grunt myself to get it done. Some may remember Harold, I met him here on an Internet hunting site & invited him on his 1st ever elk hunt with a bow no less! (Grin) We happened to come across a couple bulls out of nowhere 3-miles back in, they spooked at 40yds & ran, I immediately gave off a couple nervous grunts to my left then my right, some high in volume & a couple in a lower volume & proceeded with some cow in distress sounds, then I threw out a scream the once quiet woods erupted with screaming from a couple bulls that we had no idea were there, one was a 5-point 200yds out, he came on a dead run 12 yds from us & ole Harold put an arrow through both lungs, we watched him walk off & crash right in front of us! Harold was shaking like a leaf & overwhelmed with excitement in what took place & how fast things developed!! (grin)

First photo is Paul II Bull & 2nd photo is 53 year old Harold, man what a great guy!

ElkNut1