Your Move 2018, Episode #1

[WapitiTalk1]

22 September, early morning on a sidehill in (insert elk state). You've worked in close to a bull with cows...within 80 yards. You've dogged the group for 1/4 to 1/2 a mile uphill in some pretty steep terrain, off to one side, as the thermals are coming down this fine elk woods morning.. in an attempt to remain undetected by the multiple noses in the group. The bull had responded back to your locater bugle either time you hollered earlier with menacing challenge bugles and grunts warning you to stay away. For the last 25 minutes, you've kept your mouth shut (not a peep on your diaphram) as you've determined he (the bull) or the lead cow is moving the herd up the sidehill away from you and to the bedding area. The big guy has stopped a few times and knocked the snott out of some innocent trees. Let's say it's 0840 now. Moving as quickly as possible, you jog when it's open, walk on choked in elk trails, and crawl in the thick stuff to get a bit closer, and then....you detect movement above you... to the right... in the direction of where you think the bull and cows are. It's a cow and she has locked eyes on your movement. You freeze and you figure she has seen your movement, but you're in cover so she really is not too sure what you are. The cow "barks" once at you no more than 40 yards away, turns and looks over her right shoulder uphill in the direction of the herd, and then looks back at you.. You're pinned down for the most part. What should you do.. Geez, I've never been here before.

I know it's tough to answer without being there and knowing all the variables but for these scenarios, it's just a medium to offer suggestions and share ideas.. Back on topic.... You're close to the herd with a bull/cows and a cow (perhaps a sentry) has kind of pinned you down. What should you do with the information provided in an attempt to bring the bull home for dinner? Bull only tag by the way.

[Swede]

If I can't move without being detected, I'm staying quiet and waiting. She will get nervous, but nothing else knows she saw anything.

[Elkhunttoo]

For starters, I must be off my game anyway for me to not make a sound for 25 minutes this close to elk . It seems like if I was dogging them like this that my original plan was to follow them to there bedding area and then maybe try and work the bull once there. So I'm going to hold stiff and hope she settles and works her way back up with the herd. If she doesn't want to play that game and cause more of a fuss and gets more attention without busting out of there, I'm going to act as if I'm another herd of elk that has bumped into them and see if I can work from that angle. Where the bull has already thrown out some challenge bugles maybe I can bring him on down.

[Lefty]

Depends depends depends.


1.Ive made a cow call and all was good,..
1, A. Popped Miss Sept and all was fine
2. other times she insisted on seeing another elk, stamps her feet barks some more, then left.
(I known guys whose marriage is that way too)

3. Ive backed out and the herd took off led by the cow,
4. the wind has switched we were winded and the cow took the whole group including the bulls If the bull heard the cow call he might want to stick around but a cow in sight is worth more than one in the bush( sometimes)
5 backed out and she calm down the wind was still good and we were able to work the bull ; then messed up.
6. She knew what she saw and was gone,.
7. She didnt know what she saw and she's out of there.
8. She moves down wind and your busted

Hmmm we experienced every one of these last season. Im waiting for what the other will do!!

[Lefty]

If I can't move without being detected, I'm staying quiet and waiting. She will get nervous, but nothing else knows she saw anything.

Cows Seemed to be too suspicious and demand their way.

[Elkhntr08]

Cows Seemed to be too suspicious and demand their way.
Sounds more like a wife.

[Lefty]

Cows Seemed to be too suspicious and demand their way.
Sounds more like a wife.

Its a female thing!!

[Swede]

Cows Seemed to be too suspicious and demand their way.

There is one thing worse than having a suspicious cow around. Remove all suspicion.

[Swede]

I know we are going a little off track, but this situation reminds be of a couple in incidents I ran into in the elk woods.
This past season I had a bull barking on in heavy cover on a hillside adjacent to me. He barked about 75 times off and on from late morning through the afternoon. Finally he just went away barking a little as he left. I have never had anything quite like that before or since. I was in my tree stand at the time. The bull must have caught a little movement. It does not seem possible he got any scent of me, but I cannot be positive that was not the problem. I was in excellent cover in the tree, and he was in heavy brush.
Several years ago I moved in on a bull bunch. They were well in the open. I got within about 60 yards and one large bull caught movement. He barked several times. I could do nothing as he had moved ahead some, so I could not move farther forward, and retreating would have exposed me. He barked and slowly moved along with the other bulls feeding away. In both cases the bull was suspicious, but they never panicked. The first bull I wrote about above was alone. The second never panicked the others.

[Tigger]

Okay, here goes...

Option #1: If I am in good cover, I think I might just stay motionless and let her walk back to the group. Then I have to circle around as she will be watching that back trail. Is it a bark or a nervous grunt? You stated bark, thus I think she will be hightailing it back to the herd shortly. I really hope she just disappears and goes back to the group without getting the whole herd nervous.

Option #2: As soon as she is out of sight, I try and chuckle her back. No bugle. Just chuckles. This may convince the herd bull that this nosy satellite is trying to steal a cow and that is what has her nervous.

Option #3:One other option if for some reason I need to force the issue and all goes to heck, is I could run screaming a challenge into the herd of cows and scatter them. Mr Bull will be in my lap in nanosecond so I better be ready! This is obviously the nuclear option and I don't like it, but if one of those cows gets a positive id (with her nose), then that is one option to keep in mind (yep, chapter and verse from Elknut's playbook!).

[>>>---WW---->]

Some good ideas Tigger. Only problem is I don't know of any elk that have read Elknut's Play Book! So here is another option that I know has worked for me as I have been in the exact situation before.

For the moment, you have been discovered but the cow is unsure of what she has seen. You can fool an elks eyes and you can fool an elks hears. But there is no way you can fool an elks nose. So in this particular case it is obvious that she hasn't caught your scent yet. Sounds like you are below her on the hill side and it is 8;40 AM. The thermals are still moving down but will soon be switching to an upward flow. Time is NOT on your side. So you better hope she decides to join the rest of the herd soon. Hopefully, she will.

Once she has moved out of sight you want to get the wind back in your favor and give a few cow mews and start raking a small tree or bush and follow that with a smaller bull sounding bugle and chuckles. I might add that when I rake, I don't mess around. I find a stick about the size of a ball bat and start out by smacking the tree as if I was trying to break the bat. I want that sound to be heard as an attention getter. Then I start breaking limbs and rubbing the bark. Hopefully, all of this will give the impression that you have stolen the cow that was lagging behind and the bull will come back to get her from you as you tried to sound younger and weaker than him. If you played the game right, and sounded like a smaller bull, everything will fall into place.

As I said, I have been in this exact situation a few times and it has worked most every time so long as the wind was in my favor. If you can't get that one major factor (wind) in your favor, you need to back out. Many times, you will find you can play the same game another day with the same group of elk.

[WapitiTalk1]

Hey folks, I normally don't chime in a lot on these... I just lay em' out for ya'all to play out 8). I will however offer "don't sleep on a Poison Arrow Decoy, pretty cow face, attached to the last arrow in your quiver". They have worked for me time and time again as both a caller in a partner situation, and, as a solo hunter. I've had cows feeding 15 yards away from me with the decoy deployed, and, have had Bullwinkle(s) crash into me on several occasions while using a PAG. Just saying, it may be something you wish to add to your bow hunting elk toolkit! RJ