Bedded bugling bull - how to get a shot?

[Paul in Idaho]

Last September on my archery hunt, I found myself just over 100 yards from a bedded bull elk. He was on the edge of timber directly ahead of me across an open area, tucked up against the far side of a large tree. I could see part of his belly and the upper part of one antler. The rest of his body and head was completely blocked. He had been bugling from his bed every 30-45 minutes. I hadn't expected to find him, so wasn't really ready for the opportunity.

The wind was consistent, moving left to right uphill. My first thought was to take off my boots and stalk straight in quietly, using the unusually consistent wind to my advantage. This was the first time wearing gaiters has ever been a disadvantage. I realized there was no way to remove them without the velcro closures making lots of noise.

After sitting and watching for a while, I decided to attempt a stalk across the open area, going slow and trying to keep my outline broken up with brush or a small tree. Of course, it wasn't quiet enough. I had covered maybe 40 yards when he stood up and saw me immediately.

Ever since that ruined chance, I have been thinking about what I could have done better.

Here are two ideas I had. Any advice you can offer about which would be best, or something else I haven't thought of, would be appreciated.

I could have walked back enough distance that the velcro ripping would not reach the bull, then taken off my gaiters and boots and stalked in sock feet.

Or, I could have backtracked, got above him and tried calling. I don't know much about calling, so am not sure about this one.

Other ideas?

 

[Scott85]

Was the wind in your favor? I would have sat there and waited for him to stand up or try to get into a spot where I can put a good shot into him sleeping (if that's something you feel is ethical).

 

[IEATELK]

100 yards.......... STILL GUNA SEEEEENNND IIIIIITTTTT

 

[IEATELK]

With him being vocal, def would have sat still and waited him out! When he got up i would have checked the situation and prob bird dogged him.

 

[Paul in Idaho]

I should have included in my post that this was an archery hunt. No option to shoot from 100 yards. Yes, the wind was in my favor, steady crossing left to right, going uphill.

 

[nontyp]

Did you have cover? I would’ve prly called my way to the bull. That way you can make noise and he just thinks you’re the cow coming in.

 

[Frazier]

100 yards.......... STILL GUNA SEEEEENNND IIIIIITTTTT

 

[ElkNut1]

This bull was Advertising himself & his position in an effort to draw any cows within earshot his way, this is very common to hear every year. Get back into the timber where you can have a good tight setup, this means this bull would have to come into your bowrange (from calling) before he could see the source of the calling! You also need the wind in your favor from his expected approach, in nearly every case with the correct calling situation the bull will come your way via the shortest route, odds are very good he will not come in downwind unless you arouse suspicion in him.

Give this particular bull what he desires, A Cow! If he responds & comes your way great, in most cases he will not do this right away, you may need to go into a Slow Play Breeding Sequence to arouse his real desires! This will flat kick his rear & has a 90% effective rate of bringing him right to you. This Sequence plays on a bulls Instinct To Breed! -- I've called in the cagiest bulls everywhere with this Tactic! It would have worked for you too!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[Frenchy]

A buddy and I were in this situation 2 years ago, but we couldn't see the elk. It was the last day of a 3 day backpack hunt and we were due to leave camp by noon. We sat and tried to wait him out, but ran out of time. So rather than leave him there we decided to sneak in on him. I got to 40 yards, but still didn't see him until he stood up and slowly walked away. I'm sure if we had more time to wait him out he eventually would have stood up and came to check us out, but we didn't have that time.

In hind sight I wish I would have pushed in just a little bit, and then had my buddy circle way up wind of him. The hope being that when the bull caught his scent he would stand up and reveal himself for a minute before blowing out. Potentially giving me a shot, or maybe even passing by me on his exit.

But again that was only in a time limited situation.

 

[Mallardsx2]

A chance is better than no chance at all. On the first day or the last day. Especially on public land.

You may regret bumping an animal but you will 100% for sure regret not trying at all. Potentially for years to come.

Thats my $.02

 

[COEngineer]

For starters, I would recommend not wearing anything that will not allow you to stalk and shoot quietly. When I am hunting...I am hunting. Almost all of my encounters have been "unexpected," so not being ready every second is going to cost you a lot of opportunities.

Every situation is so unique that, without being there, any advice will be suspect, but here are a few thoughts. Could you have stayed in the timber and worked around downwind around the clearing? Calling is a good option, either a challenge bugle or a cow call, depending on what you like and are confident doing. However, bulls will rarely charge across an opening or other obstacle like a steep ditch, etc. So, if you could have worked downwind from him and called from a position where he could stay in the trees while coming to check you out, that would be ideal. If you don't like calling for whatever reason, then I would recommend keeping an eye on him and wait for him to move. If he is bedded, it will be next to impossible to sneak in on him - he has all the advantages. Once he is up and moving, you can move to intercept him and at least be on equal footing.

 

[vanish]

You've got a stationary bull elk pinpointed, he doesn't know you are there and the wind in your favor. Calling will give your location away, and he'll probably circle down wind. Why chance it?

I support the idea of backing out, getting into stalking mode, and sneaking in for the kill.

 

[ElkNut1]

I agree with what Vanish is saying as long as you could have gotten above him with wind in your favor & attempt a quiet stalk, If being quiet was out of the question on a Stalk because of downfall/other crap then forget it, call him over! -- You have options there, don't force a stalk & get busted or that bull will not return to that area, there's also a good chance he has cows bedded just above him in cover so you will have to be on the look out for those hidden buggers!

I understand that calling was low on your list back then since you had no confidence in it, change that for this year & learn a variety of sounds & tactics that can lure a bull your way. Calling can be so effective that I even call bulls my way when I could have stalked them, no fun in hunting elk like deer! (grin) Learn how to play on a bulls Instinct to Breed! It will change how you approach an elk encounter from Satellite to Herd Bull or from non-aggressive bulls to bulls on Full Tilt. This isn't a Tactic you will find on the popular youtube videos. Let me know if interested & I'll share it here on your thread. Good Luck!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[rustneversleeps]

If hes bugling, I am calling

 

[Talk2elk]

Elknut's is right on the ball, his tactics work I agree this bull assuming he has no cows would be interested in a hot cow, breeding sequence for sure keeping the wind and cover in your favor. If he gets nervous at least he doesn't blow out of the country and you can hunt him again.

 

[Paul in Idaho]

Sorry for not following up on this post until now, it's been a rough week at work.

I would have had cover if I had backed up a bit and climbed up to loop in above him. That would have put the wind perfectly in my face, and probably plenty of cover for a calling setup. I thought about trying to call, but at this point I think my calling sounds more like a wounded cat than an elk.

ElkNut1 - Thanks for your posts. Very informative. Yes, I'd be interested to learn more about your Slow Play tactic.

COEngineer - Do you wear a soft-soled shoe or similar when elk hunting? In my area I was covering a lot of steep and rocky ground, so boots with a hard sole are the only good option I'm aware of.

 

[2rocky]

I had this situation twice on my Tule Elk hunt in 2010. First time was a midday bedded solo bull. Main beam broken at the 4th point. I stalked to 35 yards. When he winded me and woke he FLEW to the other side of the creek through a wall of willows. It was amazing and beautiful. He had his right shoulder to me so I had no shot angle. I'll remember that moment the rest of my life.

The second time the bull was bedded with cows.

It was 5:00 pm before I got back out to check on the herd. The satellites were out there, but I didn’t see the main herd until I checked the river. The bull was standing guard over the cows spread out feeding a sub-irrigated flat along the creek channel just off of a two track road. I circled to the North and used the terrain to maneuver within 150 yards of the bull and his cows bedded in the tall grass at 6:00 pm. I vowed to wait and let the elk make the first move before I called. I couldn’t see the cows but I knew they were close to where the bull was bedded with his antlers sticking up. I wasn’t going to get any closer without getting busted. About every 20 minutes the bull would bugle from his bed.

Pretty soon in about 45 minutes cows began to get up and move around . I started some light cow talk, and had an elk calf come at a trot to within 15 yards of my position chirping and mewing up a storm. He got so close I could see quite clearly it was a bull elk calf (if you know what I mean?) He circled behind me on my down wind side but for some reason never busted me. I was nervous about him being down wind, but when I heard the vehicle coming that became a secondary concern. The pickup came down the two track road and the driver was on the cell phone . I heard him remark “Dude there is an elk up here right in front of me.” I heard the muffled voice from the other end of the call, and the driver said “Yeah, dude, WAPITI!”

The truck passed by me at 40 yards as the cows watched it drive by. Apparently they see a lot of white pickups daily and didn’t blow out of the country much to my surprise. I was extremely dismayed when the truck stopped 200 yards behind me and the driver got out to watch the elk. The vehicle was hidden from the elk by some trees so I figured what the heck, I’d continue to call to see what was going to happen.

Well it turned out better than I thought. The cows mewed back and began trailing my way. The bull got out of his bed, bugled and began pushing cows by me at 40 yards, along a trail . When he stepped into the open I drew my bow on the unsuspecting bull and put an arrow RIGHT OVER HIS BACK!

He whirled and ran 10 yard before he looked back as I frantically tried top nock another arrow with the nock full of dried mud. I dropped that arrow and nocked a different one, put the 50 yd pin on him and watched my fletching pass into and through the bulls ribcage. Then the bull hit high gear! My cow calls stopped the herd briefly, and I thought I herd some gurgling but moment later I could hear the herd splashing across the river, and even heard a bull bugle on the other side. I could only hope my bull was not in that group that went across.

In order to fill the 15 minutes I vowed to give myself before I looked for blood, I walked over to the pickup to meet my spectator. It turned out he was an employee of the local utility company, and he apologized profusely for driving through my hunt. He introduced himself as “Cowboy”, but I told him that tonight he must be my guardian angel. It turned out Cowboy was an avid rifle hunter and he offered to help me trail up my bull. As soon as the 15 minutes was up I went to the site of the shot and saw my bull laying 50 yards away.

 

[Paul in Idaho]

Great story and photos, 2rocky. Thanks for sharing.

 

[schmalts]

I stalked a Giant solo bedded bull for 2 hours in the Gila NF one year. I got directly behind him at 40 yards and then had the challenge of getting off to the side enough for a quartering shot. The bull would sound off every 15 minutes or so and I would wait for gusts of wind to cover my footsteps.. My buddy was up the timbered hill watching and was supposed to cow call if things got bad. When the bull stood and started thrashing into the dirt with his rack my buddy made the worst cow call one could imagine. The bull trotted out of his lair and I did a quick judge of how much distance was changed and released a shot. It haunted me for a year that I never found my arrow, nor could tell if I hit the bull. The dark timber made it tough to follow my arrows path. I searched for 2 days for my arrow and the bull. The bull was killed the next year by an archer and I recognized the rack of that monster right away in a picture because of his nontypical side. I contacted the hunter to ask if it had any arrow wounds and it did not so I missed clean. It was funny because he was thinking like who the hell is this guy and how do I know he really knows where I shot it. After some cat and mouse location sharing we narrowed down that he killed it 1/4 mile from where i missed it. Oh well, it only grossed 420 inches.... no loss for me. To be that close to a bull that long trying to get a shot at a bedded bull was a rush like I never felt before in hunting. It just wasn't in the cards for me that year. To top it off 9/11 happened that same week while we were out there. Bottom line, I think i did most everything right but luck had it that the bull stayed straight away when he stood. I wasn't going to texas heart shoot him so when he trotted out and stood there a second I just misjudged the distance.

 

[ida homer]

Simple, just do what elknut says. You'll thank him later.

Your likely hunting the same/similar elk as he.