Hey guys! My son and I are going on our first archery elk hunt this fall. We’ve hunted elk with rifle but never with a bow and never in the rut. My question: Do elk bugle around the same time in low elevation as they do in higher elevation like 8500-10,500..our hunt will be around that 5500-7000 ft. Didn’t know if the elk up high start talking earlier or not. I’ve read so many different opinions on this subject. Curious to see what you all think..we will be hunting river bottom areas..Thanks!
Bugling Elk in Lower Elevation September
- Thread starter TN VOL
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Fisherkid1
Member
From my understanding the fall equinox is what starts the cows into estrus(less light), ide imagine they all kindof go into rut/estrus at the same time. Give or take a few days. Ive heard of sept 20th as one of the best days.
D
Deleted member 28227
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Exactly.
Hilljackoutlaw
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The river bottom elk by my house dont bugle ever period! Seriously 7 years of deer hunting down there from sept 1 thru december. I see the elk had friends kill big bulls in there never once have I heard a bugle. It's like they know they're close to human activity and are just silent. But minus this particular population I have not seen a difference on when they start bugling.
CouesKelly
Well-known member
This is my understanding of it. I am sure there are other factors that play into this that I am unaware of- Bugling behavior is correlated to cow estrus cycles and is then complicated by a number of factors that can make them go quiet (hunting/predator pressure, herd dynamics, time of day/night elk are most active ie. moon phases). Estrus cycles in cows are triggered by photoperiodism which means the amount of light/length of day. There are receptors in the retina of the eye that interpret this and trigger a hormone release that brings a cow into estrus. There are 4 estrus cycles- the first typically begins at the end of August. If she is not bred she will cycle again the third week of September, Second week of October, and first week of November until she becomes pregnant. The second cycle is what most would consider the "peak of the rut" and is when the majority of cows are bred. Keep in mind that Elk make sounds year round, they are just more talkative during the rut.
teej89
Well-known member
we hunted pretty low elevations last year, on a permit tag so not a "ton" of pressure and they were bugling the beginning of sept and hard during the middle of sept.
mmazour
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Agree with all above - have hunted in the lower elevations pinon canyon country east of Trinindad, CO, and they were bugling all September...better on cooler days, evenings, mornings as usual. Have also hunted some in lower elevations that are close to a lot of human activity, and they are silent, more as a product of the activity.
Ben Long
Well-known member
My dad's farm in Idaho is at about 2500 feet. The elk there bugle at the same time of the year as the elk I chase at 8000 feet. "Tis the day-length that makes the bulls randy and the cows want to party, not the elevation. Actual bugling activity varies on a lot of factors, including temperature, bull-to-cow ratio, ratio of mature bulls, hunting pressure, and the Secret Catalog of Mysteries Known Only To Elk. Rest assured, the elk are rutting even if they don't seem to be bugling.
Farmingdales Finest
New member
I am not an expert by any means having only gone elk hunting for the first time last September. But we had elk calling on the next ridge over from where we were camping on the 29th of August in NW Colorado. They readily responded to my rudimentary calling from the Thursday before the opening day until mid morning of the archery opener when it got up to 91 degrees.
We camped at 8400 feet and there was significant sign 1000 feet below us in the drainage but they were responding to us at about the same elevation as our camp.
