If you elk hunt long enough sooner or later you'll come across that "Wow, Did That Just Happen Moment" -- Well it must have been our turn this year! (My Son & I) This encounter was one that was flat crazy, I still have a hard time believing how it turned out; it could easily have gone south & been a heartbreaker! I don't believe it could've been scripted any better! (grin) Here's the story as it actually unfolded. This is an OTC DIY Idaho elk hunt.
I located a bull just after daylight with a location bugle, it happened to be a Full Moon & just after daylight; this bull was bedded up earlier than usual in this area because of this. -- He bugled one time in response to me, we heard him while 350 yards away & aprox 200'-300' of elevation above us. It was super steep country with a lot of 10'-12' high thick undergrowth! He was on a small bench above us the best we could tell. We headed his direction with no more calling, we were able to get to about 175 yards before we were concerned with being spotted if we called, we did not want him to get up & start looking for us & catch movement as he had the elevation in his favor even though it was thick timber & brush. We needed to use the partial concealment the best we could for a setup!
The plan was to have my Son move up ahead of me 30 yards, I headed to a standing dead tree with lots of dried branches & concealment to setup to see if I could get this bull to an aggressive state, I knew that was going to be a challenge in itself with only one half hearted lazy bed bugle to work with, he was not presently in an aggressive mood which isn't unusual early Sept. His bugle in response to mine was more in the category of announcing his presence in a non threatening manner! I decided to see if I could peak his interest with The Slow Play Tactic, I started with a few soft mews, I repeated after two minutes with 3-4 soft mews with no response from the bull. Basically he could care less at this point, not uncommon for pre-rut bulls!
I continued with 2-3 sets of low volume mews & whines over the next 5 minutes, he finally bugled but with little interest, it was as if he bugled because he wanted to but not in response to the cow calls. I decided to up the ante so injected 2 Contact Buzzes which asked him to come my way, I did 4-5 sets inside two minutes & the bulls next bugle had a bit more excitement to it but he still had not moved but at least is now showing interest! I did another set of Buzzes & he immediately bugled, I was ready for him & started to rake a tree & snap branches during his bugle. I raked for a solid minute & then panted several times through my bugle with just my voice, no reed, he immediately bugled back & I cut him off with a mid range Challenge bugle, (I'm now using a reed) he instantly bugled over me! Awesome, I'm getting him fired up!
Continued In A Minute----
..............
ElkNut
I located a bull just after daylight with a location bugle, it happened to be a Full Moon & just after daylight; this bull was bedded up earlier than usual in this area because of this. -- He bugled one time in response to me, we heard him while 350 yards away & aprox 200'-300' of elevation above us. It was super steep country with a lot of 10'-12' high thick undergrowth! He was on a small bench above us the best we could tell. We headed his direction with no more calling, we were able to get to about 175 yards before we were concerned with being spotted if we called, we did not want him to get up & start looking for us & catch movement as he had the elevation in his favor even though it was thick timber & brush. We needed to use the partial concealment the best we could for a setup!
The plan was to have my Son move up ahead of me 30 yards, I headed to a standing dead tree with lots of dried branches & concealment to setup to see if I could get this bull to an aggressive state, I knew that was going to be a challenge in itself with only one half hearted lazy bed bugle to work with, he was not presently in an aggressive mood which isn't unusual early Sept. His bugle in response to mine was more in the category of announcing his presence in a non threatening manner! I decided to see if I could peak his interest with The Slow Play Tactic, I started with a few soft mews, I repeated after two minutes with 3-4 soft mews with no response from the bull. Basically he could care less at this point, not uncommon for pre-rut bulls!
I continued with 2-3 sets of low volume mews & whines over the next 5 minutes, he finally bugled but with little interest, it was as if he bugled because he wanted to but not in response to the cow calls. I decided to up the ante so injected 2 Contact Buzzes which asked him to come my way, I did 4-5 sets inside two minutes & the bulls next bugle had a bit more excitement to it but he still had not moved but at least is now showing interest! I did another set of Buzzes & he immediately bugled, I was ready for him & started to rake a tree & snap branches during his bugle. I raked for a solid minute & then panted several times through my bugle with just my voice, no reed, he immediately bugled back & I cut him off with a mid range Challenge bugle, (I'm now using a reed) he instantly bugled over me! Awesome, I'm getting him fired up!
Continued In A Minute----
..............
ElkNut
