I have a dirty little secret – I like to call elk. I can’t seem to help myself, even though I know it is not the best way to kill the oldest and smartest bulls on the mountain. The reason it’s been my taboo secret is because some of my best buddies, like Brendan Burns and Dan Evans, both kill mega bulls with incredible consistency, and they do it without the calls while emphasizing how important it is to leave the calls in your pocket. Now that my secret is out, I can add it to the list of techniques I use to get within bow range of bull elk. In fact, I’ll start there because it’s the most used and abused technique in the elk woods.
TO CALL OR NOT TO CALL?
In spite of the fact that I do love to call elk in, I pretty much only use calls to locate tight-lipped bulls so that I can slip in close to them with techniques that I’ll discuss later in this article. This is mainly because, again, calling is not the best way to kill the smartest bull on the mountain. Furthermore, it can be a great way to get the smartest cow in the herd to say peace out and take the herd with her if you do it wrong. Worse yet, she might make that decision even if you’re saying and doing everything right if she can’t get a visual confirmation that you’re actually an elk. To understand why, it’s important to think about it from an elk’s point of view. Elk are extremely vocal, and every vocalization means something. Thankfully, unlike humans, there aren’t many chatty elk that just like to hear themselves talk. If you’ll approach your calling from this point of view, it will force you to ask yourself the most important questions:
What message am I sending?
How do I want the elk to respond?
BUGLES
COW CALLS CHECKING IN – LOW RISK LONELY CALLS – MEDIUM RISKHYPER HOT CALLS – HIGH RISK
GHOSTING – BE AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN
INTERCEPTING – CUT THEM OFF
THE WAITING GAME – WATERHOLES, WALLOWS, AND TREE STANDS
THE REAL ESTATE GAME – LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION