If you don't hear 'em, that mean they aren't there?!
Have not heard a bugle all September! Spent the last few days in elk country and dead silence!
This week should be at or near the peak of the rut here in SE Wyo and nothing! Very weird.
It has been unseasonably warm and very dry.
So, if you don't hear them, does that mean they are not there?
Maybe the conditions have taken the elk's voice away.
The area that I am hunting in central CO. just got real vocal starting last Friday. The weekend before last I think I heard 3 bulls total, and only a few bugles each, but last Friday it was like someone flipped the switch, despite the warm weather, they bugled strong most of the morning and started early evening. Sat. was also good for vocals, and then Sunday, they nearly shut off for the day. This coming weekend should be vocal nearly all day.
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Did you find other signs such as fresh scat or tracks? There are a lot of reasons they will stay quite. When I run into no sounds, I pay more attention for other signs. Where I hunted last week we ran across a few elk that were making noises but kept very low key I assume due to hunting pressure. The bulls seemed to be rounding up cows even as warm and dry as it was. Everyone we located had 2 or 3 cows with them. Even if you don't hear all the sounds that go with the rut, the rut still happens regardless of weather or other conditions. Since I hunt a heavily pressured area, I rely on other signs more.
I know they are there. Fresh rubs, scat, tracks, etc. Shot them in the area before.
NOBODY is hearing anything. Never seen anything like it.
My guess would be they are quite due to pressure. You may have to get up at around 1:00AM or around there and get out there to hear something. Again, we can only guess. Also possible they were there and got pushed out too recently.
People screwing with elk will cause them to shut up just as fast as wolves. There are more bowhunters in western MT than ever, all running around squeaking and squawking on every call known to man. They are educating the elk in a hurry.
I chose to hunt in a couple different places than my hunting buddies. They continued going deep into basins and heard elk screaming every time. I stuck in the foothills(where people and wolves roam) and never heard a peep. But I killed a nice 6x6 that came into a cow call. You see the scat, the rubs, the tracks etc, they are there, you need to be more patient, they are being more careful.
Still as many elk as ever up in this neck of the woods, even with all the wolf packs. I don't know what they are eating, but they ain't eating all the elk around here.
Last year in Southern Colorado Archery season was similar and the number of bowhunters were insane. A lot of pressure. We had half the hunters this year early in the Archery season and the elk were more vocal earlier this year. Weather can add to the chaos but we were hotter and drier this year than last year. Hunting pressure has begun to set the mode on elk in our area especially in the early parts of the season. By the end of the week I know you could call in a lot elk beings the elk know the hunters are no longer in the woods. Moon, weather, predators, or man? It's man that dictates how elk act going into the rut. Our elk have moved rut from mid September to last week and the two and half weeks before the first rifle. It's been a constant now for about 10 years. Man changes animal habits a lot more than one thinks. How many whitetails do you think went through the woods looking up in trees back in the 50's. Not as many as do today.
We had elk laying above timber line out in the sun all day to stay away from hunters. I found that fascinating. And it wasn't just an occasional sighting it was happening everywhere I went. Laying up in the rocks just like and ole mulie buck. I rather enjoyed spot and stalking this year. Sure got to watch a lot more herds out in the open compared to the previous ten years. They keep that up for rifle season and it should be a lot of fun.
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Im on my 1st elk hunt (rifle) in the black hills of south dakota. Ive done ALOT of research about elk and the area im hunting. The season opened oct 1st it was cool in the mornings (30s and 40s) and warm during the days (70s). Everybody i talked to was hearing very little to no bugling. My unit had 2 archery tags for the month of sept. and 10 gun tags for this month so im sure it isnt the pressure that is keeping them quiet. I heard one very short bugle sat morn from a bull coming toward me about 20 min after i did some cow calls right at 1st light. Then around noon i got into an area where i found 3 bulls together and watched them for about 15 minutes less than 100 yards away. I tried some light (quiet) bugles and cow calling and the whole time they just stood there looking around and didnt make a sound. I found some fresh wallows and alot of rubs. I didnt see a cow all weekend. So the quiet didnt mean they werent there. Im really wet behind the ears but im thinkin/hoping it will get better when/if the weather cools down. Is there anything else a guy could do in this situation?
Location: 30 miles from park city UT on 1,500 acres.
Posts: 879
Hunting pressure and wolves shut em up pretty quick.
If its hot and dry though find a water source and hunt them over water. They gotta get a drink at some point.
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If you don't hear 'em, that mean they aren't there?!
