If you are hunting unpressured elk, then I would say that you would get a response of some sort, (racking, bugle, mew, run at, bark, etc.), 3/4 of the time. Now its a different story with them coming into bow range. I have never directly bugled one into bow range. Usually I will get a response when I am locate calling. Then some time later (half, hour or even two hours later), I'll have a bull come in. Usually cow talk will work when they come in close.

One of my best hunts involed spike bull calling and cow talk to a herd bull and 3 satellite bulls about a mile and a half away. After about an hour of calling to them, they just laid down and went to bed. Well my brother and I decided to try sneaking up on them. Just as we were going we saw the 3 satellite bulls get up and come toward us. It took them an hour to come to us. They walked up to 60 yrds and stopped. Just as soon as my brother cow called to get them to come in, another hunter came over the hill on an ATV. Well needless to say those bulls didn't hang out very long. But it just goes to show that patience is very important. You never know when that bull will come in.

BM

...Rocky Mountain High...