MThunter

Everyone I work with knows I live to hunt. So when one kid came up to me wanting to talk hunting I was happy to listen. He started off by telling me about all these elk he was scouting which is great to hear because there are too many people that just show up opening day without a clue. But then he told me about how they had called in a cow to 20 yards and a spike to 40. Of course he had this huge grin on his face not thinking anything of it. Rather than laying into him I just said "Well you know he's just going to be that much harder to call in next time". I mean this just seems so elementary to me. Don't educate the animals your hunting before the season even starts. This includes scouting right up until the first day of the season to me. I have a whitetail stand hung and I won't be anywhere near it until opening morning. What would you all have told this guy who is doing something you just don't agree with?

Hunter_59

MThunter, it sounds as if you are dealing with a novice hunter and if that's the case I would simply tell them the repercussions of educating the elk in this manner. Naturally, if you are new to hunting it's a thrill to get that close to the animal which reinforces the feeling of being a great woodsman. Hopefully, he would take advice from a veteran hunter, otherwise, he'll need to learn from his own mistakes. Just hope you're not hunting close to his area! Good luck!

manboy

i would tell him he is an idiot! he needs to pull his head out of his arse and look around!

moosehunter21

I agree with manboy

usa

Man, I love harsh replie's to a novice's foul-up, All it show's is your immaturity and I imagine when you were learning and did something stupid thats how someone reacted to you. as a bowhunter education instructor I heard hundreds of what could have been construed as stupid comments, however we looked at it as an opportunity to GENTLY educate so as not to dampen enthusiasm. I would have said to that young man wow it sounds like you are really learning to call , are you going to try to kill an elk this year? the answer of course will be "sure". then I would have said "in my experience if you call them in preseason you educate them and it's harder to get them to come in when you are actually hunting " and then relate some real or contrived situation's to back up your statement.In my opinion it's ok to fudge a little when educating as long as what you are saying is factual and will help the novice.

Hemi

Calling someone Stupid is pretty harsh criticism no matter what the cirmumstances may be. Not sure how the Elk react where you hunt but in my haunts the elk are used to people,cattle,horses,cars,trucks etc as they are living practically in out back yards on our ranches and surrounding timber. I am fortuneate enough to have had elk drink out of our water troughs etc all winter to keep them in good health when weather is tough. I have been able to keep pretty good track of where the cows calve, bulls wallow etc... I guess I could be called stupid because as the season gets closer I saddle up a colt and cruise around to different areas and when the wind is in my favour and I have good cover I let the odd cow call go or location bugle to see what bull is hangin in a particular area. Our season is 6x6 or better and your best chance of smoking one is to know where he is leading up to opening day. You waste your time on a raghorn and someone else is capitalizing on your lack of preparation. Im no elk expert thats for sure...nor am I a rookie but I always figured if you were good at calling by all means let your voice be heard. I have had buddies come over to hunt that are decent callers and elk hunters and let a bugle go only to have the other bulls vacate because they were not familiar with this new bull in the area. I guess what ever works for you but whos to say whos wrong or right when it comes to hunting,calling or anything else for that matter! Im ready to get flamed by all the elk gurus now but I have thick skin![:-]

manboy

hemi, alot of use do not hunt private ranches! so the elk hear our calls once, then come in quiet , if they see something they don't like ....well don't plan on calling him in again with the same call! i guess u could say private ranch elk are not as smart as WILD elk.

MThunter

Hemi. What my co-worker was doing was calling in elk into bow range where they would then see them and spook. I agree that elk do run most of the time from a bugle which is why I use one very very rarely. Now I don't claim to be an expert but if an elk comes into a cow call and sees a person then they will probably be thinking twice the next time it happens. The fact that an area is heavily hunted seems like a pretty poor excuse to let them know one more of you is out there.

Hemi

I can see if they were actually spooking away from the guy when they got in close would not be a good thing!! Myself, Im extra cautious to make sure my set up is perfect.... both on private ranches and public land and have yet to spook one off. However if this guy is indeed a threat to your style of hunting then kindly express your views/knowledge and be glad there are new people entering our sport as we are in fact a dieing breed. If we spent more time educating greenies and expressing our points instead of beating up on fellow hunters calling practices we would be far ahead! Happy hunting and be safe.

Rebel Hog

The guy was believing his own lies!