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RE: Attention all elk hunters. I have a question.....
 

Good question. I like cow calls. I am new to elk hunting and am not very good at making the cow mews. So I don`t call very often. Like only when trying to stop a moving animal.

Fisherking has an excellent point about bad calls running the elk off. Elk know what other elk sound like. Last season, I ran into one guy who was in love with his cow call. He blew it all the time. The problem was that he was horrible...instead of the "EEE-ooh" sound he went "squeak-quack". LOUDLY AND OFTEN.

I think that if you practice a lot, then the cow call might be the best bet. It is really versitile in the sounds you can make: calf sounds right up to the lead cow screech. I used the Primos hyper lip single last year. Last week I bought a little tiny bite call called the Original Cow Talk from E.L.K. Inc. Very easy to use. Don`t know if it is still being made since I bought it from a shop that was going out of business and the call looked like it had been there a long time.

Good luck!

The Mouse

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RE: Attention all elk hunters. I have a question.....
 

You didn't say "when" you were going to be calling.
Bugleing will work on bulls (cows too) during the rut but cow calls work year round for cows and bulls
wyote

Edited by - wyote on 01/13/2002 06:03:05

RE: Attention all elk hunters. I have a question.....
 

Any calls are only as good as the caller to produce the right sound. The bugle should only be used to locate a bull then move into his space or safty zone and use the cow call to entice him in closer with limited calling.
I have to agree that bugle can run a bull off in areas that are hunted more and even a cow call can do that because in many places elk are becoming call wise and has turned into a spot and stalk or cutting them off to and from there feeding area. If you are trying to vidio them this time of year a cow call will be your only hope and probly only to stop them and you would have better luck during the rut assuming they rut arround the same time as up here in September into the first part of October. See if you can get a vidio on call ing elk like Wayne Carltons or the Quaker Boys vidio on calling elk and that will give you a better idea on hw to do it.

RE: Attention all elk hunters. I have a question.....
 

Cow calls seem to sweet talk em right in.

RE: Attention all elk hunters. I have a question.....
 

I use the bugle only during the rut and then to locate bulls. If you are good enough, they will at least answer you, giving away their general location. However, I have not had any come toward me, only take their cows away in response to my bugles, so I use the cow call in close to entice them in.

So the full answer to your question is take both if you are going during the rut, but use the bugle sparingly, and get some tapes of live animals and practice mimicing their sounds.

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RE: Attention all elk hunters. I have a question.....
 

In heavy hunted areas, the bugle is just an announcement to let the elk know that you're coming. If you're in an area where the elk have not been pressured alot for a few years, then a bugle can work great to locate and some times bring in bulls, especially satallite bulls.

Cow calls are the way to go all the time. There's not much you can't do with a cow call. You can calm elk down, you can call spooked bulls back, You can use it to cover your noise as you approach a herd.

A real good combination is a spike bull call and a hyper, or in heat, cow call. This combo works great and drives the big boys crazy. He thinks that a young bull has one of his cows and she's in heat. You better get your arrow nocked and be ready.

BM

...Rocky Mountain High...

RE: Attention all elk hunters. I have a question.....
 

Concentrate on cow calls to start. I have tried bugling and about 90% of the time the bull will turn around and run the other way. Out of the entire rut last year only three bulls I bugled to came in. Granted I am not a perfect bugler but I am to the point where I will only bugle to locate bulls or if I am very close like 100 yards away from a very excited bull. Boy is it exciting if you do get them to come in bugling but cow calls have seemed way more affective at keeping them from being suspicous.

RE: Attention all elk hunters. I have a question.....
 

I just reread your post and realized that you will be calling them in Tennesee in a nonhunted herd. Therefore the "bugle shy" bull theory may not apply to this herd. I have heard them answer a bugle as early as August, but for some really great action, go out the last 2 weeks in September and the first week of October and try your bugle as well as your cow call. I bet you will get some action and the bulls may actually come your way even with a bugle. It is just that in hunted herds, bulls learn fast that a man may be attached to that bugle sound.

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RE: Attention all elk hunters. I have a question.....
 

I've found that bull bugling is primarily good for locating bulls at a distance. Once in close, a cow call seems to work best. However, this is not always true. Different bulls react differently to close-in bugling and grunting. Some get pretty crazy and respond agressively to bull bugling and grunting. Others may answer but won't come near. Others respond by sneaking in without a sound. There is no hard fast rule of thumb, but overall cow calling works better because it is an attractant rather than a potential threat to the bulls.