what is the must have elk call when archery hunting?
07-08-2010, 04:53 AM
#22
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: McCall Idaho USA
Posts: 753
I agree there is no one call that is best, but a mouth reed/diaphragm will work for any encounter or ones voice can work well too in mimicking cow sounds or bull sounds. You must practice such sounds before ever hitting the field! More important that the call used is the Sound you use!
Sometimes you have to stop a bull or cow then take your shot but not always. Thing is to be prepared to handle any situation at the moment of truth. Know how you're going to handle an elk if this or that happens, experience is a great teacher but not everyone can wait on it. This is where Sites like this can play a big part in ones success because of others willing to share what works in many cases & what doesn't!
There are various ways to handle oncoming elk, some stop for the shot, some look away or are concentrating on a caller, other will look right past you in the direction they heard the last sounds, others will pin you down, in many cases you can win these battles.
One of the things we do to minimize movement is to have our bows in the ready position when we know the elk is coming in, as it gets closer we have our bows half drawn where our right hand (right handed) is tucked tight to our lips & our left bowarm is still slightly bent because of just a slight bit of draw weight on it, we can maintain this position for quite sometime. As the elk gets to the point of shooting it we now only have to pull back the last few inches in a smooth horizontal pull, no jerking actions. If the elk is standing still, great! If he's not & we must stop him we do so. About 5% of the time it's with a cow sound. If the elk is close just a voice mew can do it, if he's beyond 15 yards or more an abrupt shriek type cow mew is needed.
But our all time great sound for stopping any elk is the Nervous Grunt, it just never fails! It will lock elk & anchor them in their tracks even if they are trotting by, there's just no better sound out there!
We've had on many occasions elk take 2-10 more steps after using various cow sounds in an effort to try & stop them, they'd look our way but in most cases they'd take a few more steps, in our situation with lots of thick country that isn't good, we try & stop them many times in a small window at best! The Nervous Grunt just simply does not fail. We can draw & make this sound with either our voice or with a mouth reed that's always in our mouth, we do this simultaneously. The elk is so intent on identifying this unseen elk that it gives the shooter the needed time to do his thing. Learn this sound well & it will amaze you, we've never had an elk not respond to it by locking up the second they hear it! It's things like this that can make the difference in ones elk hunt!
ElkNut1
Sometimes you have to stop a bull or cow then take your shot but not always. Thing is to be prepared to handle any situation at the moment of truth. Know how you're going to handle an elk if this or that happens, experience is a great teacher but not everyone can wait on it. This is where Sites like this can play a big part in ones success because of others willing to share what works in many cases & what doesn't!
There are various ways to handle oncoming elk, some stop for the shot, some look away or are concentrating on a caller, other will look right past you in the direction they heard the last sounds, others will pin you down, in many cases you can win these battles.
One of the things we do to minimize movement is to have our bows in the ready position when we know the elk is coming in, as it gets closer we have our bows half drawn where our right hand (right handed) is tucked tight to our lips & our left bowarm is still slightly bent because of just a slight bit of draw weight on it, we can maintain this position for quite sometime. As the elk gets to the point of shooting it we now only have to pull back the last few inches in a smooth horizontal pull, no jerking actions. If the elk is standing still, great! If he's not & we must stop him we do so. About 5% of the time it's with a cow sound. If the elk is close just a voice mew can do it, if he's beyond 15 yards or more an abrupt shriek type cow mew is needed.
But our all time great sound for stopping any elk is the Nervous Grunt, it just never fails! It will lock elk & anchor them in their tracks even if they are trotting by, there's just no better sound out there!
We've had on many occasions elk take 2-10 more steps after using various cow sounds in an effort to try & stop them, they'd look our way but in most cases they'd take a few more steps, in our situation with lots of thick country that isn't good, we try & stop them many times in a small window at best! The Nervous Grunt just simply does not fail. We can draw & make this sound with either our voice or with a mouth reed that's always in our mouth, we do this simultaneously. The elk is so intent on identifying this unseen elk that it gives the shooter the needed time to do his thing. Learn this sound well & it will amaze you, we've never had an elk not respond to it by locking up the second they hear it! It's things like this that can make the difference in ones elk hunt!
ElkNut1
07-08-2010, 08:46 AM
#23
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: beautiful western montana
Posts: 193
I have to disagree with you. The original OP asked about bowhunting. When you are bow hunting, the only way to stop an elk, in a hands free method, is with a mouth call. You refer to singling out that one situation?? What other situation would you want when you are bow hunting? You want to be close and you need to stop the elk with a call for a good shot. Bow hunting elk basics, that's the only good answer. Period.
Edit-There is no elk sound, that I know of, that cannot be made with a diaphram call. I'll go a step farther... there is no elk sound that can be made better than a good caller with a diaphram mouth call. It's the best way to call elk.
Edit-There is no elk sound, that I know of, that cannot be made with a diaphram call. I'll go a step farther... there is no elk sound that can be made better than a good caller with a diaphram mouth call. It's the best way to call elk.
07-08-2010, 09:23 AM
#24
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Cedar Valley Utah
Posts: 977
I have to disagree with you. The original OP asked about bowhunting. When you are bow hunting, the only way to stop an elk, in a hands free method, is with a mouth call. You refer to singling out that one situation?? What other situation would you want when you are bow hunting? You want to be close and you need to stop the elk with a call for a good shot. Bow hunting elk basics, that's the only good answer. Period.
Edit-There is no elk sound, that I know of, that cannot be made with a diaphram call. I'll go a step farther... there is no elk sound that can be made better than a good caller with a diaphram mouth call. It's the best way to call elk.
Edit-There is no elk sound, that I know of, that cannot be made with a diaphram call. I'll go a step farther... there is no elk sound that can be made better than a good caller with a diaphram mouth call. It's the best way to call elk.
07-08-2010, 09:34 AM
#25
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Cedar Valley Utah
Posts: 977
Guys I promise I'm not trying to argue on such a silly thing but there is not even one diaphram call you can put in your pack that will do it all. Even if a caller takes nothing but a diaphram call which one do you take? I usually have to have 3 or 4 of those with me depending on whether I want to make adult or juvenile sounds. Some days the bulls will respond to the single reed blue call, sometimes the double reed white. The triple can be nasty too when used right.
I'm just saying IMO there is just not one majic call. Is there one that may be more versatile than others? Sure I'll concede that. But my message to the OP is get the idea of a "must have" out of your head and start thinking about all the calls one should have in their arsenal. That's all I'm saying fella's...and I probably said it rather poorly but was my point.
Last edited by rather_be_huntin; 07-08-2010 at 09:46 AM.
07-08-2010, 09:44 AM
#26
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Cedar Valley Utah
Posts: 977
Nervous grunt huh? Very interesting. I will have to try that sometime, thanks for the tip Paul.
07-08-2010, 05:44 PM
#27
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Huntin' In Colorado
Posts: 2,910
I'm just saying IMO there is just not one majic call. Is there one that may be more versatile than others? Sure I'll concede that. But my message to the OP is get the idea of a "must have" out of your head and start thinking about all the calls one should have in their arsenal. That's all I'm saying fella's...and I probably said it rather poorly but was my point.
I prefer the domed Primos calls and that is all I use. I carry all of them with me but prefer the double reed. I have one in my mouth the entire hunt, rifle or bow.
07-09-2010, 09:09 AM
#28
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Cedar Valley Utah
Posts: 977
When I finally learned to call elk with a diaphram, all my other calls have never been back to the field. I carry a tube for location and the right senerio. The rest of the time, I am making cow sounds.
I prefer the domed Primos calls and that is all I use. I carry all of them with me but prefer the double reed. I have one in my mouth the entire hunt, rifle or bow.
I prefer the domed Primos calls and that is all I use. I carry all of them with me but prefer the double reed. I have one in my mouth the entire hunt, rifle or bow.
Just to clarify if you give me a diaphram with a grunt tube I can make just about every sound in the elk vocabulary. If I can't it's only because I've never heard it before. Making different sounds isn't the reason for multiple calls in my arsenal.
Having said that for me in the areas I hunt it seems that taking one call is like only taking one lure fishing. It seems for me, not saying you have the same experience, that one day the Primos double reed may work great but the next day they want nothing to do with it and I have to switch it up to a different tonal call. It's a tonal thing. It seems that if I blow the same call in a given area for 2 days straight they figure out I'm a fake and simply ignore me just because they recognise the "voice" if you will. Not to mention if 3 other hunters happen to have the same call then I like to switch it up.
IMHO opinion making different sounds is important but just like you recognize someones voice they recognize the same tone over and over or maybe it's just not as sweet sounding as another to them on a given day.
Last edited by rather_be_huntin; 07-09-2010 at 09:11 AM.
07-09-2010, 09:45 AM
#29
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Huntin' In Colorado
Posts: 2,910
That's the beauty of a mouth reed call. I can change the tone and sound at will. The more you practice the better you get. You change the pitch, the tone, you can add roughness or do about anything you want. Squeeze calls just plain suck in my opinion and handheld mouth calls won't let you hunt in a hands free method.
07-11-2010, 06:14 AM
#30
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 26
thanks for all of the info! The reason I asked for the ONE call is to really see what everybodys favorites are. We all have that one go to gun, or call, or bullet, the one we rely on becuase we have all of the confidence in the world when we hold or use this item. I have several, favorite gun, favorite tree stand and so on. I knew before writing this post I would use several, just not sure which several. I have a pretty good idea now. thanks agian