Manti elk struggle.

Jake571990

Member
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12
I know it is only the opening weekend. but i have been scouting for the past two months with 2 trail cameras on the unit. im hunting around fairview and spring city. with a ton of bulls on one of my cameras i decided to hunt that canyon opening morning. the night before the opener i saw one small bull with a couple of cows in the thick timber. so i went to bed hopeful. as i got into my area i wasnt sure if i was cow calling to another hunter but i never did see that bull. maybe i wasnt calling enough? i went back after some lunch and sat on some water i found. nothing. maybe someone can point be in the right direction. or tell me to do something different. definitly hard between the cow/spike hunters, deer hunters, and sheep....
 
Best advice keep at it, The bulls will move a lot with the pressure. The end of the hunt will be better then opening weekend.

I have an early rifle tag and have done scouting but I know they bulls are going to be in different places after this weekend especially
 
It's hot and a full moon. They won't be very active during the day. Also cow calling this early won't help you much. Give it a few weeks til they start rutting and it will be a lot more productive to call.
 
You are cow calling way to early. The bulls are not in the stupidity mindset of the rut yet. All you are doing is spooking them if anything
 
Utah's first few weeks of the archery elk hunt is frustrating to almost all tag holders. And spike cow hunters do mess things up a fair amount.
Big bulls are hard to find until they start sounding off, so be patient.
Sit water or wallows for the first few weeks and it will start to get better.
My son's hunt was like that but he finally killed a nice bull over water just as the bulls started talking.
Keep your chin up!
 
>The cows I happened upon were
>talking, so just trying
>to replicate that. I'm
>not being super aggressive with
>the call at all


Yes cows chirp all year round. And they know the chirps of most of the other cows in the herd. Let the rut get going let the bulls get stupid on testosterone and let the chaos of the rut happen. Plus one on the water holes and be patient
 
I've hunted the Manti the last several year, close to where you are. Don't cow call & bugle only to locate, then stay quite. These elk are very weary to any vocalizations. The rut isn't really heated up by the time the archery is over, so like others have said...find water or wallows. This time of year travel trails from feeding/water to bed is also really effective. Don't leave the wallow too early in the morning...be patient. Some very nice bulls on the unit though, so Good Luck!

-WannaB
 
Hang in there. It's hot, dry, and lots of pressure. Things will get better. I have some pretty good spots for you to sit near that area if you want some ideas. PM me and I would be glad to help. I live in Fairview and spend some time up there.
 
Hang in there, as others have said, it will get better as the hunt progresses. You're hunting in places that have high concentrations of elk. Find good glassing spots, figure out where the bulls are bedding then make a plan to stalk once they bed or where you think they will move in the evening. By Labor Day they will start getting interested in the cows and making a little noise. Then what you've learned about the area will start to pay dividends.
 

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