Your First move!

nocwalker

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LAST EDITED ON Jul-17-12 AT 10:07AM (MST)[p] Ok boys, I'd like to know what you would do if you were in my shoes.
We drew a pair of Wasatch unit LE archery tags and need some advice. We are very experienced whitetail hunters from the east. We are novice Elk hunters and I won't pretend to know exactly what to do. Overcourse the basics will transfer to the elk hunting but, I would like to know what you guys would do on what I think will be our first scenario when we get out there.

If you think I'm wrong on what I think will be the first scenario, Please make an adjustment to me!!!

Scenario #1

We get out there, hike into an area where we can see pretty good and set up for the initial glassing to see whats going on and to take stock of the area. The first good bull we see is way down into a deep draw (1 mile away)feeding and moving mostly sidehill. My hunting partner decides he'd like to try for this bull.

What do we do? Do we go right after it? do we watch and try to pattern it for a few days and get a shot 3 days later? Do we try to get out in front of it?Do we stay put and try to call it in?

I'm wondering what you experienced guys would do so we're not the perverbial "bulls in a china shop".

Nocwalker
 
There's multiple approaches to the scenario. First off just like whitetail hunting you would check the wind, based on that I would start making my way to that bull. Try to get within a few hundred yards before you do any calling. Once you are in range I would do cow calls to try and pull him in, I wouldn't mess with too many bugles as a lot of Utah bulls are bugle scared. Try and make it sound like there is 4-5 cows hanging out together once he calls to you and you can tell he is coming your way separate. Have one person calling drop back about 100 yards behind the shooter. All the time be aware of the wind, the bull will try and wind you if he can. So he will probably come from a direction you aren't expecting. I would think that is one of the common ways to deal with that scenario. But like I said there are many options.
 
>There's multiple approaches to the scenario.
>First off just like whitetail
>hunting you would check the
>wind, based on that I
>would start making my way
>to that bull. Try to
>get within a few hundred
>yards before you do any
>calling. Once you are in
>range I would do cow
>calls to try and pull
>him in, I wouldn't mess
>with too many bugles as
>a lot of Utah bulls
>are bugle scared. Try and
>make it sound like there
>is 4-5 cows hanging out
>together once he calls to
>you and you can tell
>he is coming your way
>separate. Have one person calling
>drop back about 100 yards
>behind the shooter. All the
>time be aware of the
>wind, the bull will try
>and wind you if he
>can. So he will probably
>come from a direction you
>aren't expecting. I would think
>that is one of the
>common ways to deal with
>that scenario. But like I
>said there are many options.
>

+1
What he said.

Here's another thought. FIND WATER AND PUT UP A TREE STAND. We took that page out of your whitetail hunting book. This way the bulls will come to you. With the poor water year this is THE way I'd hunt.

Zeke
 
Not sure of the date of your hunt, but if it's mid to late September, you probably won't need to do too much glassing. Get into a good area well before daylight and listen for bugles, then try to work into position to get the wind in your favor and close the distance. It'll be pretty hard to get a herd bull off his cows, but the satellites can be cow called in pretty easy. When you get into the "red zone", I think its better to try to get between the bull and his cows. You may have to birddog 'em for quite a ways before you get into a good setup. Several times I have stalked right into the middle of a herd when the wind and cover was right. If the bulls aren't cowed up yet, you can cow call and possibly get a good bull to come in. I agree with avoiding blowing on the bugle. Maybe once or twice in the dark just to get a response and see if there is anything in the area. Also, I would suggest staying out until full dark to locate bulls from their bugles to hunt the following morning. Getting up at 3am to be in position before daylight and staying out 'til after dark and getting to bed at 10PM, makes for short nights, but you can take a nap midday to make up for it. That midday nap should be in a blind over water. If your hunt is too early and the bulls aren't bugling, I would definitely sit water. I don't think you can pattern a bull elk in the pre-rut/rut time period. Big bulls will sometimes move miles between their summer range and their rutting area. Also, the bulls will cow up before the cows come into estrus. All that sniffing at the behind can cause the cows to move from one area to another until they are ready to be bred and the bull will follow along. A herd might stay in a general area for a day or two, but between rutting and hunting pressure, they usually move around quite a bit. One more thing about calling, I've had much better success with a very short and soft cow call. I like a bite call best like Carlton's Lonesome Cow Call unless you're really good with a diaphram call. Those squeeze calls like the Hoochie Mama are great for stopping an elk at 200 yards but aren't much good in bow range. I think the Primos bugles with the blue diaphram like the Terminator are great calls and easy to learn how to make it sound like an elk. That's my elk hunting 101 in a paragraph. Good luck on your hunt. It will be fun whether you punch a tag or not.
 
One last piece of advice when you're calling elk. If you get a bull or one of his cows to come in to a call, they will have the source of that sound pinpointed and will be looking for another elk. You don't have to be totally concealed, but it is absolutely critical that the shooter and the caller remain completely motionless when they come in. I can't emphasize enough the importance of the caller remaining still. That's where the elk will be looking the hardest. More setups get blown by adjusting your feet or tilting your bow or moving a hand than by getting caught in the open. That's why it always a good idea to have the shooter ahead of the caller so when an elk does come in, its focused away from the shooter giving him a chance to draw.
 
nocw,
I helped my son with a Wasatch archery tag last year.
One thing is for sure, you won't hear much bugling for the first two weeks, and the elk won't be coming to any calls until the last week or so.
Zeke is right about water. We are way short this year and if you can find an isolated wollow, I would sit it. That is how my son killed his bull.
Sage is also right in that you can't pattern bulls after the hunt starts. Too much traffic in the hills and who knows where they go after the rut kicks in.
Good luck. PM me if you want any more info.
 
Thanks so much for all of your responses. The consenses on senario #1 was to go get em, which is probably what we would have done. I didn't want to find out later that we should have been more patient and waited a day to try and ambush him. We can be a little aggressive sometimes.

We're like wind up toys when you put us out into open spaces, we're not affraid to go after em--although we have limitations with the altitude and the slopes but we'll keep at it.
We are use to hunting small properties, some as small as 2 acres.
So we'll be in our glory.

Again guys ,Thanks everything you talk about I'm taking in, you guys are educating me.

Thanks nocwalker, aka bill v.
 

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