Books on tactics or suggestions

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Ffparamedic and myself just got back from 6 days in CO hunting elk. It was our first hunt. We had a great time and learned a ton but were ultimately unsuccessful at closing the deal on an elk. We saw three the whole time (a spike, a cow and a 5×5). We realized very shortly after being there that for all our research and preparation, we had grossly neglected the research on how to hunt elk that are silent and were very much at a loss for what to do. Our lack of experience and knowledge caused us to fall back on tactics we do know, whitetail hunting, but that didn't work and we knew it wouldn't but we didn't know what else to do. My question is do you guys have any suggestions on what to do when elk are silent or know any good books on the subject?

 

[Ross]

I would check elk nuts stuff. For me it is spot and stalk, sitting at wallows and covering ground until your into elk. Much of elk country can be void of elk so you need to lay some boot leather to find them. For me I try to create action following ole school Dwight schuh, Larry jones and lapinski. Case in point. Saturday night I was checking cameras, no bugling heard and six o'clock. Cranked off a bugle and a bull responded 500 yds away. He had never bugled. 30 minutes later he is at 16 yds and picks me up. He walks off and we continue the game and another who had not made a peep comes in bugling from somewhere. I am now in the bugling game with two bulls. It did not work but without calling I would not have known he was there. That being said I will say my bugling is on the upper end scale of realism. Not to toot my own horn but realistic calling does work in OTC units. Not always but at times you have to make it work for you. Another option listen at night and select a later time in September when bulls may be more talkative. Good luck next year

 

[RosinBag]

Elknut has a book that is all inclusive and an audio cd to listen to the sounds he is referring to.

 

[AHP27]

Been reading "North American Elk Ecology and Management." It's not much for exact hunting tactics but has more information on their behavior than any other book I've read. Incredibly thorough and informative! Just understanding the animals a little more gave me a few new ideas I've be trying. It's a huge book and goes for over 180 dollars on amazon but the Wildlife Management Institute has it for like 40 bucks.
Anyway Ross seemed to hit the nail on the head for some solid tactics. I got lucky this year sitting on a southern facing slope that had a bunch of fresh sign (tracks, poop, rubs) and just giving a couple assembly mews every hour or so. All the elk that came in came in silent but hey whatever works. Good luck on your next hunt!

 

[cnelk]

Elknuts stuff is all about the elk language - Verbs, adjectives, pronouns etc.
Some of it may pertain to you, some may not.

Look up 'Dirty D' on here. He wrote a book that would be very helpful for your situation.
He has a post on here about it.
You can find it on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Public-Land-Hunting-Black-White/dp/1492176990

 

[cnelk]

Elknuts stuff is all about the elk language - Verbs, adjectives, pronouns etc.
Some of it may pertain to you, some may not.

Look up 'Dirty D' on here. He wrote a book that would be very helpful for your situation.
He has a post on here about it.
http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?18602-Public-Land-Elk-Hunting-Book&highlight=Dworak
You can find the book on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Public-Land-Hunting-Black-White/dp/1492176990