Bow hunters over calling

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

After hunting super hard for elk every day last month I'm really bummed out with how call shy the bulls are getting.
I managed to call one 5 point bull in for my buddy (which he shot) and that was it!
I'm in an area where I used to call bulls in almost every time I go out.

Sadly I saw way way more guys in the woods this year in places that I never have, and one thing I noticed is how everyone is over calling.
If you're new to bow hunting please take this advice, STOP bugling and cow calling at herd bulls that are all cowed up.
They know somethings up when you call over and over again, and you won't bring them away from their cows
YOU'RE educating all of them!

Anyone else noticing this in the woods?

 

[Goodtimekiller]

I wonder how many of those overcalling hunters that you are mad at killed bulls? I would say if you saw hunters in places you never have before, that’s good. I never undersrand why hunters say we need to get more people hunting but when it happens hunters get upset.


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[jmez]

Educating them how? They are cowed up do they largely ignore the sounds. You know they won't leave cows so you don't call when they are cowed up. How's it affecting you?

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[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I wonder how many of those overcalling hunters that you are mad at killed bulls? I would say if you saw hunters in places you never have before, that’s good. I never undersrand why hunters say we need to get more people hunting but when it happens hunters get upset.


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I'm not trying to start a debate about how many hunters should be in the woods, God knows I've never asked for more..

Bow hunting has exploded in popularity, and I believe over calling is changing how elk respond.
We love blaming wolves but I think it's us.

If you've done much elk hunting and saw what I saw this season you'd probably understand what I'm getting at instead of being cute

 

[NMframed]

What about bulls that aren’t “all cowed you”, is it ok if I call to them? Or what about a herd bull that has cows and I’m able to get close to his bedding area and challenge him, is it ok for me to call then? What about if I’m hunting steep dark timber and want to send out a location bugle occasionally since glassing isn’t an effective way to hunt in that area? I wasn’t aware that I needed anyone’s permission to call elk on public land.

Archery season was definitely tough this year and I had to eat tag soup but I had a great time hunting with my cousins and my son and we were in elk almost everyday we hunted but just couldn’t put it all together, weather had more to do with it than hunting pressure. Sure the pressure from more hunters makes for a more challenging hunt but everyone has an equal right to be out hunting public land and I haven’t read anything in the rules or regs that says over calling is against the law.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

Educating them how? They are cowed up do they largely ignore the sounds. You know they won't leave cows so you don't call when they are cowed up. How's it affecting you?

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For the most part its really rough getting a bull to leave his cows.
Sometimes a challenge bugle will get him to run in, but the best bet is to sneak in quiet while they're moving and catch the bull in the back of the herd.
I'll try a few calls but if its not working then its time to ease up

I had 3 separate occasions this season where I was working a bugling herd bull and other hunters started going nuts on hoochie mammas and really bad bugles.
Every time the bulls would shut up and the elk would spook.

 

[jmez]

Right so your using different calls and sequences than everyone else. Shouldn't have much of an effect on you. They aren't educating them to what your doing.

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[brsnow]

If elk stopped responding to bugles and cow calls how would they communicate with each other?

 

[Ross]

I remember in the 80s and 90s I was told I bugled too much and scared elk away.....i also Remember a few years ago a story that Corey Jacobson had a note on his vehicle someone saying the world champion bugled too much ...that is simply hunting and otc hunting some places will simply have more competition and you have to adapt....good luck

 

[nidaho]

I bugle lots and cow call lots if I can’t hear or see them I can kill them. And I believe the wolves do shut the elk up. But that’s just my observation from my time in the woods.

 

[wapitibob]

I had 2 bulls bugling every 15 seconds, who were they educating?

 

[Goodtimekiller]

I'm not trying to start a debate about how many hunters should be in the woods, God knows I've never asked for more..

Bow hunting has exploded in popularity, and I believe over calling is changing how elk respond.
We love blaming wolves but I think it's us.

If you've done much elk hunting and saw what I saw this season you'd probably understand what I'm getting at instead of being cute

I shot a bull within the first hour of hunting with two others bugling. Sounds like you need to expand your hunting area a little. In 2 years theres been 1 other hunter in this spot.

If you aren’t asking for new hunters hinting will be gone before long. Thanks for helping keep the heritage going and being so optimistic.


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[Goodtimekiller]

By the way, rifle hunters are killing too many bulls so the ones that survive are harder to kill the next year. Lets ban rifle hunting.


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[Riflehuntr19]

Archery hunting is not an activity that lends itself well to large numbers. Elk don’t respond to calls that well anymore because of the hoardes of new archery hunters. I’ll continue helping friends when I can but I’d prefer rifle season. There’s less people anymore.

 

[Wrench]

There's a reason success rates are as low as they are....it isn't over calling holding them back.

 

[Marble]

Not sure if its overcalling or just pressure.

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[Rob5589]

This year seems rough, for many reasons. Killed one bull between two hunters, seems like a rousing success.
I have only been at it for 4 seasons, with my first success this year. Wish I would have started earlier when all you'd need to do was bugle a few times and bulls would come running from every direction.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

This year seems rough, for many reasons. Killed one bull between two hunters, seems like a rousing success.
I have only been at it for 4 seasons, with my first success this year. Wish I would have started earlier when all you'd need to do was bugle a few times and bulls would come running from every direction.

Ha ha yeah those days are pretty much over
Congrats on your first archery bull.

 

[nphunter]

I bugle a lot, had my boys bugling this year while i killed my bull. He happened to have 10 cows one of which was a hot cow. That was the second time I was within range of him and his cows in a week. My 2018 & 2019 bulls both had cows as well 19 had 30 cows and we killed him bugling as well. This years and last both screamed back while thrashing brush while i bugled my way in and killed them. 2018 actually pushed and pushed until he finally got pissed enough to turn and come charging in. My buddy was 20 yards behind me screaming at him I actually missed him at 10 yards once with a deflection and he was so pissed he circled me to get to where my buddy was and i shot him at 20.

In my experience elk act different from year to year my last 4 bulls have been in different units and I’ve never killed two bulls in the same area. I move to where elk are answering. I’ve hunted areas with zero pressure and have stared at a bull laying with his cows at 30 yards while i lip bawled at them for 20 minutes without them paying me any mind. Sometimes elk just don’t answer, but when there’s a hot cow in the area I don’t care how crowded or over hunted it is the bull with her will scream at you all day long if you can stay within a couple hundred yards of them.

I think people give elk way too much credit. IMO they don’t rationalize and think that bugle must be a dude because it’s coming from the road or that’s a weird sounding bugle must be a hunter. Elk are animals and when a ton of people are in the woods they move to different areas and behave different, if you figure out the areas the move to and how they move though them during those times you can still be into elk every day even in high pressure areas.

My caller finding elk for me

 

[Swede]

Everyone knows that setup is critical when calling. I often give out a short bugle before I climb up to my tree stand. I have learned the hard way about poor setups. A good calling location is important even for the tree stand hunter.
Something that has surprised me over the years is how long some bulls take to come to a call near my stand, and they come in silent. On several occasions I have had them come around two hours after I called. I know they were responding to the call because they looked intently at the location that was called from. They walked broadside to that location looking precisely at that spot, and walked back where they came from when they decided there was no bull there.
I have shot bulls that came in and had to watch some walk off because I just called from a point near my tree without thinking about the setup.
I sit over a water hole/wallow a lot. l almost never call from my stand, and never answer a bull from my stand.