Call the cows, the bull will follow.
It was 5:00 pm before I got back out to check on the herd. The satellites were out there, but I didn’t see the main herd until I checked the river. The bull was standing guard over the cows spread out feeding a sub-irrigated flat along the creek channel just off of a two track road. I circled to the North and used the terrain to maneuver within 150 yards of the bull and his cows bedded in the tall grass at 6:00 pm. I vowed to wait and let the elk make the first move before I called. I couldn’t see the cows but I knew they were close to where the bull was bedded with his antlers sticking up. I wasn’t going to get any closer without getting busted. About every 20 minutes the bull would bugle from his bed.
Pretty soon in about 45 minutes cows began to get up and move around . I started some light cow talk, and had an elk calf come at a trot to within 15 yards of my position chirping and mewing up a storm. He got so close I could see quite clearly it was a bull elk calf (if you know what I mean?) He circled behind me on my down wind side but for some reason never busted me. I was nervous about him being down wind, but when I heard the vehicle coming that became a secondary concern. The Pickup came down the two track road and the driver was on the cell phone . I heard him remark “Dude there is an elk up here right in front of me.” I heard the muffled voice from the other end of the call, and the driver said “Yeah, dude, WAPITI!”
The truck passed by me at 40 yards as the cows watched it drive by. Apparently they see a lot of white pickups daily and didn’t blow out of the country much to my surprise. I was extremely dismayed when the truck stopped 200 yards behind me and the driver got out to watch the elk. The vehicle was hidden from the elk by some trees so I figured what the heck, I’d continue to call to see what was going to happen.
Well it turned out better than I thought. The cows mewed back and began trailing my way. The bull got out of his bed, bugled and began pushing cows by me at 40 yards, along a trail . When he stepped into the open I drew my bow on the unsuspecting bull and put an arrow RIGHT OVER HIS BACK!
He whirled and ran 10 yard before he looked back as I frantically tried top nock another arrow with the nock full of dried mud. I dropped that arrow and nocked a different one, put the 50 yd pin on him and watched my fletching pass into and through the bulls ribcage. Then the bull hit high gear! My cow calls stopped the herd briefly, and I thought I herd some gurgling but moment later I could hear the herd splashing across the river, and even heard a bull bugle on the other side. I could only hope my bull was not in that group that went across.
