How would you kill this elk?

[MikeWarren33]

Last year I was still hunting, saw a cow, and realized I was about 50 yards from a nice bull and his cows. I hunt with a recurve so I need that distance cut in half. I mainly let fear of scaring them drive my decision making process. I ended up letting them feed over a rise and out of sight before I made my next move, but I never saw them again. I didn't keep pushing them because they were headed in the direction of my father but he was pretty far away.

Anyways, I blew it. And the picture I have of that bull's antlers glistening in the pieces of sun getting through the tree tops is forever ingrained in my mind.

It was too open to try to close the distance any more without getting seen by all those eyeballs.

Also, I was worried that I was too close to them to just randomly start making elk noises and expect them to come see me, but I believe I was wrong. However, they were not being vocal at all.

Question, what would you have done to kill this bull at 25 yards?

I'm embarrassed writing this and admitting how hard I froze up in the moment. I have killed an elk before... surprisingly.

 

[MallardSX2]

Hey, at least you didn't wing an arrow at it like every tom, dick, and harry on YouTube.

 

[BKhunter]

Following. As I have only gone on one Elk hunt and didn't connect I love learning strategy.

 

[Kootenay Hunter]

I'm no expert, but if you're worried about moving closer and scaring them, then you were kind of stuck, no reason to not try a subtle cow call/mew and see what happens? Or maybe a non-aggressive sat bull bugle, see if it pisses him off and he comes a running?

 

[TheCougar]

Tough to say, as there is no "right" answer when Monday-morning-quarterbacking. Normally I would say you could bugle and get the bull to come defend his cows when you are that close, but if you are in the open and he can look over and plainly see that there is no bull right there, that wouldn't work. As counter intuitive as it may seem, you might have backed out just enough to get to a point where they couldn't see you, then start calling or raking to bring him over to investigate. If they were that quiet, I may have tried a couple of soft cow calls and then just rake and glunk.

The other thing I have learned, be it turkey or elk hunting, is that it is almost impossible to bring them backwards. I do everything in my power to get within 45 degrees of their direction of travel and cut them off. I've been 100 yards behind a herd of elk dogging them making a ruckus and they won't deviate from their march to bedding. As soon as they went over the rise, I would have gone up or downhill (depending on the thermals) and raced in front of them. Unless my buddy is within 100 yards of the herd, I'm not going to let them disappear into the woods in the hopes they bump into his arrow.

I hope ElkNut replies here. I'd be interested in what he would do. WWEND?!?

 

[bmart2622]

Well since he has a few cows with him that would lead me to believe that he is probably somewhat content and starting aggressive probably wouldn't work, not right out of the gate anyway. I would find good cover and get my wind right and cow call at him hoping the close distance and non aggressive calling would bring him over to add another cow to his harem.

 

[bsnedeker]

What season were you hunting? Pre, post, or peak rut?

 

[MikeWarren33]

Pre

 

[Wapiti1]

Follow them to bed, and work the bull from there. I've had poor success stopping a herd that had a place to be already in mind. One can usually follow along and get back on them.

I don't leave elk unless the wind will foul it up. Only way to learn is to try different things and put it together. Once bedded, it is harder to blow them out if you keep the wind right. Bad calling, or the wrong calls will usually just get the bull to tell you to bugger off, but he'll just lay there and yell at you. Cow calls could get you a shot at a nice fat cow, or an unknown satellite. The Breeding sequence Elknut posted a week or so ago could be the ticket here. Another option would be to stick with them all day and try for an ambush as they came out to feed in the evening. Last option is to put on a sneak if he is bedded in a good spot.

Just my thoughts. I learned by scaring the beejeezus out of countless elk. Then I found a stupid one. And another. Not an expert, but that is how I would play it.

Jeremy

 

[buggy]

If the wind was good I would challenge him. I think if you're that close then you should act like you're coming to take his cows.

This is probably the wrong thing to do and I would hike back to camp sucking my thumb and wondering why I am horrible at elk hunting.

 

[bmart2622]

To me its a better option to start passsive and work up to being aggressive. If you use cow calls and they dont work you can move up to bugles and challenging him. If you challenge him right away and he doesn't like it, which he probably wont, and takes his cows and leaves then you're done.

 

[DAOutfitters208]

What type of cover did you have? I hunt in pretty thick forest that generally has plenty of cover to utilize. With a bull that is with his harem of cows and being that close... I would have just let out some soft cow calls and worked my way in slowly like I was part of the crew. Nothing crazy, see how he responds. There is no formula for elk hunting, tons of variables and you need to learn to adapt based off prior experiences.

 

[sneaky]

The very reason I've spent the past couple of years extending my effective range with my recurve. Out to 40 he's dead, much easier to close 10 yards than 25. If they can see where you would be calling from then you're kinda stuck. They'll look first, if they don't see an elk then they'll continue on their way. Back out, race ahead, and get the setup in your favor.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[bmart2622]

Pre rut is perfect, lets you call at bulls that haven't been educated too much and haven't had to fight or been beat up yet and those bulls are eager to snatch up cows before someone else does.

 

[LostArra]

Sometimes the elk just win.

 

[MikeWarren33]

Thanks guys. This is fun. It was dark in there so I felt hidden but honestly I dropped to my knees in zero cover. Not even up against a tree or anything. One of my "reasons" for freezing up, besides being a coward, is that my dad was hunting a killer wallow I had found about a quarter mile away and they were moving that direction. My dad has been on 9 elk hunts now and not flung an arrow. He sucks. All of this is his fault.

So far it seems like my options could have been literally every option there is other than do nothing which is what I did.

All of my success and near misses have come from getting between where elk are and where they are going. But in timber like that, I really had no idea where they were going and I had never been to the area I was in to have a feel of where they might be headed.

 

[Jbehredt]

Sometimes the elk just win.

Or almost always in my case

 

[5MilesBack]

When you have no cover, it's hard to stalk your way in. And when you have no cover.......calling won't do squat either as they'll know where the sounds are coming from and there is no elk there. Best option IMO in that situation would have been to try to ambush in whatever direction they were going. Might even need to swing real wide and far around to make that happen, always keeping the wind right.

 

[MTarrowflinger]

Unless the old man is just incapable of beating up the mountains for a few days, I'd be trying to hunt as a team so if that happens again, you can have him back out and try some soft calling and hopefully get the bull to cut that 25 yards off of the distance out of curiosity.

 

[MikeWarren33]

Ya, another human would have been the best option.