Moving in on another hunter working a bull

[Treeseat]

I don’t think this is anything new. 21 years ago on my first hunt to Colorado I had two jack wagons in a pickup drive through a meadow and shoot a bull out the window of the truck. I was sitting at the head of the meadow waiting for the elk to clear the trees.

I do think it’s getting worse due to more hunters in the woods, inexperience and people imitating their favorite YouTube star

Very common in my province. I (sadly) don't bother with rifle elk anymore for an OTC hunt, rifle whitetail is just scary.....at least archery is still wholesome here

 

[tshunter]

I think it’s fair game moving in on a Utah hunter working a bull because first, it’s probably in your home state, and second he probably moved in on someone else to be working that bull.

 

[Sulfire145]

Had this happen last year. Working a bedded bull midday after thermals had switched. Worked him for almost an hour to get within 80 yds only to have the whole herd bust. Had a guy pop up down the drainage a couple of minutes later. He started to apologize, but then cut himself off and said, "you gotta chase the bugles". He wasn't green, but I don't know if he knew we were working that bull, or if he thought he was sliding in on two bulls.

 

[Desperatehills]

I had it happen in Arizona back in 2016. I bugled on a ridge and had a bull bugle on the next ridge over. I made my way over and could not find the bull. I bugled again and had the bull run right up to me. He was just through the pinions and did not stop. I look to my right and there is another hunter standing there. He is furious, told me he was at full draw on the bull when I bugled. He told me to burn my reeds and never call again. He said his group had killed near 50 bulls in this unit. I said a super hunter like him should have no trouble finding another bull to hunt and I walked off and left him standing there. He moved in on a bull that was answering my calls. It was no more my bull than his. We just were hunting differently, but he sure felt more entitled to the bull than I did.

 

[JjamesIII]

So this is a thing? A hunter and a bull are locked into a bugle fest and another hunter moves in silently from a different direction and tries to kill the bull while it’s coming into another hunter? Damn...I like killing elk as much as the next guy but I wouldn’t never fathom doing this!!! In the past I’ve had this happen and I’ll sit back and enjoy the show, especially if the caller is good.

Had a guy sitting a wallow hear me and a bull tied up in a bugle fest, I must have bugled 15 times and the bull at least that. As I move my shooters in I look up the hill (thermals blowing down still) and there’s a freaking guy there motioning to me, like hey back off. Of course the elk blew out when they winded him.

I would love to hear an argument how this is ok to do. He didn’t seem to think it was an issue at all, even pretended there wasn’t a bull in the group! “There were 5-6 cows and a couple spikes down there”. I asked where the bugling bull was that I was calling and he sheepishly says “up there somewhere”.

This has been a tough season. More hunters than I’ve ever seen and every encounter ends in a “wow how did that bull not die”. Frustrating season so far...

It’s happened to me. I’ve had literally a group of four d-bags one time move in. They ALWAYS disregard the wind and head straight into the bull, blowing them off the mountain. Pisses me off so bad. In crowded areas I’ve even thrown a crappy “human” sounding bugle in the mix to try to let potential interlopers know it’s another hunter doing work, doesn’t seem to matter. They are just unsportsmanlike and want to get theirs before you do.
It’s like striking a gobbler on public. You don’t want too much attention being drawn to you and the bull you’re after. We all love the vocal interaction, but tactically speaking, knowing people are ass-hats, we are not able to work bulls in some spots.

 

[GRbowman]

Happens every year! Two years ago I had two guys move in below me and ended up shooting the bull I was working. I ended up seeing the bull after they shot and I could see they full length arrow sticking out of the middle of the back leg. I went over and found the guys to told them where the bull headed and that I saw they arrow sticking full length out of the back leg. They did not believe me, said they made a good shot. I told them that bull is not going to die and we parted ways. I have had guys see me after coming into my calls and then still circle around me to try to get in front of me trying to get to the bull. Crazy stuff. I had a guy that followed us for about an hour as we worked a bull. I even made some crazy sounding calls and turkey calls trying to let the guy know we were hunters, I finally left the bull and went back and asked him to find another bull. He said he thought we were a elk. I have on occasion got hunters to follow me up over the opposite ridge and then circle back around to where the bull really went Even if you can't find an elk you can always find hunters to call in

 

[AaronMColeman]

Easy fix, don't be a good caller. I suck, no human should think I'm an elk. But, I don't get it, elk still think I'm an elk I guess. Best of both worlds, I can call to elk but humans ignore me.

 

[KevinKenney]

Not an elk hunt, but had something similar happen to me and my friend on a guided Caribou hunt while bow hunting. Me, my friend, and our guide were watching a huge caribou for several hours from a few hundred yards away waiting to make our move. We eventually split up to improve our odds. Other hunters, from the same camp/outfitter, moved in from their boat, quickly parked, got out and cut in front of me and my guide as we were making our move and the guy shoots the caribou. My friend, me and our guide were all livid. In speaking about it after the two other hunters felt they did nothing wrong. We kept hunting but at the end of the week I went home empty handed as the caribou disappeared. It took me a little while to let it go. I ended up going back with the same outfitter on a discounted hunt 2 years later and killed a nice caribou and had a great hunt. It all worked out in the end.

At the time I never expected something like that to happen on a fly in hunt. Reading some of the stories about caribou hunting in Alaska makes me think it is more common than I realized. Could happen anywhere.