Pre-Rut Bulls But No Cows. Concerning?

[Up Hill Elk]

I’ve been hunting pre-rut Colorado bulls here in Colorado from September 3rd to the 9th. Seeing many bulls in bachelor groups and spikes. Zero bugling or rut behavior of any kind. Missed a decent bull due to user error of bow.

My question here is I am hunting a 2-mile long mesa with 6-7 drainages on each side and creeks half way down each drainage but I’ve seen no cows - only bulls. I am headed back up on September 17th and am concerned the bulls will be long gone wherever the cows are.

Any experience with this? It’s a huge time and labor investment to get to this mesa.

Thanks,

Hunter

 

[def90]

I’ve been hunting pre-rut Colorado bulls here in Colorado from September 3rd to the 9th. Seeing many bulls in bachelor groups and spikes. Zero bugling or rut behavior of any kind. Missed a decent bull due to user error of bow.

My question here is I am hunting a 2-mile long mesa with 6-7 drainages on each side and creeks half way down each drainage but I’ve seen no cows - only bulls. I am headed back up on September 17th and am concerned the bulls will be long gone wherever the cows are.

Any experience with this? It’s a huge time and labor investment to get to this mesa.

Thanks,

Hunter

The cows are down below where the food and cover are..the bulls will eventually move to wherever they are. Look in the bottoms of those drainages instead of along the top.

 

[Speck1]

I wish I could help. I just came home after the exact same experience in SW Colorado. I saw a total of 7 bulls. 3 were legal bulls and I passed on a risky shot on a 5x5. Never heard a single bugle until yesterday morning when I had to leave. I never saw a single cow either. I thought that was very strange. My guess is the bulls I saw were just passing thru looking for cows. Never saw the same bull twice. Good luck. Wish I could go back. Post up what you find when you return.

 

[Up Hill Elk]

The cows are down below where the food and cover are..the bulls will eventually move to wherever they are. Look in the bottoms of those drainages instead of along the top.

There are active roads on each side so I’m not sure how many cows are willing to hide in the timber.

Do you think pre-rut bulls stay generally close to cows or can they roam a few miles from cows? All the bulls I’ve seen appear to be roaming. The tough call is leaving a spot where so many bulls have been spotted.

 

[def90]

I don't think elk are as concerned about roads as people think. If it's just cars driving by they know it's cars driving by, they come and go and they aren't in the woods looking for them on the other hand if it's the type of road with a lot of trailheads and there are a lot of hikers in the area getting out and crashing through the woods.

 

[Up Hill Elk]

I wish I could help. I just came home after the exact same experience in SW Colorado. I saw a total of 7 bulls. 3 were legal bulls and I passed on a risky shot on a 5x5. Never heard a single bugle until yesterday morning when I had to leave. I never saw a single cow either. I thought that was very strange. My guess is the bulls I saw were just passing thru looking for cows. Never saw the same bull twice. Good luck. Wish I could go back. Post up what you find when you return.

Very interesting! We’re you up high? I was seeing most bulls 9500-10,000 ft

 

[Speck1]

Very interesting! We’re you up high? I was seeing most bulls 9500-10,000 ft

That’s the exact range I was at as well.

 

[Gerbdog]

Down in NM the last couple weeks the 6x6s i saw were with cows already, which is bloody weird, and they were not talkative. You could get a location bugle out of them before the sun came up and then that was about it, had to glass them up. Similar terrain as what you mentioned. Zero satellite bulls around yet. Was odd to me, and the cows were definitely not in estrus yet. Other parts of NM i know the bulls were bugling their heads off as early as the first few days of the season (stepdad put down a 335", on day 3, who was with cows already as well).