Random Bull Barking

[ElkElkGoose]

I was on a ridge over a very steep and dark timbered pocket and there was a bull somewhere way down at the bottom. I knew he was down there because he kept barking. He probably did a single bark off and on for 2 hours in the am, never seeming to move. Thermals were coming up and i was quite a ways away so I dont think it had anything to do with me. Also highly doubt anyone was in the bottom.

Any idea what he was doing?

 

[durangobrad]

I was on a ridge over a very steep and dark timbered pocket and there was a bull somewhere way down at the bottom. I knew he was down there because he kept barking. He probably did a single bark off and on for 2 hours in the am, never seeming to move. Thermals were coming up and i was quite a ways away so I dont think it had anything to do with me. Also highly doubt anyone was in the bottom.

Any idea what he was doing?

How do you know it was a bull and not a cow?

 

[ElkElkGoose]

How do you know it was a bull and not a cow?

He did a couple half ass bugles during the same time but mostly just the barks

 

[durangobrad]

He did a couple half ass bugles during the same time but mostly just the barks

You think he was the only elk down there? Could have been him doing the little bugles and a cow making the barks?

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[ElkElkGoose]

You think he was the only elk down there? Could have been him doing the little bugles and a cow making the barks?

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Def a possibility, they did sound a little more than what a cow sounds like almost like a single chuckle. But yes its a possibility.

 

[durangobrad]

Def a possibility, they did sound a little more than what a cow sounds like almost like a single chuckle. But yes its a possibility.

A bark, in my opinion is the WORST sound an elk can make when your hunting them. And it is usually followed by the entire herd vacating the area.

If it was in fact the bull, I would expect him to bark once or twice round up his cows and get out of there.

No way to know for sure but these are the two possibilities I come up with:
It was a younger elk in the group barking. but that elk has not gained enough respect of the herd for them to pay any attention to it, so therefore the herd didnt move off.

It wasnt a true bark? perhaps some other type of vocalization that didnt mean I see/smell something that is not right.

 

[ElkElkGoose]

A bark, in my opinion is the WORST sound an elk can make when your hunting them. And it is usually followed by the entire herd vacating the area.

If it was in fact the bull, I would expect him to bark once or twice round up his cows and get out of there.

No way to know for sure but these are the two possibilities I come up with:
It was a younger elk in the group barking. but that elk has not gained enough respect of the herd for them to pay any attention to it, so therefore the herd didnt move off.

It wasnt a true bark? perhaps some other type of vocalization that didnt mean I see/smell something that is not right.

Maybe a bark isnt the right sound, it was more like a single chuckle

 

[d3ntalbliss]

Maybe a glunk?

 

[LongWayAround]

Last year we called in a bull that hung up at about 75 yards. We had good wind but should have pushed across one more opening before the setup. Anyway, after hanging around for a few minutes, the bull backed off into the timber and barked once before a gnarly bugle. I took it as a sign he was frustrated at having heard us but being unable to see the source of the sounds he had come to investigate.

It was basically the same sound as the alert/GTFO bark but in a different context.

 

[sndmn11]

Maybe a glunk?

From the description of a single chuckle, seems like a glunk to me. The elknuts series has a good explanation of what that is.

 

[hunt_the_ridge]

A buddy and myself were chasing a bull and a few cows up the mountain and kept dogging in behind him about a 100 yards to 150 yards...we finally caught up with him and then got caught out in the open and had to hunker down...the bull kept doing a bark followed by a bugle and would look back from the last place that we had bugled...they never ran off just kept feeding away and he would do the same think every few minutes. A bark is terrible to hear if the elk is looking right at you or wind changes toward them ect...but dont take a bark always as they have busted you especially if you can see them and what they are doing.

 

[Redside]

From what I have experienced a bull barking is more like he is calling out that bull to show itself. Where as a cow barking is an alarm and they head out shortly after.

 

[Salmon River Solutions]

In my experience, I’ve only had elk bark at me when they were spooked. Not necessarily immediately running away, but at least wary.

My best example was about 15 yards from where I was sleeping in a tent attached to a camp trailer. Wake up at 2 am to pee, walk to the edge of the road, start peeing, then I hear a branch break and a cow elk barks at me from about 10 feet away. Just dark enough I couldn’t see her. Turn my headlamp on and I just see her turn and meander off not in a rush.

The next night they still came directly thru our camp, this time one of them sniffed my head thru the sidewall of the tent. Elk are weirdos in the dark.


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[ElkElkGoose]

Ok it was def a bark after youtubing the glunks vs barks. Oddly im pretty sure i heard glunking through the woods on my trip and thought it was a grouse or something. Sage grouse make a glunking sound.

 

[trophyhill]

Guys get to hung up on barks because it's usually the last sound they hear before the last thing they see is an azz running in the opposite direction.

It's part of the elk language. I've heard them bark back and forth to each other on several occasions. Nothing alarming about it. I bugled from camp over labor day weekend at 10 at night. Bull answers back with a bark a few hundred yards away on the same ridge we were camped on.

Last year I had a barkfest with a bull opening morning in CO. Barked my way in to 25 yards before getting busted. I barked 5 more bulls in over the course of that hunt. You definitely don't want to hear that sound after you've been seen or winded. Different context......

 

[Ucsdryder]

What time of morning was it? You said morning and thermals going up hill. That is opposite of what thermals do in the morning. I’ve had bulls bark in a non-panicked way, more of a come show yourself/frustrated bark, but if he was far down then that wouldn’t make a lot of sense. My guess...he winded you.

 

[sneaky]

Popping grunt. That's what ElkNut calls it. Basically a "show yourself" tone and not an alarm tone. Used in the right context you can stop an elk in its tracks way better than a cow call, or have one step out from cover. They think it's another elk wanting to verify.

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[ElkElkGoose]

What time of morning was it? You said morning and thermals going up hill. That is opposite of what thermals do in the morning. I’ve had bulls bark in a non-panicked way, more of a come show yourself/frustrated bark, but if he was far down then that wouldn’t make a lot of sense. My guess...he winded you.

Late enough that air was moving up...I even was testing the air as I was witnessing all this. Also, the first bark I heard I wasn't even on that side of the ridge if the air was moving down.

 

[Brendan]

I've personally witnessed two types of Barks, and I know people like Elknut describe them differently even though the base sound is almost exactly the same.

Alarm Bark (Or whatever the hell you want to call it) - Several, many barks in succession as the Elk run away. Basically like a white tail blowing, flagging, and beating feet the hell out of town. Think of it as "RUN AWAY EVERYONE".

I've heard the other referred as the "Nervous Grunt", but to be honest I don't really care what it's called. The sound itself is exactly the same, but How it's been used towards me is a little bit more of a "Step out and show yourself..." I've had bulls do it to me without backing down and running away, but also not moving in any more, maybe 90-120 seconds apart as opposed to many in rapid succession. Basically - feel like they feel like they should have seen their challenger by now and want to see it visually.

The other time it was very clear to me was after I called a herd bull off of his herd of cows by imitating a dominant lead cow using lost / assembly mews - "Hey you, come here...". Well, the bull obliged and came in on a string down the hill mewing like a tabby cat, thinking he was going to get some. Wish I'd gotten a shot, but I needed one more step before he blew out and back up the hill. What happened next was that a pissed off dominant lead cow came down the hill and into view, and proceeded to "Bark" at me every 90-120 seconds for the next 10-20 minutes. Basically, looking for the "Cow" that was trying to steal her bull. I was pinned in place, so just froze and watched. She wasn't acting scared, but more like she wanted the offending cow to step out so she could smack it around...