Situational, How to kill the bull?

Thank you all for the responses, ideas and potential plays!

Clear up the situation:

The bull was about 400ft below us and around 200yards away via range finder. Crawling into him was not an option as the herd was between us and him.

@hubbs77 and I were in this exact position last year; our play did not work. We have chatted about this situation amongst ourselves but wanted to chalk it up to the group to try to find the best option to potentially kill this bull.

Our Unsuccessful Play:

Stay at the higher elevation with the consistent wind but ease southward to stay in the tree line and try to slow play that bull UP to us. We drew the whole herds attention and within 90 seconds they were running out of the meadow down the valley to the south. We moved our tails as there was another saddle about ¼ mile down we thought they might cross, they did indeed work toward the saddle but ultimately went back down into the valley and up the other side.


What we think would have worked best is basically what a few of you described: @Dos Perros , @Coveyleader , @Beendare

Ease down below the herd in the dark timber to the south as long as the wind/thermals were still in our favor. Try to slip closer to the bedded bull and put together a raking play, see if the bull responds. In the event the herd bull comes in great, if a satellite come in, that would have been great as well! If the cows bust us, at least we see where they go and can make a play in the morning.
 
With the possibility of the wind direction changing your best bet is to move down the hill & half circle until you've passed the cows then hook in towards the bedded bull. Now you're not below/above the bull or the cows by much. This should give you the advantage even if wind shifts or swirls. Get as close as possible without being detected, don't push the envelope & risk being seen by any of the elk. As you get close to his level look for an elk trail that could be sidehilling there. If there's one use it to help stay quiet on your move toward the bull. If I could get 75 yards or so from him that would be great.

I'd setup right there & call that sucker right in.

I'd have 2 options to choose from since no real rut action happening, at least you mention no bugling & the bedded bull isn't harassing the satellites as their near his cows.

#-1 - Advertise/Display Sequence - The bull will most likely respond, when he does ignore him & continue on Displaying, this can raise his curiosity & eventually piss him off for not recognizing his existence.

#-2 - Cow Call & Raking. It's important to establish identity here before you do any raking, if you rake first the possibility of spooking them is huge! All they hear is things breaking out of nowhere. You may feel they should be on your wave link & assume it's a bull but so many times it isn't the case. They aren't mind readers. -- I like giving 2-3 soft cow sounds then repeat in 30-45 seconds, wait another 45 sec & now start the raking as this new bull displays at the presence of this cow. Sell it good! There's a good chance he will come in silent so don't let your guard down. - If caller/shooter the shooter will not need to be more than 10 yards out front & off to one side of the caller to avoid a frontal shot. Needed cover will dictate best setup before any calling starts.

ElkNut
 
We drew the whole herds attention and within 90 seconds they were running out of the meadow down the valley to the south.
Sadly, thats the reality of elk hunting the heavily hunted units in any states. I've seen it too many times to count. That or they hold up out of range. Many guys don't consider the fact that once you call they know exactly where you are....which limits how much movement you can get away with and limits any other alternate strategy.

The Calling strategies can work....and many choose to stick to that route as it's the most exciting option even if it doesn't always work.

I can only speak for myself; From the 1980's on I strictly relied on calling. Somewhere in the 2000's I realized it was becoming a much less reliable strategy and it's gotten worse since then. So many encounters where calling just ran them off. If you understand why they are bugling, it makes sense...most times they call to maintain distance from other bulls. It's mostly when they are very aggressive that calling works.

Now, I am at my most successful evaluating the topography and how the elk are using it, factoring in hunt pressure which I believe is the #1 factor, then using all of the tools in my hunting toolbox.

I met a guy in Idaho a couple years ago that had 2 big 6 point racks locked to a luggage carrier on top of his cab. He had just killed the one big 6 in Idaho and the other in Utah the week before. He lets others bugle. He snuck/crawled in on them....says he kills 2-3 herd bulls a year sneaking in [and apologies to the folks selling calls] but he doesn't even own a diaphragm or bugle tube.

I've successfully used his strategy. He says he can sneak on the big bulls that have cows better without alerting them to his position. As @Dos Perros correctly alluded to above, the herd bull will circulate around his herd checking the cows...so many times you just have to get close to the herd and let the bull come to you.
 
I would try to sneak in silently from the side incase the thermals shift. If I felt like i could get close but not to my effective bow range, I would close what distance I could and attempt light raking before letting off a bunch of calls. Sometimes you just have to make a decision and see how it plays out!
 
Back
Top