Stopping an elk in bow range

[ia bhtr]

Paul , signed up on Elknut1 , been working on the nervous grunt , so far it seems I have a severe lack of talent for mastering it

 

[GunsAreFun]

I got a cow that my partner bumped to stop at 45-50 yards with a panicked calf call. Actually, I got four cows to stop, but the other three were already 100 yards away.

 

[roosiebull]

it depends, and is never thought out before, usually cow calls with my voice, but i don't try stopping them in tight spots where they could stop behind something, and i don't try stopping the rut crazy bulls that are chasing or trotting towards cows, i just wait those scenarios out, and that's because of previous lessons learned the hard way.... i don't try stopping them unless i need to, and that just comes from encounters.... it's hard to be patient when they're in range, but it can be very important at times

 

[Jaquomo]

Always a hard voice grunt. Stops them in their tracks and you can get away with drawing (if their head doesn't stop behind a tree) because they expect to see another bull moving his antlers.

 

[ia bhtr]

Lots of good thoughts so far

 

[NRMike]

Paul , signed up on Elknut1 , been working on the nervous grunt , so far it seems I have a severe lack of talent for mastering it

Keep at it, trust me. When I started learning to use diaphragm calls, i was extremely frustrated. I am very comfortable with it now. It also took me going through about 14 different diaphragm calls from different manufacturers until i found one that fit my mouth and would make the range of calls. Many i could cow call, but not bugle etc. and vica versa. For me that ended up being the black AMP. Don't give up!

 

[DMurphy]

In case you thought that was a dumb question, I just searched through the forums for this exact discussion. I am a mid-western whitetail hunter also heading out for my first elk hunt this year. I am good at stopping whitetails and was just sitting here wondering if those tricks would work on elk. This chain has been great!

As a fun aside, I was in a deerstand with a youngester last year (how I spend 90% of my deer stand time now) who had never shot at a deer before. A forky came out (I am not over picky, especially for a first timer) and I was able to bleat and stop him dead in his tracks at about 40 yards. The young man couldn't get his gun to stop shaking and ended up banging it into the rail enough times that he eventually scared the deer. As it's running away, I yell a bleat sound as loud as I could and that thing locked up like it had hit a wall. It literally skidded to a stop. Stopped dead still at 90 yards, broadside. An errant rifle shot later and that deer had a funny story to tell his friends!

 

[MallardSX2]

Ive seen 90% spook when trying to stop them and the other 10% stopped behind a tree....lol

 

[ia bhtr]

Ive seen 90% spook when trying to stop them and the other 10% stopped behind a tree....lol

What you just posted is why I started this thread

 

[ia bhtr]

In case you thought that was a dumb question, I just searched through the forums for this exact discussion. I am a mid-western whitetail hunter also heading out for my first elk hunt this year. I am good at stopping whitetails and was just sitting here wondering if those tricks would work on elk. This chain has been great!

As a fun aside, I was in a deerstand with a youngester last year (how I spend 90% of my deer stand time now) who had never shot at a deer before. A forky came out (I am not over picky, especially for a first timer) and I was able to bleat and stop him dead in his tracks at about 40 yards. The young man couldn't get his gun to stop shaking and ended up banging it into the rail enough times that he eventually scared the deer. As it's running away, I yell a bleat sound as loud as I could and that thing locked up like it had hit a wall. It literally skidded to a stop. Stopped dead still at 90 yards, broadside. An errant rifle shot later and that deer had a funny story to tell his friends!

Great story , felt like I was in the stand watching

 

[Wastinshells]

If my elk hunt goes anything like stopping my first whitetail, ill “meeh” so loud I scare myself hahah

 

[grog24]

Do guys really thing bleating with your mouth at a whitetail stops a deer because they think it is another deer? I've stopped them with bleats, whistles, snorts, lip squeaking, etc.

make a little noise and see the reaction, if no reaction do it louder or different. If you make a noise and they start moving faster decision time. Elk, deer, antleope, etc I have used the same sound on all of them and it worked...the best one when they are ignoring you is "HEY" or "F@$king STOP!"

I can relate to this so well haha. When I shot the white tail in my avatar he was with a group of deer at 290yds walking right to left.. I was uncomfortable shooting position and trying to stay calm while my hunting partner tried to freeze them by making a female doe bleep, didn’t work... louder didn’t work.. the whole time I’m tracking with them with finger on the trigger trying to stay calm... then whistled loudly.. they’re still walking right at the tree line finally yelled “hey! stop right there” as loud as he could.. I didn’t comprehend what he said until after the shot went off otherwise I would have probably laughed because it actually worked.

Axis on the other hand will take off quickly (especially bucks)

 

[Whip]

How about after the shot?
I've always cow called and bugled loudly trying to stop a bull from running so hard after a hit. Usually that does slow them down at least for a bit and that little pause can certainly make the eventual blood trail shorter. Now I'm wondering if a loud nervous grunt in that situation might work even better?

 

[TheTone]

Cow call or similar sound. I’ve found it doesn’t need to be perfect and actually being kind of “bad” may help to stop them

if it’s already broadside and in the open I’ve also had luck letting them catch me drawing, best if the animal is relaxed and not on high alert

 

[Jaquomo]

I've probably shot 20 by stopping them with the hard voice grunt, as close as 6-7 yards. I do it by sucking in hard and partially closing my throat, managing the tone and pitch the same as with a voice bugle. You can do it with a diaphragm, but IMO the voice is much more realistic and stops them dead in their tracks every time.

 

[ia bhtr]

Getting it somewhat dialed in with a diaphragm , gaining with voice alone , quite aways to go tho

 

[ElkNut1]

Here's a video on how to make this sound, this can aid you in how to make it!

ElkNut

 

[Coveyleader]

Don't overthink it, a mew like you do for your WTs will stop them just as a cow call, grunt etc. Elknut's example above is as real as it gets, but not needed if you're just trying to stop them at close range, 20ish yds.

I would caution against a caller try to stop an elk for the shooter as you don't have the same perspective as the shooter and the elk may be in the clear for you, just the opposite for the shooter. Been there on that one.

Also, just like with your WTs, once you make a sound to stop them, you have just directed the animals full attention on you and the door is now closing rapidly.

 

[ia bhtr]

Don't overthink it, a mew like you do for your WTs will stop them just as a cow call, grunt etc. Elknut's example above is as real as it gets, but not needed if you're just trying to stop them at close range, 20ish yds.

I would caution against a caller try to stop an elk for the shooter as you don't have the same perspective as the shooter and the elk may be in the clear for you, just the opposite for the shooter. Been there on that one.

Also, just like with your WTs, once you make a sound to stop them, you have just directed the animals full attention on you and the door is now closing rapidly.

Yep , for sure I will be the one doing the stopping , and as you say on my whitetails , my arrow will be on the way immediatly upon the stop ............... providing I havent stopped his vitals behind cover

 

[ElkNut1]

Agreed, you can stop elk with a variety of elk sounds & non-elk sounds & I've done that very thing; but here's the difference!

Mews, whines, saying HEH, bugles, etc. do not send a message that requires a Reaction from other elk. It just says there's an elk or something else there!

The Nervous Grunt is different, it asks for a visual or identification as to what or where are you thus requiring an Action! This is where it separates itself with all other sounds.

If you hunt a lot of pines, aspens or any type of terrain with lots of cover you may need to stop your elk on a dime in a very small window. The Nervous Grunt stands alone for stopping an elk instantly in its tracks!

If hunting more open terrain where a Mew/Whine or other sound is doable & a few extra steps doesn't matter then use whatever.

If you're like myself I do not want to clutter my mind when in crunch time as to what sound I may use depending on terrain, instead I use the Nervous Grunt on all of them, no issues doing it this way. In most cases I have a reed in my mouth so I just use that without a bugle as shown in the video, I'm generally at full draw before stopping them. Works awesome! Lots of bulls on the ground with that being the last sound they heard!

Coveyleader touched on a great point, be careful as the Caller not to stop a bull for the shooter without knowing the shooters shooting lane! I did this to my Son on this bull below. I stopped the bull with the grunt thinking the bull was open to my Son. The bull stopped dead as I planned but there was a pine bough right in his lane, my Son was able to bend around to his right & still get the shot at under 20 yards, I was 15 yards from the bull when he stopped! Ha Ha we got lucky there!

ElkNut