It was the peak of the elk rut, and we had just had a close call with a group of elk at first light. We were shadowing the herd, trying to get within bow range as they headed up the mountain toward their bedding area.
It was a good-sized herd with several cows, a herd bull and a few satellite bulls working the perimeter. We worked our way up the mountain, trying to stay parallel to the elk and keep the wind in our favor, occasionally calling in an attempt to pull the bigger bull away.
As the morning progressed, it became apparent that calling wasn’t going to pull the herd bull away from his cows. The thermals also started to swirl, so we decided we would be better off backing out and making another plan for the afternoon rather than risk spooking the herd out of the country.
Walking away from bulls that were screaming was extremely difficult, but I knew it gave us the best chance later in the day.
When Staying Silent Makes Sense
- Consider putting the calls away when a herd bull is already occupied with cows, elk have received heavy calling pressure, you're positioned along a known travel route or water source, calling would expose your location in open country, or the elk are already moving where you want them to go.
There Are Times When Calling Elk Works Against You
As a world champion elk caller who has hosted elk-calling competitions around the country, I am passionate about calling elk. I believe the right call at the right time is an extremely effective tool, and elk hunters should become proficient with their calls if they want to increase their chances for success.
But the age-old question of when you should call and when you should stay silent never has a cut-and-dried answer. There are simply too many factors to consider.
Sometimes those decisions have to be made in a split second, and the wrong call—or the decision to call at all—can determine the outcome of your hunt.
Anytime you make a call, you risk directing the elk’s attention toward your position. Sometimes that’s exactly what you want. In other situations, it can work against you.
Going silent isn’t necessarily easier. You’re typically hunting vast country, and elk can be unpredictable in their travel routes. Without calling them toward you, getting into the right place at the right time can be difficult, especially with a bow.
But there are times when calling makes an elk harder to kill.
Anytime you make a call, you risk directing the elk’s attention toward your position. Sometimes that’s exactly what you want. In other situations, it can work against you.
Sometimes the best call is the one you don’t use.
Start With the Hunt You’re On
Before deciding whether to call, think about how close you actually need to get.
Are you hunting with a bow, muzzleloader or rifle? That matters because it determines how close you need to get before you have a reasonable shot opportunity.
Several Western states offer elk seasons during the rut with weapons other than bows, so don’t assume every September elk-hunting situation requires the same tactics. Study the regulations for the state and hunt you’re planning, and then adjust your strategy to the weapon you’re carrying.
From there, several other factors can help determine whether calling is your best move.
How the Rut Changes Elk Calling
Elk can respond differently to calling depending on the phase of the rut.
During the pre-rut, bulls may come to a call out of curiosity even when they aren’t especially fired up. Bulls also may come in quietly, especially when there’s a smaller bull in the area. That doesn’t mean the bull approaching isn’t big enough to shoot. He may simply be smaller than the dominant bull in that particular group.
As the rut progresses toward its peak, one of the biggest factors to consider is that many bulls will be tending cows.
A herd bull with cows can be much harder to pull away. That’s when staying silent and shadowing the herd can be extremely effective.
Calling in that situation can actually hurt you by drawing attention to your position and putting the bull—and potentially the cows—on alert. Nervous cows can take the entire herd in the opposite direction.
Let the Time of Day Guide Your Approach
Time of day also helps determine how effectively you can work a bull.
If you get on a fired-up bull early in the morning and decide to use a silent approach, try to anticipate where he is going. Getting in front of a bull and his cows as they head toward bedding cover can be challenging, even if you’re a triathlete in top physical condition.
You also have to contend with changing thermals. Pay close attention to where the elk are heading. As long as the bull keeps bugling, you can use those bugles to track his movement and possibly make a plan for later in the day.
During midday, bulls will occasionally bugle from their beds. You can use those vocalizations to your advantage, slowly closing the distance while constantly playing the wind. But you have to be extremely careful not to get busted by cows or satellite bulls that may be nearby.
Later in the afternoon, I like to focus on where the elk are going to feed.
Find the food and you will often find the elk. It may be a small meadow in a wilderness area, a grassy flat or, around agriculture, an alfalfa field several miles away.
Find a pinch point or funnel along that route and get into position.
And if the wind is wrong, back out and make another plan.
Read the Bull—and the Hunting Pressure
The type of bull you’re dealing with also matters.
A lone bull may be roaming, which can make his movements harder to predict. When satellite bulls are hanging close to a herd bull, you have another problem: You may have to let those smaller bulls walk past without spooking them while you wait for the herd bull.
Hunting pressure matters, too.
Bulls that have heard a lot of calling can become call shy, and limiting your calling—or not calling at all—can produce better results.
I’ve hunted elk on both private and public land, and public-land bulls aren’t the only ones that can become call-shy. Guides or hunters may have been overly aggressive with their calls, or a bull may have already survived a close encounter after being called in.
Sometimes those elk are simply harder to fool.
One Elk Call To Always Carry
Even if you decide to hunt silently, I still recommend carrying a cow call.
You may not use it to bring an elk to you at all.
Instead, a cow call can be extremely useful at the moment of truth to stop a moving elk long enough to provide a shot opportunity.
That’s a very different use than trying to call the animal into range.
RELATED:Easy Elk Enchilada Meatballs Recipe (Homemade Red Sauce)
When Staying Silent Paid Off
Now back to that herd we left earlier in the day.
That afternoon, we changed our tactics and decided to go in silent. Looking at onX Hunt, we noticed a small pond below where the elk herd had bedded. We moved into position early, before we expected the herd to get up and begin feeding.
As we approached, we noticed a wallow at the upper end of the pond that had been used frequently.
That gave me confidence that a bull might come in to drink or use the wallow. The area was also fairly open, which meant I would likely have to wait for a bull to drink or wallow before I could draw my bow without being seen.
In my mind, it was the perfect situation to stay silent.
As we were getting set, I noticed movement. A large bull was working toward the pond.
Because we were in open country, I knew any calling could focus his attention on our position and make getting a shot nearly impossible. I patiently waited as the bull approached. At about 50 yards, he hesitated.
For a moment, I thought we had been spotted. My son Walker was running the camera over my shoulder, and I wondered whether the bull had picked up some movement.
What happened next reinforced the importance of not calling.
The bull had hesitated, but then he continued toward the wallow. If he had spotted us, why would he keep coming?
Then it dawned on me.
He had seen something else.
I looked in the direction he had been watching and saw the tips of an even bigger bull’s antlers just over the rise.
I drew my bow. The bull stepped into view at 22 yards, focused entirely on the other bull that was about to step into the wallow.
I released the arrow, and the bull never saw me.
He went less than 30 yards and dropped.
When I think back on that hunt, I always come back to the same lesson:
Sometimes the best call is the one you don’t use.
