Ep. 112: Calling to Bedded Bulls

to bring an elk within bow range. As a professional and full time elk guide, pretty much my entire adult life, I've spent countless days doing exactly that, trying to figure out the way to trick elk. And one thing that I've noticed is when I'm guiding hunters or whatever, we're out there all day and we we got to take advantage of all the times of the day, not just the peak when they're really active in the morning or the evening, but maybe what are they doing in the

middle of the day. So if you've ever been out and you think of yourself, well, it's the middle of the day, what should I be doing? This podcast is for you. I'm gonna be sharing a tactic I like to call striking up a bedded bull, which recently led to me taking the biggest bull of my life. So before we go into the tactic, I want to share the story of the giant seven by seven I recently took with my bow. This story is definitely a fresh ee, this one. This one just recently happened. It took place

in the beginning of September. I was hunting an area. I mean, I'm telling a story of the biggest bull I've ever taken, and you kind of expect, like, oh, really good draw area or something once in a lifetime tag and I was not expecting this bull in this in this particular unit um where I was hunting. It was just kind of one of those things where there are big elk in places, but this was not a place that I would expect to find a big elk um.

I could probably go back there a thousand times and never find a bowl of this caliber ever again, and you know that that would be more realistic. But the fact that it did go down was was pretty awesome. So being the beginning of September, there's a few things

that can be happening. One thing for the beginning of September is it depends on the weather, but generally, you know, it's kind of like you hit this pre rut phase, so the bigger bulls will be kind of off on their own, kind of cruising checking cows, which actually leads to it being a decent time to attract them, like

to get a bull to come in. But it can also be a bad time because the beginning of September, depending on the weather, can be very little action, can be hard to scrounge up an elk um, So it's kind of like a hit or miss when you hunt real early, if you're trying to kind of dance around the rut dates. But this particular hunt, I was hunting early and just so happened that we had good weather for it, so opening warning, sun's rising, and sure enough,

just as it's light enough to see. I would say, probably even before legal shooting, like I spotted a bowl across the canyon in a meadow, and very shortly after rips off a bugle were like sweet. Um. I had quite a few guys with me, had a friend of mine with me, um that grew up near the area, and then I had three guys that were filming for a video. So we're filming it for actually meat brand processing equipment, some of the processing stuff that I talked

about a lot. Um. I do some films with them every year, and this was one that we're like, okay, we're gonna capture this on film. Honestly, in my mind, I had uh. I was kind of thinking like, all right, you know a nice like any kind of bull, like if I could get a six by six, sweet, but I know this area is more like a good meat hunt. So I mean I could take a cow, I could take a bull, I could take whatever is any elk.

I mean I could she spike Like some of the units you hunt might be like brow tyne bulls or other areas might be a spike or you can't shoot cows with this that another thing this heck, I could I could shoot anything. And we were definitely hoping to bring home some steak. So opening morning, um, there's like

three bulls there. A couple of them kind of sparring a little bit that like sparring where it's they're kind of more I don't know, just kind of doing that hierarchy sparring where it's like it's not at all out brawl, but they're just they're doing the dance. They're doing the thing. It's like, that's cool. All right, there's some bugles. We bugle another bull bugles. So we're like, this worrying them.

This might happen fast. So we make our way over to those elk and they'd moved off between the time that we got over there and interacting with another elk along the way, and and then it just kind of got quiet. It's like, well, all right, to go kind of figure out and see if we can find him again. And so we started working around calling whatever, no more bugles, so just shut down, which definitely happens especially early season. Just like shut down and that happens late season two.

It's like they might get active and then shuts down and then maybe picks back up in the evening or maybe doesn't. So we're like, well, they're pretty fired up this morning. Hopefully it's gonna be good. So we checked some bedding areas, didn't really see much, got back to where we kind of started glass back in. There's a little bit of burn in that area too, and I spotted some milk bedded sort of like all right, sweet, um, let's go over there. I'm sure the rest of the

elker there. Let's let's sneak in there and get going. Before we even get over there, like just this storm cloud rolls and came in really hot and just started dumping rain. I mean it was, it was dumping a lot of rain. I was actually to get into the area. I brought my um like side by side, but it doesn't have a roof on it. And when we got back to the vehicle that night, no joke, there's like a foot of standing water in the back of the one seat that didn't have the drain open on the

floor like that was it just dumped rain. I mean, needless to say, like we could. We had no visibility. We got over there and just like the elk weren't doing elk things. They weren't there, they weren't making noise, they weren't doing anything. We did bump a few cows and stuff on the way and tried calling and there might have been a bull in with them, not really sure, but nothing happened. So next morning go out kind of the same thing. It was a little bit of a

weird weather. We got one bugle across the way, and it was like a small rag horn five by five, which I probably I was like, oh, that's about the size of most elk I chase. But I was like, you know, I was thinking about we saw some nice six points, and I'm like, all right, I'm just gonna hold out. Uh, there's some good bulls in the area. I think I can. You know, it's like kind of in my mind thinking all right, I'll shoot a six

by six, Like it's gonna definitely be possible. We just got to give it a little bit of time, and so they that one loan bull kind of disappeared and then that was pretty much it like not a lot of activity. We hunted around. During the middle of the day, we started walking up the creek bottom and some elkuld fed down to or move down drink and started moving back up. It just like kind of one of those things. Well there's quite a few of us, so it's like, everybody,

get down, do a little stock. Didn't work out, Um, they just naturally moved off before we could get a chance, and that was that. So that evening we get into position where we can just really let out a bugle and the bulls like a bull bugles across the canyon in the burn, and we get eyes on it. It's a big six point, like sweet, okay, that's a good bull tomorrow morning, you know. And then we worked in, like tried to work around because another bull is bugling,

and so we got two bulls fired up. So we're like, all right, tomorrow morning, we're gonna come back here before daybreak. We're gonna get in on this six point that was in this burn and try to call him in. So next morning, get in there, get in, get in early, hike in. It's quite a hike. So we get in, we get set up, and we hear them bugling, just just kind of like right around shooting light. Sweet, we dropped down. We go up to the top and it's

like that bowl was somewhere in here. The last bugle, get to the top, I rip a bugle and that bul bugle is like twenty yards on the other side. Just cut me off. And generally when a bull cuts another bull off, it's like fighting words. They just don't like that. Like I'm aero knocked, just ready for this bull to come in and nothing. The bull across the canyons still bugling. I'm like, huh, that's weird. So move

up a little bit. And I don't know if it was the bugle, maybe a wind thing, but probably just he just decided I don't want any of that, like got too close, too fast, like it was just a little too much confrontation for the first couple of days of September, and he just moved off. So the bull across the way, it was still bugling. So we still have this bull on the hook. So we called this bull he's calling back, and it's gonna be a long drop down all the way, drop it all the way

down to the valley, climb up the other side. So we dropped down and just before we get to the bottom, the bulls up at this like trying to kind of pinpoint him in the timber, and like, all right, there's this kind of like diamond shaped rember, sorry, pyramid shaped mountain across from us, really steep, and like the bulls at the top of it. Because you can hear he's like sometimes sounds on the side, sometimes sounds on that side. Sometimes he sounds closer. So he's like he's just on

the top, going back and forth. So I give him like this cow call. We're like my long cow, call the little sexy wine and he liked that. He like came on our side of the hill and bugle. I'm like, all right, we're gonna get up there. I think we got this bull on the hook. We're gonna get up there, drop down, get up there and call that bulling. So we get down to the bottom and hear that. I hear that bull bugle again and it's like, well he's he's on the side still, and he sounds like he's

really interested in what we had to offer. So we're I'm like, but I don't wanna, Like, generally, you aren't gonna call a bull off the top of a peak like that. So we start climbing up this hillside. It's super steep, really really thick, and I'm like, I just need to get to a place where we can get set up if he comes in that will actually have a shot, because you can call bulls in all day. I've done it where you just call bull in after bull after bull and have zero shots. Bulls within fifteen

yards and still have no shots. Like I didn't want that to happen. So I'm like, now this bull is actually like coming down the mountain bugling like, oh boy, he he knew he remembered that cow call. You could tell when like he started acting different with that that one call. And so like the bugles, he was going back and forth bugle and bugling, but he just really

liked that wine. So I'm like, all right. So we're working up and there's kind of like this old logging road thing that cuts through, which it's really overgrown, and then I see there's like this one little burn patch in the middle of the and I'm thinking, okay, it's about maybe twenty yards up. I'm gonna get to that open and that way when we call. If that bull walks within thirty yards, we'll have a shot across the

little logging road. Start. I'm like ten yards from this little burn, and all of a sudden, one of the guys behind me is like right there, and sure enough, that bull rips a bugle and is coming our way, like and I'm just in a bad position too. Thick bulls like coming in, doesn't like the setup, blows out, well, it doesn't really like blow out, but goes the other direction like circled us and gone within range, but definitely no shots. And we're thinking, like, dang, that sucks. It

was like a three plus inch six by six. That was our chance. And sometimes hunting you get one chance per week. That was it. So like, well, let's see what's going on, you know, give it a little bit of time, make some bugles go up towards where he went, bugle into the valley. Nothing, and it's like, well, hunting days over, that sucked. We had it. Everything was good, and we called in a bull at a time of year that it can be difficult to call bulls in,

and you know, that was our chance. It's like, well what do we do? So I just pulled out like my go hunt map on my phone and just looking at like betting areas and I'm thinking, all right, well, here's gonna be our new plan. We've exhausted this area. You know, we know what bulls are here kind of, I mean, we know what they're bugling or whatever. We're gonna go a little bit deeper and we're gonna go

into the thick stuff. We're gonna climb up and we're just gonna We're gonna essentially do a tactically I like to do where you're just you're you're trying to call to a bedded bull. You're you're going through bedding areas and you're trying to call to a bull that's like just laying there not really expecting anything, but you're just a group of elk or cows or whatever moving through. So we go over there and we start climbing up

doing that thing, calling, doing it all. At this point, it's about eleven am and um, so we stopped and we're like having a little bit of a snack break and a little bit of water break. I've got my made this pretty sweet elk shaped fruit roll up that I was just joking when I made it that it was like this lucky fruit roll up, and I forgot I hadn't been eating it, so I was like it was giant. I rolled the whole thing up. It's like a I don't even know, like a two ft by

foot and a half fruit roll up. And I was like, all right, this is what we needed. Guys like the lucky fruit roll We haven't eaten any of it, so I just ate a little bit of fruit roll. I'm like saying, like that's the secret. I'm telling you all

my hunting secrets. The real hunting secret is you gotta have a lucky fruit roll and uh so, you know, calling whatever, and we go down the road, so snack times over, start working where there's like all these old logging roads and stuff as well, so we catch we're going like cross country through trails, through trees, hit old logging roads, kind of a little bit of everything, just going up the mountain, just working. Like what I identified was some like gradual hills, like you're not killed, but

like gradual ridges, and then really thick timber. So it's kind of like those those flat spots where elk like to bed, those real thick spots where it's like okay, it's shaded, it's on the south or sorry of the north face, and there's just like good cover but it's a little bit more um, you know, just mellow bedding country kind of stuff. So go down the trail. I don't even know. After eating the fruit roll, maybe like a hundred and fifty yards two yards, let out a calcohol.

Yeah yeah, here a bull in the distance. So I'm like, all right, was that bull bugling? Because sometimes what bulls will do they'll just be in their bed and they'll just bugle. So it's like, was that bul bugling to my calcohol or was he just bugling just a bugle because it sounded long ways off, So give it a few minutes. I'm like, all right, if this bull bugles, I mean to give him this pretty much the same call, and then if he bugles back, I'll know game on.

So I give him that same call, two calcols and that bowl bugle half the distance. I'm like, game on. Getting the bushes, everyone the two gether. There's four of us together. To the guys is like ducking to cover. I move with Zach. He's filming like right to the point of the trees, and within forty five seconds, that bulls screaming right in front of us, Like all right,

game on. Well the bull comes out when just happened to be at like this intersection of like three old logging roads, and uh, the bull like, which is actually pretty good because that's you know, that's probably what why he was able to cruise so fast and so like quiet as well. So he pops out and he's like forty seven yards or so. It's super thick, and I'm like, crap, like this is perfect. He's just gonna like I'll give him here in a second. I'm gonna give him like

the old mew mew. See what he does, you know, try to draw him in. He's gonna be twenty yards away. Just like perfect. The wind was good, everything was good. As soon as that bull steps out, he you know, bugles again and he's forty seven yards away and the wind starts swirling and I'm like, you gotta be kidding me, like no, and I see him nosing in the air

like he's just like lifting his nose. I can see his nostrils just like breathing it in, and I'm thinking, I've got about ten seconds before this bull is a goner for like this is it? And uh, you know, if it wasn't, if it wasn't, if that wind wasn't swirling, and he would for sure would have come in right into her laps. And I had the way the sun was was like hitting the like it was everything was dark. And then it's just like the sun was kind of

like hitting the bowl. And there's this one gap in the trees and she just happened to be standing broadside in it. And I'm like, all right, I got I like at full draw and I'm like, okay, I gotta be I gotta shoot through this. And I kind of checked it with my pants and I say, like I think I said it out loud. I oh, I don't hit that branch, and the bowl like starts to take a step and I cow call and stop him, and

I'm like, crap, you know, like it was there. So I scooched to the right, hit full draw and then hold the pin and release and just tap it sounds good,

and then bowed to that thing. I mean, I'm the type of person even when I make a perfect shot, I'm always like, until I walk up on that animal, I'm not I'm not saying anything like I just hated to be like, oh yeah, it was a great shot, you know, especially when you're shooting through stuff like that, and I'm like, I'm nervous just because I'm like, that was a giant bowl. I know how big that bowl was. I was a very very big bowl. It was probably one of the biggest bulls I've laid eyes on in

the wild. And I'm like, Okay, where what happened and how did it go down? And then maybe two minutes later, you know, like Bugle as he ran off at Bugled, we hear crash. I'm like, okay, was that him? Just falling over. Was that him just go crashing through stuff? And then like literally probably two minutes later, we here bull took his last breath. It's like, okay, so gave it us still a little bit of time, walk over to look from my arrow. My arrow just like blew

straight through him. Um, so I couldn't find my air and I'm like, can't find any blood. And I look over and maybe fifteen yards from where he was standing, I've seen antler tip bulls down, Like oh sweet, walk up to him and I was like, I knew it was a big bowl, but I didn't see that seven point when he was coming in, and I was like, I was just in disbelief. No, ay, Like, this is a three ninety type bull that just sauntered in in an area where you definitely weren't expecting that kind of

bull to appear. And that is how, in the middle of the day, or pretty much the middle of the day, I killed the biggest bull in my life. When it comes to successfully striking up a bedded bull, I think it involves three major components here. So it's gonna be identifying, betting, it's gonna be calling, and then it's gonna be moving, and the moving and calling is really important because for this tactic to work, I think that you have to

be within a certain proximity to the bull. First. Well, obviously they have to hear the calls, but generally embedding and timber that's got to be close. Sometimes it has to be, depending on the topography, within a hundred yards or so. And so you kind of have to really pinpoint the betting and then move through that for this whole entire tactic to work. So let's start with identifying betting.

When I'm looking for elk betting areas, I've talked about this many times in many podcasts, But what we're looking for is we're looking for good cover. Now, depending on the type of country you're in, I mean, some places you'll hunt and it's all cover. That's one thing I love about archery season is you get to hunt the darker timber um and if they're making noise you they it's like, well it's the one time we year those

elk are gonna let you know where they're at. But um, you might be in an area that's really wide open and it might just be like an aspen stand um or something something that provides shade throughout the day. Elk like that that thicker cover to bed. They don't like to have to elk or I mean they're always hot. I remember the first outfitter I worked for, old timer, and he was like he described it because like, elk are always hot. That's the one thing you know about elk.

They are wearing the thickest for coat you've ever seen. And it doesn't matter if it's the middle of winter or the middle of summer. They are cooking. And it's it's pretty true when an elk beds like they like those places that are nice and cool, nice and shaded. Um. It doesn't necessarily have to be on the north face of a mountain. That's not always the case, but many

places you are that seems to be the timbered side. Uh. The trouble with a lot of the north faces, it's also the more worn downside, so as a steeper side. And elk do you also like to bed in comfort for the most part. So they're big animal. UM, think about any any animal like maybe even just like relate it to let's say a horse. You know you've got a horse, or a or a cow, a beef cow.

It's like how many times, Like if you've got a horse, with that horse want to lay down on the steepest mountain possible, It's like, no, they'll be on the steepest mountain. But um, you know, for an elk to be comfortable, he needs kind of more of a little bit of a gradual slope. So elk generally bed on a ridge or a finger ridge, something where the slope is gentle enough that they can lay comfortably and lay in multiple positions.

So it could be the steepest country around, but at the top of that ridge or whatever, especially if it's a real steep country, at the top of that ridge or at the bottom of the valley, it's easier for the elk to bed. So those are things to think about. It is like where's easy for the elk ti bed? And then also they're gonna want to be bedded just like everything else with the wind probably coming downhill and where they can kind of fan out. Nice thing about elk is for the elk is the fact that they

are a safety and numbers kind of animal. They're hurt animal, and so they will bed in multiple positions, will have other animals bedded and and be able to spread out, and that's how they stay safe. So when I look at a like, I just pull out my you know, go hunt maps or whatever and just start looking on there. I get the topography out, and then I get and

I switched between topography and satellite imagery. And then one thing like why I'm doing that is I'm seeing, Okay, where are these benches, these like more everything super steep? Where's that more gradual bedding on? Probably I generally will probably start on that north face, but I'll then look at that like satellite image over the topography and say, okay, well, now here's the timber. Here's like where a good like chance for them to bed is. And then which way

is the wind going? You know, is that it's probably gonna be blowing down this site. So it's kind of start on those areas, and that's how I'll start narrowing down to those betting areas. Another another thing, it's not just ridges though, I have also found like in those steep draws, sometimes there's creek bottoms or even like it's not a creek bottom, but it's a valley of some kind. Those will flat will be super steep, and you might get these valleys where it's like, Okay, here's a little

bench or a little pocket rail. Can bet in those little benches. Even on the face of a steep mountain that benches out a little bit, those can be great betting areas. So what I like to do is focusing on those betting areas. Once I've identified all right betting zone, then it's time to move and call. And what you're kind of doing is you're you're doing a combination of still hunting, which still hunting, not to be confused with sitting and hunting, Like that's stand hunting. I don't know,

I know the terminology. If you're new to it can be like, well, what's still hunting? It certam still hunting. We should just change that to something else because it makes no sense to me either. Um, you aren't necessarily still, you're just moving like you're you're just moving cautiously, quietly, um, just aimlessly roaming or strategically roaming through the woods at a very slow pace where you're hoping to see things before they see you. And and if done right, it's

a very good skill to have. Um. So what I'm doing is I'm going through these kind of betting areas looking and then I'm moving and then I'm calling. And what the calling is is the calling is to try to figure out where an elk is before I blow through there and blow him out by you know, bumping him or not seeing him. And what the hope is when you're striking up a beded bull is really you're looking for the bull that's bedded off on his own.

So what he wants to do is he's gonna want to check cows, and so you're hoping to find that bull that's bedded by himself, and then you're gonna be the random group of cows or a heard It could even be heard with a bull moving through the timber also going to bed and he goes, oh, hey, i'm here too. That's what his bagle is gonna be, Oh

I'm over here. Um. It could also be and and this is probably what you'll run into more is like a bull with cows or with a herd um And so sometimes like that bull will just bugle from his bed and then he'll just do things. Later. He might come in, he might not. Um. The as Loan bulls are generally the ones that are going to come straight in, but there is those those bulls too that do have cows in the middle of the day, they don't want

to get them riled up. They don't want like another bull to come in and just like push them around and do their things, so they might actually get up and come challenge you. So what you're trying to do is you're trying to as you're moving and calling, get into that scenario where you're calling within proximity to a bull that decides, hey, I need to go and investigate, or hey, I need to go take care of business

over here. When I'm doing this, this is generally in the hours between kind of like when elk are done doing their their major bugling in the morning and before the evening, so it's kind of like that time where yeah, they should be often the timber bedded somewhere. One thing that I like do is there's a couple of different calls that I use, So I generally start out with a couple of cow calls, um, maybe even just a lost cow, like a Yeah, you can do that a

couple of times. As you're moving, I'll do it, you know, like I'll move and call a little bit, and then I'll stop in a in a spot and call what I'm trying to do is trying to cover the terrain with my calls in an adequate way. So I'm not necessarily overcalling. But I'm also not shy of calling because I know that in the timber, your sound travels a little bit different. So if it's a if it's more of a flat area and really thick trees, I'm calling

like every two fifty yards. If it's like more open and I'm on a ridge, in my sound I feel like it's broadcasting into this little basin, then it might be like every half a mile. It just depends on how that sounds traveling. So I generally start out with some kind of cow cow sound um either just like one cow or like I said, I do like a little bit longer um wine sometimes, but just like cows talking.

If I get a bull to respond to that cow call, then I pretty much know like I'm I'm calling that bull, and it's just one of those things like when a bull bugles to your cow call unprovoked with other stuff, he's probably pretty interested and he's probably gonna come in, And in that case, I might just stick with the

cow calls. But as I'm moving and calling I'm also bugling, UM, So I always start with the cow calls just in case it's like um, I talked about this last week, but it's like kind of like imagine like a predator standard coyot stand where you're like you start soft with the colleges in case there's one close by, and then

you get louder. I kind of do that, but I do like the cow calls just in case there's one close by that wants to respond to that, because it's a lot easier to just not give him options to do other things like round up his cows or feel threatened or whatever. Um. And then in but I will, So I'll do a couple of cow calls and then

I'll throw out a beagle, and the beagle. The reason I do the bugles because some bulls are like only going to respond to a bugle, and you don't even know the temperament of the herd that like you're getting into. Maybe there's a bull that's been bugling like all morning

and the cows haven't made a peep. There's gonna be a lot of elk that you get into that's like, hey, the cows aren't making any sounds and at a certain time of day, like maybe later in the day, they will make some sounds, but it just comes out of place, like the bull is not going to respond to that. So I throw out the bagle because I want to be like an equal opportunity offender. I want to give every elk in that herd an opportunity to hear something they like. Um, So I'll do the cow calls and

I'll throw out those bugles. The nice thing about the beagles too, as they travel a little bit further, so maybe one that can't hear the cow calls, he heard a piece of that bugle and it's going to respond. The nice thing about the cow calls too is sometimes there might be a herd and you might even get a cow to respond, as the cows might not respond to a bugle, So you kind of get the best of both worlds by covering adequately with different kinds of sounds.

When it goes to uh bugling in this scenario, I generally do like a shortened kind of locator call, or I'll even just throw out like kind of more aggressive bugle where it's like, oh, maybe there's a herd bull pushing some cows through an area to like try to round him up to bed. It can be a major task for herd of elk to get to bed, especially once the right hits, like when it's full on rut.

Just the other day, it was like they were screaming all day, Like the cows kept trying to go down, and the bulls kept trying to grab him and push him and take him other places. And so if there's a bull that's bedded where you're at, he's gonna hear that and think, okay, I want to be part of that action. So he'll bugle or he'll just come in

silent and come check it out. But in this scenario, what I really like to do, I call it striking up a bedable, because you want to get them to respond on It sounds like a lot of needle and haystack action where you're like, well, there's a little bit of luck involved, yes, but also by pinpointing betting areas and kind of understanding the habits of where these elk are going, you say, okay, these are good hypercentage betting areas. Now I'm gonna still hunt through here, and then I'm

gonna be calling. And when you get within that proximity, that kind of gets in that bull's bubble. Oftentimes it kind of catches them off guard or gives them a good opportunity to come check you out, and could be a really great way to call in a bull that might not be callable when everything else is going on. I hope that tactic maybe helps somebody this this coming

weekend or this week, this coming week. Um. It's It's also a good tactic that works pretty well later in the season as those big bulls start to kind of pull away from the herd um sometimes they can be bedded up and then they kind of think, oh, well, here's an easy opportunity that's coming my way. So kind of striking up a bedded bull that way can be really effective. I think next week one things that I do want to talk about two is is and maybe by the time you hear you know, it might be

pasted a little bit of a peak rut. But I think it's always good to kind of give this knowledge, you know, throughout the season as it happens, because it kind of reminds me as well of like, oh, yeah, that's that's something that happens. And I think one thing that if you're if you run into the scenario. It's like, okay, what about when it's just all out bugle city, when bulls are bugling, when they're doing their thing, like and there's a big heard elk, how do you move in?

How do you make the right moves? Because there's sometimes like, uh, just yesterday, incredible day hunting elk. I mean one of it will go down. Is like one of my favorite days hunting elk. And I didn't even kill an elk, but it's just I got so many interactions actually hunting with my stickbow, and I'll I think i'll next week,

I'll tell the whole story. But I think one thing that we can take away from me is kind of the the idea of like moving amongst the herd and how to how to actually stalk when there's so many eyes, so many ears, like what can you get away with? And what can't you get away within? When are those times when like you know immediately you probably aren't gonna call a bull in like they're bugling their heads off, but it's not it's not like they're gonna come into

the call um. So kind of talking about that scenario where it's like, hey, they're making noise I'm doing everything right, but they just aren't going to come in. How do I proceed? What do I do? That's gonna be next week. Also, I appreciate everybody please keep sending in Like I've had so many awesome messages in the past. Some people have had some really good elk seasons, I know, some people

have had some struggle seasons. To just depends on what part of the country you're in, because, um, some areas it's been like the best elk season they've had in years. In other places it's everything's got its ebbs and flows. Other other places it's like this is a tough season. You know, we're struggling to hear or bugle, and then other guys are like biggest bulls we've ever seen bugle in early. This nuts out here. UM, So you know,

it's like it can be ups and downs. But I've definitely got a lot of messages guys saying like, hey, this silent calling, help me kill this bull. Um, your tactics led to this bowl, like quite a few guys from Canada. UM. I appreciate all the Canadian listeners as well. A lot of guys on that border area hunting elk and getting into some good bulls. So I really appreciate the messages from all you guys. Keep up the awesome work. A lot of people taking their first bulls and some

guys taking some really big bulls. So quite a few people have taken the best bulls of their life and saying like, hey, this this tactic like actually was pretty much exactly what killed this bull for me. UM. So I appreciate you guys giving me that kind of feedback because it's really cool to see when that kind of information gets used in the field in a way that um leads to some success. So I'm really excited. Uh you know, I've been actually out no cunning today in camp,

a little bit sore a little bit. I've been chasing like some chasing bulls around all week and it's been great. Um. But yeah, so keep those coming and until next week, strike him up, send me a picture. I appreciate you guys. Catch you later.