Ep. 52: Answering Your Elk Hunting Questions

I know, I on the last podcast maybe talked about some other topics for this week, but I started looking at the schedule and thinking about elk, and now my mind is just consumed with elk. I got so many questions about elk hunting that I feel like, let's just dive in now, and that will give us the month of August to really cover some good calling tactics, some some tactics about wallow hunting, and other things that I

think will be really important going into that September season. Also, I know, just you know, looking at some of the states that have sold out of elk tags so early this year, and there's gonna be a lot of people chasing elk this year, and I think that these tactics a lot of people probably I've got a ton of messages from people out of state, you know, first elk

count this year. So I really think that these elk tactics will be good for new hunters, but also guys that have been cutting their teeth, struggling or hunting elk their whole life, and maybe just clean a few tips that you didn't think about. Elk cunning is my bread and butter. You know, I make my living as an elk guide, so when it comes time to talk about elk,

I get pretty fired up about it. I get excited about it because I have so much experience pretty much from the first day elk season starts till the day it ends. I've been in the elk woods for the last fifteen years, so there's a lot of experience there that I get excited to share with everyone about. Let's go just straight into some of these questions here, because

I got quite a few of them. Will run through and some will be answers, someone will be shorter answers, but I think that all of them will be good and as far as like maybe some stuff that I might not cover over the next series of Elk but also just have to kind of get your mind wrapped around the framework of things to think about. Setting up for this elk season. This first one comes from Kylie says, Hey, Emmy heard on the podcast that you're going to start an elk series and we'll have a Q and A

about elk cunning. So looking forward to these. I've got a question for you while you elk hunt or guy, do you utilize for service trail as much or do you find yourself bush whacking more so? He says, I moved to Montana a couple of years ago, and I'm struggling just to find elk that aren't ten miles or more from the road. I do EA scouting and then ground truth a lot before season and feel like I'm not making any progress as to wear the elk are

before the season. Any pointers that I might be overlooking would be greatly appreciated. Things. That's a great question, Kyle, and I think if I just think back of Okay, where am I finding elk the elk that I have gotten on, whether it's you know, just towing up just thinking of places where I hunt elk or places we've been successful, I would say ninety plus percent of them are just bush whacking off trail, off road. I think that that reason is because you know, you don't have

as much traffic. You also can find you aren't necessarily picking spots based on where a good trail is, but you're picking spots based on where's the best habitat, And a lot of that best habitat just happens to be in places where there aren't trails or roads. Now that's not saying that I don't utilize those for service roads and trails constantly. Um it's a great way to access maybe get back into a spot and then bush whack from there. But while I'm hunting, very rarely will I

be on a trail. The caveat to that would be in an area where there's like a very large number of logging roads, and those logging roads may be gated or not be able to drive, And those logging roads also create habitat in an area where there might not be better habitat. You know, by having that open logged area, that clear cut, maybe some thinning, it's gonna get some grass in there, and you're gonna get more elk type feed. So in that case, I would focus more actually on

the roads than off the road. But for primarily what I'm looking for is that habitat I kind of feel like the reason you're finding those elk ten miles in may not just be a factor of um, you know, being so far, but actually, you know, maybe it's probably a trailhead that goes up a canyon and you start

to get towards that head basin. You're probably scouting it in the summertime, and those elk are going to be up higher in those basins because that's where they summer, and that's gonna be you know, the better habitat for that time of year. Now, if you just kind of focus on your scouting and planning, okay, looking for that habitat, not necessarily looking for access, and then finding a way in there, that's gonna be the key to actually finding

more elk. This next question comes from David. He says, is there time of day you prefer stocking bull elk during September archery season? What tactics you use to get into position to shoot redding elk? So if I'm gonna stock, I prefer to stock in the middle of the day. What what happens is, especially in September, you know, the bulls are going to kind of take their cows and they're gonna be making a lot of ruckets doing a

lot of chasing. In the morning, they're gonna be feeding, like probably before sun up, the cows will be feeding, the bulls will be feeding or whatever, just pushing around. Then the sun starts coming up, then the bulls are essentially just gonna try to push those cows to a betting area. So they're gonna push those cows into the timber. If you can keep track of them, either by sound or by sight. That's the best we talked about, you know,

betting animals and stocking bedded animals. The difference with elk is you've got probably a large harem or a large group. Now stock betted elk can be advantageous to you, especially if you're trying to get like a herd bull out, because it might be a way to single out that bowl that he may not come to the calls as easily, So it can be a great tactic. But I generally wait till the middle of the day and then stalk

in from there. You know, your hope is that the bull is embedded in the middle of the group, which they can be, but oftentimes they might be bedded more up at the top of the hill or um somewhere there. They'll also be getting up a lot and checking their cows. So it might be something where you can stalk into

a bedded group of elk. I've done this so many times, where I stalk into a group of bedded elk and then kind of set an ambush where I sit and wait and do some cow calling to try to get that bowl, just like very light cow calling, not real aggressive, just letting him know like, oh, hey, I'm over here, maybe throwing out like an estrus wine type call, that kind of high low type call, and then just waiting and maybe he'll get up and check you as a cow if he thinks that you might be a cow

over there, but where you're just out of sight of the other cows and they aren't going to blow it, but you know, close enough to that bowl where he might come to you if you don't have an actual stock to the bowl. Now, second part of this question tactics that I used to get into position to shoot redding elk. You know, I I love to call elk. I think that that's one of the cool things about

September and hunting him archery season. I actually believe that archery hunting elk is oftentimes, at least in many of the places that I hunt public land general areas, the archery season is the best time to kill a bowl um. As you get into the later rifle seasons, they can get really tough and it's the best time to kill a bull because you have that option to call. Now, the thing about calling is it does take a lot of understanding elk vocalizations. How to call. There's a lot

of skills that you have to master. If you don't have those skills right away, stocking is going to be your best bet. But you can also do things where you position yourself to kind of give yourself a little bit of an advantage. So we talked about l betting, watching the elk bed, getting in, slipping in stocking that might work, or you could call him off where they kind of go check a cow. That's a great tactic. Another tactic is if you really understand that area you've done,

you're scouting. Maybe you've hunted this area before and you know, okay, they go to this betting area and you know that there's wallows nearby, and we're going to talk about this later, but setting up on one of those wallows midday, because what happens sometimes is or like first thing in the morning, when that bull pushes his cows to that betting area,

he might just go over to that wallow. And so that's another great tactic to ambush and elk, just kind of intersecting their behavior, understanding what they're doing, and then finding that weak chink in the armor and exposing it and becoming successful. Alright, this next question, I I got a lot of questions in this vein, So if this isn't your question, but I did, I mean I cataloged a lot of questions that had to do with this

particular topic, and the topic is cowell. This message comes from Ben, and I actually think that the Q and A is a perfect time to talk about this. So he says, everyone's focused on calling in a bull, but what about those who drew cow taggs? What are the calling strategies, behaviors, techniques, et cetera. And if there's a difference between hunting the two, I think hunting cow elk is something that especially if it's your first elk hunt,

it's a great tag to have. Elk are the most delicious animal on the mountain and cow elk are the most delicious of the delicious animals. I myself have a cow tag in my pocket. This year, I harvested a cow. Last year. I've guided many cow huns and been on many cow huns. It's a lot of fun for a lot of reasons. The first reason is the way elk are. The cow to bowl ratio is way higher than most

buck too, dough ratios or whatever. There's a lot of cow elk in an area that has fewer bulls, so that right there just actually increases your chances of success. It also means that pretty much all cows are created equal. I personally strive to take the smallest cow I can find, often looking for you know, last year's year old's, or maybe calves, just because you know, if I got a bull tag too, then I can have prime meat. But pretty much every cow is delicious that I've had at least.

So the nice thing is whatever cow you run into is probably the cow you're gonna take. Where If you're bull hunting, some areas have to be brow time bulls. You know, you might run into a spike. You might be in an area that has better bulls, so you're looking for a certain bull when you have a cow tag, it's like all you have to do is find one cow,

get it within range, and make a good shot. So in that sense, it's easier, but it doesn't mean that cow hunting is always easy, And there are some strategies that I kind of use when we're focusing purely on looking for cows. Now, a lot of cow hunting is just going to be finding those concentrations of cows, and that might be different than where the concentrations of bulls are depending on the time of year, you know, they might be a little bit low relevation. It depends on

the type of you you're using too. You'll see, like even hugging some of those more agricultural areas, using Onyx maps to kind of hunt boundaries. I think that that's a great way to focus on finding cows because they'll be grouped up. A lot of the cow hunts that I've done or have had success, you know, I'll be using my onyx maps maybe in a new area, saying okay, well, there's clearly excess number of elk here. That's probably why

they're issuing cow tags. Probably a lot of the problem is those cows getting in da aggriculture so maybe just hunting some of those fringes where it's the mountains above some of that more agricultural stuff, there's definitely going to be cows, and that it's a little bit easier to get in, get out, pack it out, and maybe just kind of start honing in on some cows. Now you can also go is as steep and as deep as

you want. I mean last year I actually guided a cow hunt during we ended up shooting his cow way back in the back country, and it was just the same place that we shoot a lot of bulls throughout the season. But there are a few strategies that I will focus on. You know, people always ask can you call cows? And and the answer is yes, you can.

Cows are very vocal, especially to each other. So if you're hunting in some thicker timber even throughout the year, whether it's in later November or in September, you know,

throwing out some of those cow calls. I like to make a cow call that I call like the lead cow, and then just some of that cow talk even while I'm walking, maybe I'm walking an area that I think might be a betting area, I'll just kind of like throw out cow calls here and there, and I like to do it as like a call in a response, So I'm like you, I'm just doing this with my voice right now, so I don't have any calls on me but you and then kind of like let it sit.

And sometimes what you'll do is you'll incite other cows in that area to talk back, and they might be like, Okay, what's going on, Um is the group moving? Let's communicate where's everyone at? And that's a great way to hone in on maybe cows hunting in an area that would be more difficult to hunt bulls in where it might be a fingeradge that they're bedded on in the middle of day, and you can kind of get them to

sound off. Then you can kind of start working your way and sneak in and really you just have to find that one cow that's closest that offers you a shot. So in that sense it's a little bit easier. But there's also those tactics that you can use. Another thing that I find works really well. You know, I've had success, just like say you find a herd of elk, you know, where you're bugling bulls, you can get those those bulls to come in. But how do you, maybe, say, archery season,

get a cow to come into a call. And most of the time what happens is maybe you've watched the herds move or split up, and there's those leftover cows. What I try to do is like try to intersect them, cut them off, and then throw out like a cow call, and what they think is, oh, the herd went this way,

and that draws those cows to you. I've had a lot of success doing that during archery seasons, where you know, the herd starts moving, I do kind of especially it's a larger herd, maybe there's always a few stragglers back behind. You just hustle and get into position where those other cows kind of went over or in that area, and then you start calling. They're gonna be using scent a lot, but they'll also you know, some of the younger cows

will use that sound. They'll be like, oh, okay, yeah, they went this way, and you can pull those cows away and then, like I mentioned in for the bull hunting, you know, getting into a group of cows that's bedded, throwing out some calls you know, never hurts because I have had cows just walk into that as well. I think that there's a lot of people headed out there with cow tags that it's an awesome tag to have. It's some of the best meat I know. I've said it.

It's a broken record, but it's a really fun hunt. And I'm actually looking forward to my cow tag as well. It's one of those things. It's funny, you know, you've got bull tags and you do this and that. One of these tags that I'm really excited about was a cow tag that I drew in an area that I just really like to hunt. And it's a great way

as well. If you're maybe listening to this and you're like, oh, I'm not I don't have a cow tag or whatever, you know, think about getting if you hunt areas that are premium limb did entry areas or not hunt them, but have been applying So in Nevada where I hunt, or just a lot of places where I'm thinking about going and hunting elk, but it might take ten twenty years to draw whatever. Look at getting cow tags in those areas. Man, what you learned while hunting those cows.

You're out there, you're hunting, you get to go home with me, it's not just a scouting trip for the future. You're hunting, but what you're also doing is learning in areas. So when you draw that bowl tag, when you have an opportunity to hunt to bull there, you've already hunted in that unit. You already have some kind of knowledge

on that area. And that is just huge. And that's something that I really like to do is try to get a cow tag where I may not have an opportunity to hunt a lot, but there's a lot of elk. It's a great tag to have, and I can kind of dual purpose into scouting for the future when I might draw that tag later. Alright, this next question comes from Steve. He says Steve from Wisconsin. He says, Hey, remmy question for your podcast. Do you have any tech use for postseason elk rut. I was lucky enough to

draw first season Colorado rifle Hunt. Looking forward to hearing from you. I think that the post rut now I should have looked up. I'm not exactly sure what the Colorado first season dates are this year. You know, I did a lot of guiding in New Mexico during the beginning of October season or in the most a lot of the montana and idhos stuff is that like mid October and October, so it's kind of like this low season.

It's after the rut, but before really any migration, maybe before any winter movement, and it can be it can be difficult time to hunt, but it can also be a really good time to hunt because you're just gonna focus in on the behaviors that elk are doing at that time. So after the rut, here's what generally happens. The bulls separate from the cows. Now it depends what kind of bull you're looking for, because if you're just looking for any bull, you can still at this time

focus on the cows. A lot of those younger bull some of the smaller four points five points, what we might call raghorn bulls, might be hanging out with those groups of cows still, and that is very likely. I've even heard of bugling in these groups all the way through October. So you may not see those big herd bulls in there, but you still might. It really depends on the rut in the year, but you can kind of count on smaller bulls still being with those big

groups of cows. So that's one way to focus your attention. Now. The other way is to understand what a lot of the bulls will do is they'll pull away from the cows. They've rutted. Now they're going to recuperate, And what they're gonna do is they're gonna go find an isolated pocket where they've got food, water and cover, and they really

aren't getting messed with. They've just had enough. They're they're tired, their war out and they're gonna they're gonna draw away and almost kind of like, you know, not really go far for a lot of things. They're conserving their energy and they're building it back up for the winter. This is probably honestly one of the best times the target big bulls. Now they can be harder to find, but when you do find them, it's a lot easier getting

in on them. They're more predictable, they're almost patternable, um and they just they aren't moving as much. So it's like, you know, you could find a big bull during the rut, but he might be running his cows all over the mountain, might go from this group to that group because he got kicked out. You may never see that elk again. If you can locate a bull in this post rep period, they're generally by themselves, so they're easy to stock. They're

kind of following this feedbed pattern. So what I like to do is I like to kind of glass those fringes in, like maybe pockets and thick timber that have an opening or a meadow around it. They're near where high concentrations were during the September season. If you had time to scout, you know, glassing a lot of those pockets. Then you say, you see the elk in the morning, mornings and evenings generally where they're gonna come out, then you'll get up in there and wait for the evening.

He'll probably either come out in the evening or kind of hunt in that same area, you know, like the next day because they're gonna be within that same area. That kind of call it like they just go off and kind of sulk and recuperate and they're on their little post rut retreat. But it's a great time to sneak in on elk and it can be a great time, you know, that October season. If there's an archery season that goes into October, most people are all fired up

about hunting the rut. But man, you can get some great elk hunting and some bigger bulls just by focusing in on that October season where those bigger bulls have pulled off on their own. They're very vulnerable that time. It's probably the most vulnerable time of year for a big bull elk would be that later season. So you've got two options. You can go hunt those solitary bulls,

or you can kind of still go find those. The bigger the herd of cows the better, that just more likely to have a legal bull or two with them. So a couple of options for you there. Next question comes from Ryle. He says, I've got a question for you. I love calling elk and bugling in bulls, but the problem I'm having is getting bigger bull is to come in instead of just sounding off bugles back and forth. Is there anything you do or recommend to get them

to come in? Thanks? Uh. He loves the podcasts. Been putting these tips and tactics test and been nothing but money. I love to hear that. I love to hear that these tactics are working. You know, you do something long enough and it works for you. But it's really awesome that you can translate that and starts working for other people as well. Here's what I'll say is, you know everybody always says the challenges calling in a herd bull.

Why is the challenge calling in a herd bull? Well, because that bowl runs the herd, and in nature, it's not that he thinks you're a guy calling to him. The way that elk work is he has the elk, he has the cows, and so he you call and he's like, yeah, I've got the cows, and you're just a satellite bull over here that doesn't have cows, and so he doesn't need to leave those cows to come to you. In nature, another bull would come and challenge him.

And that's what you need to do. Last year, if you haven't listen him, go back, because I think that the dogging elk one is probably the best option of getting a bull like that to come into a call. And that's because that's what's going to happen in nature. A bull is gonna go in, he's gonna bugle. That bull is probably gonna round up his cows and start

going off. Then the satellite bulls are just gonna kind of try to pull cows out in confusion, and then at some point that bull is going to not have the upper hand and he's gonna say, Okay, now I have to fight. He has to fight constantly, so he's going to conserve his energy and only take battles that

he really thinks. Another thing that I a tactic that I use a lot to draw in those bigger bulls is either a decoy and then a combination of the way that I call the more aggressive the bugle, the better you hear this thing like, oh, elker, call shy. I swear hunters are the ones that are call shy. I don't think there's such thing as bugling too bigger to mean. If you're trying to get a big bull to come in, he needs to know that it's going to be like, now is the time to do it.

And so when I'm calling to that herd bull, I am not acting like a smaller bull. I think there's this kind of misconception people think, oh, I'm going to sound like a smaller bull so he knows that he can beat me up and scare me off, and that may work in some scenarios. There's times who have done like spike bugles and they just kind of like all they have to do is show themselves to a spike and they'll run it off. But you know, like actually directly challenging that herd bull is the best way to

get him to commit. And then you know, obviously if it's archery season, it's legal whatever. You know, maybe throwing in a decoy or a spike type decoy because they will try to just show themselves, run those those smaller bulls off because they know they aren't going to fight. Those are also great tactics. So dogging them, calling like a big dog and maybe having some kind of visual aid that might make them want to come in or

all great tactics. And then just like I mentioned earlier that hunting in the later October, later in the season, just isolating bowls and stalking big bulls is a great way to try to get a bull that may not be so easy to call in. So it just depends on your hunting style as well. All right, Brandon Naski says, I hear you talk about muzzle brakes a lot. Could you go into the pros and cons of them and what to look for when purchasing one. Thanks and keep

up great work. Yeah, that's a great question. I know, when I talk about picking rifles, whether it's on the podcast or just on social media or just anything, I kind of like to say, you know, get my favorite caliber is a three short mag. And if if anybody asked me what gun do I get, I always say a three short mag. I generally go with a lightweight gun. Right now, I'm shooting a Socco fin light. You know, the tiakas a great like. There's a lot of great

lightweight rifles you know out there. Get a lightweight gun. I go with three short mag and I say, put a muzzle brake on it. The reason I like, I'm a big fan of the muzzle brake is twofold. It reduces the recoil. But by reducing that recoil, you actually shoot better now. The reason you shoot better is there's less kick, obviously, but also you have like better follow through, you can watch your impacts, you can be more consistent.

There's less jump in the rifle, and because of that, over time, you're just gonna get better shooting habits and you're gonna shoot better now. The downside the con to a muzzle break is it's loud. So what it does is it takes that energy of that bullet going out

the barrel. Instead of just sending it all straight out the barrel, it kind of pushes it to the side, And by pushing it to the side, it reduces that jump, that felt kick that kicks straight back because it disperses that energy as the bullet exits the barrel, and a lot of that energy exits the barrel, So there's always a reaction for every action. So the bullets going forward, the gun kicks back, but you know that muzzle break disperses that, so it changes the way that that felt

kick goes back. Now as it does that, it's throwing that sound to the sides, and it is very, very very loud and can be very very damaging to your hearing. I have got in the habit of you might see videos or whatever. I always have ear plugs around my neck or in my pocket like handy, and I always put the ear plugs in before I shoot, or especially when I'm guiding, I put the ear plugs in before

someone else shoots. They call him muzzle brakes guide killers for a reason, not because like it literally kills your ears. There are instances where I've had muzzle brakes go off near me or have shot head to shoot without ear plugs. It's not as bad if you're the shooter, but it's really bad if you're off to the side. I mean I have had instances where I didn't have an ear plug in a muzzle break went off near me and literally my vision just kind of like went black because

of the concussion and the sound that it made. It just like it's very disorienting. That's the real bad part of it. That is why I am such a huge proponent of suppressors now. Suppressor is essentially a muzzle break that takes a lot of the sound or the crack out of the rifle. It doesn't make it silent, and calls them silencers. I don't know why in this country we have such a problem with them. You know, they are a pain in the butt to get, but if

you have the option, it takes a little bit. And know how, there's a lot of options out there in most states now allow you to hunt with suppressors. They are incredible because it's a muzzle break, so it takes out a lot of the felt recoil, but also takes out that extra sound that is going to destroy your hearing.

Now you should probably still shoot a suppressor with ear plugs and if you you know, the decibels are technically high enough to damage your hearing in most cases, but by taking the crack out of that rifle, it's like the best of every world. The downside to that is if throws a little bit of balance issue in your guns.

So you can either cut your barrels down a little bit and have that added suppressor, or there's some that have like quick releases on them, or you actually just have a muzzle break on your your firearm and then it's got kind of like a quick release that attaches to that on the suppressor. So there's a lot of options out there now, and I think that there's a lot more information out there now on suppressors and getting them.

You can you can go online and get these trust things for like a hundred bucks that just their forms you fill out and you bring that in, you get some fingerprint I D cards, and it takes about a year to get. So if you're thinking about getting a muzzle break, maybe think about getting a suppressor and a muzzle breaker or whatever. Those are just some good options, but I suggest having some form of recoil reduction on your rifle, especially you guys out there getting your kids started.

I just see, you know, I've guided thousands of people, and I see a lot of people develop, especially guys that were just giving guns that were too big for them as kids, you know, develop these really bad shooting habits, anticipating rifle, flinching, that kind of stuff, and it's really heart like. It doesn't matter how tough you are, it's just a mental thing and it's really really hard to break.

So I think, you know, I look at some of the other places I've hunted around the world, and they're very small calibers and suppressors are the norm, and very few people have these bad habits that a lot of American hunters get because we start shooting giant three wind mags when we're twelve years old. And uh, I think that it's just really good to kind of, you know, use those recoil reductions and then yeah, I mean, make

sure you have a good gunsmith put that on. Anytime you're having something done with your gun that can affect accuracy, you know, make sure it's somebody that's reputable and knows what they're doing. The type of muzzle brake I don't know. There's all different kinds. I don't necessarily know that one is better than the other. I've never had one that I just really didn't like. I've have probably a couple of dozen of them, and they're all kind of different.

So yeah, that's a great question, all right, Cody says, Hey, Ramy, can't thank you enough for the information education you provide all of us. I've learned a ton. I have a question for you on upcoming out podcasts. I didn't draw a tag in New Mexico, my home state, so Buddy and myself are going over the counter in southern Colorado. Do you have any tips or tricks for finding elk

and what I'm sure will be some packed units? Thanks? Again, that's a great question, because a lot of the hunts that I do myself are in what I would also consider packed units, areas that you can just get a tag and and go. I would say, like, my plan is to always get away from hunters, but that doesn't necessarily always mean go the furthest into the back country. So what that generally means is find a place that

other people are ignoring. You might get there and there might be twenty cars at one trailhead, and you know that, Okay, once I get up this trail, that's the only place to hunt up there. I would probably avoid that. But also there's probably gonna be thousands of vehicles driving the road roads. So what you're trying to do is pinpoint spots that are far enough off where guys that are driving the roads can't see it or won't hunt it.

And then places that maybe aren't necessarily that iconic back country that already has a trailhead that's attracting other people. I mentioned it earlier already in the Q and A. But finding those like spots that you gotta bush whack into that take a little bit extra energy to either

get in or get out, and pinpointing those spots. Now obviously, like I love to the first place, I'm gonna look as those back country areas, but sometimes those type of places actually get hunted a lot, and that may not

be the best spot for you. And also, you know, stay away from the roads where people are just gonna there's a large majority of the people that will have those tags that will never kill an elk, and they're just gonna keep driving the roads and maybe point zero one percent will shoot one, but they're just cruising those roads looking from those roads, so you're just trying to

find that place that other people aren't. Another thing I like to hunt in really heavily hunted areas is places that I call a hole where if I kill something, I have to carry the elk uphill back out. That really deters a lot of people from hunting that. So if you can find those holes, those pockets, or even just getting further and deeper into the back country is a great way, just anywhere you can get away from people. Now, the other option is if you know that area well enough.

Now this might not be particularly for Cody's instance, but if you hunt an area a lot, understanding the escape routes and like where elk like to travel, and then using pressure to your advantage. There's been many times where I get into a position knowing that, okay, the elk are gonna get bumped here, you know, mostly the opening days that I hunt our elk that have been pushed by someone else, because I know this is where the

elk travel, this is where they're moving through. This is the highest likelihood of these elk coming through here, and then setting up and using other people to your advantage getting into those positions where you're you're kind of capitalizing on a known behavior that elk will be running around on this particular day, and that generally is an opening day in a general area. This next question comes from Thomas. He says, my question is what do you think are

the must have elk calls? I have endurance and bow practice going, but no idea about calling. My guess is get some start practicing. Yeah. I think that elk calling is an art, and I also think that there's certain types of calls that I really like. I use the Rocky Mountain game calls, and I like bugle tube. I love like the kind of baseball bats that like whiffleball bat style bugle too. I just think, yeah, it's a

pain to carry, it's a little bit bigger. It kind of clinks and clunks, but gang doesn't make some good elk sounds, and I just like to be able to sound like an elk. I use like diaphragm or mouth calls. They're just they go in your mouth, You use your tongue and air pressure. They can be very difficult to master, but you can also get sounds that you cannot get with other calls, and I think that's the best way

to bugle, you know, maybe just starting out. Get some of those and practice find ones that you know they're they're kind of marked in like beginner to advance, get some of the beginner ones and just start making some tones on them. The best time to practice out calling, I think, is just when you're driving around in the car on the way whatever. Then you don't have people in your house like freaking out at you. It's like

when you're driving alone getting your car. You can you can download some ELK sounds onto your phone, you know, whether it's like some YouTube stuff or whatever. I do this all the time, and then you just try to match the sound that's coming through speakers. Something calls, then you call back and you just mimic those sounds. And this is something that I still do constantly, Like it's it's just the best way to understand how to use

the call and how to start making ELK sounds. Probably some of the better beginner calls, I would say, are just open read calls where you kind of use your teeth to slide over and makes cow sounds and you can make that you sound, or like you can make all kinds of estrus calls with it or just cow taw. Those are great calls. Even like bite calls where you just kind of bite down and let off and blow those are those are great. It should be in your arsenal.

There are some push button calls, and I know they get a lot of flak, but I've used them throughout the years, and I mean I used to for for many years while guiding, especially when they first came out. Always had There's one premost Hoochie Mama that was probably my least favorite. There's like a Carlton call. I think it's like the button call or something like that. They

have some weird names on them. But those button calls, I don't think they are the answer to elk calling, but it's okay to have, Like I would have it in my pocket so I could like use a mouth call or use whatever and call and then hit that other call and have different sounds. Making different sounds is

key to sound like multiple elks. So maybe looking into something like that, but I think you should definitely be working on using a diaphragm call, learning that bugle, listening to elk sounds, trying to mimic those sounds, and then having some other cow calls handy as well. And then if you can't do that diaphragm call or it's not working there other the primos, it's got like this blue

thing that snaps over the top. I mean, there's there's a few bugles out there, but I think the best is just learning to use those those diaphragm elk calls. And it's gonna take some practice. So get him now, start practicing and start you know, listening to elk sounds, and we'll cover some elk calling tactics here shortly. This question says it's from Matthew, and he says, I plan on hunting an area wilderness area for elk during the

rut about nine thousand feet. There's meadows on the north facing slopes, a bunch of little mountain lakes creeks nearby. It looks really good, but it is eight miles in. If we don't find elk after one day or two, when is it time to call it quits? Try another area. How long do you spend without glassing in elk or hearing a bugle before giving up on an area. That's a good question. It really depends on the time of year.

You know, when you've invested as much time is that like you've probably packed your camping and you're saying, Okay, I'm gonna go back here and this is where I'm hunting. And you get back there and you don't hear anything or don't see anything. What do you do? Me? Personally, if I'm not hearing or seeing ELK, I'm going somewhere else within a day or two. And part of that is because if they're there, I I feel like I

have the skills that I would find them. I would either see them or hear them, especially if it's like peak rut. Now, if they just aren't making a lot like elk everywhere aren't making a lot of noise, it's super hot whatever, you might just have to start also kind of hitting some wallows and some other things and looking for fresh sign that ELK are there, and you could probably still stick it out. Me personally, I kind of don't like to burn a lot of time on areas,

whether it's ELK dey or whatever. Like I like to go look. If I don't see what I'm looking for, go somewhere else. Like I'm finding I'm trying to find ELK. That quote unquote want to play like elk that are responsive, elk that are doing their thing, because it's just gonna help me increase my success. So if you aren't seeing elk in that area, it's not saying that they aren't there,

but maybe they just don't want to place. You might want to have to check the next base and over, you know, be very mobile and start really trying to figure out where those elk are. I know it's a huge time investment to get somewhere back there. Now I'm just gonna see the exact opposite of that. If you know there's elk in the area, you have like maybe you've scouted, you've got pictures of elk in the area, whatever, you know they're there, and you don't want to go

somewhere else. Yeah, you could probably stick it out and you might get those days where they're you know, you figure it out, figure out where they are, or maybe they just aren't popping out the particular day you're there. But for me, I think that if I'm not seeing them, I'm not seeing a lot of them, or there's just not what I'm looking for, maybe elk knot being relactive. Whatever, I'm just gonna go until I find elk that are doing behaviors that I want to exploit. So that for me,

I love the bugle elk. If I go on a ridge, I know there's elk here and no elk or bugling, I'm probably not going to spend a lot of time there. I'm just gonna go until I find elk that want to bugle. And that's the way that I like to hunt. But everybody's different. You know, maybe you're the guy that likes to spot stock them, so you know you hear out bugling everywhere, but you aren't seeing any elk come out where you can kind of pattern and make a play.

Then you're gonna go to a spot where you can find elk that you can see and watch and and do a stock. So I think it just depends on how you like to hunt. But I don't spend a lot of time if I'm not seeing or hearing what I want. All right, This last question is I have very little appetite after long days hunting, especially when I'm hunting alone. I obviously know I need to get some

energy in, but it's a fight. Suggestions as Jeff from Idaho, that's a great question, and I don't know if everybody deals with that, but that's something that I definitely deal with as well. You know, like the first day I might load up, eat whatever, and then I start hunting and I get back there and I start getting after it and I just am not hungry, and you really do have to keep your energy up on these back

country hunts, on any hunt. Really, one thing that I've found and this just is kind of like for me personally, and I probably across the board with a lot of hunters. Don't know if this is your particular situation, but you know, just finding things that you really enjoy to eat. And also I've said this before, but you know, going into the back country is not the time to start your diet. It's like, I don't know what it is, but I've seen it have like so many friends I've hunted with

this that or the other. Thing, Like they eat a certain way at home, then they decide to go in a back country packing trip and they buy every natural food bar possible. Not that good food isn't great, but if it's not appetizing, not appeasing, and doesn't sound good, you aren't going to eat it, you know. So like there's a couple of things, Like I tend to have a sweet tooth, and so it's like I try to pick a few snacks if I can. If it's not

super hot, I take a Snickers Bar with me. It's like, if I'm not hungry, I feel like I always feel like eating a Snicker's Bar. And that's just knowing my body and knowing they're like okay, and then that kick starts my metabolism and gets me okay, now I can

eat a little bit more. There's there's been so many times where I'm in the back country, day whatever, and I can't even finish my mountain house meal that has something calories, So, you know, finding another option is to find foods that are really calorie dense and adding like little additives to stuff that you are eating. So I'll take in little packs of coconut oil and drop that in my dehydrated meal, you know, just to boost up the amount of calories I'm taking in. Not all calories

are created equal. I understand that, but when you're having trouble just even eating anything, that is key is just getting enough calories, finding foods that you like to eat, you know, pack the foods that sound good to you when you aren't tired, when you aren't whatever, because you're going to be more likely to eat those and sample a few dehydrated meals. I just recently have been trying

some of these Peak Fuel dehydrated meals. I mean, they're amazing because they they're a better type of dehydrated meal. You could just eat the stuff dry, and it's pretty good. I just sampled bison ranch mashed potatoes is like a Chad Mendez one. Holy crap, was that thing good? And then I had a Penny Elk post and I'm like, okay, and I looked at a lot of calories, highly suggest those ones. I'm gonna start, you know, using a lot

more of those this year. There's still some Mountain House flavors that I really love, you know, but don't go like when you're going shopping for dehydrated meals and backpacking food, try not to buy the bargain stuff. Just buy stuff that you really like. I've learned that the hard way. I used to go get these like backpacker pantry ones and because they were cheap and on sale, and then I tasted them and they all tasted the same, and

we're disgusting no offense to backpacker pantry. Those are the ones that I tasted at the time I didn't like, but I know I have friends that really love those ones. So try some stuff before you get out there. Know what you like and go with that. You know, there's certain things I like, the pastas and other things. They're just getting foods you like is key. Now, I would say the other number one thing on the list is

staying hydrated. You know, if you aren't staying hydrated, it's really hard to keep that appetite up as well, like your body is probably running in deficiencies of other things. I've talked about it before. I always use this wilderness athlete hydrate recover drink mixes, keep your vitamin levels up, keep your metabolism going throughout the day, and then you kind of stimulate that appetite. I've had to learn that over the years because I've had that problem and my

brother Jason exact opposite that dude will eat everything. He will eat seven days worth of food on the first day.

Dude just he grazes. Man, he's always hungry. But you know, for those of you that have that struggling appetite, bring foods you like stay hydrated, use hydration packets, and then get some high calorie foods, and then also throwing a few of those like packout type bars, bars that have a lot of protein and aren't real big, but have enough calories where you can just get that extra boosta energy when you need. There's still something to be said

for that. As much as I sometimes don't like all the cliff bar style bars out there, I try to sample them before I go find a few I like and know that, Okay, if I eat this, I've got what I need for now to keep keep those energy high. Thank you everybody for sending in so many questions, and you know, I'm sure we'll get more as time progresses. You know, you can always reach out to me via

social media at Remy Warrant on Instagram. We've also got the meat Eater website Remy at the meat eater dot com. There's plenty info out there, but I'm really excited to just this next month kind of jump into some of

this elk hunting stuff. You know, even if you haven't been elk hunting or don't have any plans to elk hunt, listen to these because there's gonna come a time when you think lk hunting sounds good and you don't want to be trying to figure out how to start lk hunting the same year you have your tag, you know, start start listening to this stuff, maybe get some milk call,

start practicing, even if it's five six years down the road. Man, if you have a little bit of these skills that I'm gonna start talking about now, it's gonna be huge. And if you all kind of every year, I think you'll really enjoy some of the stuff that we're gonna jump into. So I I encourage you please share these podcasts with your friends. You know, I really appreciate that. I know you guys do, and and you know, leave

some comments, leave some ratings. Feel free to share it, you know, if I see it pop up on social media a lot people sharing the podcast weekly and I just I just thank you guys so much for that kind of support. It's awesome. Yeah, So that's that until next week. Keep bugling. I don't know, one of these days I'm gonna land on a good, like solid send off and then I'll use it two times to be sick of it. But Bugle is strong, my friends, Bugle is strong,