Ep. 55: Calling in Big Bulls: Welcome to the Elk Party

with a lot of success. It's one that creates this illusion of building a harem of cows with a lot of excitement. Possibly a hot cow and a bull is running stirred him up. What this does is it draws attention from another group of elk to bring satellite bulls to your location. But not only that, it's a great technique and tactic to use to draw that herdable away from the cow's he's with to come investigate what's going

on where you're at. In my opinion, it's one of my most deadly tactics when it comes to calling elk during the peak rut. But before I share those tactics, let's go into a story where this worked really well in southwestern Montana. I really like to tell guiding stories on this podcast. I think one reason because I have an unlimited supply of good stories just because of all the times I've been out guiding and a lot of interactions with elk that you might not get while you're

just hunting for yourself. But another reason, especially when it comes to talking about elk calling, is because as the guide, I really get to interact with the elk and be a caller in the way that I think is the most appropriate to drawing a bull in, and that generally means setting the hunter up, moving back, and doing my call sequence out of the way where I can try to draw that bull closer in to the hunter or the shooter. Now, on this particular day, we woke up

and I told my client. I looked him straight in the face and I said, today you're shooting an elk. He's like, why is that? I said, because my brother Jason is done with his hunter and we are both going to take you out. So what that means is I get to do the calling. I get to drop back and do the calling, and my brother Jason gets to be with a guy that's drawing back and shooting, and so many times I'll be drawn back calling, but I'm trying to direct the person when to move whatever.

And me and my brother have just hunted so much together and hunted a lot in general for elk. I mean, he's he's guided with me for years as well, and so we both know how to move and how to call, and when to get into position and where to go, and we can read how the elks react thing and just that kind of little bit of knowledge, it just

makes you so much more successful. So if I'm calling and he's the shooter, or vice versa, I'm the shooter and he's calling, I mean, generally we'll go out and we can get in a bull or maybe it's the one we're gonna pass or whatever, but we understand when to move, and it just makes it so much easier, so much more successful. So this guy just like struck out on this one because you know, I was gonna be calling. My brother was gonna help him get into

position and tell him when to draw. Okay, let's move, and then throw out a cow call and stop him. And you also, I had a video camera and figure it out. Might as well film this too. So we went out that morning. It was like a really good morning peak rut pre daylight. We get a bunch of elk fired up. It's just like a big group down below, and there's this nice bowl in the area that I've been watching. I was hoping, okay, man, this might be that elk that we've been looking at, his big six

by seven. And this is just a general elk area. Fairly low success rate at the time, so any bowl is a good bull but and if you can get a decent one, that's awesome too. So we get in there and the elk is just firing off and we get into position, and it's one of those scenarios where there's enough bulls in the group that they're kind of on the move, like the horrid bull. It has nothing to do with what we're doing. This is just the

elk doing their things. So the elk are kind of pushing each other around and you can tell that there's maybe three or four bulls in the group, and it's just like getting chaotic with bugling, and we're throwing in our bugles and we get into position and we've got the herdable screaming right behind these small pines, and I moved back and start raking a tree. Jason takes him up to get into position, and the bull just never breaks the plane of those pines to where we can

get a shot. At that point, the cows start moving down past us, and we're just surrounded by elk. I mean, we've got cows coming in. So that bull goes down and I can hear there's just like this one hot cow and there must be something crazy going on. So I'm thinking of myself, man, how are we going to pull? Almost got that bull to commit, but there's just so much chaos in here. So then I started thinking, why

don't we just create our own chaos. Why don't we create a party that sounds like what's going on down there up here and see if that might in this confusion cause this other bull to come in and if worst case scenario, definitely one of these satellite bowls will come check us out. But we did get a glimpse of the herd bull, and I'm thinking, man, we really really want to get this bull, so let's just try this. So we get in and that herd bulls below us,

and we're bugling, and every time we bugle. He bugles back, but he's at that point now where he's just not going to come in. So I tell Jason, why don't you guys get set up above this little goalie in there down below us. I'm gonna draw back and I'm just gonna create this party. So I draw back, and I just started throwing out cow calls, and then I'm

starting to do throw out some estrus wine calls. And then I've got this scenario where I'm playing as two bulls and I'm far enough back where if the elk comes to me or whatever, you would have to draw past them before it gets to me. So I'm moving around a lot. I'm running from one position to another, calling over here, calling over there, calling in different directions, throwing out a lot of different cow calls, all bugle in this one spot. And then I run over literally

sprinting and breaking branches and bugling over here. I've got the bugle too, and I'm sprinting and bugling at the same time and doing the same thing with cow estras. Call. Just it's like that sound when a bulls chasing a cow down the mountain and she's in heat. But it's like a younger bulls hot on her tail, and I'm trying to entice this herd bull away from real cows, thinking, oh man, those satellite bulls just picked up a hot cow and I better go investigate. So I'm doing that.

I'm just going off on the calls, running around, breaking stuff, smashing trees, just literally having the best time you can have on the mountain. I mean that to me is just like the epitome of September. And sure enough, my brother he could hear that bull bugling, and then it was that running while doing an extrous cow call, and then just running and screaming and bugling, and that was just enough to make that herdable come check us out. He starts walking up is just perfect, like walked right

into twenty yards. My brother Jason gives him up. Bull stops broadside, thump, bull down, nice big six by seven, just on a public land, general area, and we were pretty much stoked. There was just the whole fired up scenario was we went from calling elk to essentially becoming this massive herd of elk. And even when I was throwing out those cow calls, I had Jason throwing cow calls as well. And what we really did, is we just created this what I like to call Elk party.

Since then, most of the herd bulls that I've called in have been called in using that same tactic, where at create a party and draw that bull just out of curiosity to our location. And of course it works really well for getting those other satellite bulls interested as well. If you watch any movie that has a good party, there's always a few things that are universal, and we're gonna take those few things that are universal to any

party and we're gonna convert it into calling elk. So my three universal party moves chicks, loud music, breaking stuff. How often do you see a movie where there's a party and something isn't just getting completely thrashed. So we're gonna go through the setup for creating a massive Elk party and then the times that it works the best, as well as the calls to use and when to

use them. The first set up creating the chicks. What we're doing is we're trying to make the think that we've got a harem of cows, or we are a harem of cows. Now, if you're in the peak rut and you've got a hot cow, really what happens is this scene of pandemonium breaks out where the herd bull is trying to keep tabs on that cow, but the other satellite bulls in the area start trying to run

cows off for themselves. There's this like rift of confusion, and you can capitalize on that by essentially taking what those elk are doing naturally and creating it somewhere else in very close proximity that's gonna draw the elk to your location. I've done this technique so many times when I've encountered a scenario very similar to this and maybe called in three to seven bulls in a single morning.

Many times it's I end up passing up even some good bulls just trying to get that herdable to my location. Sometimes he'll end up coming in other times I kick myself for not shooting one of the other bulls that comes in. A couple of years ago, I did the same thing and ended up passing on a big six by six and shooting a little raghorn bull after I

knew I wasn't gonna get the herd bull. Every scenario is a little bit different, However, this is a really good calling tactic when the time is right for it, and this generally pertains to peak rut when there's a high likelihood that a cow is going to go into estrus and you've found a herd of elk that might have multiple bulls that are trying to steal cows away from the herd bull So the first step in this tactic is creating an illusion that there's a large group

of cows where you're at, and that involves throwing out multiple cow calls. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna start by making cow calls in multiple directions and kind of like this call and response where it's like the herd of cows kind of got separated somehow and I'm doing this call and response thing. So I've got to call here, and I'll just kind of demonstrate it just like a few mew me just all over in

different directions. Yea, yeah, yeah, and then we'll do at the end there, I throw in a few of these long, drawing out sounds. They can be made with pretty much any out call, but open reads work really well for this. And then just like your standard diaphragm call, I got an open read right here, I'll do it to might blow the speakers out, but we'll give it a try. So it's just this like high low high, like more long drawn out. Imagine if a cow ward a bugle.

That's kind of the way that I see this estrus wine going. So it's it's the sound that a cow makes when she gets into heat. M I'll start building that up with those cow sounds, and then I'll grab my bugle too, and I'll throw in some bugles in

there as well. Now it could be any kind of bugle. Really, it could be more younger bull bugle, or it could just be like an also another really good dominant bugle, kind of like we talked about last week that more display called throwing some of those out there, or even just maybe a more immature bowl that's like, hey, there's some satellite bowls, some raghorns getting up in some business that they probably shouldn't be in. So I'll throw out the cow calls and then I'll mix in some bugles

with that. Yeh. The key here is to just create this illusion of multiple cows. Now, if you've got two people, maybe a shooter and a caller, having them throw out cow calls as well, what you'll start to notice is you should be close enough to the herd where that herd's actually starting to talk back and forth to you as well, and create confusion amongst the cows. You want to make every elk think that the real party is happening right where you're at now. The second ingredient to

creating a good elk party is lots of noise. I've heard so many things of oh, don't overcall, you bogle too much, you do this too much. I believe that when you're creating this elk party, there's no such thing as too much noise. And I've only learned that because over the years I've been in real scenarios where elk are doing this and they're just going ape ship. And that's what we're trying to create. We're creating this illusion that something really really exciting is going on, and we're

gonna make lots of noise while we do it. So that means throwing out an excessive amount of bugles where you're acting as two bulls or more, maybe doing more and easier like smaller bowl bugle and then just a

bull that's doing a display call. I think that adding in some really aggressive bugling into this mix or maybe you've got one bowl that you're bugling away from the elk and then another bowl that you're bugling toward the elk that you're trying to call in, and creating this scenario where it's like there's two bowls over here fighting over something. Mixing that in with a frenzy of the cow calls is a really good way to just build

this up. You'll really know if the elk are responding to it, if the other bulls around are lighting off.

You'll also know that if you're trying to call in that herd bull, he's going to be the one that is probably making all the other noise, whereas the other bowls around are now going to switch into this mode of hearing you bugle really dominant and displaying towards that herd bull that's also displaying, and maybe one other bull sounding off, and what the other satellite bulls are gonna do is they're just gonna kind of maybe quiet down

and investigate. This is where when you're set up, you got to make sure you're you're watching, because it's really likely that you're gonna have another elk come into your setup. A lot of times I get spikes coming in. But I've had some really good sized bowls, even some bigger than what we term the herd bull come into this setup quiet just to investigate and see, like what the heck is going on, because the other bowl might actually be starting to take his cows away from where you're at.

So I like to make a lot of noise, and then I like to keep that noise going as I'm following that herd bulls bugle. So I want to stay within a certain amount of distance and just keep that volume up and keep that elk in earshot where it sounds like, okay, I'm within a certain distance of the herd, and the other elk around are gonna be coming in check king out my location. But it really involves in some ways overcalling, because you're just building up this hype.

You're building up a real scenario that happens, and you'll start to see that this scenario, if it hasn't already started to happen where you're at. With the elk that you're calling at, you can kind of build up a frenzy amongst some elk that might be near you along with the making noise. I mentioned this in the story, but I just really want to explain how I do it is there's a little bit of running around when

it comes to creating this elk party. It's very hard to successfully create this elk party as well when you're just by yourself trying to call a bull and solo. That's why I actually really like this tactic when I'm hunting with someone else, but if you're both hunting and you've got a bow. There's so many times where I've been the caller and it's like, oh, crap, here comes a nice bowl. I'm just gonna hold still for a second, let him saunter by but he's within bow range, and

then continue to keep calling. One of the tactics that I think works really well in this particular are set up is this tactic where it's like a bull is fired up and he's chasing a hot cow, and you really get the correct sound. You you literally have to run around, and that's like a cow leaving this extrus wine as she's running, and then doing some bugles while

you're running as well. The bull can hear that that noise traveling down the mountain as you're bugling, and that really kind of gets him fired up, and that gets that herd bull thinking, oh, another dominant bull is on a cow and I need to go investigate that. I need to forget what I'm doing right now, so long as he's not on his own hot cow, and then

come investigate what's going on. If that herd bull does have a hot cow with him, per chance, while this is going on, you're probably more likely to be calling in satellite bulls and other bulls at this particular time. But it's a really good tactic to get those other bulls to kind of think, oh, what's going on over here? This is where the noise is at. This is where the party's at. You want to try to keep it louder and more interesting than the real elk that are

just nearby. M Now, just like any good movie party, stuff is always getting broken, and it's the same way when you create this illusion of an elk party. One of the things that I noticed new elk callers do wrong is they're afraid to make natural sounds. So you think of it like this. You sneak into a herd of elk and you're throwing out twenty cow calls and aggressive bugles, and yet you're standing in one position and

it's dead quiet all the other time. If you've ever been into a herd of actual elk that are running and making those noises, it sounds like you trains just went off the tracks, going off the rails through a bunch of deadfall, and so you really have to kind of create those sounds. Don't be afraid to break branches, to break a tree, to throw out other sounds that que those elk into thinking, oh man, there is definitely a herd of large undulance running around having a good

time over there. So what that might mean for me is I'll pick a spot that's kind of thicker and where I've got sticks and other things that i can break this sound like elk walking through. Maybe when I'm running, i might pick a spot that's gonna sound like breaking branches and other things. If you've actually been in a herd of elk, that's what it sounds like, and so recreating that is really really important to kind of rounding

out this illusion. There's been times where I've noticed that a bowl will hang up and I'm just just calling back and forth, but I'm sounding like this massive party, and then I realized, oh, yeah, well, there's a lot of stuff around here, and he's not hearing any of these other sounds. So maybe I'll make X in going over to a tree and just raking a tree. Um

that raking noise. Not only is it a good display of dominance and can infurate other bulls, it has this audio queue to them that is more than just the calling that sounds like okay, there's something going on over there, especially if you start to hear another bull rake back. Like the raking, the breaking the sticks, the moving around can be really important into adding realism to creating this

elk party. Now, as an additional bonus to helping this tactic work, you really have to keep this tactic mobile. So there's a specific scenario where it works really well, and that's when you find a really fired up bull and you get into a group of elk that are probably going to start talking. And one of the main reasons that elk start talking is when they're moving. They're trying to stay together as a unit. As these bulls

are coming around and just messing up their groove. They're going in there, they're breaking up the party, trying to steal some cows away and do their thing, and you'll start hearing elk talking back and forth. You can actually start building that elk cow elk chatter yourself by using

the cow call and calling to the cows. Once you do that, it's very likely that the herd bull or maybe some of the other bulls will actually start doing what you're kind of making an illusion of creating, where they're gonna start driving other cows away and splitting things up in that herd will keep moving. One thing I like to do is I like to set up and get set up for a while. But if I start to hear that main bull that's bugling towards me move off,

I'm gonna keep dogging him. Last year I talked about dogging bulls, So we're gonna gonna keep going after him and keep setting up that cow party at a distance where I'm sure I won't be seen or scare him away, but also not so far away that the rest of the elk are just going to continue with those live

elk they're chasing. Now, if you've lost the herd or whatever wherever that main action was going, it might not be a bad idea to just hunker down for a little bit and like if you all of a sudden, the other elks, stop shut up, everything quiets down, keep the party going for a little bit longer where you are.

You probably won't draw a herd bull in that way, but it's very likely that you'll draw one of the other satellite bowls that might be late to the party, the old late comer to the party, the one that was across the canyon and hero all this crap going on, and now he's going to show up. So just because everything quiets down or maybe you've lost the herd, doesn't

necessarily mean that this tactic won't still work. But you're gonna be looking for an elk that's probably gonna sneak in silently, probably gonna be a less dominant bull, which in many instances is all I'm really looking for anyway. So that's a great tactic to actually just getting a bull anyway. So those are some things to think about remember when you are creating this party. Another thing that I will throw in there every once in a while

is just some my candy. I'll use a Montana decoy and use that as some kind of visual aid or visual cue that kind of distracts them from the crazy stuff that me is the caller is doing, and focuses their attention somewhere else. This technique really works best in thick timber, so it's kind of situational. But when you find the right situation, it works really good. So you're looking for more peak rut as opposed to pre rut,

and maybe a little bit this will work. Creating a like a large group of cows and making a lot of noise kind of works all the time. But primarily this tactic is a percent money when it's peak rut, when cows are starting to jump into that extrus cycle, and then you you hone in on a group where that might be likely. And by doing those things and by creating that party, I would say that you're probably most definitely gonna call it bull in in that scenario.

I hope you're enjoying a little of this elk action. Get y'all fired up for September. I mentioned towards the end they're adding a decoy for realism. So next week, why don't we just talk about a little bit of elk decoying. I think that that's one thing that I've I've found over the years, I've had a lot of success with you see a lot more guys with these decoys. There's a lot of options out there right now, but

there's certain ways. I mean, I've used them for a long time, and sometimes they work good and sometimes they just are more pain than anything. But I'm gonna give you a couple of setups where I've I've used them with a lot of success, and then we'll go into a little more of a recap on just some of the best Elk tips, pulling together some stuff from last year and some stuff from this year, and really just build out kind of a final scene before the Elk

season kicks off. So I hope you enjoy it. Just as a reminder, shoot me some questions. I want to do another Q and A here pretty quick, So I like to get those ahead of time because generally when that Q and A is, that next Q and A is gonna come out, you know where I'm gonna be. I'm hopefully gonna be just screaming at a bull and a bull screaming back in the Elk woods for sure. I'm hoping. Maybe, I don't know, I'm gonna be hunting with a friend. I don't know what I'm gonna hunt with.

I might actually just hunt with my longbow. I think he's gonna bring his recurve. I might bring my long bow in my recurve. Maybe I'll just bring my regular bow. I don't know. I'm excited. I'm just getting fired up. I've got a lot of good spots I'm gonna check out. Did quite a bit of preseason scouting this year because some of my trips were canceled or whatever, so I had a little bit of time. But I think all this stuff is just going to be key to understanding

elk and get you more successful. And maybe you don't have an elk count planned this year, but learning these tactics now is the key if you're if you're a guy that's listening. I get a lot of messages from people like, hey, I haven't gone all my first Western big game hunt yet, but just listening to these things and then getting some calls and practicing and just understanding how to use them, because I think the stuff that

I'm talking about, I don't know. At least when I got started, there wasn't this kind of information out there, and I really felt like all the calling elk stuff just never really all the information never really worked for me, So I had to develop my own ways of doing things, and over the years doing that, I found a lot of success. And there's a lot of things that I've

learned about elk and elk behavior. And I know I said it last week, but really understanding elk behavior blends itself a lot more to calling in a bowl than how good your bugle is. So if you're new to it, you know, don't don't get scourged. If you aren't the best bugle on the planet, you know you'll always be number two to the elk. And I've heard elk make some real shitty bugles too, where you're like, that's definitely a dude. It ends up being like a really nice bowl.

But outside of that, you know, just think of these things, get some practice in, and I will see you all next week right here on cutting the distance. So until then, party on guard.