I may really feel the morning breeze go nonetheless after which a perceptible change of route. The coolness to the uncovered pores and skin on the again of my neck was now obvious. Though the group of bulls I used to be watching was 600 yards away, I knew they might bust me. Expertise and age taught me to subconsciously take note of such issues so after they occurred, I had the attention. The scene I sat watching throughout the canyon, seven bulls feeding, seemingly with out care, would quickly change.
The primary bull alerted, a three-year-old five-point, and shortly each bull stood nonetheless in a state of heightened consciousness. This wasn’t a state of affairs that will quickly resolve and permit the bulls to return to feeding. Listening to a noise is one factor, however human scent being processed by the elk’s olfactory nerves would imply they might in all probability head to the subsequent zip code, and shortly.
Six of the bulls took off at alternating lunging gallops and trots dictated by terrain and vegetation, having discovered that placing distance between themselves and hazard was one of the best resolution. The most important bull, a 350-class six-point, slunk right into a patch of densely packed Douglas fir bushes about 30 yards away. I may not see the bull however was able cross-canyon to see his exit if he left the duvet.
I arrange my recognizing scope and focused-in on the patch of bushes. Between branches, I made out the colour transition on the rump between the buckskin-shaded rear finish and the russet hairs on the hindquarter. Quickly, I picked out an ear and a few forehead tines. The bull stood fully immobile in cowl, transferring nothing greater than his ears and the autonomic rise and fall of his chest cavity. He already knew I used to be there however didn’t know precisely the place. He was going to find the supply of hazard and transfer out with stealth versus a panicked run for distance just like the immature bunch had achieved.
The bull didn’t transfer for nearly twenty minutes and at last determined that he had had sufficient of the state of affairs. He moved off with a quiet and managed objective. The bull had discovered alongside the way in which, surviving seasons and different encounters, and now possessed the power to keep up composure, establish hazard sources, and survive one other day. Almost definitely, he would by no means be caught on this spot once more within the daylight.
Elk Intelligence
This anecdote from my looking historical past is nothing greater than an instance of what sort of consciousness and decision-making capacity I really feel a heavily-hunted animal can possess. In my experiences, I’ve discovered {that a} mature bull elk from closely hunted public lands is without doubt one of the wariest animals anybody can ever hunt. All older animals who expertise repeated adverse interactions with human hunters can change into very cautious, however I feel bull elk can take it to a different degree. On many events whereas watching them, it’s apparent they’ve a form of contemplation after which decide. On what degree they possess a type of intelligence we will relate to, I don’t know. But when you’re going to hunt elk with any diploma of constant success, you had higher brush up in your animal conduct recreation and method the method like a thinker and never only a gear-laden exhausting charger.
Searching elk with constant success is a bachelor’s-degree-level pursuit. There are cookbook approaches which might be useful however you should be a scholar of the animal. It’s my opinion that you need to tailor your looking techniques to take care of the bull’s mindset at completely different occasions of the yr and adapt your technique and techniques to that calendar.
There are 4 distinct phases of a bull elk’s existence in late summer season by way of autumn and acceptable approaches to take care of them as a hunter. These phases are pre-rut, the rut, transition time, and late season. All of those phases have transitions between them, and the rut may be damaged down into a number of phases itself, however for the sake of brevity, we’re speaking 4 right here.
Pre-Rut
The primary section is pre-rut which typically begins in mid-August. Bulls have spent the summer season packing on the kilos and the groceries in what’s often one of the best and most lush feeding spots the realm has to supply. They’ve rubbed the velvet from their antlers and are experiencing a sluggish rise in hormonal ranges and curiosity within the girls as the times cross, however not sufficient that it takes them away from feeding for a lot of hours a day, generally in broad daylight.
The Achilles heel these bulls possess this time of yr is their choice for routine. They won’t do the very same factor at the very same time each day, however they don’t are likely to wander from a selected vary a lot in any respect. For my part, this can be a large vulnerability in a bull’s defenses and one thing an astute hunter can capitalize on.
If the season permits, an funding of effort and time into CIA-level surveillance of a pre-rut bull may give a hunter an ambush alternative at a relaxed animal at quick vary. This tactic may be supreme for bowhunters who’re prepared to forgo the drama and pleasure of the rut for probability at success. Solely the devoted with time want apply right here.
The Rut
After the primary week of September, bulls are solidly keen on cows. This doesn’t at all times translate to rut-crazed bugling madness however as a substitute is a wholesome distraction for the hunters in pursuit of them. The massive and apparent downside is now he in all probability has a number of dozen bodyguards who aren’t very distracted by something greater than him and his buddies with their largely annoying conduct. Calling may be nice however has the next degree of effectiveness on youthful bulls with much less schooling.
As soon as once more, an ambush technique and techniques is usually a lethal technique to place a mature bull on the bottom and be a slam dunk on youthful bulls being not noted of the enjoyable. A few years in the past I used to be muzzleloader elk looking at timberline in one in every of Colorado’s high quality managed items. I had been making an attempt, unsuccessfully, to stalk inside vary of an enormous, 380-class herd bull for the higher a part of every week.
The herd he bossed round contained 70 to 80 of essentially the most cautious and sharp-eyed cows that will put a gun-shy coyote to disgrace. These girls displayed a coordinated neighborhood watch system that had me blowing them out of basin after basin, and this wariness would generally maintain them out within the wide-open alpine with zero probability of method, even after I tried stomach crawling by way of knee-high, swampy alpine willows.
One morning, I sat on a ridge and will hear the bull and his raspy scream echo within the timber under me. I started to appreciate they have been coming uphill and would cross the ridge just under the place I sat. This stroke of sheer dumb luck and coincidence of the place I made a decision to hunt would possibly simply give me a shot at what most would think about a “bull of a lifetime.”
I had an ideal relaxation, the rocky saddle notch within the ridge was 75 yards under me, and there was a slight uphill breeze in my face. I actually shook with anticipation and pleasure as the primary few cows popped up over the ridge and trotted off into the shady facet of the hill. A second later I noticed the bull’s tines earlier than he stepped up into the bedroom-sized flat spot, and like a second scripted from a fantasy looking novel, stopped in his tracks and ripped right into a neck-arching, head-twisting bugle.
My confidence was sky-high because the entrance bead settled on the crease behind his shoulder however as a substitute of a thunderous, smoky “increase!”, I heard a sickening, low “pop!” of a percussion cap firing on powder that refused to ignite. I scrambled to clear the spent cap and put one other one on because the bull stared in disbelief at an unknown creature fumbling behind some rocks. He let me pop off one other cap earlier than his little voice advised him to get after the cows.
The story nonetheless haunts me, however the lesson discovered from that day is that of understanding what about an elk’s conduct makes him weak to us. Herd bulls depend on their cows to observe for hazard and are very a lot distracted by the rut. The very best tactic may not be to try and draw him away from them however as a substitute, present endurance (albeit unintended by me on the time) and anticipate the chance to current itself. This would possibly imply exhaustive days of trailing and leap-frogging the herd in makes an attempt to get into place for a shot, however in at the moment’s age of extremely educated elk, it may show to be far more efficient than making an attempt to lure a wise, outdated bull away from his cows.
Transition Time
When the urges of the rut fade and testosterone ranges drop, bulls will transition right into a restoration mindset that coincidentally aligns with many rifle seasons throughout the West. Bulls change into very cautious and search solitude. They’re exhausted, hungry, and are additionally feeling a way of elevated human exercise within the mountains that sends them into hiding. Bulls with age on them head into their “nests.” These are spots discovered by a bull in his life, both by publicity from an older bull or just by their pure tendency to hunt refuge and restoration this time of yr. These spots have cowl, good meals, and water inside very shut proximity, however most of all, they provide safety.
Older bulls will depart the cows first and head into these nests, and because the rut slows and ends, youthful bulls lastly tire of the rebukes from the women and get lost in the hunt for their older buddies. Bulls appear to congregate collectively in age teams however the largest bulls stay solo or with one other bull or two and show a considerably anti-social conduct relative to the raucous time of the earlier month.
Discovering these nests that bulls gravitate towards takes effort and expertise, however when you acknowledge the vital components these nests have, the search turns into simpler. Traditional hunt camp spots in epically stunning spruce and aspen forests are pretty to hike and hunt round however are usually not the spots the place bulls go to get well. If I used to be going to make use of one phrase to explain the nation the place one would possibly discover a bull nest it might be “nasty.” Sure, nasty as a result of that’s usually what it takes to eradicate looking stress. Longer distances from roads, steeper hillsides, and heavy cowl are what could make up these nest spots. A bull has a will to outlive and by the point he has any age to him, he has found a spot that permits him to get older.
What permits some hunters to be constantly profitable looking bulls throughout this transition interval between the rut and winter is the truth that bulls change into snug within the spots of safety and might linger within the mornings, soaking within the warming solar rays and grabbing additional bites of grass as they voraciously feed. There’s a little bit of a cookbook method to looking elk right now of yr as a result of, in my view, the recipe for fulfillment is clear. Discover these components they want in the proper nation and begin wanting. Water is the primary ingredient right here and supplies begin for this search.
Late-Season
As the times shorten and the temperatures drop, elk instinctively know they should be at sure locations at sure occasions of the yr. As with most mature animals, bull elk may be very philopatric in nature. That’s, they have an inclination to return to the identical spots on the similar occasions of the yr. It is a vital flaw in an elk’s armor as a result of it’s through the late season that bulls may be spooked and can nonetheless keep within the common space. In any case, that’s the place they know to outlive the winter. Now that space isn’t a number of metropolis blocks however as a substitute, a number of sq. miles.
What I’ve discovered is that bulls will come again yr after yr so long as circumstances and forage base enable them to maintain themselves. Oftentimes these late-season spots are locations you would possibly discover sheds of those bulls from a number of years as a result of they’ve discovered that these places have every thing they should survive the winter.
The most important bull I’ve ever taken I discovered the earlier yr proper after the late elk season ended. I deliberate my complete subsequent season round the concept that this bull would return to the realm once more in preparation for the winter, and that he did. I discovered him a number of days earlier than the season started and had a extremely good concept the place to be on opening morning. At first gentle, he was feeding together with his buddies on a hillside, in plain view of the street, a mile away throughout the canyon, however solely 400 yards from me on the identical mountainside. I waited as he drew nearer and turned broadside, and I then despatched a 180-grain Nosler his approach. One follow-up shot and I used to be quickly admiring what could be the bull of my lifetime from a closely hunted, over-the-counter elk tag unit in Colorado.
Cowl ALL the Bases
Being constantly profitable on elk means you have to cowl all of the bases and handle the entire variables of success. Nice gear helps, however that’s simply a part of the method. Bodily health is important merely to hunt in locations most elk name residence. Weapon proficiency is crucial, however one of the best paper puncher or bench relaxation shot isn’t going to carry residence elk meat if they’ll’t discover elk. Understanding what an elk needs and must thrive and survive is an integral a part of your elk looking arsenal. The data you possess between your ears and the experiences you might have gone by way of to achieve that data form a decision-making strategy of actually finding an elk. The subsequent time you end up scratching your head, questioning the place the elk are, ask your self, “What’s he pondering, and why?”
