Ep. 52: Answering Your Elk Hunting Questions
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As a guide and hunter, I've spent thousands of days in the field. This show is about translating my hard-won experiences into tips and tactics that'll get you closer to your ultimate goal, success in the field. I'm Remy Warren. This is Cutting the Distance. Welcome back, everyone. I'm excited this week because we're just going to jump straight into elk. I know I, on the last podcast, maybe talked about some other topics for this week, but I

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'll give us the month of August to really cover some good calling tactics, 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 going to 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 hunt 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 glean a few tips that you didn't think about.

Elk hunting is my bread and butter. 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 15 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. We'll run through and some will be longer answers, some will be shorter answers, but I think that all of them will be good as far as like maybe some stuff that I might not cover over the next series of elk, but also just stuff 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 Kyle. He says, Hey, Remy, you heard on the podcast that you're going to start an elk series and we'll have a Q&A about elk hunting.

So, looking forward to these, I've got a question for you. While you elk hunt or guide, do you utilize Forest Service trails much, or do you find yourself bushwhacking more so?

He says, 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 tallying up, just thinking of places where I hunt elk or places we've been successful, I would say 90 plus percent of them are just bushwhacking off trail, off road, off road.

I think that that reason is because 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 forest service roads and trails constantly.

It's a great way to access, maybe get back into a spot and then bushwhack 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 by.

by having that open logged area, that clear cut, maybe some thinning, it's going to get some grass in there and you're going to 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 10 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 toward 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 going to 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 going to be the key to actually finding more elk. This next question comes from David. He says, is there a time of day you prefer stalking bull elk during September archery season? What tactics do you use to get into position to shoot rutting elk?

So if I'm going to stock, I prefer to stock in the middle of the day. What happens is, especially in September...

you know, the bulls are going to kind of take their cows and they're going to be making a lot of ruckus, doing a lot of chasing in the morning. They're going to 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 going to try to push those cows to a bedding area. So you're going to push those cows into the timber. If you can keep track of them either by sound or by sight, that's the best. We

We talked about, you know, bedding animals and stocking bedded animals. The difference with elk is you've got probably a large harem or a large group. Now, stocking bedded 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 bull 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 isn't bedded 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 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 bull 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 estrous 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 aren't going to blow it, but close enough to that bull where he might come to you if you don't have an actual stalk to the bull. Now, second part of this question, tactics that I use to get into position to shoot Redding elk.

You know, I love to call elk. I think that that's one of the cool things about September and hunting them 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 bull. As you get into the later rifle seasons, it can get really tough and it's the best time to kill a bull because you have that option to call elk.

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, stalking 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

elk bedding watching the oak bed getting in slipping in stalking that might work or you could call them 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 your scouting maybe you've hunted this area before and you know okay they go to this bedding 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 bedding area, he might just go over to that wallow. And so that's another great tactic to ambush an 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.

All right. This next question, 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 cow elk. This message comes from Ben. And I actually think that the Q&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 tags? What are the calling strategies, behaviors, techniques, etc., 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 hunts and been on many cow hunts. It's a lot of fun for a lot of reasons. The first reason is the way elk are...

the cow to bull ratio is way higher than most buck to doe 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 last year's year olds 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 going to 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.

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 elevation. It depends on the type of unit 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

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.

probably a lot of the problem is those cows getting into agriculture. 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 in 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 as steep and as deep as you want. I mean, last year I actually guided a cow hunter and we ended up shooting a

his cow way back in the back country. And it was just 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 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 bedding area. I'll just kind of like throw out cow calls here and there. And I like to do it as like a call and a response. So I'm just doing this with my voice right now. So I don't have any calls on me, but yeah.

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. They might be like, okay, what's going on? 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 finger ridge that they're bedded on in the middle of the day and you can kind of get them to sound off. Then you can kind of start working your way in, 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 and

you know, where you're bugling bulls, you can get 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 I 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 if 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 going to 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. 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 that's funny. You know, you've got bull tags and you do this and that. And one of the 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 limited 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 10, 20 years to draw whatever, um,

Look at getting cow tags in those areas, man, what you learn 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 an area. So when you draw that bull tag, when you have an opportunity to hunt a bull there, you're

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

All right, this next question comes from Steve. He says, Steve's from Wisconsin. He says, Hey, Remy, question for your podcast. Do you have any tactics you use for post-season elk rut? I was lucky enough to draw a 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 that beginning of October season or in the most, a lot of the Montana and Idaho stuff is that like mid October and October. So it's kind of like this low season it's after the rut, but

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 going to 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 bulls, 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 elk bugling in these groups all the way through October 25th, 26th.

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 going to do is they're going to 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 tired, they're wore out, and they're going to 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 to 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-rut period, they're generally by themselves, so they're easy to stalk. They're kind of following this feed bed pattern. So what I like to do is I like to kind of glass those fringes in like maybe pockets in 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 going to 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 going to be within that same area that I kind of call it. Like they just go off and kind of sulk and recuperate. 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 to

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 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, they're just more likely to have a legal bull or two with them. So a couple of options for you there.

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This is Brent Reeves from This Country Life. What makes South Dakota the greatest for pheasant hunting? With over 1.2 million pheasants harvested last year, South Dakota boasts the highest population of pheasants in the nation. In fact, you'd have to add up the total harvest from neighboring states just to get that many birds.

There's also millions of wide open acres chock full of different landscapes, meaning the hunt in one county is often completely different from just a few counties over. But what really makes South Dakota the greatest goes way beyond just hunting a colorful bird. It's the pursuit of something more like the camaraderie that awaits all kinds of hunters from all walks of life and partaking in South Dakota tradition over 100 years in the making.

It's about taking the greatest shots and watching your dog work the greatest fields in the greatest lands, carrying on the greatest heritage and making the greatest memories. So what are you waiting for? From the rush of the flush to the stories at the end of the day, experience a thrill like no other. Learn how at huntthegreatest.com. Next question comes from Ryle. He says,

Remy, I've got a question for you. I love calling elk and bugling in bulls, but the problem I'm having is getting bigger bulls 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. He loves the podcast. Been putting these tips and tactics to the test and been nothing but money. 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 challenge is calling in a herd bull. Why is the challenge calling in a herd bull? Well, because that bull runs the herd and in nature, it's,

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 listened to him, go back because I think 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 going to go in, he's going to bugle. That bull is probably going to round up his cows and start going off. Then the satellite bulls are just going to 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 going to 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, elk are call shy. I swear hunters are the ones that are call shy.

I don't think there's such thing as bugling too big or too 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's 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

And that may work in some scenarios. There's times where I've 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 are all great tactics. And then just like I mentioned earlier, hunting in the later October, later in the season, just isolating bulls and stocking 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 asked, he 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 the 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, it's a great question.

I kind of like to say, you know, get my favorite caliber is a 300 short mag. And if anybody asks me, what gun do I get? I always say a 300 short mag. I generally go with a lightweight gun. Right now I'm shooting a Saco Finlite. You know, the Tikkas are great. Like there's a lot of great lightweight rifles, you know, out there. Get a lightweight gun. I go with 300 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 going to get better shooting habits and you're going to shoot better.

Now, the downside, the con to a muzzle brake 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 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 earplugs around my neck or in my pocket, like handy. And I always put the earplugs in before I shoot, or especially when I'm guiding, I put the earplugs in before someone else shoots. They call them muzzle brakes guide killers for a reason. Not because they're like, it literally kills your ears. There are instances where I've had muzzle brakes go off near me or have shot had to shoot without earplugs. It's

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 brake 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 is very disorienting. That's the real bad part of it. That is why I am such a huge proponent of

suppressors. Now a suppressor is essentially a muzzle brake that takes a lot of the sound or the crack out of the rifle. It doesn't make it silent. Everyone 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 of know-how. There's a lot of options out there in most States now allow you to hunt with suppressors. They

They are incredible because it's a muzzle brake. So it takes out a lot of the felt recoil, but also takes out that extra sound that's just going to destroy your hearing. Now, you should probably still shoot a suppressor with earplugs in if you know the decibels are technically high enough to

damage you're 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 it throws a little bit of balance issue in your gun. 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 where you actually just have a muzzle brake on your firearm. And then it's got kind of like a quick release mechanism

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 go online and get these trust things for like a hundred bucks that just are forms you fill out. Then you bring that in, you get some fingerprint ID cards and it takes about a year to get. So if you're thinking about getting a muzzle brake, maybe think about getting a suppressor and a muzzle brake 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 given guns that were too big for them as kids, you

you know, develop these really bad shooting habits, anticipating rifle flinching, that kind of stuff. And it's really hard. 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 300 wind mags when we're 12 years old. And 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 break, I don't know. There's all different kinds. I don't necessarily know that one's better than the other. I've never had one that I just really didn't like. I have probably...

a couple dozen of them and they're all kind of different so yeah that's a great question all right cody says hey remy can't thank you enough for the information education you provide to all of us i've learned a ton i have a question for you on upcoming elk 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 in 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 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 and

You might get there and there might be 20 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 going to be thousands of vehicles driving the 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&A, but finding those like spots that you got to bushwhack into that take a little bit extra energy to either get in or get out and pinpointing those spots. Now,

Obviously, the first place I'm going to look is those backcountry areas, but sometimes those type of places actually get hunted a lot and that may not be the best spot for you. Also, stay away from the roads where people are just going to... There's a large majority of the people that will have those tags that will never kill an elk and they're just going to keep driving the roads and maybe 0.01% will shoot one, but they're just cruising those roads, looking from those roads. 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 backcountry 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 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 going to get bumped here. You know, most of the opening days that I hunt are elk that have been pushed by someone else.

else. Because I know this is where the elk traveled, 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 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 and 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 wiffle ball bat style bugle tube. I just think, yeah, it's a pain to carry. It's a little bit bigger. It kind of clinks and clunks, but dang, does it 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 this is 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 advanced, get some of the beginner ones and just start making some tones on them.

The best time to practice elk 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, get in your car. 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 your 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 a 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. You know, you can make that eeeew sound or like you can make all kinds of estrous calls with it or just cow talk. Those are great calls. Even like bite calls where you just kind of bite down and let off and blow. Those are great. It should be in your arsenal. There are some push button calls and I know they get a lot of flack.

But I've used them throughout the years. And I mean, I used to for many years while guiding, especially when they first came out, always had there's one Primo's Hoochie Mama. That was probably my least favorite. There's like a Carlton call. I think it was like the button call or something like that. They have some weird names on them. But those button calls are

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 elk. 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 are other, the Primo's, 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 going to take some practice. So get them 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 9,000 feet. There's meadows on the north-facing slopes, a bunch of little mountain lakes, creeks nearby. It looks really good, but 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 an 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 as that, like you've probably packed your camp in and you're saying, okay, I'm going to 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 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, deer, 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 going to 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 play. So 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 going to say 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're 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 not being real active, whatever. I'm just going to 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 are bugling. I'm probably not going to spend a lot of time there. I'm just going to 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 and stalk them. So, you know, you hear elk bugling everywhere, but you aren't seeing any elk come out where you can kind of pattern and make a play. Then you're going to go to a spot where you can find elk that you can see and watch and do a stalk. 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 alright 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 backcountry 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, um,

I've said this before, but 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 happen. So many friends I've hunted with this, that, or the other thing. They eat a certain way at home. Then they decide to go on 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 Snickers bar. And that's just knowing my body and knowing that like, okay. And then that kickstarts 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, um,

300 and 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, you're

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 found.

I've been trying some of these peak fuel dehydrated meals. I mean, they're amazing because 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. It's like a Chad Mendez one.

Holy crap. Was that thing good? And then I had a penny elk pasta and I'm like, okay. And I looked at a lot of calories, highly suggest those ones. I'm going to 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 because they were cheap and on sale. And then I tasted them and they all tasted the same and were disgusting. No offense to backpacker pantry. That was 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. So 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's probably running in deficiencies of other things. I've talked about it before. I always use those 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 throw in a few of those like pack out 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 boost of 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 those energy high. Yeah.

Thank you everybody for sending in so many questions and

I'm sure we'll get more as time progresses. You can always reach out to me via social media at remywarren on Instagram. We've also got the MeatEater website, remyatthemeateater.com. There's plenty of info out there, but I'm really excited to just this next month kind of jump into some of this elk hunting stuff. Even if you haven't been elk hunting or don't have any plans to elk hunt, listen to these because there's going to come a time when you think,

elk hunting sounds good and you don't want to be trying to figure out how to start elk hunting the same year you have your tag you know start start listening to this stuff maybe get some elk calls 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 going to start talking about now

It's going to be huge. And if you all come every year, I think you'll really enjoy some of the stuff that we're going to jump into. So I encourage you, please share these podcasts with your friends. I really appreciate that. I know you guys do. And leave some comments, leave some ratings. Feel free to share it. I see it pop up on social media a lot, people sharing the podcast weekly. And 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 and be sick of it but bugle strong my friends bugle strong

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