Ep. 6: The Elk Rut’s Best Day and Enticing Bulls with Non-Vocal Sounds
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Now picture this. You're in the elk woods and you've got a bull that's bugling back at you. He's coming in and you know he's just right there, but he's held up just on the other side of some thick timber. You need him to move a little bit closer to get a shot. You can't even see him yet. You're playing the back and forth game. Now, how do you make that bull fatally commit to come right into your lap?

The thing is, is there are calls that are not cow calls and not bull calls. I'm going to call these nonverbal elk calls. These are sounds that you can make that will trick that bull into coming that extra distance. The times that you need him to move and he won't. Things like raking a tree, making heavy breathing noises, even urinating sounds on the ground.

These calls will bring that bull to where you want him when he wants to hold up. It's September 19th, a few years back. Now I remember the day September 19th, not because of this particular September 19th, yet over the years, that just seems to be the day that the rut really peaks for me. Calling for friends or clients or even on my own hunts, I just feel like that's a great day that the rut really kicks off.

Now, I started the morning, I was actually guiding this particular morning. We were at the top of a mountain in southwestern Montana. It's pretty steep terrain and heavily timbered. I like that area when the rut kicks off because if the bulls are going to be vocal, that's when they're the weakest in this particular environment. Other times of year, you can never even find them in this place. So before the sun even comes up, I'm throwing out a few locator bugles, some long drawn out bugles.

Into these canyons where I can get this echo sound because I know that I'll travel through that timber Sure enough. I hear a bugle down below me. Okay, that's our bull. I wait a little bit I think we got to get in on this bull before the Sun even gets up I want to be in position early because they tend to be shutting up. It's been hot I did not want this bull to shut up on us and then just lose him like we did the day before and

I bugle, he bugles back. We drop down the mountain, start moving toward that sound. I bugle again, he bugles back. It's escalating. I give him a mean bugle, he gives me a mean bugle back, chuckling. We move in, we drop down, and now he's above us. So we're moving up toward him.

We get closer. I'm throwing cow calls, trying to draw this bull in. I can't tell if this bull is by himself or if he has a whole herd of cows. I don't know the play on this bull yet because it's so thick. I can't see anything. I just hear that he's responding as I'm responding. We get within, I would say, probably what sounds like 200 yards. He bugles. I cut his bugle off with my bugle. He's pissed.

It keeps going back and forth and the bull just seems to be holding up. We move in closer. Now to what I would consider probably 50 yards from this bugle noise. But what I don't want to do is I don't want to move in closer and potentially bump the cows that are with him. So if I knew it was just a lone bull, yeah, we'd move in as close as we could. But I felt like in this timber, the odds are something's going to see us before we see them and blow the whole scenario.

So I really want to call this bull to us. Now he starts to come and we're kind of caught in this patch of really thick timber, some small conifers, not ideal. But I also don't want to bust through this and blow out the elk. So my thought is I got to do my best to call this bull to us.

I drop back, hoping that maybe that'll draw the bull closer in to the hunter that I have set up. I'm bugling, cow calling, then I hear that bull start raking a tree. This is his turf. I break off a branch and start thrashing the tree behind me, and it works. It pulls the bull in probably 10 yards closer. He bugles again, I bugle, and he just seems to not want to come that extra distance to where I have the guy set up.

i'm like man what do i do to pull this bull in i move up just behind the hunter and i'm thinking i'm like i've tried everything he's holed up yet it's thick and i don't think that we could stalk in and get a shot because now he's paying attention i'm racking my brain what to do i happen to have my nalgene bottle pretty handy on my pack i grab the bottle out twist the top off

hold it pretty high above my head and start slowly pouring it on the ground. You could hear it splashing. Then I hear the bull make a few breathing noises. I breathe back. As I'm pouring this water out, the bull pops through eight yards away and the hunter shoots him. Perfect shot. The bull runs over maybe 10 yards and it's done.

So what is it about these nonverbal sounds that get an elk to commit to come in that extra distance when just bugles and cow calls alone don't seem to be working? It's because when you're calling elk, you have to create an illusion that you are an elk. I think a lot of people make a big mistake by when they're calling, they're quiet. They're quiet back here and the only sounds they're making are coming from the calls.

But that's not what it sounds like when you get into a herd of elk. There's a lot going on. There's stick snapping. There's elk raking. There's a lot of sounds and noises that not only bode confidence that this is actually another elk...

but there's sounds and noises that they use throughout the rutting process that do a number of things that incite other elk to have to come check it out. And that includes marking their territory, releasing pheromones,

as well as talking in a way that isn't bugling or mewing to each other. That means certain things, especially during the rut. That means things like this cow's hot or I'm ready to breed. And those are the kind of noises that other bulls cannot resist because that's when the action's going down. A big bull does not want to miss out on breeding a cow. He does also not want another bull to be into his turf.

He wants to think that this is his zone. These are his cows. Everything is owned by him and all intruders should be beat up. That's what you want because that's what's going to draw that bull in that extra distance. If you're bow hunting and some thicker stuff, you might need to get that bull to come within 10 yards of your shooter just to even be able to see it. And that's a lot of times the difference between being successful or just getting a bull to hold up 20 yards away.

These other sounds a lot of times incite something in a bull's brain that makes him say, I need to get over there. I need to fight. This needs to be a confrontation, not just a screaming match. O'Reilly Auto Parts are in the business of keeping your car on the road. I love O'Reilly. In fact, the other day, I'm not kidding you. The other day I went into an O'Reilly Auto Parts looking for a part. I needed a different thing that wasn't really in there, you know, only like tangentially related to what they carry.

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Go to fishingbooker.com today. That's fishingbooker.com. So what I want to do is just talk about the different sounds, when and how to use them. I think the first sound that I have to talk about, because it's one that I use nearly every time I'm interacting with a bull, is raking.

Now raking is, well, whitetails do it, mule deer do it, all deer species do some form of raking. But elk in particular, when you're calling back and forth, they'll rake their territory, marking what it does is releases their scent onto a tree, but also creates a visual marking and it's a display of dominance. So a lot of times you'll be calling to a bull and maybe you might be a long ways away. You might not even notice that that bull's raking in between calling back and forth to you.

So the way a bull rakes is it's pretty loud and it's pretty vicious. He tries to kill that tree and I do the same. Then after I rake, I let out a bugle because I've seen elk do that in the wild more often than not. So it works like this. Most of the time I start the raking sequence when I get in and the bull's already fired up.

When he's fired up, that's when he wants to show his dominance. So I pretend like I'm showing my dominance here as well. I'm saying, no, this is my area, not your area. I'll generally take a big stick and I try to find a tree that's alive because the sound is a little bit different if you use dead branches. So I get a big stick and I just scrape it up and down, thrashing this tree. Just imagine in your head a bull raking a tree and then do the same with a stick.

Sometimes, I've even used my bugle tube for it. It makes not the same sound. A big stick is the best. I get it up against the base and I rake down. You really want to create the illusion by scraping down the tree, scraping up and down. If you just hit the outside of the branches, it's not the same. Get to the base of the tree, scrape because the bull gets in there, gets close to the tree. His forehead's rubbing up against it. His scent's getting on that tree. His antlers are tearing it apart.

you want to try to mimic that sound as best as possible. Now, as soon as I'm done raking, I often let out an aggressive bugle followed by chuckles. That seems to be what I've noticed real elk doing right after they scrape a tree. But that sound is something that causes the bull to want to come in and investigate. Like, who's marking my territory? Is this a small bull? He wants to see what's going on and why this bull is marking up his turf.

So one side note about raking. It depends on the scenario because you got to think of it like this. In the wild, when a bull's raking, other bulls will come and investigate. So you need to decide whether you want to be the bull that investigates or you want to be the bull that has the other bull come investigate you. A lot of times when you rake, another bull will rake. Or if I hear a bull raking, after he bugles, I'll wait maybe 30 seconds and then start raking on my own.

Every scenario is different, but when a bull is raking, they're often distracted. If you know that he might be pulled away from the cows and there's not other eyes, that's the moment you want to run in because you can probably get a shot or close the gap while he's raking. So you have to think of raking in two ways. When he's raking, you can be the bull that goes to him, or when you're raking, you might be in a scenario where you can't risk going to him. You need him to come to you.

A few years ago, my buddy John and I were hunting in Nevada. We had a bull raking and it was one of those deals where we kind of held back and we should have ran in. It turns out it was a giant bull and he had just come to us, raked up a tree and he never committed the rest of the way. So that's something when you get a bull to actually start raking, he might just mark that territory, say, I've done it and I'm out of here.

So you have to really play it situationally, whether you want to be the bull that goes to him or he's the bull that comes to you. Just because he doesn't come to you doesn't mean that he doesn't think you're an elk. It just means that maybe he was expecting the exact opposite from you. So maybe his raking scared you away if you were a real elk. So you have to think of it like that and play it per scenario. But there are certain instances where the bull will not come in

because he believes he's more dominant and you might have a better opportunity at him if you are the one that moves to that bull. Now let's talk about some of the other sounds. There's a term that elk callers use, they call it glunking.

And that's a really weird sound. It's often done through the bugle tube. But what this sound is, I've seen it many times in the wild. And these ideas are just from the way that I've seen elk using this sound. It seems to me like this sound is a sound that bulls make to communicate to a hot cow.

Every time I've seen it, generally it's a bull running with his nose right up the butt of a cow or pushing a cow around or just trying to talk to one cow. This sound isn't a bugle. It's more of like a popping noise through a bugle tube or a... So I'll make the sound through my bugle tube. Some people, the first time I learned to make the sound was just hitting the end of the bugle tube. So I'll give you an example so you can just kind of get it in your head what this sound might sound like. So just hitting the bugle tube.

i think it sounds better if you just do it with your your voice or you get a when i've seen that sound that's generally means that a bull has a hot cow now if you do that sound in a herd where a bull won't commit he's gonna run in because when a cow gets hot he wants to be in on that action he's going to push whatever is on that cow away that sound really works well when they're fired up and he believes that there's a hot cow in the area

Now, another sound that I hear a lot is just a heavy breathing. It's more of I'm here, I'm dominant, and I don't even need to bugle at you. You're a bitch. This is the, I don't even know if there's a name for this sound, but I've heard it a lot of times. It's a breathing sound that raises the hair on the back of your neck and often happens when a bull is within 30 yards.

Doing this sound back really establishes your dominance and is a good way to get that bull to try to commit. So this is more of a heavy breathing noise where he's just pissed off and breathing hard. It's like glunking, but to a bull, not to a cow. It's just heavy breathing. It's kind of like a snort wheeze for a whitetail. If you heard that, like...

And it's just a bull pissed at another bull. And he's so close. He knows I don't need to bugle. And a lot of times that sound will incite the bull to fight. And if a bull makes that sound, you know, I would say he's within 30 yards of where you're calling from. So that's something to keep in mind. If you hear that sound, be ready. That bull's really close.

Now, if he doesn't come into that sound, I picked up this trick from one of the first outfitters I worked for up in the Swan Valley in Montana. Real thick country in there. And one day he was just some of the best elk calling advice I ever got. It's when you call a bull, you visualize yourself as that bull. You have to get pissed off. You have to get fired up. You become that elk.

And he's like, you know, how many times you think about it? When an elk comes in, what's the first thing he does? He gets there, he rips up a tree, he's pissing all over himself. You have to be that bull. So he says, you know, I'll even be calling and I'll just start peeing on the ground. I go, really? And then the first time I tried it, I pulled the bull right through this small patch of conifers. I actually had a water bladder at the time, popped the tube off the hose and started pouring it on the ground. And that bull just came in fired up.

It's those little sounds of here's another bull marking his territory in my zone. Now that sound is a sound that you would make when you know that bull's within, I would say, 20 to 30 yards. That range that he's going to hear it and he's going to believe that you're marking your territory. There's a hot cow in there combined with some of the other sounds, the glunking and the raking.

And so that oftentimes when they're close and they won't come that extra little bit of distance is a noise you can make that will just send them over the edge and cause them to come in and looking for a fight. And a lot of times that's the difference between you telling your buddies, man, I had that bull right there. He was just 20 yards on the other side of some trees, but I couldn't, I couldn't move. I was pegged down. I couldn't get that bull to come in any closer.

Well, try some of these other sounds because a lot of these sounds are the sounds that are going to get that bull to come right into your lap and give you that shot you might not otherwise get. These tips, that's concluding what I'm calling my September elk calling series right now. If I had to just pick three topics that you can use right now this September, it'll probably make you more successful. And I think not a lot of people talk about those are it.

Now, if you missed the other two, do yourself a favor, go back, download them, listen to them. And if you miss the other two, it's probably because you aren't a subscriber. So make sure you subscribe. Then they're in your inbox. Then you're on a road trip. You're headed out to your elk hunt. You can pop this in, listen for 20 minutes, grab your bugle for the next two hours and practice and really visualize and start thinking about how you're going to play out the scenarios that you encounter this September in the woods.

One thing that I definitely want to do is hear from you on your successes, things that have worked. You know, if you use one of these tips, just keep these in the back of your mind when you when you get into these scenarios, give them a try. Maybe some of these are things you've never used. Maybe these are things that you've known your entire life. That's awesome, because I like that affirmation of knowing things that work for me have worked for other people.

I think that the stuff that works the best, it's not just one time it works. It works consistently over time. So I wanted to give you what I considered my elk calling consistencies, the things that really make me the most successful during the rut. And I want to hear from you. So you can do that via social media or remyatthemeateater.com. Until next week, good luck and just good luck.

And good skill. Nobody says good skill, do they? Good skill. Hey, we're going to take a little break here and talk about interstate batteries. Now, if you're like me, enjoying the great outdoors, you need gear that is as reliable as it gets. That's why I power my adventures with interstate batteries. I use interstate batteries in my boats. I use interstate batteries in my camper. Great for your truck, too. From Alaska to Montana, they're outrageously dependable.

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