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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 to the podcast, everyone. It is elk month still, September. Prime elk are out right now.
One of my favorite topics to talk about is drawing in bulls during the rut, how to trick an elk to bring an elk within bow range. As a professional and full-time elk guide pretty much my entire adult life, I've spent countless days doing exactly that, trying to figure out the way to trick elk. And one thing that I've noticed is when I'm guiding hunters or whatever, we're out there all day and we got to take advantage of all the times of the day, not just the peak when they're really active in the morning or the evening, but maybe
Maybe what are they doing in the middle of the day? So if you've ever been out and you think to yourself, well, it's middle of the day, what should I be doing? This podcast is for you. I'm going to be sharing a tactic I like to call striking up a bedded bull, which recently led to me taking the biggest bull of my life. So before we go into the tactic, I want to share the story of the giant seven by seven I recently took with my bow.
This story is definitely a freshie. This one just recently happened. It took place in the beginning of September. I was hunting an area, I mean, I'm telling a story of the biggest bull I've ever taken and you kind of expect like, oh, a really good draw area or something once in a lifetime tag and
I was not expecting this bull in this particular unit where I was hunting. It was just kind of one of those things where there are big elk in places, but this was not a place that I would expect to find a big elk. I could probably go back there a thousand times and never find a bull of this caliber ever again. And, you know, that would be more realistic. But...
The fact that it did go down was pretty awesome. So being the beginning of September, there's a few things that can be happening. One thing for the beginning of September is it depends on the weather. But generally, it's kind of like you hit this pre-rut phase. So
The bigger bulls will be kind of off on their own, kind of cruising, checking cows, which actually leads to it being a decent time to attract them, like to get a bull to come in. But it can also be a bad time because beginning of September, depending on the weather, can be very little action, can be hard to scrounge up an elk. So it's kind of like a hit or miss when you hunt real early, if you're trying to kind of dance around the rut dates. But
This particular hunt, I was hunting early and just so happened that we had good weather for it. So opening morning, sun's rising. And sure enough, just as it's light enough to see, I would say probably even before legal shooting light, I spotted a bull across the canyon in a meadow. And very shortly after, rips off a bugle. We're like, sweet. I had quite a few guys with me. I had a friend of mine with me.
that grew up near the area. And then I had three guys that were filming for a video. So we're filming it for actually meat brand processing equipment, some of the processing stuff that I talk about a lot. I do some films with them every year. And this was one that we were like, okay, we're going to capture this on film. Honestly, in my mind, I had, I was kind of thinking like, all right, you know, a nice, like
Any kind of bull. Like if I could get a six by six sweet, but I know this area is more like a good meat hunt. So, I mean, I could take a cow, I could take a bull, I could take whatever. It's any elk. I mean, I could just spike like some of the units you hunt might be like brow tine bulls or other areas might be a spike or you can't shoot cows or this, that, and the other thing. This tag, I can, I could shoot anything. And we were definitely hoping to bring home some steaks.
So opening morning, there's like three bulls there, a couple of them kind of sparring a little bit. It's that like sparring where it's a, they're kind of more, I don't know, just kind of doing that hierarchy sparring where it's like, it's not an all out brawl, but they're just, they're doing the dance. They're doing the thing. It's like, that's cool. All right. There's some bugles. We bugle another bull bugles. So we're like this, we're in them. This might happen fast. So
We make our way over to those elk and they'd moved off between the time that we got over there and interacting with another elk along the way. And then they just kind of got quiet. It's like, well, all right, let's go kind of figure out and see if we can find them again. So we started working around, calling, whatever, no more bugles. So it just shut down, which definitely happens sometimes.
especially early season just like shut down and that happens late season too it's like they might get active and then shuts down and then maybe picks back up in the evening or maybe doesn't so we're like well they're pretty fired up this morning hopefully it's gonna be good so we checked some bedding areas didn't really see much got back to where we kind of started glassed back in there's a little bit of burn in that area too and i spotted some elk bedded so we're like all right sweet and
Let's go over there. I'm sure the rest of the elk are there. Let's, let's sneak in there and get going before we even get over there. Like just this storm cloud rolls in, came in really hot and just started dumping rain. I mean, it was, it was dumping a lot of rain. I was actually to get into the area. I brought my, um, like side by side, but it doesn't have a roof on it. We got back to the vehicle that night. No joke. There was like a foot of standing water in the back of the one seat that, um,
Didn't have the drain open on the floor. I'm like, that was, it just dumped rain. I mean, needless to say, like we could, we had no visibility. We got over there and just like the elk weren't doing elk things. They weren't there. They weren't making noise. They weren't doing anything. We did bump a few cows and stuff on the way and tried calling and there might've been a bull in with them. Not really sure, but nothing happened. So next morning, go out
kind of the same thing. It was a little bit of a weird weather. We got one bugle across the way and it was like a small raghorn five by five, which I probably, I was like, oh, that's about the size of most elk I chase. But I was like, ah, you know, I was thinking about, we saw some nice six points. I'm like, all right, I'm just going to hold out. There's some good bulls in the area. I think I can, you know, I was like kind of in my mind thinking, all right, I'll shoot a six by six. Like it's going to definitely be possible. We just got to give it a little bit of time.
And so they, that one lone bull kind of disappeared. And then that was pretty much it. Like not a lot of activity. We hunted around during the middle of the day. We started walking up this creek bottom and some elk had fed down or moved down, drank and started moving back up. This was like kind of one of those things where there's quite a few of us. So I was like, all right, everybody get down, do a little stalk. Didn't work out.
They just naturally moved off before we could get a chance. And that was that. So that evening we get into position where we can just really let out a bugle. And the bulls, like a bull bugles across the canyon in the burn and we get eyes on it. It's a big six point, like sweet. Okay. That's a good bull. Tomorrow morning, you know, and then we worked in like tried to work around because another bull was bugling. And so we got two bulls fired up.
So we're like, all right, tomorrow morning, we're going to come back here. Before daybreak, we're going to get in on this six point that was in this burn and try to call him in. So next morning...
Get in there, get in, get in early, hike in. It's quite a hike. So we get in, we get set up and we hear them bugling. Just, just kind of like right around shooting light. Sweet. We dropped down, we go up to the top and it's like that bull was somewhere in here. The last bugle get to the top. I rip a bugle and that bull bugles like,
20 yards on the other side, just cut me off. And generally when a bull cuts another bull off, it's like fighting words. They just don't like that. Like I'm arrow knocked, just ready for this bull to come in and nothing. The bull across the canyon is still bugling.
And we're like, huh, that's weird. So we move up a little bit. And I don't know if it was the bugle, maybe a wind thing, but probably just, he just decided, oh, I don't want any of that. Like got too close too fast. Like it was just a little too much confrontation for the first couple of days of September. And he just moved off. So the bull across the way was still bugling. So we still have this bull on the hook. So we call this bull Bukkake.
he's calling back and it's going to be a long drop down all the way, drop it all the way down to the Valley, climb up the other side. So we dropped down and just before we get to the bottom, the bulls up at this, like trying to kind of pinpoint them in the timber. I'm like, all right, there's this kind of like diamond shape or sorry, pyramid shaped mountain across from us really steep. And like the bulls at the top of it. Cause you can hear he's like, sometimes sounds on the side. Sometimes it sounds on that side. Sometimes he sounds closer. So he's like, he's just on the top going back and forth.
So I give him like this cow call, like my long cow call, the little sexy whine. And he liked that. He like came on our side of the hill and bugle. I'm like, all right, we're going to get up there. I think we got this bull on the hook. We're going to get up there, drop down, get up there and call that bull in. So.
We get down to the bottom and I hear that bull beagle again. And it's like, well, he's on the side still. And he sounds like he's really interested in what we had to offer. So I'm like, but I don't want to like, generally you aren't going to call a bull off the top of a peak like that. So we start climbing up this hillside. It's super steep, really, really thick. And I'm like, I just need to get to a place where I,
We can get set up if he comes in that we'll actually have a shot. Cause you can call bulls in all day. I've done it where you just call bull in after bull, after bull and have zero shots, bulls within 15 yards and still have no shots. Like I didn't want that to happen. So I'm like, now this bull is actually like coming down the mountain bugling. I'm like, Oh boy. He, he knew he remembered that cow call. You could tell when like he started acting different with that, that one call.
And so like the bugles, he was going back and forth, bugling, bugling, but he just really liked that wine. So I'm like, all right, so we're working up and there's kind of like this old logging road thing that cuts through, but it's really overgrown. And then I see there's like this one little burn patch in the middle of the, and I'm thinking, okay, it's about maybe 20 yards up. I'm going to get to that open. And that way, when we call, if that bull walks within 30 yards, we'll have a shot.
Across the little logging road, I'm like 10 yards from this little burn. And all of a sudden, one of the guys behind me is like right there. And sure enough, that bull rips a bugle and is coming our way. And I'm just in a bad position. Too thick. Bull's like coming in, doesn't like the setup.
blows out well it doesn't really like blow out but goes the other direction like circled us and gone within range but definitely no shots and we're thinking like dang that sucks it was like a 300 plus inch six by six that was our chance sometimes hunting you get one chance per week that was it
So like, well, let's see what's going on. You know, give it a little bit of time, make some bugles, go up toward where he went, bugle into the Valley. Nothing. It's like, well, the hunting day's over. That sucked. We had it. Everything was good. And we called in a bull at a time of year that it can be difficult to call bulls in. And, you know, that was our chance. So it's like, well, what do we do? So I just pulled out like my go hunt map on my phone and just looking at like bedding areas and,
And I'm thinking, all right, well, here's going to be our new plan. We've exhausted this area. You know, we know what bulls are here, kind of. I mean, we know what they're bugling or whatever. We're going to go a little bit deeper and we're going to go into the thick stuff. We're going to climb up and we're just going to, we're going to essentially...
do a tactic that I like to do where you're just, you're, you're trying to call to a bedded bull. You're, you're going through bedding areas and you're trying to call to a bull that's like just laying there and not really expecting anything, but you're just a group of elk or cows or whatever moving through. So we go over there and we start climbing up, doing that thing, calling, doing it all. By this point, it's about 11 AM. And so we, we stop and we're like,
Having a little bit of a snack break and a little bit of a water break. I've got my, I made this pretty sweet elk shaped fruit roll up that I was just joking when I made it, that it was like this lucky fruit roll up and I forgot I hadn't been eating it. So I was like, it was giant. I rolled the whole thing up. It's like a, I don't even know, like a two foot by foot and a half fruit roll up.
And I was like, all right, this is what we needed guys. Like the lucky fruit roll. We haven't eaten any of it. So I just ate a little bit of fruit roll. I'm like saying like, that's the secret. I'm telling you all my hunting secrets. The real hunting secret is you got to have a lucky fruit roll. And so, you know, calling whatever, and we go down the road. So snack time's over.
start working where there's like all these old logging roads and stuff as well. So we catch, we're going like cross country through trails, through trees, hit old logging roads, kind of a little bit of everything, just going up the mountain, just working. Like what I identified was some like gradual hills, like not kills, but like gradual ridges and then really thick timber. So it was kind of like those, those flat spots where elk like to bed, those real thick spots where it's like, okay, it's shaded. It's on the South or sorry, the North face. And then,
And there's just like good cover, but it's a little bit more, you know, just mellow bedding country kind of stuff. So go down the trail. I mean, I don't even know. After eating the fruit roll, maybe like 150 yards, 200 yards, let out a cow call. Hear a bull in the distance. So I'm like, all right. Was that bull bugling? Because sometimes what bulls will do, they'll just be in their bed and they'll just bugle.
So I was like, was that bull bugling to my cow call or was he just bugling just to bugle? Because it sounded a long ways off. So I give it a few minutes. I'm like, all right, if this bull bugles, I'm going to give him pretty much the same call. And then if he bugles back, I'll know game on. So I give him that same call, two cow calls. And that bull bugled half the distance. I'm like, game on. Get in the bushes, everyone. There's four of us together. Two of the guys is like,
Duck into cover. I move Zach. He's filming like right to the point of the trees. And within 45 seconds, that bull's screaming right in front of us. Like, all right, game on. Well, the bull comes out. We just happen to be at like this intersection of like three old logging roads.
And, uh, the bull, like, which is actually pretty good because that's, you know, that's probably what, why he was able to cruise so fast. And so like quiet as well. So he, he, he pops out and he's like 47 yards or so, but super thick.
And I'm like, crap, like this is perfect. He's just going to like, I'll give him here in a second. I'm going to give him like the old mew mew, see what he does, you know, try to draw him in. He's going to be 20 yards away. Just like perfect. The wind was good. Everything was good. As soon as that bull steps out, you know, bugles again and he's 47 yards away and the wind starts swirling. And I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. Like, no. And I see him nosing in the air, like
He's just like lifting his nose. I can see his nostrils just like breathing it in. And I'm thinking I've got about 10 seconds before this bull is a goner for like, this is it. And, uh, you know, if it wasn't, if it wasn't, if that wind wasn't swirling, he would for sure would have come in right into our laps. And I had the way the sun was, it was like hitting the, like it was, everything was dark. And then there's just like, the sun was like kind of like hitting the bull, uh,
And there's this one gap in the trees and it just happened to be standing broadside in it. And I'm like, all right, I got, I like it full draw. And I'm like, okay, I gotta be, I gotta shoot through this. And I kind of checked it with my pins and I say like, I think I said it out loud. I hope I don't hit that branch. And the bull like starts to take a step and I cow call and stop him.
And I'm like, crap, you know, like it was there. So I scooch to the right, hit full draw and then hold the pin and release and just thwap. It sounds good. And it, but what's that thing? I mean, I'm the type of person, even when I make a perfect shot, I'm always like, until I walk up on that animal, I'm not, I'm not saying any, like, I just hate to be like, oh yeah, it was a great shot. You know, especially when you're shooting through stuff like that. And yeah,
I'm like, I'm nervous just because I'm like, that was a giant bull. I know how big that bull was. That was a very, very big bull. It was probably one of the biggest bulls I've laid eyes on in the wild. And I'm like, okay, what happened? How did it go down? And then maybe two minutes later, you know, well, I bugled as he ran off. I bugled. We hear a crash. I'm like, okay, was that him just falling over? Or was that him just crashing through stuff? And then like literally probably two minutes later, we hear bull took his last breath. It's like, okay.
So gave it a, still a little bit of time, walk over to look for my arrow. My arrow just like blew straight through him. So I couldn't find my arrow and I'm like, like, can't find any blood. And I look over and maybe 15 yards from where he was standing. I see an antler tip and bulls down like, Oh sweet. Walk up to him. And I was like, I knew it was a big bull, but I didn't see that seven point when he was coming in.
And I was like, I was just in disbelief. No way. Like this is a 390 type bull that just sauntered in, in an area where you definitely weren't expecting that kind of bull to appear. And that is how in the middle of the day, or pretty much middle of the day, I killed the biggest bull in my life. When it comes to successfully striking up a bedded bull, I think it involves three major components here. So it's going to be identifying bedding,
It's going to be calling and then it's going to be moving.
And the moving and calling is really important because for this tactic to work, I think that you have to be within a certain proximity to the bull. First, well, obviously they have to hear the calls, but generally in bedding and timber, that's got to be close. Sometimes it has to be, depending on the topography, within a hundred yards or so. And so you kind of have to really pinpoint the bedding and then move through that for this whole entire tactic to work.
So let's start with identifying bedding. When I'm looking for elk bedding areas, I've talked about this many times in many podcasts, but what we're looking for is we're looking for good cover. Now, depending on the type of country you're in, I mean, some places you'll hunt and it's all cover. That's one thing I love about archery season is you get to hunt the darker timber. And if they're making noise, it's like, well, it's the one time of year those elk are going to let you know where they're at.
But you might be in an area that's really wide open and it might just be like an aspen stand or something that provides shade throughout the day.
elk like that, that thicker cover to bed. They don't like to have to elk or, I mean, they're always hot. I remember the first outfitter I worked for old timer and he was like, he described elk is like elk are always hot. That's the one thing you know about elk. They are wearing the thickest fur coat you've ever seen. And it doesn't matter if it's the middle of winter or the middle of summer, they are cooking. And it's, it's pretty true when an elk beds, like they like those places that are nice and cool, nice and shaded and,
It doesn't necessarily have to be on the north face of a mountain. That's not always the case. But many places you are, that seems to be the timbered side. The trouble with a lot of the north faces is also the more worn down side. So it's a steeper side. And elk do also like to bed in comfort for the most part. So they're a big animal. Think about any animal. Maybe even just like relate it to, let's say, a horse. You know, you've got a horse or a cow, a beef cow, right?
It's like, how many times, like if you've got a horse, would that horse want to lay down on the steepest mountain possible? It's like, no, they'll be on the steepest mountain. But, you know, for an elk to be comfortable, he needs kind of more of a little bit of a gradual slope. So elk generally bed on steep,
a ridge or a finger ridge, something where the slope is gentle enough that they can lay comfortably and lay in multiple positions. So it could be the steepest country around, but at the top of that ridge or whatever, especially if it's a real steep country at the top of that ridge or at the bottom of the valley, uh,
It's easier for the elk to bed. So those are things to think about is like, where's easy for the elk to bed. And then also they're going to want to be bedded just like everything else with the wind probably coming downhill and where they can kind of fan out. Nice thing about elk is for the elk is the fact that they are a safety in numbers kind of animal, they're herd animal. And so they will bed in multiple positions. They'll have other animals bedded and be able to spread out and that's how they stay safe.
So when I look at, like, I just pull out my, you know, go hunt maps or whatever and just start looking on there. I get the topography out and then I get, and I switch between topography and satellite imagery. And then one thing, like why I'm doing that is I'm seeing, okay, where are these benches? These like more, everything's super steep. Where's that more gradual bedding? On probably, I generally will probably start on that north base, but I'll then look at that.
to like satellite image over the topography and say, okay, well now here's the timber. Here's like where a good person like chance for them to bed is. And then which ways that wouldn't going, you know, is it, it's probably going to be rolling down this side. So I'd kind of start on those areas and that's how I'll start narrowing down to those bedding areas. Another, another thing, it's not just ridges though. I have also found like
in those steep draws, sometimes those Creek bottoms, or even like, it's not a Creek bottom, but it's a Valley of some kind. Those will flat out. So it'd be super steep. And you might get these valleys where it's like, okay, here's a little bench or a little pocket rail can bend those little benches, even on the face of a steep mountain that benches out a little bit, those can be great bedding areas. So what I like to do is focus in on those bedding areas. Once I've identified, all right, bedding zone,
then it's time to move and call. And what you're kind of doing is you're doing a combination of still hunting, which still hunting, not to be confused with sitting and hunting. Like that's
stand hunting. I don't know. I know the terminology, if you're new to it can be like, well, what's still hunting it. The term still hunting, we should just change that to something else. Cause it makes no sense to me either. Um, you aren't necessarily still, you're just moving, like you're just moving cautiously, quietly, um, just aimlessly roaming or strategically roaming through the woods, uh,
at a very slow pace where you're hoping to see things before they see you. And if done right, it's a very good skill to have. So what I'm doing is I'm going through these kind of bedding areas, looking, and then I'm moving, and I'm calling. And what the calling is, is the calling is to try to figure out where an elk is before I blow through there and blow them out by, you know, bumping them or not seeing them.
And what the hope is when you're striking up a bedded bull is really you're looking for the bull that's bedded off on his own. So what he wants to do is he's going to want to check cows. And so you're hoping to find that bull that's bedded by himself.
And then you're going to be the random group of cows or a herd. It could even be a herd with a bull moving through the timber, also going to bed. And he goes, oh, hey, I'm here too. That's what his bugle is going to be. Oh, I'm over here. It could also be, and this is probably what you'll run into more, is like a bull with cows or with a herd. And so sometimes like that bull will just bugle from his bed, right?
And then he'll just do things later. He might come in, he might not. Those lone bulls are generally the ones that are going to come straight in. But there is those bulls too that do have cows. In the middle of the day, they don't want to get them riled up. They don't want like another bull to come in and just like push them around and do their thing. So they might actually get up and come challenge you.
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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.
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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. So what you're trying to do is you're trying to, as you're moving and calling, get into the
that scenario where you're calling within proximity to a bull that decides, hey, I need to go investigate or hey, I need to go take care of business over here. When I'm doing this, this is generally in the hours between kind of like when elk are done doing their major bugling in the morning and before the evening. So it's kind of like that time where, yeah, they should be off in the timber bedded somewhere.
One thing that I like do is there's a couple of different calls that I use. So I generally start out with a couple of cow calls, maybe even just a lost cow, like a, you can do that a couple of times as you're moving. I'll do it, you know, like I'll move and call a little bit and then I'll stop in a, in a spot and call. What I'm trying to do is trying to cover the terrain with my calls in an adequate way. So I,
I'm not necessarily over-calling, but I'm also not shy of calling because I know that in the timber, your sound travels a little bit different. So if it's more of a flat area and really thick trees, I'm calling like...
every 250 yards. If it's like more open and I'm on a ridge and my sound, I feel like is broadcasting into this little basin, then it might be like every half a mile. It just depends on how that sounds traveling. So I generally start out with some kind of cow sound, either just like one cow, or like I said, I do like a little bit longer whine sometimes, but just like cows talking.
if I get a bull to respond to that cow call, then I pretty much know like I'm calling that bull in. It's just one of those things like when a bull bugles to your cow call, unprovoked with other stuff, he's probably pretty interested and he's probably going to come in. And in that case, I might just stick with the cow calls. But as I'm moving and calling, I'm also bugling. So I always start with the cow calls just in case it's like,
I talked about this last week, but it's like kind of like imagine like a predator stand or coyote stand where you're like, you start soft with the call just in case there's one close by and then you get louder. I kind of do that, but I do like the cow calls just in case there's one close by that wants to respond to that because it's a lot easier to just not give him options to do other things like round up his cows or feel threatened or whatever. Yeah.
Um, and then, but I will, so I'll do a couple of cow calls and then I'll throw out a bugle. And the bugle, the reason I do the bugle is because some bulls are like only going to respond to a bugle. And you don't even know the temperament of the herd that like you're getting into. Maybe there's a bull that's been bugling like all morning and the cows haven't made a peep.
there's going to be a lot of elk that you get into that's like, hey, the cows aren't making any sounds. And then a certain time of day, like maybe later in the day, they will make some sounds, but it just comes out of place. Like the bull's not going to respond to that. So I throw out the bugle because I want to be like an equal opportunity offender. I want to give every elk in that herd an opportunity to hear something they like.
Um, so I'll do the cow calls and I'll throw out those bugles. The nice thing about the bugles too, is they travel a little bit further. So, uh, maybe one that can't hear the cow calls heard, heard a piece of that bugle and is going to respond.
The nice thing about the cow calls too is sometimes there might be a herd and you might even get a cow to respond, whereas the cows might not respond to a bugle. So you kind of get the best of both worlds by covering it adequately with different kinds of sounds. When it goes to bugling in this scenario, I generally do like a shortened kind of locator call.
Or I'll even just throw out like kind of more of an aggressive bugle where it's like, oh, maybe there's a herd bull pushing some cows through an area to like try to round them up to bed. It can be a major task for a herd of elk to get to bed, especially once the rut hits. Like when it's full on rut, just the other day, it was like they were screaming all day. Like the cows kept trying to go down and the bulls kept trying to grab them, push them and take them other places. And so, yeah.
If there's a bull that's bedded where you're at, he's going to hear that and think, okay, I want to be part of that action. So he'll bugle or he'll just come in silent and come check it out.
But in this scenario, what I really like to do, I call it striking up a bedded bull because you want to get them to respond. It sounds like a lot of needle and haystack action where you're like, well, there's a little bit of luck involved. Yes. But also by pinpointing bedding areas and kind of understanding the habits of where these elk are going, you say, okay, these are good high percentage bedding areas. Now I'm going to still hunt through here and then I'm going to be calling. And when you get within that proximity that kind of gets in that bull's bubble,
Oftentimes, it kind of catches them off guard or gives them a good opportunity to come check you out and can be a really great way to call in a bull that might not be callable when everything else is going on. I hope that tactic maybe helps somebody this coming weekend or this week, this coming week. It's also a good tactic that works pretty well later in the season as those big bulls start to kind of pull away from the herd.
Sometimes they can be bedded up and then they kind of think, oh, well, here's an easy opportunity that's coming my way. So kind of striking up a bedded bull that way can be really effective. I think next week, one things that I do want to talk about too is, is when maybe by the time we hear it, you know, it might be past a little bit of a peak rut, but I think it's always good to kind of give this knowledge away.
you know, throughout the season as it happens, because it kind of reminds me as well of like, oh yeah, that's something that happens. And I think one thing that
If you're, if you run into the scenario where it's like, okay, what about when it's just all out bugle city, when bulls are bugling, when they're doing their thing, like, and there's a big herd elk, how do you move in? How do you make the right moves? Cause there's sometimes like, uh, just yesterday, incredible day hunting elk. I mean, one of, it'll go down as like one of my favorite days hunting elk. And I didn't even kill an elk. Um,
but it was just, I got so many interactions actually hunting with my stick bow and I,
I think next week I'll tell the whole story. But I think one thing that we can take away from it is kind of the idea of like moving amongst the herd and how to actually stalk when there's so many eyes, so many ears. Like what can you get away with and what can't you get away with? And when are those times when like, you know, immediately you probably aren't going to call a bull in. Like they're bugling their heads off, but it's not...
It's not like they're going to come into the call. So kind of talking about that scenario where it's like, Hey, they're making noise. I'm doing everything right, but they just aren't going to come in. How do I proceed? What do I do? That's going to be next week. Also, I appreciate everybody. Please keep sending in. Like I've had so many awesome messages in the past. Some people have had some really good elk seasons. I know some people have had some struggle seasons too. Just depends on what part of the country you're in because it's,
Some areas it's been like the best elk season they've had in years. In other places, everything's got its ebbs and flows. Other places it's like, man, this is a tough season. We're struggling to hear a bugle. And then other guys are like, biggest bulls we've ever seen, bugling early. This nuts out here. So it's like it can be ups and downs, but I've definitely got a lot of messages, guys saying like, hey, this silent elk calling helped me kill this bull.
Your tactics led to this bull. Quite a few guys from Canada said,
I appreciate all the Canadian listeners as well. A lot of guys on that border area hunting elk and getting into some good bulls. So I really appreciate the messages from all you guys. Keep up the awesome work. A lot of people taking their first bulls and some guys taking some really big bulls. Quite a few people have taken the best bulls of their life and saying like, hey, this tactic actually was pretty much exactly what killed this bull for me.
So I appreciate you guys giving me that kind of feedback because it's really cool to see when that kind of information gets used in the field in a way that leads to some success. So I'm really excited. You know, I've been actually out elk hunting today. I'm in camp, a little bit sore, a little bit. I've been chasing like some chasing bulls around all week and it's been great.
But yeah, so keep those coming. And until next week, strike them up. Send me a picture. I appreciate you guys. Catch you later.
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