Ep. 60: How to Call in Bulls When You're Elk Hunting Solo
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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. ♪

It's the middle of September. I know for many areas, a lot of people have been encountering some really tough conditions this elk season, mostly due to wildfires around, low visibility, some hot weather. And then there's also been the flip side where depending on where you're at, you've just run into some awesome hunting. For me, it was a pretty slow start. The first portion was pretty smoky, pretty hot, not a lot of running activity. But as soon as that pressure system changed,

man, those animals started firing up. We got some cooler weather in and it turned out to be awesome. I actually recently took a bull with my long bow just this last weekend. And it made me realize some of the calling techniques, especially when you're calling by yourself, it can be very difficult to draw a bull into your location because what they'll do is they'll hang up just out of range. So this week, I wanna kind of go over some of the tactics that I use in calling a bull in when you're by yourself.

And ways that you can use, not necessarily call, but certain times you can use silence to get that bull to come in a little bit closer. This past weekend was just one of those weekends where it goes from zero to 100%

I don't know if anybody else experienced this, but the start of my elk season was a little bit rocky only because, or at least the start of my elk hunt, because the smoke was so bad, it was hot temperatures and the animals just were not being active. I couldn't even, like, I just couldn't buy a bugle. It felt like I was going to some of my favorite spots, some places that I knew well, that generally hold elk and just not turning anything up. And I couldn't glass to find them. So it was just kind of felt a little handicapped.

But that all changed when the weather itself changed. So it was kind of like hot, terrible conditions. But the night before the weather shifted, I ended up going to a spot and getting one bugle. So I thought, okay, I'm going to go back into this spot. Well, that pressure system kind of changed up a little bit. And that next morning, I started out early, just like most mornings, threw out a locator bugle before daylight and heard a bull kind of like back up on the ridge behind me.

So I figured, okay, I'm going to work into that spot. I'm not going to make any more noises now because I wanted to get close before I let out any more sounds. And just wanted to also kind of wait until it got closer to shooting light because I didn't want to draw them in too early. So I get back in the trees on this ridge is like burnt and there's all these little pines around and I'm in the trees shooting light now. And so I let out just a few cow calls, just testing the waters here.

And then I let out a bugle. Then it's almost like the amphitheater starts. A bugle across the valley, a bugle up on the ridge to my right. And then I hear, not necessarily a bugle, but just like this heavy breathing behind me and stuff breaking. So I turn around, give it a big bugle, and then those other bulls fire off across the canyon. I can hear whatever's behind me now has moved off and it let out a few little like

chuckles back behind me. So I dropped down, circle around, get a view. And the bullet actually come in really close to me. Maybe I would say probably 20 yards or so, but just it was so thick. I never actually saw him. So I get around and about 120 yards out, I see there's a small five by five. And I thought, well, I've got my long bow with me pretty much

If that bull came in, I would definitely have probably drawn back and shot him. But I also kind of at the beginning of the season thought I'm looking for a bull that has at least six points on one side. I don't care. It's just like for some reason I kind of set little goals for myself and I wanted to hunt with my longbow. And if it had six points on a side, that's what I'm looking for. So I decided to walk away from that small five point because I had two other bulls just going crazy across the canyon.

Every time one would bugle the other would bugle. I thought okay. This is a pretty good situation They sound like more mature bugles this other one kind of wasn't really into what I was doing what I was cooking So I figured I couldn't see these other bulls so I bugle and I'm gonna now make my way across the canyon I figured if some other bull comes in and I decide I want to shoot it cool But I'm gonna see what these other ones look like first. So I start moving that direction and

And now at this point, I'm just doing like, I'm kind of matching the bull's bugles. And I finally put eyes on the bull across the canyon. I'm like, sweet, that's a good enough bull for me. It looked like he had six points, decent looking animal. And he's pretty fired up. So I start working my way that way. I kind of break out of the pine trees and

like the forest part. And I'm trying to move quick to get into position because I don't know where these other elk are, but I know that that one, I could see him working over the ridge where most of the other bugles were. So I wanted to get there fast enough to try to intercept him so he didn't go into that big herd. Because I could tell that, or at least from what I saw, it was a lone bull. So I'm like, sweet. I pretty much used my own podcast tactics of lone bull, cow call party. So now I'm cow calling and that bull is bugling to my cow calls.

And when that happened, I just thought, yep, I can call this bull in. Like he likes that. I know what this bull likes. Like the other bulls were really bugling to the bugles, but this bull really liked that sound. So I do that and then he would bugle. So I get set up and I get myself on this ridge where

I'm going to be able to draw this bull up over a rise because he's looking for cows. So I figure, okay, I'm going to get to that rise. I'm by myself. So I can't draw like when you've got two people calling, it's completely different scenario because one guy can go ahead. The other guy can draw back, but because I'm by myself, I need this bull to kind of pop up and be looking for the cows, but not so much so that he can see everything and not have to commit all the way.

I'm fortunate that I can actually see a long distance. So I can watch this whole thing play out, which is pretty rare. Most of the time you're just hearing what's going on, but you necessarily can't see it. However, the tactic didn't really change in my mind. So the bulls across the canyon, I'm giving him the cow calls and he's liking it.

he's now coming in on a string. Like I can tell by his positioning and the way he's bugling at me, he's going to come in. I know that he's coming in. So I get set up to a point where I think that when he pops up, he won't be able to, if I was too far from that Ridge, he would be able to look around and understand where those elk are. Cause man, these elk can just pinpoint your sound so well. So I get set up, I get my cameras set up. I set my phone up,

Start calling bull starts working in. I actually filmed the thing come in the entire way. He drops down below me. He's out of sight because I'm crouched down. Then I pop up to adjust the camera and I decide when he's over there and moving, I'm going to call as soon as he gets out of sight. Then I know he's, he's working my way. I already trust that that bull knows where I am. I'm going to go silent.

So I don't make any more calls. What I want him to do is have to like search for me where he's, he's actively looking, but I wanted him close enough to my position, but I don't want to give away exactly where I am when he's really close because I don't want him to hone in on me because I'm by myself. I'm trying to film all this. So he pops down and now I see antler tips coming up the hill rise in front of me. I readjust the camera, get set up.

focus in the bull stops behind this one small pine tree. It's like perfect setup. He's probably 15 yards. Then I see him start to walk out. So I start to draw my bow back and he whips his head in my direction. And I just freeze. I just wait, wait, wait,

don't move I mean elk are like t-rex of the animal world if you don't move they don't see you so I wait but now based on that movement I know okay he's probably gonna jump I've always had my call in my mouth when I'm ready the bull then starts walking out I let him get a few steps out into the open he's not looking my direction I start to draw back he jumps as I'm drawing back I see him move and

focus in on the spot, release the arrow, hit the bull, the bull runs off, goes over the ridge, and I got an awesome bull. Essentially called it myself, filmed it myself, and shot it, obviously, by myself.

But it was just an awesome experience to have that kind of scenario where you can see what the elk's doing. I had time to set up and just like an awesome encounter with essentially a really, really cool bull.

If you're anything like me, you might be going on an elk hunt or have an elk hunt, and it might just not be feasible to have somebody else with you. You might be hunting on your own. Maybe you're hunting with somebody that does an elk call or can't elk call. There's a lot of things, a lot of scenarios. But these tips that I'm going to give you are not just for...

calling alone. However, they do really increase your opportunity of getting that bull within range. But also if you're doing a setup, these are just some really good ideas on ways to set up. So I'm going to give you my five best tips when you're calling elk by yourself or how to set up on elk. So the first tip is going to be to set up where they'll stop or where they can't see you.

you got to understand like when you're calling elk, they're going to do a lot of things. They're calling, you're calling, they're calling, but they're also looking out for, I mean, just natural elk behavior is the animal is going to go to where he knows where that sound is coming from. And he's going to look, if he doesn't see anything, he's probably going to lose interest. That doesn't mean that he necessarily knows that your setup is fake, but he's going to go to an area where he can look and say, okay,

sounded like 30 cows over here it's fairly open or I'm within a potential distance that I think I could see some cows and I don't see anything I'm interested in all right I'm gonna go back over here I'm gonna go do my own thing I'm gonna go do something else

So making sure you can set up in a place where that bull is likely to stop or needs to come to, to verify what's going on is a really good way to set up. So when I'm hunting by myself, I like to stop and try to get to a spot where that bull is calling, where I think that he's going to have to peek over. And that's generally like some form of ridge, some form of trailing.

change in terrain maybe it's open so I'm going to set up just in the trees somewhere where it will have to draw that bull to come get a closer look is one of the best places to set up and that goes for if you're calling for someone having them set up at that area as well if you're getting a lot of elk holding up just out of range maybe you're set up and they're always 60 70 80 yards out

It might just be more of a factor of how you're setting up and where you're deciding to stop than your whole calling sequence or anything like that. So picking a spot where you're going to have a shot, but it's also a place where that bull kind of has to get close to verify and use his eyes to see what's going on. And picking those places wisely, if possible, is going to really help you get that elk into position.

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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.

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As I'm moving in toward the elk, I like to throw my calls toward that animal so it knows, hey, I'm, especially if I'm bugling, I'm challenging you, I'm talking to you, I'm displaying and I've got these cows here. But as I get closer, I start throwing my calls back the other direction.

I really believe elk are really, really good at pinpointing where you're at, but throwing it that other direction might make it seem or appear a little bit further away. Now, there's this catch where you need to draw the elk to your position, but you also want to not give away exactly where you're at if you're by yourself. So I like to throw those calls in that opposite direction and

as I get closer to that elk, making him know my general vicinity, my general direction that that bull will need to travel, but maybe hoping that he thinks that I'm a little bit further back than I am. Then I don't have to be the guy ahead of the calling, but I'm using my sound in the other way to draw that bull closer.

Tip number three would be call soft. It's in the same vein of calling behind you using like a diaphragm call. A lot of times I'll do these cow calls or even bugles with my mouth closed. It's kind of that same thing where that bull really has to listen in. It doesn't necessarily mean that he won't know where you're at, but

But I think one thing that people do too often is they get really loud when that animal's close, but it makes them have to investigate a little bit more. Like, oh, I thought they were here, but it sounds further away. I'm going to go look. They get curious. And those soft calls, those being quiet calls or like calls at half volume or less can be really effective when you're by yourself. It's something that I've found over the years works really well.

And I learned that because there's so many times where I've have a bull and he's screaming and I'm screaming, which is really good, but he just wouldn't come in that distance. And then I start doing some cow calls quiet, which is very similar to throwing the direction different, but it's like, Hmm, I thought I heard him here. Is that elk pulling the close elk away? And they come in that extra bit of distance. Tip number four would be call then move.

It's essentially thinking of it like it's a two-man setup where one guy is behind and then you're up. As long as that bull is making noise, you can kind of gauge where he's at. So what I'll like to do is I'll kind of look at an area where I've got ability to move. Maybe it's in cover. Maybe there's a ridge. I'll go back. I'll call. I'll make all my calls in one area, a little bit behind me, say 30, 60 yards, and then I move up and get set up.

That's in hopes of drawing the bull to that last sound location, but being set up further up to intercept him when he goes in to look. Remember that bull, he wants to check out what's going on. He might just want to test the waters a little bit. If he's not super fired up, he might not come in all the way. So he's going to walk in to look. And that's why you want to be calling further back and then go up and set up quiet and wait for that bull. The fifth tactic is going to be to go dark.

A lot of elk calling isn't necessarily the calls you make, but it's using noise and silence in combination. What happens when you go dark? What I mean by go dark is just stop calling. Make your cow sounds. When you know that that bull is moving in on you or your bugles or whatever, if it's not maybe a fired up bull, but it's a bull that you're using cow calls to call to,

Going quiet can be a really good tactic because I've seen cow elk do this. They'll talk, they'll talk, they'll talk, then they'll shut up. And that bull's like, where are you? Where are you? And he's going to go to that last place where he heard those elk.

This is a really effective tactic when you're by yourself, especially if you've got a lone bull coming in. If you know that it's a lone bull, this is a really great tactic. If you don't, it's still a good tactic. You're pinpointing your location to that elk by saying, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here. And then now he has to come in and look for those elk because he doesn't know, did they move off? So he moves a little bit slower. You just have to use a lot of patience in that scenario.

What I like to do is I like to create these scenarios where that bull has to seek me out.

Because I'm by myself, because this elk might have a propensity to stop somewhere, to investigate the situation, to look from a distance, just out of range or just behind stuff. I need that elk to kind of have enough curiosity to move in and move through some of that stuff where I'm set up to come into my location without giving him the exact location of where I am when he's close. I would say when that elk's further out, he could probably pinpoint your location of calling within a 15 yard radius.

And that's what you want when you're hunting by yourself. You want that bull to come into that 15 yard radius and start looking around. You don't necessarily want him pinpointed on your exact location because if he knows exactly where you are when he's close, he's going to be looking right there. He's going to be honed in on it. He's going to be expecting to see an elk. He might even stop further out when he can see that area and look. Now, if he hasn't heard anything for a little bit, he's going to go, huh, maybe they're still in that spot because cow elk don't necessarily have to be talking all the time.

So they'll talk, they'll talk, they'll talk, then they'll go quiet. And that bull is going to come in and start looking around. He's going to be searching for those cows, but he's going to be looking in lots of different directions, which gives you a really good opportunity to draw back, to go unnoticed, to be set up in a place where that bull will come to your location, but not necessarily expect to see a hunter there or not necessarily stop further out and try looking in. I really believe that a lot of elk hunting success happens

comes down to your setup and how effective you are using the terrain available, using your calling to try to trick that bull to either the shooter or if you're the shooter and caller, your location. By really trying to trick their eyes and using their ears, by using some silence as well as changing the directions of your calls, you're going to be a lot more successful at bringing that bull into bow range.

I'm super pumped on all the messages I've been getting of success, of tactics people have been using from the podcast to be successful. Those are awesome to get. I really enjoy all the photos that I've been getting, all the success stories. Those are huge for me. I mean, that just reaffirms some of the tactics and a lot of things, knowing that it's helping you guys grow.

be successful or try something new or, or maybe if it's a new type of hunt, a lot of people have been getting out and doing something different, doing something new. So I really enjoy seeing all that success, seeing all those stories. And even just those stories of tactics that you tried where it was like so close, but it didn't work out. And just in just getting that learning experience in those those cool encounters. That's what it's all about getting out there getting those encounters and giving it a whirl giving it a try.

I know if you're a rifle hunter or you've got hunts planned later in the season, you're probably like thinking about all these archery elk stories and you're like, man, those don't really apply to me. But don't worry, we're going to be getting into the thick of a lot of other tactics here pretty soon. And if there are certain topics that you want discussed, shoot me a message via Instagram at Remy Warren, because I'm going to be doing a Q&A next week. I've got quite a few great questions lined up.

I like to try to even compile some of the similar type questions and make sure that I answer some of those. One thing that has been awesome is a lot of the people that have asked questions have sent me success stories and success photos based on some of the answers they received. So

If that's, that could be you. If you've got some questions that might, you know, they could be kind of specific or they could be broad topic. If there's something that you aren't picking up or something that you want to know, shoot me those questions. I would be more than happy to answer them for you or try to get to as many as I can. So that'll be next week.

Also, if you are so inclined and you're going to send a whatever message or whatever, you can check out the story that I told today was just from last weekend's hunt. But I put that I captured a lot of that on video. That's all on my Insta story saved profile thing. So if you want to check that out, if you didn't catch it, you want to see it all go down and in semi real time, especially now knowing the backstory, because it's really hard to put in

you know, all the whole backstory into it. So if you want to catch that action and kind of see how it unfolded, go check that out. That'd be sweet. But otherwise I really appreciate you guys listening, tuning in. I'm pretty stoked that it's hunting season. I'm trying to squeeze these podcasts in between hunts. It's like I went out this morning, I got a buddy in right now. We're elk hunting. We're

chasing, getting on him. And I feel bad because I sent him out on his own. So I gave him some of these tips. I'm like, okay, do this, do this. I've been kind of

A lot of these things that I'm saying is just stuff that I'm talking about in the field while I'm out there. So I think that these fall podcasts can be really timely, really effective, especially because it's top of the mind for me, because it's just stuff I'm doing every day. Pretty much from now until December 1st, I'll be out hunting elk, guiding, doing all that good stuff. So if there's things you want to know, don't forget, shoot me that message. Otherwise, until next week, draw them in close. We'll catch you later.

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