I personally find the best time to hunt elk is the last week of September and the first couple of weeks of October, though the second week of October we are getting to the time when big (I guess call them alpha) bulls will still let you know where they are but not come to you almost under no circumstances, so to speak, so you will have to go to them (literally, right to them). Why would they come when they have a whole bunch of cows with them rounded up? At that time, they have an established spot for getting it on with an established herd that they are almost done with. But they will sure still fight for those cows. This is also the time when the younger bulls will try to take over but will still loose that fight pretty much every time. The following is a video I made while hunting last year. First week of October, unless I am mistaken. I was trying to get the big boy out and eventually called in this younger bull to come along from quite a distance. I then let them handle it on their own.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xkJJxJVbiLk
The young guy sure had his butt kicked (unfortunately, I don’t have that part of the video anymore). Pretty much this is what you want to do late in the season, what the young bull did - call once in a while and move in, with an occasional chuckle thrown in the mix to keep it intense. You don’t need to worry much about the noise, just the wind and cows. The big boy would usually keep calling even if you do not until the things really settle down (it is the big boy who did most of the calling in the video). Often it is very hard to do because cows surround the bull from all sides and they will have you made before you get close enough. This was the case in that video: not a chance I could move in, especially because the bull was in the low spot and impossible to see unless within a few meters and cows all around (there were supposed to be two cows visible in the video, but I do not see them now… lol). That same big boy came to me (if I recall correctly, took me over an hour of aggressive play to get him out) a week prior but a freaking moose showed up out of nowhere and scared him away before I could do anything. I should have shoot him in the head or neck when I had a chance (rifle and 30 (?) metres away) because he never showed the rest of his body.
This is the best time for “aggressive” communication and most action, if you find the right spot, and is my favourite time to hunt them (though is there “better” or “worse” time, really?). In your case, I would go later rather than before (unless you can get out both times, before and after work).
Earlier on, as you call pre rut, it may take longer and you cannot be aggressive in your calling. Often, you can hear a bull moving in and even see him a distance away, and then just vanish. Very early, they won’t even respond to your vocals, but they do get the itch anyway to the subtle cow calling, some gentle brush rubbing (sometimes a bit more aggressive rubbing does the trick as well). Of course, you have to know the bull is there (or can be with a very high probability) to begin with. Do not bugle when you are very close to a bull or his potential location. By close, I mean a few dozen meters or closer, but bugle from a distance. I don’t want to throw a number here, but say 100 meters plus. Let him know that there is a bull with a bit of an itch in the area, but don’t show any aggression. If you play it right, the bull will let you know he is there and then just do what he does pretty much. It will almost certainly be gentle raking on the brush, etc. He might eventually become vocal or simply come out. If he becomes vocal, take it up a notch in your calling game. He will tell you what do if he is there and willing.
Of course, some years, they will run at your bugle like crazy in August from half a mile away. Not sure if it is some years or it just happens though. Who knows. When they do from that distance, they usually loose interest half way and disappear or get abducted and disappear all the same, lol.
All above is personal experience hunting river valleys. Doubt it is any different in the farmland though (there is farmland around valleys), unless there is way more pressure, etc.
P. S. What a good day that was in that video. I didn’t get a bull, but man…
Early season elk
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