Either the elk are staying quiet and not moving....or I suck

canadagrown · #1 09-21-2010, 07:17 PM

I've been out 5 straight morning and evenings and have not seen a single elk or heard a single bugle. I've been told I am very good at bugling and cow calling but I have absolutely nothing to show for it. This is my first year hunting elk. I have been to south 400, north 400, south 402 and north 402. I have not heard any gunshots or anything. I've tried putting on miles by foot and everything. I've seen lots of sheep and bears but no elk. Are the elk just hard to come by this year.......or do I just suck? Be nice.

mtnhunter · #2 09-21-2010, 07:27 PM

I don't think it's your calling... I have seen some elk in 402 and haven't heard any herd talk. I think they quiet down after all the hunters during the rifle season start heading through the woods calling. Keep hiking and glassing the treelines around high meadows and you're bound to find some, especially if you're away from where most of the other hunters are.

Rackmastr · #3 09-21-2010, 07:27 PM

Elk that are hunted hard and deal with a lot of pressure do not call a whole lot, and the hills are not like what you see in every Primos video.

Elk get pressured and they go quiet. The past 5 days in those zones is VERY high pressure and there are a lot of guys out there moving elk around. Elk dont call and get very quiet in these situations, and sometimes will respond to calls by sneaking in quietly to check things out.

Sometimes you'll just not be in the right spot or at the right place at the right time, but other times it will have to do with pressure, rut activity, bull numbers, etc.

In the end, hunting elk (in the rut or not) can be a tough game and requires patience and dedication. Keep at it, slow down and hunt carefully and look for the right sign that tells you that you're in the right area. Put the time in and success will come.

Eze · #4 09-21-2010, 07:34 PM

elk are active here i called in 7 bulls in the last 2 weeks. even got to watch two fight abit. I am not hunting so I just play with them, but only once then move to a diff area. once they catch on its over for the season it seems until next yr.

Gets shivers down my back on some of them especially at 30 yds

sagegundog · #5 09-21-2010, 07:57 PM

Stick with it. Elk in 400 & 402 = haaaaard hunting. Took us three years before we got are first elk. Put on lots of miles on the boots and keep spotting often. Once you see your first herd of elk while hunting, you will be hooked forever. Have fun!!!

Swamp Donkey · #6 09-21-2010, 08:30 PM

EZE which spectacular elk areas are you calling in??????

gramps73 · #7 09-21-2010, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rackmastr

Elk that are hunted hard and deal with a lot of pressure do not call a whole lot, and the hills are not like what you see in every Primos video.

Elk get pressured and they go quiet. The past 5 days in those zones is VERY high pressure and there are a lot of guys out there moving elk around. Elk dont call and get very quiet in these situations, and sometimes will respond to calls by sneaking in quietly to check things out.

Sometimes you'll just not be in the right spot or at the right place at the right time, but other times it will have to do with pressure, rut activity, bull numbers, etc.

In the end, hunting elk (in the rut or not) can be a tough game and requires patience and dedication. Keep at it, slow down and hunt carefully and look for the right sign that tells you that you're in the right area. Put the time in and success will come.

Great advice Rack..

Pathfinder76 · #8 09-21-2010, 08:46 PM

I'd say most would be better off to quit calling and listen. The Elk are there and they are being vocal where I have been.

skidderman · #9 09-21-2010, 09:00 PM

Hunted 7 days bow, 3 days rifle north of Spirit River. Not a single bugle and saw several cows with no bulls. Never have seen it so bad. I think I need to spend my time hunting rabbits instead; much less frustrating.

Eze · #10 09-21-2010, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swamp Donkey

EZE which spectacular elk areas are you calling in??????

525 and 526

elkhunter11 · #11 09-21-2010, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Hunted 7 days bow, 3 days rifle north of Spirit River. Not a single bugle and saw several cows with no bulls. Never have seen it so bad. I think I need to spend my time hunting rabbits instead; much less frustrating.

We just spent 4 days there hunting elk,and we have never seen it so quiet.We didn't see a single bull,only heard one bugle,and the moose and deer numbers are still way below previous levels.

marlin4570 · #12 09-21-2010, 09:53 PM

Had 7 bulls bugling opening morning west of Spirit River, been calling for 2 weeks. One kept bugling after I shot the first bull I seen. Their loven the cow call!

TreeGuy · #13 09-21-2010, 11:33 PM

The wolf packs cometh............

Dark Wing · #14 09-22-2010, 04:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreeGuy

The wolf packs cometh............

I'm guessing thats the reason why the elk weren't calling in my area. I was talking with a couple of die hard elk hunters, between the 2 of them they took 11 bulls in in 11 years out of the same area. They hadn't gotten the action they usually get with calling and figured the wolves moved in. I helped confirm that theory when I told of the pack I saw earlier that day.

outbackpat · #15 09-22-2010, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skidderman

Hunted 7 days bow, 3 days rifle north of Spirit River. Not a single bugle and saw several cows with no bulls. Never have seen it so bad. I think I need to spend my time hunting rabbits instead; much less frustrating.

Maybe if you concentrate on hunting rabbit's you may accidently bumb into some elk! That would be a bonus.

paul1964 · #16 09-22-2010, 07:16 AM

I did get my elk this year . Lots of scouting and walking over 50 klm in one week. found them in the thickest swamp land ever. I could barely walk through it. Never expected to find them there, but when I did the hunt was on. Jumped them over 3 times. finally after a long sneak and follow success.P9140022.JPG . Don't call to much and listen as you go.
Make a few calls each time you move a great distance, then listen
not just for an answer back but for sound of them moving. Found they were only making soft chirps nothing loud. Good luck You will find them, I know they are there. Buddy got his on Monday. 402

Remi3006 · #17 09-22-2010, 10:23 PM

Called in 5 or 6 bulls in the last few days. Lots of luck on this end... You must just suck dude. hahaha jk

foothillsman · #18 09-25-2010, 05:50 PM

I hear that the wiser older cows now teach their young to distinguish the difference between a real call and a call made by a hunter. In fact, for entertainment, some of them now come in just out of range to get the hunter calling, then the rest of the herd rates the hunter's ability to call.

Tuc · #19 09-25-2010, 06:18 PM

CG, the elk are there, be persistant.

402 is not like Hinton or GC, you have to hunt harder and maybe a little longer. There are 2 large populated cities (Calgary, Lethbridge) that head for that zone first week of the season and it does get alot of hunting pressure. Thats why I seldom go for the opener.
I know that frustrated feeling but you will see them buggers when you least expect it. I've seen em in there on ridgelines, clearcuts, even down on the flats.
Try and get off the beaten trail, there are clearcuts in there that are reforested, they have taken dozers and backhoes and messed up the roads. You can't get a truck or quad into them but you can sure walk in, find a cut with fresh sign in it and concentrate your hunt there.

G'luck!

fickell · #20 09-25-2010, 06:23 PM

With the full moon the last few days they will be very active all night and resting during the day time making them lazy in hunting hours keep working and dont try to sound to be to big of a bull

crawfy · #21 09-25-2010, 07:35 PM

have been hearing lots of bulls in the 400. they are up high and you need to get up in the trees last week we had 3 bulls on friday bugling and the same on saturday. this week the guys in camp were able to get a 5x5 and a 4x4 and even seen a big 6x6 however he was out of shooting distance.

bignick · #22 09-28-2010, 09:45 PM

we hunted 402 last weekend and the wind was crazy nothing was moving at all after two days of glassing and calling we got to hear a bull but could not find him the wind had us messed up bad

glen d. · #23 09-29-2010, 08:24 AM

Hunted bow 402 a few days before rifle and did see some, then hunted a few days in rifle, in the am they are not out very long once rifle opens, up high near the treeline and head into the bush quickly if pressured. Had a cow tag and a bull tag, wouldn't you know it i called in a two point spiker, got him in 10-15 yrds from us?

jessibobessy · #24 10-03-2010, 07:30 PM

We were just down in 402 this weekend... only heard two bugles and one shot in the distance so I'm not sure how active it is. We did see a bull moose and a few mulie does not too high up. Pretty hot out yet for the elk to be coming down, from what I've heard... everyone's told us they are staying high on the ridges still until it gets cooler out.

59whiskers · #25 10-03-2010, 08:33 PM

Hunted in 400 for a week, weather was hot and there was a moon. Found the elk on Wednesday in thick timber. My partner set up a ground blind and went back Thursday morning and had 5 cow elk walk by him 25 feet away and no bull showed. We went back to the blind Friday morning and at 7:30 am a bull did bugle in the distance and no cows showed. I did see a very large bull in the open on a ridge top across the valley from where we were hunting. At 8:30 am every day helicopters have been flying low over our hunting spot and this did not help our elk hunt either. On Saturday I returned to or hunting spot in the dark early in the morning. I seen no elk but I did call in a cougar with a cow elk call that came in real close at about 18 steps away. I hope to be out again when it cools down a little.