Calling in Elk
- Thread starter SonnyCJ12
- Start date
Elk once littered the Praires....the Early settlers wiped them out...
- Location
- Saskatoon Saskatchewan
I'm going out Sept 15 for 5 days. I can't wait. I've shot one cow elk but it was 10 years ago and the trip was more drinking than hunting. This year will be different. Have access to some decent hay land near a small lake with lots of cover.
- Location
- West Central Alberta
I'm getting up there in years and haven't hunted elk for years now but I can still hear them answering my call and I will never forget the sweet smell of a rutting bull. 
Elk are always my first quest when hunting. I have taken 3 dozen or so of the big cervids.
Since I am a meat hunter, cows have been harvested more than bulls, but the bugling of
a big bull will raise the hair on my neck, even yet.
They are smart animals, and if pursued hard, will turn largely nocturnal. I favor the lost
cow call to bring a bull in, but with the right circumstances, a bugle will drive a big bull
crazy, lol. Hard to beat elk as table fare, IMHO. Dave.
Since I am a meat hunter, cows have been harvested more than bulls, but the bugling of
a big bull will raise the hair on my neck, even yet.
They are smart animals, and if pursued hard, will turn largely nocturnal. I favor the lost
cow call to bring a bull in, but with the right circumstances, a bugle will drive a big bull
crazy, lol. Hard to beat elk as table fare, IMHO. Dave.
Find some place that has elk that you cannot hunt, and practice on them.
Buddy of mine was in school in Calgary, used the ones at the wildlife park/zoo thing there.
Ended up at a Christmas do via his Missus, and ended up talking to their keeper. Guy said "Strangest thing, for a couple years, these guys have been living together and calm, but this fall they started kicking the living hell out of each other!"
Same guy, ex infantry, had been in a couple running gunfights in the city streets in the former Czech Republic, said it was the first time in a long time, he was scared, when a big bull came in through the trees like a train wreck, as he said "To kill me!"
Seriously, find a place with elk that you can see from enough distance, and see how they react to your calls, or if they do.
Buddy of mine was in school in Calgary, used the ones at the wildlife park/zoo thing there.
Ended up at a Christmas do via his Missus, and ended up talking to their keeper. Guy said "Strangest thing, for a couple years, these guys have been living together and calm, but this fall they started kicking the living hell out of each other!"
Same guy, ex infantry, had been in a couple running gunfights in the city streets in the former Czech Republic, said it was the first time in a long time, he was scared, when a big bull came in through the trees like a train wreck, as he said "To kill me!"
Seriously, find a place with elk that you can see from enough distance, and see how they react to your calls, or if they do.
Most of our present day elk came about as as a restocking program from Yellowstone in the 1920s. Hard to believe.
https://www.amazon.ca/Elk-North-America-Ecology-Management/dp/0811705714
Grizz
I wish SERM & Govt in Sask would.close the cow seasons down....BUT they wont ...becasue of crop damage ins and vehicle ins claims...
Would also be nice if they would introduce them into the Wildcat Hills North of Hudson Bay.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Very very hard to believe. Elk were indeed re-introduced generations ago into some parts of south and western Saskatchewan from Yellowstone herds, ( Cypress hills) but they were always present and did their own "re-stocking" in the forest fringe areas from Central Sask between Prince Albert National park SE to Duck Mountain. The variety of Elk I have hunted for years is pure Manitoban strain as far as I can tell. Bigger, Darker bodies than Rocky Mountain elk, heavier antlers with less main beam length but more mass. In very recent times the gene pool and herd health across Saskatchewan has been compromised by escaped "farmed" elk, nearly all of which originated in the USA and are almost all Rocky Mountain subspecies. They gave us the gift of Chronic Wasting Disease, "the gift that keeps on giving".
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
I'm getting up there in years and haven't hunted elk for years now but I can still hear them answering my call and I will never forget the sweet smell of a rutting bull.
Ha Ha yup I will never forget the first time a bull squealed at me, I didn't have a clue he was there and he was only 80-100 yrds away in the bush...they will get your undivided attention immediately...and yes, after he went down , his pissing all over himself was very evident from a distance.
I have been fascinated with calling animals since I was a kid, over five decades ago... I have been calling and hunting ducks and geese, predators, turkeys, deer, moose, bears and elk... it can be frustrating but also exilerating when it comes together... the back and forth dialogue is the fun part for me, trying to figure out how the animals biology and physiology are engaged and driving its actions and vocalizations... at any rate, good stuff and great times to be in the woods actively engaging nature.
Attachments
Worked with a guy years back who would practice his elk calling from out side the fence of Elk Island Park. He got pretty good at it, but also ended up charged with harassing wildlife. - dan
Practice calling construed as wildlife harassment legislation example provided for in BC Wildlife Act section 1?: "harass" includes worry, exhaust, fatigue, annoy, plague, pester, tease or torment, but does not include the lawful hunting, trapping or capturing of wildlife;
https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/rs/rs/96488_01#section001
https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/rs/rs/96488_01#section001
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