Post rut elk calls?

[FreshAir]

So I wanted to see if anyone could shed some light on the mysterious subject of late season elk calls for me. I am a total newb to elk hunting (2nd year) and will be searching the deep dark woods of SW Washington for them and trying to get meat for the freezer. I am not looking for anyone to totally spill the beans and give up all their hard earned secrets but rather a nudge in the right direction.

There is a lot of information on the web in regards to bow hunting and how to call in the heat of the rut. I am curious if cow or other calls can really help or get a reaction post rut?

Thanks

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[Spray-n-pray]

I am also going to be hunting for the first time in years and am trying to glean information. A friend of mine told me about a little contraption called the Hoochie Mama that he uses for rifle season. Even though it is after the rut, he claims it will at least get a bull's attention. I looked it up on Google, and on Cabela's website there are many other reviews of this product that make similar claims. I am planning to pick one up to see if I have any luck with it. Oh, what the heck, I will post a link for it..............

<broken link removed>

 

[shooter]

Bi-Mart carries the Hoochie Mama and it's a few bucks less than you'll find it at Cabela's or Wholesale Sports. In my experience it may stop a bull that is moving long enough for you to get an accurate shot off, but I have never had any luck getting it to locate or call in a post rut bull.

 

[hsullyc]

I was told any cow call is worth a try to get them to pause or stop long enough to get a shot so I carry mine.It will also sometimes get a deer to stop,chirped at on a couple years ago he stopped and looked at me like wow your a funny looking elk,it was the last thing he saw.

 

[Dan-Dee Sales Inc]

we sell bugles for about 2 weeks early in the year and cow calls for the rest of the time. Hoochie mama works well. They also came out with the baby hoochie mama late last year. Single reed calls are good too.

 

[OEDub]

I've done a decent ammount of experimenting with this on the Oregon coast. There are pros & cons to using calls post-rut. Most of this pertains to 2nd season rifle (over Thanksgiving), as this is the time when I typically hunt elk.

You CAN get a locate on a bull by using a bugle. NOTE: you want to go easy with it & not bark too much. Its unlikely that you'll get a response to an over-aggressive call this time of year. Also...they will basically be just giving up their position...you will not see them charging to you from over ridgelines. This means that you will be beating the brush.
PRO: you know where he was
CON: by calling you've alerted them (especially herd cows) to an aggressive entity, which makes it more difficult to successfully stalk them to within shooting range.

NOTE: The bull that will "typically" respond to a bugle this time of year will NOT be the monster elk for the record books. I find that they are typically the smaller, beta-males. Many times they are actually with the herd & intermingled with cows & spikes. The alpha males typically don't give a Shhh this time of year, and are paired with each other in "Bachelor" herds of 3 or 4 other large males. I have not found a way to use calls successfully for these elk.

Other types of calls work well...cow call when a younger herd bull get seperated from the cows. Calf calls work well if you have a cow tag & are in close proximity to the herd. Experimentation works, my friend. IMO, one of the best investment I've made is a SCEERY cow call. I've called herds up to the top of ridglines & stopped elk in their tracks. Sometimes all that is necssary for a good shot is a little hesitation from the animal.

Again...this is from my own personal experience on the Oregon coast. This may / may not pertain to your grounds, but a least it may give you somewhere to start from with your own experimentation. Good luck!

 

[rdb241]

I asked the same question on another forum, sort of. Checkout what diehard elk hunters have to say......





http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,44866.0.html

 

[FreshAir]

Thanks for the info guys! Is there any movies or reading on the subject anyone would recommend?

 

[2506]

You may want to peruse this site:
http://www.elkcamp.com/

I'll echo the positive opinions of the Hoochie Mama. Primos makes good stuff, and that call will stop a bull long enough to flick an arrow through him or get a good shot off.