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Bowhunting for Bugling Bull Elk

Using Your Bugle to Kill Huge Elk

Of the many big game adventures I've been fortunate to experience over the years, nothing compares to bowhunting bugling bull elk. It's a riveting, dramatic, in-your-face affair that never fails to raise the hair on the back of my neck every single time, and it doesn't have anything to do with static electricity.

That's why it’s disappointing when most bowhunters I compare elk notes with almost always tell a different story. Seems the vast majority only hear distant bugles; when they try to close the gap, the bulls shut up or vanish. Is this because herd bulls avoid confrontation by rounding-up their harem for parts unknown? Is it because "call shy" bulls on public lands are wise to the tactic of bugling?

Not at all, says elk hunter extraordinaire, George Dixon. The veteran Mathews Pro Staffer from Salida, Colorado doesn't care if he's on a national forest or a private ranch (he says he hunts 99 percent on public tracts). When he wants results, he reaches for his bugle, not a cow call.

"(Not being able to) bugle bulls within bow range is a bunch of baloney," Dixon says. "My outfitter friend, Gary Bohochik, guides exclusively on public lands, and he doesn't even own a cow call. All Gary does is bugle, 500 times a day if necessary. And does he ever get results!"

Bugling's Little Secret

If bugling is so effective for these guys, why isn't it for the rest of us?

"They're spooking bulls instead of attracting them. It takes some skill to sound like a real bull, and relatively few guys can pull it off. Every year I call-in hunters, and they all say the same thing: 'I had no idea a hunter could sound so much like an elk!'"

This is exactly what happened last fall when Dixon and I were working a bull not far from his home. We kept hearing faint cow calls and, sure enough, I caught the movement of a two-legged predator in the shadows. We gingerly backed out of that basin, and to this day I'm sure that camo coat thinks a big bull gave him the slip.

The solution may be simple but it’s not going to be easy.

"I wish I could say there are lot of super-sounding bugle calls that are super-easy to master," Dixon says. "But there aren't. An elk bugle is complex and not easy to duplicate. On top of this, the best sounding call is the diaphragm, and it requires the most practice to perfect. You just can't purchase a call two weeks before season and expect dramatic results. You'll scare elk away. It's like shooting a bow. Practice makes perfect. There are no shortcuts."

No question mastering the diaphragm call involves repetition. Last fall when I heard Dixon work his magic, I determined in my heart that I would not settle for anything less than his level of proficiency. Nowadays I practice nearly every day. I must be getting pretty good because my neighbors are convinced there's a bull on the loose in our township (one even called the local zoo).

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