Hunting elk in Colorado during the fourth rifle season with just a cow tag, I managed to call in a legal (4 points or better) bull within 40 yards. While trailing some fresh elk tracks in the snow, I thought I heard a bull bugle. I was really surprised at hearing an elk bugle that late in the season and thought that if a bull was around, maybe he was with some cows. So, I went ahead and did a couple of cow calls. To my amazement, and that is a real understatement, a lone bull responded and came running toward me across a meadow. Luckily, it stayed upwind of me and passed within 40 yards of where I was sitting (closer to 30 actually) and was never aware of my presence. As a midwestern whitetail hunter by myself on a DIY elk hunt on public land, even though there were no cows with him, and even though I ended up not getting a cow elk that season, this was one of my most memorable hunts ever. I was a lone DIY elk hunter and I managed to not only see a bull elk, but it responded to my cow calls and almost ran me over! I will never, ever, forget that hunting experience! Elk are indeed magnificent animals!
15 сен 2024
