How to Find Elk (Elk Talk Podcast - EP59)

In this Episode (59) of the Elk Talk Podcast, Corey and Randy answer listener-submitted questions focused on what has been a strange year for elk vocalization and rut intensity.
Topics covered include:
*reports from Corey and Randy’s 2020 hunts so far
*challenge versus locating bugles
*where are the elk if I am seeing fresh sign
*hunting pressure
* how to transition from peak rut to post-rut
*testing new equipment
*cow elk and the second estrus cycle
*late-season calling
*did COVID cause crowding?
*where to camp in relation to elk
*competition from cattle and sheep
...and other questions that listeners have submitting this season
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Rocky Mountain Hunting Calls - buglingbull.com/ - (use Promo Code 'ELKTALK' to save 15% on your next order of elk calls).
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[@shanespicer6348]

I would love the chance to sit around a camp fire and listen to these two guys talk about hunting.

[@magnumarrowarchery155]

Same!

[@robertheymann5906]

Great listening to you guys

[@hunter-dd7yo]

"Shivering like a dog pooping peach pits" my new favorite saying

[@scottbpac]

I’m with you Randy, stuff hurts everyday that you never knew could. Good thing our pride overrides the pain.

[@arttrumbo9496]

I was on a general season Idaho mule deer hunt and on October 15th I found bulls in full on rut. I watched my first bull fight through my spotting scope from 600 yards, and boy was it impressive.

[@douglaspark3075]

Good job Randy and Cory

[@nj-bz8pv]

We had an incredible first week in Colorado. Elk were way more active than usual. Tons of bugling first few days. Camp dropped 3 bulls and all five guys had a chance at elk

[@coloradooutdoorman2223]

Wow congrats, most people I know and have heard the elk never got going and most of the success was pure luck so you must've found the sweet spot. I heard 1 bugle the whole season and I hunted 4 different areas trying to find em so congrats to you

[@outdoorfr3ak]

Just eat the granola cold!! It works the same! Also to anyone wondering that pad sleeve for sleeping bag brand it's most likely Big Agnes based out of Steamboat Colorado. Their air core insulated pad is my go to.

[@tfrost33elkhunter]

I’ve had the same Big Agnes bag since 2006. It’s a great bag. I have taken great care of it. Hunted and hiked season after season and it still is the best bag I’ve ever owned. Has the Hinman sleep pad. It’s so comfortable for me!

[@louiscapasso4452]

I concur it was also interesting in Southern Utah this year. Opening weekend of the general hunt the elk were quiet. Four days later they were very vocal and out all morning. Even with that my house is eating tag soup this year. Cory and Randy thank for the info you give us and I'm sorry to hear you all had problems as well.

[@SongofRuin]

I was in northeastern Utah and with the fires, the elk were pushed to places that i've never seen them before. That and the multi-season tags had people everywhere.

[@ricksmith2134]

I agree with Corey to a point about tag attachment in Idaho. The validated tag must remain attached to the whole or quartered carcass (doesn’t say which quarter) or “a portion” of the meat if boned (any portion not necessarily the biggest or heaviest). On deer I have always left the head attached to at least part of the carcass, so I secure the tag to the antlers. On elk I’ve always put the tag on the first meat bag I pack out. But he’s exactly right, you better not lop off the antlers and tape the tag to them.

[@donkeydonk96]

Thank you

[@sophiabeyer819]

Lol I can't get enough of this product. I am moving and I miss my dear tag session. :(

[@robinworkman3621]

I don't know if it's right or wrong or indifferent. But if I do have a bull bugling I will just try to do what he does. Once it's obvious he's riled up, as soon as he starts to bugle I will bugle over the top of him.

[@jsbymaster]

Toss a hand warmer under your cooking fuel while you're cooking in the cold/altitude to keep the fuel flowing!

[@robinworkman3621]

If you're in the low low it's probably the freaking wolves

[@michaelhoel3934]

I will be 66 next week and have hearing loss but haven't bit the bullet to get hearing aids (insurance didn't cover any of the cost until this year). Do either of you have wisdom on what types or style of HA will work best in the conditions we hunt in? Wind, rain, snow, crackling brush, branches breaking etc.? My son, who hunts with me, will nudge me and ask if I hear something moving through the brush and usually I can't. Still got elk the last 2 years but want to up my game and be able to hear a death groan or a stumble and crash or a branch breaking.

[@kellyharding7797]

During early season when it turns cold at night, throw a couple of handwarmers in your sleeping bag! What a game changer!

[@carolinspettigrew6776]

Should have used that tip last season.... bow hunting. Night it was in low 20's. Always carry hand warmers in my kit for emergencies....

[@robinworkman3621]

What does a vetted bugle sound like? I had an experienced this year, right at daybreak it was real foggy. And there was an elk that would bugle, it wasn't a full bugle but it was real raspy and only lasted for maybe a second and a half to 2 seconds

[@zealmarketing923]

Love what you guys do! Your content would be much easier to listen to if you ran your audio through a de-Esser. De-essing is any technique intended to reduce or eliminate the excessive prominence of sibilant consonants, such as the sounds normally represented in English by "s", "z", "ch", "j" and "sh", in recordings of the human voice. Sibilance lies in frequencies anywhere between 2-10 kHz, depending on the individual voice. Look into it if you want to improve to audio.

[@carolinspettigrew6776]

Enjoy Bing listening to the podcasts as I paint the inside of my house. Can't wait for summer to come... and get backcountry in the mountains. Thanks

[@robinworkman3621]

Do you guys get paid to hunt? I'm lucky just to get two weeks off for elk season.

[@ericwiitala5407]

If Cory and Randy had a hard time, I feel a little better. I did not hear, nor could I get, a bugle between 7 am and 7 pm.

[@bustabass9025]

56...man, what I wouldn't give to be 56 again. 😕

[@rockyreynolds4027]

I just need a idea of a place to start I'm in Texas and only bow hunt and have hunted Colorado years ago around the Delnorte area

[@thistledewoutdoors3331]

Finding your place depends on your physical condition..... What kind of trails do you prefer - Atv , single track dirt bike , Hike only ??? That right there will eliminate a lot of area.......

[@thistledewoutdoors3331]

Colorado has an interactive map atlas you can use to get elk info....

[@rockyreynolds4027]

ThistleDewOutdoors for some reason I can't read your whole comment it want load up when I hit the read more so I'm in good shape and don't mind hiking at all from base camp also what website is it that has the information on it thank you for helping

[@liftheavyhunthard09]

I work as a rangeland management specialist for the BLM and I would much rather have people call me before season and plan accordingly rather than call me mad that they wasted their pre season scouting on a pasture that is being grazed during season.

[@keyoutdoorstv8101]

Idaho needs another 5 years before any big mature bulls will be seen.

[@michaelhoel3934]

Thanks guys...for keepin it real.