Elk Calling

Elk Calling by TR Michels
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As I sat quietly in the pre-dawn darkness a scream of a bull elk split the silence. I knew the bull was close because I could hear it coming through the trees. I waited a few minutes, and then a cow called softly. The elk screamed again and stepped out of the pines 75 yards away. The big 6×6 bull took a few steps, stopped, and grunted, ugh. At first I thought the bull had sensed something wrong and had barked an alarm. But, when it took a few more steps, looked around and grunted again, I realized it was trying to find the cow it thought it had heard. Since I was scouting I didn’t want the bull to know I was there, and I didn’t want it to come any closer.

I waited patiently for the next ten minutes while the bull walked around me, looking for the cow it was convinced was there. When the bull finally gave up looking, I quietly left. The next morning I sent one of the guides and a bow hunter back to the same area. Within fifteen minutes of setting up they heard a bull bugle. Ten minutes later the bull responded to the sound of a cow call and the hunter put an arrow into it at 15 yards.

In the fall of 2001 I began researching 9 different herds of penned elk, to find out how many calls they used and what they used the calls for. I also wanted to know when bugling and breeding began, peaked and ended. During the peak of the rut I regularly heard as many as 100 bugles every 5 minutes, from over 150 different bulls. I also heard as many as 30 cow/calf calls every five minutes, from over 200 cows and calves.

Common Elk Calls
Cow elk use a variety of mews to communicate with their calves and other members of the herd. Cow/calf sounds range from the Maternal Mew (meuw) of a cow trying to locate its calf, to the higher pitched Calf Mew (eeeuw) of a calf trying to locate its mother, to the whining Submissive Mew (meeuw or mee-eee-uw) of a cow being herded or chased by a bull or another cow. Bull elk sometimes use a deeper version of the Submissive Mew when another bull chases them. Both cows and calves use a loud Contact Mew when they’ve been separated from the herd. When cows fight, they often use a Fighting Squeal (mee-eee-eee-eee-eee-euu) as they stand up and flail at each other with their front legs. Bulls often use this same call when they are sparring with each other. All of these calls are easily reproduced with a single or double reed mouth diaphragm or an outside the mouth call.

Bull Elk Rut Calls
The most familiar elk vocalization is the bugle of a bull elk, which may be made up of one or more different calls. The Full Bugle Sequence of a mature bull elk consists of three calls; the Roar, the Bugle and a series of grunts referred to as the Chuckle. These calls may be used by themselves, or in combinations. When they are used in combinations the Roar is generally used before the Bugle and the Bugle is generally used before the Chuckle. The Full Bugle Sequence of a mature bull starts with a loud, low-pitched roar (rrrr), changes to a high-pitched scream (eeee), and ends with a series of grunts (ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh). Older bulls may also use a quieter version of the Roar that I call the Growl, which can be reproduced by saying rrrrrr, or growling in your throat. The Roar can be reproduced by doing the same thing, but doing it as loudly as you can through a grunt tube. The Bugle can be reproduced by using a double reed mouth diaphragm or an outside the mouth call, with or without a grunt tube. The Chuckle can be reproduced by using a grunt tube and saying ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh as deeply as you can in your throat.

After listening to over 125 bulls per day, and hearing over 600 bugles per hour, as close as ten feet away, I realized that it’s almost impossible to make a mistake when you’re blowing an elk bugle. While some bulls perform perfect Full Bugle Sequences, others perform only the Growl, the Roar, the Bugle or the Chuckle. Some bulls have clear high-pitched bugles, which sound like the screaming of a woman, others sound as if they are being strangled.

When bulls chase cows they inhale and exhale loudly, and they often end a charge at an uncooperative cow with a loud exhale or Cough. When they are herding cow’s bulls perform the Gulp or Glug. This call usually consists of a series of two note glugs, but it may have as many as six notes. It can be reproduce by saying glug-glug in your throat, as if you were gulping water. When I used this call the bulls often stopped what they were doing and came closer. Bulls also use a quiet, low-pitched Threat Rumble when they approach a smaller bull. I have not been able to reproduce this sound yet.

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