Calling In My First Herd Bull

By Adam Parr –

For years I’ve dreamt of screaming bulls being reeled into my calls or decoying a herd bull to within 10 feet, but during my first few years of elk hunting, that scenario unfortunately never played out. Due to my calling being “sub-par” (pun intended) I always opted for the silent approach and using a visual spot and stalk tactic to slip within bow range.

Sure, I had bulls and cows walk into my calling setups in the past but they always came in silent or bugled and walked away, which is “par for the course” (man, I’m punny) on public land OTC units in Colorado. Needless to say, I longed for more. After practicing all summer long with my Elk Reel Cow Call and Compact RPG Bugle Tube, I was feeling confident with my elk vocalizations and being able to mimic the sounds I’ve heard from the pros. 2018 was a new year and I was ready for a knock-down, drag-out fight to ensue from the trickery of my calling.

2018 Elk SZN

Fast forward to September 1st, my buddy Dan Johnson of the Nine Finger Chronicles and Ryan Eyberg were joining me for a week-long Colorado archery elk hunt. I was looking forward to showing them the ropes and we didn’t waste any time getting familiar with the surrounding terrain. On the very first day, we set off towards a network of high country meadows where we were welcomed by bugles erupting through the mountain tops. It was truly every elk hunters dream but as the morning progressed, the music shut down and it felt as though we were the only life left on Earth.

After a short snooze and a snack on the mountain, we pushed over the next ridge and dropped into a neighboring drainage while trying our luck at blind calling. After working that area for over an hour, we gave up on trying to locate that bull so we trekked back over to the other side around 2 pm. At this point, the rain was starting to get heavy but we pushed through the dark timber anyways and just as we were about to drop into another basin, we heard what we were after. Bugles starting firing up in both directions, including the area we just came from. Our eyes lit up with excitement and anticipation!

After assessing which way to go, we opted to chase the closer bull towards the same direction we just came from. With Dan and Ryan in tow, we quickly pushed towards a heavily timbered bench where I believed he was bedded and as we began closing the distance, I let out a locator bugle every five minutes so that I could keep tabs on his whereabouts. Lucky for us, he answered almost every time which allowed us to be confident and aggressive in our movements and position.  

Setting The Stage

As we entered the timbered area within 200 yards, I stopped calling and our pace slowed to controlled footsteps whereas before it was a fast walk to quickly cut the distance between us. The recent afternoon rainshower helped to cover our noise as we closed the gap to within 100 yards before setting up. I led the three of us up a steep ridge in hopes of finding a glimpse of a shooting lane and low and behold, there was a small opening the size of a living room that would allow for a 15-20 yard shot if the stars properly aligned. Ryan had won first shooter rights from an earlier game of rock, paper, scissors, so I set him up on the edge of the opening and Dan positioned himself further off to the right and slightly downhill so that he could cover the backdoor if the wary beast gave us the slip. With Dan and Ryan ready to go and the bull oblivious to our presence, I slipped down the ridge and prepped for a duel.

The Battlefield

The stage was now perfectly set with me in the back, the bull up the ridge in front of us, and Ryan and Dan in the middle. My number one intention and goal was to piss this bull off by making him think an intruder had made an unwelcome appearance in his bedroom with a herd of 10 cows. I started chattering and mewing with my Elk Reel for 20 seconds and then I let out an aggressive scream on my RPG OTC Compact Bugle. The bull quickly responded and you could tell he was getting fired up by the eerie chuckles he put out. The only way to describe the sound is envisioning a villain from a horror movie laughing in an evil demeanor. It sent chills down my spine.

I kept repeating this calling sequence while easing down the mountain, raking trees and breaking every stick in my path to mimic a bull rounding up his cows and pushing them away from the competition. Once I started this commotion, I heard him shredding trees with his antlers and I knew at any moment he could charge down the hill towards us.

Just like that, he was committed and closing the distance fast. In a matter of seconds, I heard Ryan shoot and the arrow connect on the bull with a loud crack but as soon as he was there, he was gone; disappearing through the dense timber like a ghost. Upon all of us meeting at the scene of the crime, we recovered Ryan’s arrow and our worst fears of a shoulder shot were confirmed. The arrow was broken off only a few inches from the ferrule and we all knew that bull was going to live to see another day. With virtually zero blood to follow, we scavenged the area over the next hour but to no avail.

Even though we didn’t kill that bull, it was an amazing encounter for all of us take part in. I still couldn’t believe we were able to get a shot opportunity at an impressive bull during the first day of our hunt, which is a not so common occurrence for public land. I myself was thrilled about the experience of calling in a bull on a string and having a plan that worked (almost) perfectly!

What Went Right?

• As soon as we heard him bugle, we made a decision to chase him and beelined directly towards where he was.
• We were aggressive, reacted fast and set up quickly for a shot opportunity.
• As the caller, I made sure to keep my position aligned with Dan and Ryan so that they were directly in the path between me and the bull.
• I used a variety of cow calls, bugles, chuckles, and tree raking to mimic a real-life scenario.

Archery elk hunting isn’t easy and even though that bull got away, it was a total success in my book. We did everything right and I was able to get a 300” 6 x 6 to walk within 20 yards of Ryan. How cool is that? This was an encounter I’ll remember for the rest of my life and I look forward to more opportunities like this in the future. Until then I’ll ask… Is it September yet?