Since I'm bowhunting elk at the moment I decided to share with you the tactic I'm starting the season with: partner calling. For the first few days of the season I'll be hunting with my friend Gale Smith and my son Cole.
The strategy is to have me set up behind those two, placing them between me and an approaching bull. I'll be calling and in many cases operating a cow elk decoy courtesy of Montana Decoys.
This strategy should work if the all the planets, stars and the moon align.
It takes the center attention away from the shooters and back in my lap so the elk hopefully will walk past the hidden shooters toward the decoy and the sound. It gets a bit risky, but the caller should be at least 50 to 60 yards away at minimum. The risk is giving the elk too much room to swing and get out of shooting range. If you're too close though the elk will simply hold up and wait for the caller to come to them.
Sometimes the setup works like a charm while otherwise; well you hunt so you know how animals can be some days.
My call of choice will be the Hunter's Specialties Estrus Squeeze Me cow elk call and for backup I'll have the Mac Daddy at the ready.
I'm looking forward to the first few days of the season. I don't have to worry about shooting, just calling. Unfortunately, if anyone is successful I'll still have to pitch in on packing, but I have a backup plan. I'm calling my wife Sharon at home and she can bring our horses up in less than
an hour to help with the chore.
Mark, he's coming. Mark? Now where did he go?