Title: The Elk Scenario with Jason Phelps 

Show Notes:

As a designer of elk calls, Jason Phelps from Phelps Game Calls has a lot to say about how to talk to a herd of elk. The weather, the time of day, even the pitch of your call, will all help how responsive a bull is to you. Jason shares some tips for how to prod a bull to respond, and when you should press your advantage during the hunt.

For Jason when he’s hunting, he’s looking for certain responses from the bull. He wants that rut-crazed bull coming at him. Since a lot of his hunting has been done in the Northern US, he knows some of the ways he does things will be very different for other hunters in different parts of the US.

When the sun starts to rise, you should be able to hear the elk. So Jason puts in a little extra effort to plan to hear the elk the night before to pinpoint their location. The elk are creatures of habit and will do the same thing day after day until they’ve been bumped or disturbed.

As a 90% bugle caller and only a 10% cow caller, Jason talks about his strategy for attracting their attention. He talks about when he chooses to use the cow caller, and why he prefers the bugle caller so much more.

Jason cut his teeth hunting in southwest Washington, some of the wettest woods anywhere. That constant rain can impact the length of the rut, and requires some creative strategies to work around that problem. Rather than describing some more effective calls that he’s discovered, he demonstrates them for me.

What’s Inside:

• To start the rut, sometimes a little creative bugling is all that it takes.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Days in the Wild on itunes

Days in the Wild on Podbean

Phoenix Shooting Bags

Phelps Game Calls

Short Description:

Experimenting with bugling sounds can improve your chances of prodding an elk to respond to you. Jason Phelps from Phelps Game Calls uses bugling to challenge a bull, find a herd, prod a response from cows, and enrage the elk he wants. He talks about how hunting in the rain affects elk season, and he demonstrates some of his favorite bugling calls.

Tags:

elk hunting, elk scenario, bugling elks, bugling bulls, finding elks, elk hunting in the rain, tracking elk, location bugling, start an elk rut