As the sun rises over the distant mountain and spreads its first light across the mist shrouded peaks, the sound of a Bull Elk challenging the herd bull for the right to pass his genes on to a new generation can be heard echoing across the valley. This scenario plays out year after year in mid to late September all across the west. These bulls have one thing on their mind. They are ready, willing, and able to fight to the death for the mating rights. The rut is here and there is no better time to be in the woods hunting Elk. For the summer the Bulls have been hanging together in bachelor herds eating and growing their majestic antlers all in preparation for the rut.

These normally docile creatures turn into several hundred pounds of pure lust, rage, and anger. There is nothing else on their minds. If you have never been in the mountains during the Elk rut and experienced the sight of an enraged bull taking his aggression out on a small tree while he bellows his rage at the world, you are missing out. To call one of these bulls into bow range is an experience that you will never forget. Even if you are not able to get a shot, to have 600 pounds of rage come running at you snorting, bellowing and looking for a fight will definitely leave a lasting impression on you.

The tactics are simple. Get to a high vantage point early; listen and watch for animals. When you find a good bull, you want to move in fast. Once you get close start making noise, blow on your bugle, rake a branch up and down a tree, and do everything you can to sound like an enraged bull looking for a fight. Listen for the response from the bull you are after for a few minutes. Does he sound like he is moving towards you? Keep up the noise, but watch carefully for the bull to come busting through the timber. If he gets to where he thinks the challenger is and does not find a challenger, he will get spooked and take off. If he sees movement that does not look like another bull, he will spook as well.

It is a good idea if you are hunting with a partner to have one of you set up to call and the other set up to shoot. The shooter should be about 50 yards out in front of the caller. That will focus the bull's attention behind the shooter and as long as the wind is right and the shooter is still, the bull will run right over the shooter to get to the caller he thinks is challenging him to a fight. When the bull starts to get closer, the caller will want to add in some cow calls along with the bugles. If you are calling a herd bull and he thinks this upstart has stolen one of his cows, that will only help to bring him in. Be ready to draw and shoot fast because this bull will be moving when he comes past you.

A lot of the mature herd bulls will try to avoid a fight once he has his harem. He will be more interested in mating than fighting. When you make that first challenge bugle a lot of times the bull will take his harem and move away from you. When you hear him moving away, don't give up on the hunt. Now is the time for you to take the fight to the herd bull. Move in on the bull as quickly as you can, but be careful not to spook any of the cows in the herd. When you get to within one or two hundred yards of the bull, bugle again and really rip into the nearest tree with a branch. Let him know how mad you are and how much you want to fight. By moving in on the bull it will make him realize that you are serious about taking his harem and will come and run you off.

Trying to get a shot at a bull elk that is surrounded by a harem of cows is tough at best. Most of the time you will get busted by a cow long before that bull gets any where close enough for a shot, but when you do get one to come in close it is worth it. Whether you make a shot or just get to feel the thrill of the charge, the experience itself will be memorable.