Bull Elk or Squirrel

Was that a 6x6 Bull Elk or a Squirrel?

Did you hear that? Something’s coming. Get ready. Here it comes. It’s getting closer. Damn squirrel! Big 6x6

How many times has this happened to you? You’re stalking or sitting quietly, sure you’re about to ambush a huge elk walking through the woods when you realize all that noise was just a squirrel. They break branches; send pinecones falling to the earth from eighty feet up, gathering food for the long winter. They sound like a big elk walking through the trees don’t they?

What was that? Did you hear that? There it is again. It sounds like cows mewing. Blow on that call of yours. Wait a second. It was just a Jaybird. Damn birds.

How many times have you been listening so hard for elk talk only to be fooled by those birds that sound almost exactly like them? Don’t worry. It happens to us all at one point or another. Young Calf

These sounds play with your mind during the early morning hours. Before you’ve had enough coffee to wake up. So what does an elk sound like? When they’re not bugling or mewing what do they sound like? In my experience they don’t make much noise at all. I observed a herd of about 15 mature bulls slowly feeding down a creek valley one early morning in the winter. They were as silent as a ghost. I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.

You have to pay attention to details. That is, listen for the cracking twig under hoof, or that sound when an elk tine taps a dead pine branch as he sneaks away from you. It’s the little things that will help you gain an advantage over the senses of an elk. If you hear them before they hear, see or smell you then you might be able to get into a position to see them at close range.

Elk don’t make a lot of noise when eating grass. They don’t make much noise when walking either. However, if you listen close enough for long enough, you will hear the noises elk do make. In the spring I walked through the dark woods bordering a meadow. The meadow formed a small portage where a natural spring drained. I heard what sounded like a step, just one step, in the muddy water. What was that? It’s that sound that you made as a kid walking through mud. The kind of mud where your shoe comes off and your sock gets all wet. Sure enough it was a young bull eating soft, green grasses growing in the water. He would take a step now and then as he slowly grazed.

In the winter elk walk on crunchy snow hardly making a sound at all. When I walk through it sounds like fire crackers going off beneath my feet. How do they do it? Their smaller footprint (compared to ours) helps them walk quietly and place their step into small places. Like a soft patch of ground, between twigs on the ground and somehow under leaves.

Elk often take irregular steps. That is, they don’t always walk a straight line. They wander from here to there nibbling at plants and grass as they generally walk to their bedding grounds. I’ve also seen elk on game trails walking in earnest for a distant ridge. When they have some place to be they can out walk us any day.

When the cover gets thick in the woods and in the willows listen for sudden, abrupt sounds. As I watched some nice bulls grazing in the willows one evening I heard a distinct noise. A bull emerged from between a pine and willow. His antlers and body made a combination of noises as he pushed through suddenly and stopped. The sudden movement caught the other bull’s attention and they looked at him to see if he was in danger. I heard his antlers scrape along the willow and pine. The antler sound caught my ear but I also heard the branches as they snapped back into place. I often slide slowly through tight cover as to not make much noise. Maybe what I should be doing is push through it and stop as an elk would. The noise would be louder but the action would be familiar and I may not spook elk that may be nearby.

First, above all else, put yourself in prime elk habitat before you start to listen for elk. Move slowly, into the wind, and remain alert. Listen for the most subtle sounds in the woods next time your in elk country. Elk make noises just like you and me. They just make them differently. Their pattern of noises is different than ours. I’ve heard elk being very noisy and I’ve seen them disappear silently like a ghost. It’s the pattern of noises that reveal to other creatures around us what we are, friend or foe. Keep that in mind and try to walk heel to toe (or toe to heel) to emulate a four-legged animal. Your best friends are silence and stillness when in elk country. Do your best and you’ll see more elk before they see you.