I spent last week hunting a block management area (don’t ask where and I’ll tell no lies) in Central Montana. I spotted more than a dozen elk and a few mature bulls in the thick timber but heard just one bugle the entire time I was in the field.

The elk resisted my cow calls and the fine tuned bugles my hunting partner expelled from his grunt tube. I happened upon a six point bull one afternoon at about 100 yards but couldn’t close the distance. He didn’t seem too interested in my closed reed cow call or the tones of my diaphragm call.

At another point in the hunt we witnessed a couple five point bulls chilling together in a grassy park. But of course it was across the fence on private land we didn’t have permission to hunt. Through my binoculars they didn’t appear to be feeling too competitive that afternoon.

Have you seen much typical rut behavior this year?

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