Pro Tip with Remi Warren - The Splash Call for Elk Hunting
As hunters, we’re always looking for that extra edge, or bit of information to help us find success in the field. Heck, that’s half the fun. Add this off-the-wall tactic courtesy of Remi Warren to your elk hunting repertoire and you may be rewarded with a big bull right in your lap.
Warning: You might get a bit muddy.
To tag that next bull elk, try getting into his head by splashing in his wallow.
Bull elk are territorial. If you find a wallow in an area you are hunting, go in and splash around like you are taking the place over. Mix that in with a few calls and some bugles to really piss him off. I start by “wallowing” before I even let out a call. I have had bulls come in and inspect the area just from hearing the splashing.
During the rut, I catch a lot of bulls bedded near wallows. That splashing and mud squishing sound carries farther than you may expect. If a bull is nearby, they can’t resist checking it out. Mixing wallowing in with your other calling is also a great way to add realism to your call set up.
Packing into elk country is hard enough. Make it easier by using calls that don’t require you to carry anything.
A few years ago, when I was guiding in New Mexico, the elk would not bugle during the day or come into the standard calls. I decided to get muddy and splash around in a wallow as my hunter posted up in a tree above it. I knew the wallow was being used because of the tracks, but the elk would not respond to the calls. Sure enough, after about twenty minutes of splashing around, a nice six-point bull walked into bow range without ever making a peep.
Want to hear more from Remi? Check out this podcast on early season mule deer, this one on filming your own hunts, or this one about surviving in the wilderness.
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