The Truth About Bowhunting Elk

By Michael Hanback

Call maker Will Primos offers his top archery tactics for taking bugling bulls.

June 2006

Mississippi native Will Primos saw his first wild elk on a family vacation to Colorado in 1967. The skinny 15-year-old gawked at the beasts and thought they must be the most majestic animals God had ever put on earth. He vowed to come back and hunt them one day when he had the time and money. It took him 21 years to fulfill that vow.

“I didn’t get a bull,” he admits, “but the bugling, the Rockies, the climbing—it was all I had hoped for and more.” Primos has spent the last two decades turning his fascination into a thriving business. His cow and bugle calls and Truth DVD series dominate the elk-hunting market. He’s as gung-ho as ever, chasing bulls with his bow from New Mexico to Montana each fall. These are his best tactics.

Get Close
Most people call and then hike toward a bull that screams back at them. “Do just the opposite,” says Primos. “Keep watching or listening to an elk and sneak as close as you can to him before making your first call. Climb up or down a mountain, circle a mile, sneak over the back of a ridge, whatever it takes.” Keep veering into the wind, watch the finicky thermals and use terrain for cover. Look for cows up ahead. If you spook one, a whole mountain might blow up with elk. Slip to within 150 or even 100 yards of the animal if there is sufficient cover.

Make some racket as you go. “Elk are huge, noisy animals,” notes Primos. “The more rocks you roll and the more sticks you break, the more you sound like a cow on the move. Bulls like that.”

Level the Field
Upon nearing the bull, look around and study the terrain. “My number-one rule is never to call from a bad or questionable spot,” says Primos. “One of the worst places is above an elk. A bull never wants to approach other elk from below, because if a fight breaks out, the top bull has the advantage.” He points out that if you call a bull from above, the animal will almost always circle to get on your same plane, often moving downwind and busting you. So always level the playing field.

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