Elk is a species that presents a particular set of challenges for North American hunters. One of those challenges is simply finding them. One advantage that hunters hope for is listening to elk vocalizations in the woods, such as the sounds they make during their rutting season. So when the elk are silent, this presents a unique challenge.

When elk aren’t being vocal, you can try and use the silence to your advantage by listening closely when walking through the woods, staking out spots that an elk would likely be, and being in that spot during their peak active hours.

Let’s dive a little deeper into these techniques and learn how to find silent elk.

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Know Your Prey

There are an estimated one million elk in the western United States, and they’re a favorite target of hunters in the western U.S. The males stand almost five feet tall and can weigh over 700 pounds, while the females are smaller, typically weighing in at a little over 500 pounds.

These majestic creatures make excellent trophies for lodges, dens, and living rooms, while the meat is suitable for chili, stews, steaks, and jerky.

A hunter who wants to head out after elk would do well to listen for them when approaching territory that looks promising. Elk can be quite vocal, especially during their rutting season in September.

The rut season is their mating season, and during those times, they communicate with a series of bellows, snorts, and other vocalizations.

The cows make sounds sometimes described as lowing or chirping. The male bull elk on the other hand, make a loud, thunderous, and high-pitched bugle that can be heard many hundreds of yards away.

How do you locate an elk when it’s not talking, though? If you’re out hunting for them in October or November, which are generally designated legal hunting months in most states, you’ll have a tougher time finding them because they’re less likely to vocalize.

We’ll talk about some strategies for locating elk when they’re being silent in the following article.

Why Would an Elk Be Silent?

Before we launch into some tips for how to hunt elk when they’re not talking, we should explain the most common reason why these animals stop vocalizing.

Elk make the most noise during the rut when trying to attract a mate. The rutting season is during the month of September, give or take a week or two, depending on the weather.

You might hear a calf calling for its mother, but generally, larger trophy elk won’t vocalize after the rut is over. If breeding season within a herd has ended, usually around the first two weeks of October, you’re not going to hear many of the resounding calls. that are common during the rut’s busiest time.

Rest assured, your prey is still out there, but you’ll need to use other tactics besides listening for them if you hope to bag yourself a trophy.

Use Silence to Your Advantage

The wise hunter knows that stalking prey becomes much easier if you’re light on your feet and refrain from communicating any more than is absolutely necessary. If you’re out on your own, you should have an easier time keeping silent since there’s no temptation to talk to others in your party.

If you go elk hunting as part of a group, though, you can use the silence as an advantage in reverse. Try and elk drive. Get a couple of members of your party to form a line a few hundred yards apart and walk through a thicket of timber, with a designated shooter observing a likely avenue of escape for the elk.

The elk should hear the movement from your buddies in the thicket and start to make an escape. When you see the elk come into sight, use a cow call to stop them. They hopefully will stop long enough for you to get a shot off.

Stake Out Spots Where Elk Are Likely to be Active

Your best bet at finding elk when they’re not vocalizing is to stake out places where they’re most likely to appear. If you’re familiar with the area, you probably already know where these spots are. If not, be looking around for elk tracks and poop and start hanging around those areas.

Elk are attracted to natural mineral licks, so if you know of any in the region where you’re hunting them, staking those out makes sense. You might also set up a blind close to a heavily used trail. An active wallow is another spot where you can spend some time, especially if they are still rutting.

If you can set up a blind in one of those spots and wait silently for a shot, you’ll likely get one if you’re patient. Even if the elk aren’t talking, you should hear an animal that size as it approaches.

Get Out There at Dawn and in the Evenings

If you’re hunting elk during the rut, you might be lucky enough to run into some during the middle of the day. They’ll be more active and vocal during daylight hours since they’re looking for mates.

During the months when the elk are silent, though, you’re better off staking out a likely spot right around dawn or in the early evening when there’s still a little light to see. Dusk is a time when elk are likely to be stirring, and just at sunup as well.

Finding a favorable spot and staking it out at those times of day maximizes your chance of getting a shot at an elk.

Find Their Food Source

Elks are herbivores, and they particularly like grasses of all sorts. Much like cattle, they are also grazers. They move along eating, and cover a lot of ground when feeding.

Finding a mountainside full of grass which elk naturally like to forage, is a sensible move if you can not find an obvious area with a lot of sign.

What You Should Avoid Doing

We’ve talked about some strategies for finding elk when they aren’t talking, but let’s also take a moment to mention a tactic that you should avoid.

Elk calls are definitely a tool you should have in your arsenal if you’re out after elk in September, during the rut. A realistic elk call can attract a bull who’s looking for a bit of companionship.

If you try to use elk calls during late October or November, though, that’s more likely to be counterproductive. It’s not impossible that you might successfully lure an elk with an artificial call in those months, but it’s not particularly likely.

You’re better off using the techniques we’ve already described and leaving your elk-calling devices at home. With the exception of using a cow call to stop an elk that is running away.

Now that you have some ideas for how to hunt elk when they’re not talking, you can get out there with confidence. Make sure you have the right weapon for the job and that you’re only stalking your prey on lands where it’s legal. Even though elk make for more challenging prey when they’re not being vocal, you can still get the upper hand if you keep their habits in mind.

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How Do You Find Elk When They Are Silent? Tips For This Season