I just got back from three days of archery elk hunting with some friends that have archery bull tags for unit 6a north here in AZ. On Saturday my friend and I spent all day in the cat tail reeds in Mormon lake. There are HUNDREDS of elk that stay on the mostly dry lake bed. We were surround by elk for most of the day. The bulls were bugling and the cows were mewing. There was one other sound I have never heard from elk, kind of a hollow popping sound and there was lots of it. I don't know who was making that sound, the bulls or the cows. Has anyone heard this sound and can you explain? Thanks.
Elk sound question
- Thread starter AZMIKE1
- Start date
I have heard it before. The bulls will make this sound. If you take your bugle tube and pop the end of it with a flat hand it makes a pretty similar noise. I have seen it made only once. To me it seemed as though the elk was trying to chuckle, but had lost his voice. It sometimes sounds like they are grunting. The areas and times where I have heard this was when there was a lot of activity. Multiple bulls bugling, the peak of the estrus cycle etc. I do not think it means anything in particular, but it is a sound I have replicated in the field.
RezDoggin
New member
I heard one of the bulls doing that the other day,when I witnessed them fighting!The big 6x6 bull would do that when he was trying to keep his hareem together. It did sound as Elks says, like he was try to chuckle but he couldn't spit it out. I noticed him doing it as he walked in a dominace posture when two 5x5's were pulling a tag team tactic to get to his herd.
cmiddleton
New member
its call glucking they all make it i here it just after the bull breeds a cow or when he is dogging a cow to breed.
Thanks for the replies. We also had front row seats for severals fights. A pair of bulls came through the reed patch in front of my friend with one in reverse. They stopped about 10 yards from my friend and thankfully stayed of of his patch of reeds. I wouldn't want to be in the way of a pair of bulls fighting!!
RezDoggin
New member
cmiddleton,
Thats exactly when I heard it. If you check out my story Bull Fight "The Ride" I witnessed the bull getttin his way with one of the cows and prior and after is when I heard that noise. The bull was in a dominace posture,it kinda reminded me of what a bull moose does but it had a different pitch.
Thats exactly when I heard it. If you check out my story Bull Fight "The Ride" I witnessed the bull getttin his way with one of the cows and prior and after is when I heard that noise. The bull was in a dominace posture,it kinda reminded me of what a bull moose does but it had a different pitch.
thePiedPiper
New member
To back what others have said....
glunking: A tending sound used within the herd by the dominant bulls, or an aggressive bull while courting cows. Originally called "glunking" by ted steinke in the eighties on his bull buster I video. The bull will do it when he is, or believes to be, within close proximity to an available cow. If you hear this sound, and don't see elk, better sit tight. ALL of the bulls that have come to my calling while glunking have come very close to me (40+). They are aggresive and assured that you are a cow.
glunking: A tending sound used within the herd by the dominant bulls, or an aggressive bull while courting cows. Originally called "glunking" by ted steinke in the eighties on his bull buster I video. The bull will do it when he is, or believes to be, within close proximity to an available cow. If you hear this sound, and don't see elk, better sit tight. ALL of the bulls that have come to my calling while glunking have come very close to me (40+). They are aggresive and assured that you are a cow.