I got out of the woods on Thursday night and they weren't bugling yet. From opening day I was seeing wallows and rubs though...

I didn't hear any bugles up where i was last weekend around glenwood, but my cousin said they were bugling like crazy up in area 5, he stuck a four point bull up there

Hey guys I just got back from chasing elk for 9 days. We have been in elk everyday and had some bugling but not a lot. I got my youngest son close on two great bulls, but as usually happens the bulls had other plans. We had some great learning experiences and as always chasing elk with my boys I would not trade it for anything.

I think at least in my area the rut is coming late and our first rifle season hunt is going to be an awesome one.

Good luck and good hunting!

Just got back from the SteamBoat area and in 3 days I di not hear a bugle. Saw one elk..a small spike I did mange to bring him into 45yds..I will post a pic up later.

I heard in some areas the rut has been cancelled this year.....in others the scheduling commitees just can't agree on a good time to start so you should expect some delays.

Sorry I'm saying this tongue in cheek. Some of you will get it because they know my posts and others will just think I'm a little loco.

One day we will hash out this "rut timing" thing and get it figured out.

got back from muzzleloading wednesday afternoon. no bugling at all BUT was able to have to bulls come into my cow calls. it is amazing how quiet they can be. was hunting in the southern colorado.

Oh so the rut is going then huh? Thanks for chiming in. My theory is the warm weather doesn't change the timing it just effects the activity level during the day. When bulls aren't bugling I believe just as you mentioned they will come in silent and you can still have success. You just have to change tactics just as you did by cow calling rather than bugling. Hot cow calls are especially effective.

In the off season we'll have to really hammer this out but my belief stems from my experience being out at 2 or 3 AM and locating bugling elk only to hear them shut up as soon as the sun comes up or even before that point.

In 2006 I went out at 2AM and listened to a bunch of bulls bugle their heads off and they shut up by 5AM. Well before anybody was out hitting the hills for hunting. We took a cat nap in the truck and we were hunting at first light. No sound what so ever, never even saw an elk move in the entire valley. We stayed silent until I got bored at 1PM and let out the sleeziest cow call you ever heard. I called in a cow and the below bull. You can tell by the pic it was the middle of the day. BTW the cow and the bull were not together, they came in from completely different directions. The temp that day was 73*.

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Them sobs are smart ! Nice looking bull!