Bowhunt America

Article Topics

Bowhunting Elk with Will Primos

By Tim Herald

This column was a real treat for me. Elk are my favorite animals to bowhunt, so whenever I get to talk elk hunting, I’m in heaven. For this piece I got to pick the brain of Will Primos, founder of Primos Hunting Calls, and he gave me some simple but very sound advice.

Primos said there are four keys to being a successful archery elk hunter:

Research where you will hunt thoroughly.
Hunt with a partner.
Learn to call.
Always watch the wind/thermals.

Although these rules seem pretty basic, there’s more to them than one might first assume.

Primos explained that the first key to success on trophy bulls hinges on where you hunt. “If you don’t hunt where there is a strong population of good bulls, you can’t kill one,” he said. “It’s that simple. Whether you are putting in for tags in states like Arizona and Utah where public hunting is phenomenal or you are looking for a great private ranch with guaranteed tags, you must do the research. Almost every western state has some really good elk hunting areas, but you have to know which are the best. There is lots of information on the Internet. There are also quality hunt consultants out there, and you can learn a lot by watching quality hunts on TV and DVDs like our Truth Series.”

Next, Primos shared that making an elk hunt a team effort is probably the single biggest factor in having consistent success with a bow. “Elk need to be hunted with a partner, period. If a bull comes to a call, he will only come so far before he expects to see the elk he thinks he hears, especially in semi-open country. If he is coming to a cow call, he will hang up to see if there’s a silent bull with that cow so he doesn’t get ambushed. Solo calling results in hung-up bulls. If a bull does come all the way in, he is usually facing you without offering an ethical shot.

“If you hunt in a pair, the caller should be positioned 50-150 yards behind and slightly to one side of the shooter. This will drag the bull by the silent shooter, generally offering a broadside shot. I am a firm believer in only taking broadside or slightly quartering-away shots on elk. They are big and tough, and we owe it to them to take ethical killing shots. Hunting with a partner will increase your success tremendously. I have years of video to back that up, and I believe it completely.”

Hunting calls are Primos’ business, and he told me he felt calling was a crucial component of success. “Hunters need to learn to call and to call pretty well. You don’t have to win a contest, but the more realistic you sound, the better off you are in the woods. Our Hoochie Mama is a no-brainer for cow calls. You should also learn other calls. As far as bugling goes, you don’t have to be able to sound like the perfect herd bull, although that doesn’t hurt. I have seen many times that elk respond to and move in on a spike bugle, just that shrill, short, high-pitched squeal of a young bull. We got a hunt on video last year that showed us that every time Keith Burgess spike-squealed, the bull began walking. Hunters should spend some time practicing their calls.”

Lastly, Primos talked about the importance of playing the wind. “You can absolutely blow a whole herd of elk off an entire mountain by letting them wind you. You must play the wind and the thermals to be successful, and sometimes that takes patience. If you are above elk in the morning, the thermals may be going down when it’s cool. In that case, you need to wait until the air warms and the thermals turn up. That may be 10:00 a.m., but you are better off waiting until then to begin your hunt than blowing the elk out. When you do that, you take yourself out of the game before it ever starts.

“We check the wind constantly, and if the elk aren’t where we can get to them using the wind, we don’t approach. We plan our routes in and out of our hunting areas considering the wind and thermals.”

These are all basic rules to elk hunting, but if we look at the reasoning that Primos gives, we see why they are so important. Primos’ advice on all these points makes perfect sense, and I guarantee I will be heeding his words when chasing bulls with stick and string this fall.

Enjoy this article? Share it!