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Raking Antlers for Rutting Elk

The next time you’re in the elk woods, take a tip from the whitetail hunter’s book and strap an antler on your pack.

By Tim Herald

If you think rattling antlers are only for whitetails, think again!

The American elk is one of the most exciting animals to bowhunt in all of North America.

Their haunting bugles, the beautiful mountains and the interaction between a calling bowhunter and his quarry make elk hunting just about perfect.

The elk-hunting game is much like chess. You must develop a strategy, and you have to be persistent. When the elk are bugling, you can find them, even in the dark timber, but coaxing them into bow range is another matter altogether. Bugling and cow calling are the standard methods, but one additional piece of the puzzle that has worked well for me over the years with elk is horn raking.

If you’ve been around rutting elk much at all, you know that the bulls take out a lot of frustration by raking their antlers on cedars, oak brush and about anything else that is available when the mood strikes them. Sometimes they absolutely demolish small pines, and the noise made can be heard for quite a distance.

I’ve hunted elk on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in New Mexico seven years in a row, and my longtime friend and guide Larson Panzy has taught me a great deal about elk hunting. Larson is a serious bowhunter, and he and his sons have taken many elk and giant mule deer with bows. Larson is a finesse hunter, and he knows how to close the deal on bulls and get them into easy range by paying attention to the details.

Our typical hunt consists of covering ground, bugling to locate bulls and then moving in. We check the wind and try to get as close as possible without spooking the elk. At that point, I usually take a post in front of Larson as he drops back in the cover 30 to 50 yards away. Then he works his magic.

Larson starts with soft cow calls. If the bull responds, he lets him come closer. Quite often the bulls readily come in to 75 to 100 yards but then hang up. When this occurs, Larson takes a small four-point shed elk antler that he’s never without and begins raking brush. This sounds like another bull moving in on the big bull’s cows, and it’s rare that the big boy can stand that.

Larson continues to cow call between raking sequences. “The majority of the time,” Larson says, “when a larger bull thinks there are cows around, and he hears the antler raking and thinks a small bull is in with the cow or cows, he will come in. When he comes in to the horn, it is usually without hesitation and he’ll be looking for a fight or at least to run off the small bull.”

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen this horn-raking tactic work to perfection. Two years ago we got set up on a bull that was about 200 yards down a ridge. Within two minutes Larson had him on a string with cow calls combined with raking. I was hunkered under a cedar bough, and Larson was 30 yards behind.

That bull ended up just four steps from me. I was looking up at him, and I could literally watch his pupils dilate and contract. He was itching for a scrap, and I have to say that I was a bit uncomfortable. It was early in our hunt, and although he was a decent 6x6, we knew we could do better. Finally the bull touched his nose to a log that I had stepped on when setting up and the human scent gave us away.

This past year raking again proved our key to success. We heard a bull bugling on his own one morning, and we were above him on the top of a small mesa. We moved in to about 250 yards, and as usual, Larson dropped behind me. Larson cow called, and the bull went nuts. Within minutes the bull was just over the lip of the mesa, and a cow walked out in front of us.

The cow fed and the bull bugled many times, but he wouldn’t budge. He was hung up just out of sight. That’s when Larson broke out the antler and began raking the brush. Immediately, the bull bugled and came galloping in. He stopped well within bow range, pawed the ground like a Spanish bull and then he too began shredding some oaks. He was broadside, so after enjoying the show for a minute or so, I took the shot as he was all stretched out in a loud chuckle. He didn’t go 25 yards before piling up.

As with many hunting endeavors, it is the little details that often determine success or failure. All elk hunters need to learn to bugle, cow call, check the wind often and the other basics of this endeavor. Having a few out-of-the-ordinary tricks up your sleeve and using them at strategic times can sometimes turn the tides of the hunt in your favor. The next time you’re in the elk woods, take a tip from the whitetail hunter’s book and strap an antler on your pack. And don’t be afraid to do a little raking to bring in your next bull.

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