Cow Elk Barking on Video · TradBowhunter-Ethical Predator

Cow Elk Barking on Video

Hey everyone,

Wanted to share a memorable experience from this past week—one of those rarer encounters that really sticks with you, even without taking a shot.

My dad and I were sitting on a log pile at a landing in a logging cut, enjoying the evening and calling elk. I decided to go with calf and cow calls with the odd location bugle later into the evening—nothing serious, just seeing if anything might be nearby.

After a little while, a single cow elk quietly came in from one end of the landing infront of us, moving cautiously but not alarmed. Moments later, two more cows appeared from the opposite end and behind us, also calm but alert. We stayed still as we watched them work their way toward the middle of the landing, where they met up, nose to nose, with an exchange of huffs, lips curled.

From there, they began to move together through the new growth, heading down the logging road—directly toward us. They weren’t spooked, just curious and careful. All three of them came in to about 15 meters, and I had ample time to range them and think about shot angles—had it been 2 days prior in bow season, it would’ve been ideal.

But of course, this was rifle season, and in our unit, you need an early draw tag for cows, which I didn’t have—I was there to take a bull with my bow. So we just sat and watched, hoping to learn something and enjoy the moment.

As they closed the distance to walk past us, one of the cows must have caught our wind or caught some movement above her. Just like that, the mood changed—she spun and the whole group bolted back into the new growth, heading for the tree line.

Thinking quick, I let out a series of frantic cow calls trying to sound like a distressed cow, and to my surprise, they all stopped. They stayed put for quite a while—within rifle distance, scanning and trying to figure out what they’d just seen or smelled.

During that time, the biggest cow started barking—sharp, intense, and loud. It’s not a sound you get to hear up close very often, and it echoed through the timber. I managed to get a video of her barking before they move off, which I’ve linked below.

Pretty wild behaviour to witness, and even better to capture on film.

No shot taken, but being able to experience that kind of vocalization and interaction—and share it with my dad—made it one of the highlights of my season.

Thinking that we were busted with the cow warning everything within a 1 km distance, we waited for them to go around the farthest log pile before climbing down and backing out quietly. Right before we walked around the last corner before our exit out of the landing I let out one more locator bugle just to see, it was right before legal sundown. Much to my chagrin I got a response right where we had just left! There was no way we were making it back to find that bull before last light.

My dad and I had a good chuckle saying we should have just stayed put until dark like we had originally planned, but we at least learned something—even when you think you’ve been busted, and there is no luck, stay put. There may be a bull coming in to save the cows or check things out.

Hope a few of you enjoy the clip and maybe learn something from it too. Good luck out there this fall!

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