Do elk only vocalize during the rut or is an all year thing?

Cow elk talk a lot any time of year.

PRWLR is correct, cows talk a lot. I carry a cow call when stalking for those times I snap a branch. A cow call a few times calms things down. Antelope also have a squeaky talk when startled.

Prwlr, (or anyone else!) can you recommend a good cow call?
Thanks,
Ed

Be sure you know the difference between a cow's mew and a bark.

I've heard both the Mew and the bark. I assume the bark means warning/danger? or?

Saw a bull bugle on 4th of July one year. A few years ago I had a rifle tag and they were bugling like crazy Oct. 30. This entire bow season (Aug. 30-Sept. 30) I heard 1 bark and one grunt. Never did hear a bugle (from an elk) and hunted every weekend.

Little bull I shot 2 weeks ago barked when his cows got up and started moving off. It was hot out and he did not want to leave his shady spot under the big rock to go round them up. He made a fatal mistake when he took a step from behind that rock.

5 or 6 years ago I shot a cow out of a large herd way up in a very steep bowl. It was almost hand and foot climbing to get up to her after she was down. I rolled her down nearly 1/4 mile to dress her in a place that wasn't too steep to stand without wearing a safety harness. While I was rolling her, 6 or 7 cows got up on a low knob about 100 yds away and kept barking at me the whole time. I guess they felt safe up there in a herd except against idiots like me.

Rut seems a bit late in Northern AZ this year - but it's been crazy dry and hot. It's just really getting going now. Couple buddies said the bulls bugled until 10 AM this morning, and that's with the morning low in the mid 30's and the high in the early afternoon around 80. One of them got a nice bull this morning. I got a cow on 27 Sep, and there was not much talking going on then.

Well of course they do.

It’s a natural occurrence. They’re female. 😬😬😬

I hunted the Sawtooth Zone - the smoke and heat had the bull elk silent, but rutting hard - we watched this guy at 80-100 yards for a couple hours - he was on the cows, rutting and rubbing - lip curling while chasing within the herd. Definitely rutting, but a bugle would send him over the next ridge at a run - two hunters chasing him in the morning ran him out of his drainage over to us.

First three days were in the smoke pictured - fourth day was rain - fifth day was the clear and cold we were waiting for - the bulls did finally get vocal on the last day, but it was later than expected, and later than "normal".

We were camping this last weekend. It was in the high 70's during the day, got down to 27 Sat. night, and very dry and smoky. The elk were silent during the day but we heard them off and on all night.

For sure.......

A diaphragm call for bugling is the easiest for me to use. A guy can make different sounding cow calls, rather than some of the other cow specific calls I've seen.