elk jumping string

Last night I watched a video on elk hunting. Some of the hunts were bow hunts with the guide calling in the elk for the hunter. On nearly all of the shots the elk ducked as the hunter released the arrow. I noticed that the elk was usually looking at the hunter because the guide was calling to the elk to bring it in (so the elk knew where the sound was coming from) and he also called to the elk to get the elk to stop moving so the hunter could get a shot.

Obviously it would be best to stalk in and take a shot at an elk totally unaware of the hunters presence. I assume the elk would be much less likely to duck as the hunter released an arrow. But it seems one usually has to call to bring the elk in (I have never hunted elk during the rut or with archery gear so I do not really know how often one can just stalk in on an elk and shoot it without needing to do any calling). I will this year only be able to shoot a spike elk so my odds are slim but I will give it a try.

I have heard it said that you do not want to take a shot with an arrow if the animal is nervous or aware of your presence. How do you avoid that if you have to call the elk in to you? Also how often does an elk duck upon arrow release? Should one purposefully aim low? If so how many inches? Thanks, Rufous.

If elk hunting during the rut, a spike only area should be meat in the freezer. Those horny little bulls are easy to call in.

I have had one elk jump string. A raghorn bull that had me pinpointed and was barking at me.

He T, did he "jump" the string, or duck the string ? ( or was it that strange smell you described in the elk section ?)

lol. he jumped/lunged forward. By the time the arrow got there (45ish yards), he was out harms way.

I try to reserve the cover scent method for the big bulls.

I wouldn't try to second guess what the animal is going to do, I would work harder trying to make my rig quieter when it goes off...

Mine with out all the dampeners sounds like a 22 going off...

The only ones I wouldn't recomend at all are the 'Z' ones...

They really don't work well and break off with little use...

Whiskers is the best I have found... I suppose there are better things out there for this, but I haven't found them yet...

I've arrowed quite a few elk over the years and have never had one "jumpe/duck" the string. I think shooting a bow with heavy arrows, lots of dampners, my deflex riser (Hoyt), and not a lot of poundage, it's a very quiet bow. Never been a problem...so far.