An Oregon man bugles his way to become the world’s elk calling champion

Hearing an elk bugle in the wild can sound otherworldly: high pitched, but also guttural, sound, sometimes even seeming to have a metallic resonance. These vocalizations are used to attract mates, locate other elk, establish dominance or warn of danger. It’s a sound hunters often replicate in order to bring a herd closer to them, and it’s a skill that is on display each year at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s World Elk Calling Championships.

This year, Tony Gilbertson from Vernonia, Oregon took home the top prize, cinching his first professional title since going pro three years ago.

Gilbertson joined OPB “All Things Considered” host Crystal Ligori to talk about the big win, and about the world of professional elk calling.

The following conversation and extended transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Crystal Ligori: For someone who has never seen elk calling done, can you talk a little bit about the technique?

Tony Gilbertson: I use what’s called a ‘diaphragm’ elk call. It’s an aluminum frame that’s got a piece of latex that’s stretched between it, and then it’s crimped. So it’s fixed in between that frame, and then it’s got tape around it — it’s shaped kind of like a horseshoe. You put that in your mouth and you place it up against the palate or the roof of your mouth. So that’s kind of the instrument, so to speak.

But to amplify that sound for bugles, you’ve got what’s referred to as a grunt tube or a bugle tube. It basically looks very similar to a Wiffle ball bat that’s been cut down — it’s got a big hole in the bottom and a smaller hole that you blow into. So you use that tube to amplify bugles. If you want to make cow sounds or calf sounds, then you just use the diaphragm typically without the tube.

Ligori: So how does someone get into professional elk calling, and what does it mean to do it competitively?

Gilbertson: I started calling back in the early 2000′s and I started competing back then. I took 4th place the first year, and I tried it two or three more years after that. And then I just kind of got out of it for a while — it was expensive to travel and I kind of thought I’ll give it some time, a long period of time went by. Then in 2019 I decided that I’d try to pick it up again. In 2021, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation had their contest again. I entered the men’s division and I won the men’s division. Shortly after I won the men’s division, Phelps Game Calls contacted me and wanted to know if I wanted to be on their pro team.

That’s how I ended up in the pro division. The first year in 2022 I took 2nd place, and last year they went from double elimination to single elimination in the contest. I got beat out the first round — this year I went into it a lot more prepared, a lot more determined, and I took 1st place, so I was happy. I’m still happy, I’m kind of a little bit on Cloud Nine here. It was fun and exciting and I’m so grateful for the opportunity.

Ligori: What elements during competition are the judges looking for?

Gilbertson: So there’s seven judges, they’re behind a curtain. The callers are up on stage and it’s a head-to-head contest. So you’ve got caller one and you’ve got caller two, and you draw the numbers to figure out who’s going to go first and who’s going to go second. You’ve got 30 seconds to make cow and calf sounds, and then you’ve got 30 seconds to make bull sounds until you make it to the finals. Once you make it to the finals, then they give you another 30 seconds to do what they refer to as freestyle. Then you can really start to paint a picture of what it sounds like to be in the wild listening to a herd of elk.

Ligori: When you’re out in the woods hunting, what goes through your mind when you hear that elk call in the wild? Have you studied elk calls enough that you’re in tune with what is happening?

Gilbertson: Yes, for sure. Elk will bugle on their own, but you have to be in the right place at the right time. So most of the time as an archery hunter, I go out and I’m the first one to make a sound. So I typically will make a cow sound because it’s the least threatening sound in the woods, right? A cow or a calf, so the bulls aren’t intimidated by it. Sometimes that will elicit a response from a bull because especially early in the season when they’re trying to gather up a herd, that will really help get a response from a bull. If that doesn’t work, then I’ll make what they refer to as a locate bugle. It’s really kind of a bull saying hi to another bull, like, ‘I’m over here just so you know. Let me know if you’re out there too.’

Once I hear that or I can pinpoint where they’re at, then I typically don’t make another sound until I get in closer to the herd. Because a lot of times if you do, that bull — especially after he’s got his cows — isn’t really interested in fighting too much. He’ll pick up his herd and kind of leave the country. Well, I don’t want that to happen if I’m trying to harvest an animal. So I move in fairly close, and then I may bugle or make cow sounds to try to elicit a more aggressive response from that bull. Because now if I’m a bull, I’m making bull sounds, I’m a threat because I’m close to his herd. Rather than picking up his cows and leaving, sometimes he’ll come in and want to fight. After you’ve been out there for a while and you’ve experienced what they sound like, you can get an idea of whether you’ve got a bull that’s just kind of bugling saying, ‘Hey, I’m over here.’ Or whether he’s angry and territorial, and wants to fight and kick you off out of his area.

Ligori: Are you planning on competing next year and if so, how are you going to prepare? Or are you even thinking that, since you just came off the win.

Gilbertson: [Laughter] Yeah, I’m always thinking about it. I am planning to compete next year, and by March I’ll get really serious. I will typically call several times a week and then April comes, I kind of ramp it up a little bit. By the time May comes around, I practice my routine pretty much every day. I’ve got a fairly long commute when I go into the office — I’ll take my diaphragm with me and I’ll put it in my mouth, and from the time I leave in the morning until I get to the parking lot at work, I’m practicing making elk sounds and practicing the routine that I’m going to use in that contest.