How to Hunt Elk the First Week of September: Early Season Tactics Before the Rut

This is Part 1 of our four-part September series. We’re breaking down elk season week by week so you can hunt the week you’re actually in....not the week you saw on YouTube. Week 1 is September 1–7. Colorado archery opens **September 2**. Montana opens September 5. Idaho is already open (August 30). Labor Day falls on **September 7 this year**, so the long weekend lands *on* opening week instead of before it. That’s going to stack more hunters onto the opener than a normal year. Kaitlyn describes week one in two words: Christmas morning. You’ve waited a year. You’re fresh. The bulls are not. Mature bulls are still in their bedrooms. Younger bulls are doing the running around. They’re not screaming National Geographic bugles. They’re answering cow calls from bed: short, muffled, easy to miss if you’re talking. Morgan and Kaitlyn walk through last year’s week 1 hunt: walking into a bedroom on day one, an overlooked middle ground between road hunters and the backpack crowd, six-to-eight hours of side-hilling deadfall, a hailstorm cow call that actually got a bull walking in… and the thermal/setup mistake that ended it. **What we cover:** - Why mature bulls are still in bull bedrooms, and why you don’t share those pins - Cow calls first. Challenge bugles later (or not at all this week) - What a laying-down, “I’m still in bed” bugle actually sounds like - Shooter high / caller low when you’re playing cow - How Labor Day + opening day changes pressure in Colorado - Heat, water, and why wallows matter more next week - Moon phase as context, not a stay-home rule - Why week one can be your best shot at a big bull *before* he has a harem **Series calendar:** Week 1: Sept 1–7 (this episode) Week 2: Sept 8–14 Week 3: Sept 15–21 Week 4: Sept 22–30 New episodes drop **Thursday mornings**, timed to the week you’re about to hunt. **Follow Along:** 📸 Instagram: @tagherout 🎧 Subscribe so you don’t miss the rest of the September series. Building Confidence and Grit, One Hunting Season at a Time.