Steve Demos The Crystal Pot Call | MeatEater x Phelps

How to Call Elk like Jason Phelps

Jason Phelps is quick to admit that you don’t need to sound like a verbatim elk to get one inside arrow range. He’s spent a lot of his life building tools for us to speak with the big tan-and-chocolate creatures, but he says a simple mastery of truck-cab bugling won’t prepare you well for actually putting a broadhead in the boiler room. He’s a lot more focused on the strategy and ecology behind those noises. But, above all else, he says the real...

Phelps Game Calls Joins MeatEater Family

We are thrilled to announce—or bugle, if you will—that Phelps Game Calls has joined the family alongside MeatEater, First Lite, and FHF Gear. The Phelps team builds the hands-down best hunting calls on the market, and we’ve been talking to elk, turkeys, and ducks with their products for years. The whole crew couldn’t be more excited to help share these calls with our community. Jason Phelps, a civil engineer by training, started the company in...

Jason Phelps' Archery Elk Hunting Kit

Backpack elk hunting is about as gear intensive as it comes. You need what you need to hunt well and stay comfortable on the ground at night, but you also must be careful to not overdo it. While you might not need to sweat each individual ounce as much as you might for a sheep hunt, you may end up wishing you did. Most everything that comes in with you needs to come back out, possibly in the same load as an 80-pound elk hindquarter. While we don...