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Honing the call of the wild 11-year-old Colorado boy has knack for replicating elk sounds The Associated Press LOVELAND, Colo. - The haunting, high-pitched noises made by bull elk fill the Diesing household on a regular basis. The sounds aren't coming from the six-by-six point elk trophy hanging above the fireplace. Thomas Diesing, 11, of Loveland, has spent most of his life learning to reproduce the sounds elk make to communicate with each other. He's used his talent to hunt trophies of his own. Diesing has won about 10 awards for his elk-calling skills, including first place in his age group at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation world championships last February. "What makes him unique is most callers, including myself, use a reed that goes in the roof of your mouth," said Diesing's dad, Tom. "He doesn't use anything but his voice." Thomas added, "I don't know how. I just do it." Using a hollowed-out baseball bat to amplify his noises, Diesing has wowed contest judges and elk alike. Although he's not old enough yet to hunt big game, "he does some calling for us, called in about four different elk this year," his dad said. Sometimes they call hunters in, because they believe the Diesings are elk. Diesing started learning to call elk when he was about 3, encouraged by his dad, also an elk caller and avid hunter. Tom Diesing got started after attending a seminar put on by a well-known caller. "We started calling the next fall, and it was amazing," he said. "The elk would bugle back. People would say 'You really sound good.' I heard about these contests and started entering." After winning a few prizes he encouraged his son to enter. The boy, nervous at first, soon started to rack up wins. "Thomas is just the ice man now," his dad said. "He just gets up there and does his thing. In the state tournament, there were kids bugling against him who were 17 years old, and he beat them." Thomas makes the sounds of the bulls that bugle during the fall months to attract mates, making a high-pitched squeal that drops to a series of deep grunts. People annually flock to Rocky Mountain National Park to witness the ritual. A cow listens for how long the bull can hold the bugle and how deep it is to clue her in to the bull's health and strength. Bulls also call to gather their herd together and scream to vent anger. Diesing can also replicate the noises made by cow elk, including their alarm bark, used to warn others of danger. At most contests, Diesing is required to do one minute worth of cow calls and one minute of bull calls without pausing. Does he ever run out of breath? "I do, but I just keep on going," he said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.