BIG PREY - The Elk

Elk are also called wapiti, a Native American word that means "light-colored deer." Elk are related to deer but are much larger than most of their relatives. A bull (male) elk's antlers may reach 4 feet (1.2 meters) above its head, so that the animal towers 9 feet (2.7 meters) tall.

Bull elk lose their antlers each March, but they begin to grow them back in May in preparation for the late-summer breeding season.

In early summer, elk migrate to high mountain grazing grounds where the cows (females) will give birth. Each cow typically has a single calf, which can stand by the time it is 20 minutes old.

During the late summer breeding season the bugling of bull elk echoes through the mountains. These powerful animals strip the velvet off their new antlers using them in violent clashes that determine who gets to mate with whom. Males with the bigger antlers, typically older animals, usually win these battles and dominate small herds.

In the winter, wapiti reconvene into larger herds, though males and females typically remain separate. The herds return to lower valley pastures where elk spend the season pawing through snow to browse on grass or settling for shrubs that stand clear of the snow cover.

Elk were once found across much of North America but they were killed off and driven to take refuge in more remote locations. Today they live primarily in western North America, especially in mountainous landscapes such as Wyoming's National Elk Refuge and Yellowstone National Park. Some eastern U.S. states have reintroduced small elk herds into heavily wooded wilderness areas.

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Bulls: 600-1000 lbs
Cows: 450-650 lbs

01: 600 lb (bull) / 450 lb (cow)
02: 630 lb  / 460 lb
03: 650 lb / 475 lb
04: 675 lb / 480 lb
05: 690 lb / 490 lb
06: 700 lb / 495 lb
07: 705 lb / 500 lb
08: 710 lb / 505 lb
09: 715 lb / 510 lb
10: 725 lb / 515 lb
11: 730 lb / 520 lb
12: 740 lb / 525 lb
13: 760 lb / 530 lb
14: 780 lb / 545 lb
15: 800 lb / 560 lb
16: 835 lb / 570 lb
17: 880 lb / 580 lb
18: 930 lb / 600 lb
19: 965 lb / 620 lb
20: 1000 lb (bull) / 650 lb (cow)

Originally from STP Strong