Female elk gravitate to increasingly extreme terrain to live in, making it very difficult for humans to hunt a cow’s territory. As a result, the females of the species live longer and learn, with age and experience, how to evade hunters.Ĭows are more likely to purposefully limit their movement as they age, minimizing the chance of a hunter happening upon them. This may be due to the fact that many bulls don’t make it to this older age nearly as often as cows, largely because bulls are prized prey for avid hunters. In fact, they seem to be almost impossible to track and hunt once they turn eight or nine years old. Recent scientific research suggests female elk are far better than their male counterparts at evading hunters. The bugle can often deceive even expert hunters. “Where I’m from in Utah, we’ve had a bull, 380 plus, sound like a spike,” Hatch explains, “We’ve had little rag horns (non-trophy elk) sound like giants.” Be wary of using an elk’s call as your only measure of its age. The BugleĪlthough some evidence suggests that the elk’s bugle (call) changes over time, elk hunters like Hatch warn against using the bugle as a standard, consistent measure for aging these animals. Generally, the lower the bull hangs his head, the older he’s likely to be. Head PositionĪnother one of Hatch’s tips is to look for how the bull is holding his head. The larger this hump, the older the bull. The hump is the rounded and curved section of the shoulder muscle just above the elk’s neck. One particularly simple way to age an elk is to look at the hump of the bull elk. However, there are ways to accurately age an elk even if you find yourself relatively far away from it. It can be difficult to effectively inspect an elk’s teeth when you’re out in the wild and unable to get too close. Most elks over eight years old will have far smaller, flatter molars behind their protruding front teeth. You should be able to distinguish between trophy bull elk and younger bucks by the wear of their molars. Elk also develop permanent front canine teeth by the time they’re three years old. If you are able to get close enough, identifying teeth size and shape can be one of the most accurate and consistent forms of aging an elk.įor bucks between two and four years old, you should be able to see two large, fully developed incisors at the front of their mouths. guided hunting for elk, it’s useful to try to get relatively close to the animal before taking your shot. Look out for that pronounced curvature of the bottom of the elk’s neck to help you age him. Mature bulls have a pronounced, curved posture from the top of their back to their lower neck, commonly described as a swayback in their lower neck. Once the bull gets older, he can develop between six and seven different tines, or divisions, from his antlers. Spikes are single, straight-edged antlers with no branches or tines coming off the side. Male elks younger than six tend to have spikes rather than branching racks for antlers. But, generally speaking, a bull’s antler rack becomes larger and wider the older he gets. Bear in mind that many factors are in play when it comes to an elk’s antler size and number of tines, including the bull’s diet and personal rate of growth. Antler Size and ShapeĪnother effective way to age a bull while elk hunting is to look at his antlers. The same goes for cows anywhere above 300 to 350 pounds.Īs expert elk-hunter Scott Hatch puts it, “If they look like a big yellow bus,” they’re probably a trophy elk well worth hunting. Any bull upward of 380 or 400 pounds is likely to be in or near his prime. Quite simply, the bigger a bull or cow is in comparison to the other elk around them, the older they’re likely to be.
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