Hunting for Elk Antlers
This morning I went with a friend into the mountains in search of elk antler sheds. The big bulls drop their antlers every year around the first of March. A lot of hunters in the area like to hike in search of these discarded antlers. It was interesting to learn more about the terrain and migrationhabits of the elk herds in the area. We found a lot of elk signs like these droppings and also plenty of tracks. They seemed to bed down under the cover of large juniper and pinion pine trees. We found several beds and frequently used game trails.
One of the fascinating things for me was the scrapes that we found. The big bulls scrape their antlers against trees both early and late in the season. Some are scraping to get the velvet off their horns early in the season. While late in the season they scrape against trees and branches to try to shake their heavy antlers loose. We found several places where the bull elk had knocked very large branches from trees.
While we found a lot of sign we didn’t find any elk antler sheds. My buddy found this apparent mountain lion kill while combing a steep hillside in search of antlers. It was interesting to examine the area and try to figure out what exactly happened to bring this big bull to its death. It appeared to have been there several months and was picked clean of any meat or edibles. All that remained was the hide, bones and antlers. It was a fun hike and an interesting experience in learning more about the elk herds that live on the mountain above our home.