new hope

[snowbank]

This morning there were 12 - 6x6 bulls in one.group in my north hay field. Unless something horrible happens there should be a good calf crop next year. Where they will end up when they disperse into herds is anybodies guess. Impressive just the same.

Too far for pictures. The best up to this point were fifteen raghorns. Two with mangled racks. The speculation is that those form when the calf breaks the pedicel early in life. My son killed one that had 6 points up on one side and 4 points down on the other side with balls on the end of the points where they drug them in the dirt while feeding still in velvet. Always interesting to see.

[Swede]

Snowbank, I would like to have some of what you are seeing show up on my game cameras. That would be special to see when I arrive back in my hunting area next week. I might have six bulls on camera, but I would be shocked to see that many six points. Good luck on your hunt.

[Elkduds]

Two with mangled racks. The speculation is that those form when the calf breaks the pedicel early in life. My son killed one that had 6 points up on one side and 4 points down on the other side with balls on the end of the points where they drug them in the dirt while feeding still in velvet. Always interesting to see.

Makes me wonder if elk consider malformed racks bad luck or good luck. Which is more likely to die of old age? I'd guess the freak.

[snowbank]

My experience has not shown the malformed bulls to prevail over time. I rarely see them come back year after year. Oddly enough I never hear anyone bragging about killing one. I guess they just meet the criteria of legal and go in the freezer like the rest. Over the years in the 3-4 topo quads that I hunt, I have watched a couple of nice bulls grow into very fine bulls and finally degenerate into old, massive bulls with short tines andshorter racks.

when I first started in the 1960s I would find where these old bulls would die in late fall or early winter in nasty jungles. Pretty much where they lived. Of the two I have watched for 12-15 years, I get to see them briefly every year or two in a northside jungle from hell. They are usually 5-8 miles back in and 1000 to 1500 ft above most of the other elk. often they will have a young spike or raghorn running interference for them. I'm usually standing on one leg crawling over a pointy downfall that could cause serious discomfort should I slip. The length of time I get to see them is usually proportionate to the hazard of my stuation. If I was hanging on a cliff by one finger they would likely stay for the whole show.

It's a game for them as much as it is for us and they can be as curious as a horse. They just have a significant level of paranoia. I rarely ever see the big bulls come out of the jungles before dark.