![]() ![]() I interviewed a few elk hunting pros on their go-to calls to find out which ones they carry every September. That’s why it’s important to have several options. Ask any consistent elk hunter which call works best, and they’ll tell you it depends on the elk. But if you want to sweet talk a satellite that’s been beat down by every bull on the mountain, you’re better off with the soft chirps of reassuring cow calls. If you’re trying to pick a fight with the herd bull, you’ll need a bugle tube to piss him off and bring him into range. But don’t expect your calls to work every time. ![]() It’s why elk hunters climb mountains every September. Jenny Golding is the founding editor of A Yellowstone Life and writes from her home at the north entrance to Yellowstone in Gardiner, Montana.įor more travel experiences to Beautiful Places on Earth™ available from Xanterra Travel Collection® and its affiliated properties, visit /explore.Ripping a bugle and hearing a bull respond is an experience like no other. DO NOT approach on foot or in your vehicle. And when all of the proper safety precautions are taken, it can be one of the park’s most enthralling and memorable wildlife viewing experiences.īe aware that during this time, male elk can be highly aggressive and will charge cars and people. Safety should always be a visitors’ number one priority when visiting Yellowstone during the elk rut. Keep your distance, stay close to (or in) your vehicle, and enjoy them safely. The last thing you want to do is tangle with an amped up bull elk or bison – both have been known to attack visitors and cars. It’s critical to maintain the park’s required distance of 25 yards, and even a bit extra. While the rut is exciting to witness, bison and elk are highly aggressive and unpredictable during this time. ![]() Mating in August and September enables the calves to be born in the spring when they have the best chance to survive, and choosing the most vigorous males helps ensure the calves vitality. Their behavior is all about calf survival. That’s not entirely true watch closely, and you’ll see that it’s the females who actually make the choice, tolerating a bull they find attractive, and running away from those they don’t. ![]() If that doesn’t settle the debate then they may go head to head – in a giant shoving match that can sometimes prove fatal.Ī common misconception is that the bulls-both elk and bison-are in charge. Fights are rare, because no one really wants to get hurt bison and elk instead rely on vocal displays, body gestures, and olfactory cues to figure out who’s bigger and stronger. Once the peak of mating season arrives the bulls have already established a pecking order. While everyone hopes to see a fight between bull elk or bison, it doesn’t happen as often as you might think. Watching in the village itself is easiest, but if you want to get away from the crowds you might try exploring Swan Lake Flats and the Madison Valley. Mammoth Hot Springs is grand central for the elk rut. It’s an experience unlike any other in the park, with bull elk bugling ranging from low throaty sounds or a series of deep grunts to high pitch whistles. Have you ever heard the sound an elk makes during the fall rut? It’s a thrilling, yet haunting experience that draws thousands of visitors to Yellowstone each fall. Watching and listening to the eerie bugle of the bulls as they jockey for position and guard their harems is one of the true highlights of fall in Yellowstone. Unlike bison, who guard one female at a time, bull elk compete for access to a group of a dozen or so females, known as a harem. Otherworldly bugles-the vocalizing of bull elk-cut through the frosty pre-dawn and the herds coalesce into larger groups. A little over a month later, in mid-September, the elk mating season begins. ![]()
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