A Thicket of Elk Antlers

How antlers help elk survive

Mary and I were cross-country skiing the rolling hills of a favorite Yellowstone valley, when we came panting to a hilltop and saw in the distance this magnificent bachelor herd of elk. They must have heard our incessant chatter before they saw us, because they were leaving, following one another through belly-deep snow. Fascinated by the thicket of antlers this photo captured, I was inspired to learn more about elk and their antlers.

The male in the photo breaking trail in front and presenting a side view looks larger than his fellow bachelors. His antlers also look thicker. He carries what is called a six by six rack; there are six tines (points) on each antler. His rack of antlers could weigh about thirty pounds. If you stood in front of him (at least twenty-five yards away, please) that intimidating rack would be about six feet wide. 

Antlers, by the way, differ from horns like those on bison, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn. While antlers are an extension of the elk’s skull and made entirely of bone, horns have two different parts. One part is the outer sheath made of special hair follicles that create a material similar to our fingernails. This sheath encloses an inner part that is a bony extension of the skull. While most horns are permanent, antlers are shed each year.

Elk shed their antlers in late-March or April. Shortly after the antlers drop, new ones begin to grow. This big male will need more than four months of growth before his new antlers look again as they do in the photo. During the last part of that growth spurt, his antlers may grow two-thirds of an inch every day. 

That’s if he survives long enough to regrow his rack. A study in Yellowstone a couple of years ago found that elk that shed their antlers early are preferred as prey by wolves, even though the early shedders are in better physical shape than elk that hold their antlers longer. An elk without a rack of antlers is less able to protect himself. and a better choice for wolves.

In addition to deterring predators, a rack of antlers serves at least two other important functions. First, antlers help prevent injuries when male elk—like males in so many species, including our own—clash with one another. To settle disputes, elk wrestle each other with their antlers. But during the period after antlers have shed and before new ones have grown, males resort to kicking with their front hooves (as do antlerless female elk) when fighting. Kicking can produce more injuries than antler wrestling. 

Second, large antlers put an elk at the top of the male social order. The antlers of that big guy at the front of this bachelor herd will secure him better access to feeding areas now and to females later in the year during “the rut,” the breeding season.

Once the rut arrives, this band of bachelors will disband; it will be every male for himself. Males old enough to breed will search for females showing signs they’re ready to breed. Males will compete, antler-wrestle each other, to decide who gets the honor. The winner is usually older, stronger, and more experienced—like that big male with big antlers that leads this bachelor herd. The winner then passes on his good genes, producing vigorous new members of the herd—survival of the fittest in action.

But all that action is months away. For now, the biggest challenge for these elk is simply surviving the wind, the cold, the snow, and the hungry predators of a wild Yellowstone winter.

To read a previous Love the Wild on the elk rut

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