The North American elk is one of the largest species within the deer family.
Primarily inhabiting mountainous landscapes and dense forests across western North America, these massive herbivores are highly social animals that typically spend most of the year separated into distinct bachelor herds of males and groups of females and calves.
However, when the nights start to get a little crispier in the late summer, and early autumn arrives, these big, majestic beauties turn into a heavyweight beasts, fighting anyone and everyone for the chance to mate.
The Elk Rut
Beginning in late August and peaking through October, the elk mating season… known as the rut… is a wild display of raw natural instinct. Driven by a massive surge in testosterone, much like a bunch of frat bros at a college bar, mature bull elk transform into highly aggressive competitors. Their sole focus during this period is to establish dominance, secure mating rights, and gather large groups of female elk into concentrated, fiercely guarded groups called harems.
To attract cows and warn off rival males, bulls unleash a forceful bugle. This sound starts as a deep, guttural groan before escalating into a high-pitched shriek and ending with a series of aggressive grunts. It’s the same elk bugle that hunters try to mimic in the field. If you can sound like another aggressive dude in the herd, the biggest and baddest bulls may come running looking for a fight.
When two evenly matched bulls cross paths and neither is willing to back down after bugling and posturing, the confrontation turns violent. They will lower their heads and crash their massive antlers together in a brutal shoving match. These intense fights require immense strength and stamina, and while they rarely end in death, the exhaustion and injuries sustained can be severe. Because dominant bulls spend nearly all their energy fighting rivals, breeding, and constantly herding their cows, they rarely eat during the rut, often losing a significant portion of their body weight just as the harsh winter sets in.
Of course, there are plenty of reasons why you should keep your distance from a bull elk at any point during the year… we’ve all seen the idiotic videos from Estes Park, Colorado, but during the rut, you have to be a special kind of stupid to approach a bull elk. During the peak of the mating season, an aggressive bull elk can be quite dangerous to humans who approach them looking for a selfie.
And this video right here? This is exhibit A. It’s not as example of how bad behavior can get you into trouble, or worse… but it gives us a front row seat into just how powerful and aggressive these incredible creatures can be.
According to Cowboy State Daily, Seth Lee of Casper, Wyoming, has seen several bull elk fights throughout the years of bowhunting in the state. However, this specific fight he and his friend witnessed recently tops all of them.
He told the outlet:
“I’ve never seen anything like those two bulls fighting. They just wanted to kill each other. We heard them bugling, bugling, bugling and then ‘wham!’ They started going at it. As soon as we heard the crack together, we started sneaking in closer.”
They then watched the bulls continuously clash, willing to fight to the death. One of the bulls even brutally flips over the other to the ground. Lee then noted that the bulls could’ve made their way over to them and stomped them as they continued to fight, and they wouldn’t even realize it.
With that being said, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Deputy Chief of Wildlife Craig Smith weighed in on just how dangerous a situation like this could be:
“Being near two elk locked in a battle could turn into a dangerous situation at any moment. In situations like these, elk are very focused and have been observed going through fences, trees, ponds or other obstructions that they would ordinarily avoid. If you are in the wrong place, you could be injured or worse.
Death is less common, but certainly happens on occasion.”
Lee said his hunting partner had a bull tag for the area, and wanted to take a shot at one of the fighting bulls, but unfortunately, his own bow had broken earlier, and the arrows he had wouldn’t work properly for the replacement bow.
Although it appeared to be a fight to the death, Lee said it ended in a stalemate… and they had a front row seat.
