While the elk rut wound down months ago, the action never really ends, especially when it comes to the youngsters. Nothing like the battles that can occur during the frenzy and fervor of the peak of rut, sparring is a regular practice all year long. These feisty members of our cherished local family on Magnolia decided that since dinner was done, it was time to throw on the gloves and get some “ring-time” in before the sun set and it was time to head to their wintry bed.

The actual “battles” that take place in the fall can certainly be brutal, and in some cases leave one or both fighters injured or in rare cases dead, but this is in no way the goal of the fighting. It is easy to anthropomorphize the two (or more) bulls involved as great warriors meeting on a field of battle with intentions of putting down their opponent, but that would be a far too overly humanizing twist on the reality of the fights.

It would be more accurate to claim that the rut was more of a six-week long Olympics of Masculinity done by way of “trained” fighting rather than a bloody free-for-all of combat. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an easy mistake to make when one sees two massive 900 pound bulls squaring off armed with “helmets” adorned with 8-14 long and pointed “spears”.

As I’ve mentioned before, the goal of rut fighting is not to injure or harm, but simply to show physical dominance. Injuries do happen, and can lead to death even long after the rut, and in no way does that benefit the herd. The fighting that takes place is incredibly powerful and impressive, especially with massive racks of antlers involved, but ultimately most battles are simply grand shoving matches.

To accomplish these battles in a safe way requires practice that starts at the earliest ages. Like any human sparring dojo, the basics of strength, balance, and precision are key. These skills must be taught and practiced so as to avoid the worst possible mistakes when it comes time for the real fights. One can even imagine a bit of smack talk out in this field as they get each other riled up for a bit of action.

In the case of these spike bulls, the youngster on the left was ultimately the instigator. As the herd grazed their way across the open field of Twin Sisters ranch, he began to get the zoomies (bursts of energy resulting in lone running and “pronging” about). After a bit of prancing around the cows and these other two spikes, he began to instigate the elder on the right into action. After a bit of the two of them going through the motions of basic positioning and initial pushing, the third spike joined in the fray and frolic.

Their “play” eventually attracted the attention of one of the two adult herd bulls present. He stepped in for a bit to give individual pointers to all three, using the eldest (seen here on the right) as a partner, then stepped back and let them go at it again. It wasn’t long before the other large herd bull caught wind of the session and decided it was time to show the little ones how it was really done.

He squared off with the other slightly larger adult, and one could almost hear the ding of the bell kicking off the first round. They ended up getting into near “full combat” as one would see during the rut, a no-holds-barred shoving match that had them sparring well into the darkness of evening. The youngsters took it all in, eagerly following the fight across the meadow while many of the cows even stopped to watch. This was the greatest clue to how the rut really works because at the end of the day, as I’ve mentioned before, no matter how big and bad one bull might think he is or how big of a fight both put up…it is always the cows who choose who they want to be with anyway.

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