While the fall rut season can bring spectacular battles among the elk, one does not gain victory without ample training. That training generally tends to begin as soon as the bulls have recovered from the rut.

I say recover, as the rut, lasting up to six weeks, severely depletes the energy stores of the big contenders, so much so that in some cases a bull might not recover at all and succumb to death once winter truly sets in and ample food sources become scarce. This sparring has nowhere near the intensity of actual rut battles and tends to be more of a “passing of knowledge” from the elders to the young among the bachelor herds. This often amounts to squaring off and joining antlers, as though teaching the best ways to engage, with only gentle pushing of each other. Once in a while a couple elders will square off and spar with a bit more intensity, showing the younglings how it’s really done.

This training will take place all winter long until they shed their antlers (shedding season is beginning now in late February, and will continue into early spring), and resume once again when they shed the velvet coating of the new rack of antlers, usually around the middle to end of August. The sparring will continue right up into the beginning of the rut when the battles become real for the larger and more eligible bulls, leaving the younger generations to watch and learn.

While observing a larger bachelor herd taking an afternoon graze in mid-January, the younger bull seen here became quite rambunctious and attempted to encourage a few other bulls into a scrap. One of the elders stepped in and began to square off with him. Soon after a bit of pushing and gaining attention from the rest of the bachelors, more of the elk began to square off, with about half of the group ceasing their graze altogether and engaging each other as though in a martial arts dojo of the wild.

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