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Welcome to our Montana elk hunting outfitters web site. This is a fairly new
web site and we are still working on getting our outfitters set up. If you are a
licensed outfitter or guide & would like your site advertised here please
email me. Throughout these pages you
will find everything you need to know about elk, deer & bear hunting outfitters.
You will also find fishing guides for day trips or the week long fishing trip of
a lifetime. There are photos, tips, and great hunting links.
Are you planning a guided hunt or a self guided hunt? This site will help you
find what you need to select the right guide & outfitter, or how to plan your
own guided elk hunting experience.
The following elk information provided by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Elk and other members of the deer family belong to a group of animals called
ungulates, the Latin word for "hoof." All ungulates have hooves. This large
group used to be considered one order, but now "ungulates" refers to two
distinct orders, Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla. The number of toes is the most
obvious difference between the orders. Artiodactyls (elk, deer, bison,
pronghorn, peccary) have an even number of toes. Perissodactyls (horses,
elephants) have an odd number of toes.
Elk, moose, caribou, white-tailed deer and mule deer all belong to the order
Artiodactyla and to the deer family, Cervidae. The males of these species grow
and shed antlers each year. (Female caribou also grow and shed antlers.)
Like other ungulates, members of the deer family are herbivores -- they eat only
plants. Their diet may include grasses, forbs (low-growing, short-stemmed
plants), shrubs and trees (including limbs and bark).
Members of the deer family must eat and watch for predators at the same time.
Elk fulfill these double needs by gathering in herds. In a group, at least one
animal is looking up while others are eating. Even the animals that are feeding
are constantly twitching and turning their ears to listen for unusual or warning
sounds.
Some deer family members migrate, following their food sources as the seasons
change. Some caribou migrate hundreds of miles twice a year as they follow the
seasons. Most elk that live in mountainous country migrate to lower elevations
as snow covers the higher elevations, then return as snow retreats in the spring
and summer.
Wherever you live in North America, you are likely to be near at least one
member of the deer family. White-tailed deer live throughout the lower United
States; mule deer browse in the western states and provinces; moose inhabit
riparian areas (banks of rivers and other bodies of water) across the north; and
caribou can be found in northern Idaho, Alaska and Canada. Elk used to live
across North America, but these days you are most likely to find them in the
western states and provinces.
About Antlers
Each spring, male deer and elk begin growing antlers from bony bumps on their
skulls called pedicles. Increasing daylight elevates the level of the hormone
testosterone in the animal's blood, which triggers the growth of antlers.
Antlers begin as layer upon layer of cartilage that slowly mineralizes into
bone. They are light and easily damaged until they completely mineralize in late
summer. A soft covering called velvet helps protect the antlers and carries
blood to the growing bone tissue.
If you look closely at a deer or elk antler, you'll see grooves and ridges on
it. These mark the paths of veins that carried blood throughout the growing
antlers. The blood stops flowing to the antlers in August, the antlers finish
hardening, and the velvet falls off or is rubbed off. The hardened antlers are
composed of calcium, phosphorous and as much as 50 percent water.
An antler grows faster than any other kind of bone. It can grow up to 1 inch
(2.5 cm) a day during the summer. Biologists are studying antlers in the hopes
of learning the secrets of rampant cell growth, secrets that may unlock cures to
various forms of cancer.
In his second year, a bull elk usually grows slim, unbranched antlers called
spikes that are 10-20 inches (25-50 cm) long. By the third year, antlers begin
developing tines that branch from the main beam. By the seventh summer, a bull's
antlers may have six tines each, weigh as much as 40 pounds (18 kg), and grow to
a length and spread of more than four feet (1.2 m). Why would an animal need to
carry around a rack of antlers that weighs so much? A large rack identifies a
bull that is successful in finding food, lots of food.
A bull must consume huge amounts of nutrients to obtain the energy and minerals
needed to grow antlers as well as the energy to carry them around. Large antlers
also identify a bull that is able to defend himself against other bulls and
against predators. This information is of great interest to female elk (cows)
because they will mate with the strongest, most successful males -- usually the
bulls with the biggest antlers. Check out this
Montana Hunting
site.
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