Brian27 Report post Posted March 9, 2012 Ok I was out with my family looking for wildlife on Stoneman Lake road off I-17 on Monday. We saw lots of animals including a heard of elk 150 strong. No bulls. Is this normal for this time of year or have they just dropped the antlers already? I didn’t look to close for bulls with no antlers because i saw a 20+ herd of deer with 2 bucks in it. But really 150 elk and not a spike that I could find.... What do you all know about elk and their winter/spring habits? Do the bulls leave the heard? Any Browns found yet? This is one of the bucks I saw that day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr.smith Report post Posted March 9, 2012 The antler drop time depends on a number of factors. Typically the really big boys will drop between the end of February and mid March with the good to average bulls dropping mid March into mid April. The little guys will drop mid April into May. There are probably some on the ground but most are still on the bulls. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian27 Report post Posted March 9, 2012 I have a week off starting the 18th. I hope I can find a few browns. To bad the forest roads are all closed around flagstaff. I found 3 antlers in an hour last year in june but all were hard white. Wish I had more time that trip. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billrquimby Report post Posted March 9, 2012 Judging only from what I see around Greer on my weekly summer elk-watching trips, cows and calves will stay in large herds until early August before they split off into smaller groups when the bulls start building harems in September. The bulls will be alone or in groups of seven to ten animals of various age groups most of the year. I've seen cow/calf groups with more than 300 elk in them. I said "more than," because I stop counting after that. Bulls and cow/calf herds may come together in feeding areas, but I don't believe they stay together long except during the rut. As for spikes, I seldom see any in the summer cow/calf herds. I do see them with cows after the rut, though. Don't know why this is. Bill Quimby Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mathews Report post Posted March 11, 2012 Think they've covered it well.. The bigger bulls seem to separate fairly quickly after the rut and stay away till August Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HEADACHE Report post Posted March 16, 2012 I've seen herds of over 200 before out stoneman lake rd... mostly cows with small dink bulls. I see them grouped up that way a lot this time of year. Today I saw 3 pretty good bulls all still packing their headgear... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian27 Report post Posted March 17, 2012 We were our on stonman lake road and put about 15 miles on our boots and only found 3 old dink sheds... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
