Mid-September is just about the peak of elk mating season, also known as the fall rut. As bulls compete for female attention, Mountain Westerners are more likely to hear their bugling than to see them challenging one another.
Elk mating season, also known as the fall rut, goes from about mid-August to mid-October. The peak is right about now.
Mark Gocke is with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. He says while you might be able to spot bull elks clashing their antlers against one another, you’re much more likely to hear them bugling. Here’s a recording from the National Park Service.
“It’s definitely not a sound you would think would be coming out of an 800-pound animal that large," he said. "Basically it’s announcing to everybody within earshot, that these are my cows, and I am willing to take on all challengers.”
The bugling is a way for bulls to show off for female elk, also known as cows, and other competing bulls.
Gocke says this time of year, it’s especially important to give wildlife like elk plenty of space. Elk have been known to gore people who have gotten too close during the rut.
If you do want to catch an elk bugling from a safe distance, they’re usually the most active at dawn and dusk.
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