Watch out for those Elk

Saw a huge herd of Elk on Park Cty 43 this afternoon.
Someone just hit a big one on 285. Be careful out there.

Is it just me or does it seem early for the elk to be coming back up the hill? The mild weather and the long dry spells are likely the reason but it seems to me that this doesn't normally happen until mid-April or early May.

What do I know? The elk are probably getting an early jump on daylight savings time...

I have seen a bunch of Elk lately. It does seem early.

Quite a few mule deer in this area are already without antlers.

So ballpark where on pc43 for the elk? Guessing some place before DCVR?

I have seen some bull elk in Burland w/o antlers. We went antler shed hunting and found a 5 pt. elk antler, 3 & 4 pt deer antlers and last year's 2 pt antler.

Saw some bucks in Burland and most 2 pt. still have theirs.

These guys were near the 2nd entrance to Mill Iron D off of 43. There were a lot more. I just couldn't get them all into the pic and my darn phone was almost dead.
I think mother nature is trying to tell us something. Antler hunting sounds interesting. I would like to do that some time.

21 antler shed hunting tips.
http://www.trophyhuntingobsession.com/21-shed-hunting-tips/

Thanks Becky. It would be fun to see how much the calves have grown.

Thanks photo-fish for the link. Good ideas.

We have found the most antler sheds near trees that the deer/elk were using to help shed.

Take some plastic bags and pick up trash while you are at it.

The ones we found were in a rugged part of the national forest. We usually don't go out this early so as not to disturb them but with all the mild weather and some observations it looks like more 3 and 4 pt have already shed in this neck of the woods. Might be different elsewhere. And we weren't really expecting to find much as the mtn lions have all the deer/elk moving around more.

Don't recommend feeders for the deer/elk though, as it makes them dependent and weak. And where there are deer/elk, there are mountain lions.

Becky wrote: These guys were near the 2nd entrance to Mill Iron D off of 43. There were a lot more. I just couldn't get them all into the pic and my darn phone was almost dead.
I think mother nature is trying to tell us something. Antler hunting sounds interesting. I would like to do that some time.

Thanks for the pic Becky, drive careful on that road, especially at night.

Always careful on 43. She can be treacherous.