Elk Facts

General Information

Elk belong to the deer family, also known as cervidae.
Elk males are called bulls; females are called cows, and babies are called calves.
Bulls weigh, on average 700 - 900 lbs; cows average 500-600 lbs, and calves average 35 lbs. at birth.
Cows can breed at 18 months of age and will breed up to 15 years of age, some even up to 20 years.
Cows pregnancy will last between 245-255 days and some as late as 270 days.
Elk calves are normally born in May or June with white spots and a tan rump. Twins are very rare.
In their first year of life, a calf will gain over 300 lbs!
Antlers, which only grow on bulls, are shed every Spring.
Antlers can grow from 1 in. to 1½ inch in just a single day. The amount of antler growth is regulated by the length of daylight.
As the antler grows, it is soft with a hair-like covering called velvet.
In the first 75 days of growth, a domestic elk may produce as much as 20 to 40 pounds of new antler tissue

Summer -- grasses and forbs
Spring and fall -- grasses
Winter -- grasses, shrubs, tree bark and twigs
Elk may supplement their diet at licks, where they take in minerals that may help them grow healthy coats and produce nutritious milk.
An elk's stomach has four chambers: the first stores food, and the other three digest it.

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