Elk are one of the most exciting animals to see in Rocky Mountain National Park, especially a bull (male) elk with an impressive rack. You may be surprised to learn that they grow a new rack every year! Each spring around March or April, the bull elk will shed their antlers. This happens due to hormonal changes. 

A few weeks after they have shed their antlers, the elk will begin growing new racks. If you visit Rocky in late spring and early summer, you will see the bull elk in varying stages of growth. Some will have small nubs, others will be further along, and each elk’s growth will be impacted by the size and health of the animal. 

The new antlers grow quickly, sometimes an inch per day, and by late summer the bull elk racks will have reached their full sizes. The final stage of development is the velvet shed. Up until this point, their racks will have been covered in a soft velvet-like skin. This supplies blood and nutrients to the developing antlers, but once the development is complete, the velvet dries up and the elk rub it off. This can look like a very bloody and gory process for the elk, but in reality it doesn’t cause them any pain. 

Once the elk have shed their velvet, it is now early fall, and the rut season begins. The bull elk all use their racks to show dominance and compete with other bulls for cow elk to mate with. This is a popular time to come to the park and see elk, but be sure to keep your distance!