General conversation among the group. A mature bull will weigh about 850 pounds while a cow will weigh about 500 pounds. Elk 24 26 moose 30 36 given those external body measurements here are some estimated vital area circle diameters that roughly correspond to the approximate heartlung target area. A calf weighs about 16 pounds at birth. Two adult females weighed 405 and 425. Bugling bellow escalating to squealing whistle ending with grunt.
Concerning the roosevelt elk schwartz and mitchell op. Of course there are exceptions. I know theres more than 12 of leg below the body. It seems to me the measurements are more like 30 to 38 body and 48 to 58. Some of it depends on how much hair the elk has or how fat it is and some of it is regional. More critter measurements maryland whitetail 2yo tail length tip to butt 12 deers body length butt to chest just in fron of front shoulder 36 height front toe to back 32 eye 1 head width outside of eye to outside of eye 45 ear length tip to head in forward position 625 ear width widest front side 3.
Bull advertising his fitness to cows. You start by taking the first measurement at the smallest diameter between the first and second point and then so on until you have 4 measurements total per side no matter how many points tines the bull has see coreys section on scoring elk. Elk ranch high fence that a mature bull elk is roughly give. Field judging rules to identify a py bull elk 1. For a male and 643 pounds for a cow probably approach the upper weight classes for this animal. Newborn to its mother who recognizes her calf by its voice.
Elk are among the noisiest ungulates communicating danger quickly and identifying each other by sound. The other thing you can do is use a standardlife size deer target which is about 13rd the size of an average elk. Too high and forward and all ya get is neck and meat above the spine and a sore elk off into the puckerbrushtoo far rearward and again a poor hit. Pronghorn antelope 85 9 small deer 85 9 medium size deer 10 11 large deer 11 12 north american wild sheep 12 13 mountain goat 13. The height of a bull is on. Elk2html here it shows an average bull would have a body thickness of 3465 and the average cow 327.
Heres a few pics. Chirps mews and miscellaneous squeals. A mature bull elk in prime condition will weigh 700 to 1000 pounds and an average cow in good shape between 400 and 700 pounds. The inside spread must be 30 or greater between the main beams. One extraordinary rocky mountain elk was weighed at 1100 pounds. Rear points should extend past the ribcage when the head is up and parallel with the rest of his body.
If you add these totals up for main beams spread and mass from both sides you get 200 inches. This is the most numerous elk in america and most standard elk weights tend to be taken from this species. The bull must have at least five points on each antler to make the book and six points will greatly increase your odds. But you can pretty much count on a truly mature bull 5 years old being somewhere around 30 from back to brisket. Southwestern bulls tend to be bigger bodied a lot of the time because their growing season is longer.