Elk Velvet ?

tracker12

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1,597
When do most bulls start to rub off the velvet. And as a follow on how long does it take before they rub it off. Hours, days, weeks?
 
August 8th to about the 18th , give or take a couple days.

And how fast it comes off depends on the bull. I've seen both ways, I've whatched big bulls with the spotter amost completly
rub all the vetvet off in less than 2 hours.....

And just the oppisite I've see bulls with rub marks,showing
bone, or velvet hanging for a couple days.

4aec49a65c565954.jpg
 
Thanks a bunch. I have never been out west during the transition period and was wondering if there was a chance that a bull with velvet could be killed during someones early archery season.
 
A bit more clarification would help on the above post. Mature bulls generally rub velvet between the first and third weeks of August. Raghorn bulls often keep the velvet later, and many spikes will still have velvet in early September. A stag bull (injured testicles, etc.) will keep the velvet throughout the year, but this is quite rare.

I've seen elk take several days to rub all their velvet. A week seems overly long. As with all things in nature, there are exceptions.
Bill
 
So with this years archery season in Colorado starting the third week of AUG it was possible to take a bull in velvet. That was all I was wondering.
 
I've had two LE elk tags in Utah I've attempted to take a
velvet bull with no luck......

The first was a great learning experience. Drew a Book cliff
tag in 1992, was able to start archery hunting on August 15th.
Scouted all summer, had a lot of bull located, returned for the
opener to find the bigger bulls all rubbing, most were boody
horned. Opening day, on the 15th, I found a group one was still
in velvet, bedded them down, stalked to 30 yards, passed on
a 5 x 6 because I had soooo many more days to hunt....
I'm still kicking myself in the ass for not shooting 20 years
later!!!!!!

Had another LE archery elk tag in 2004, started Aug 17th..
Never saw one bull still in the velvet....

It dose happen though, I saw one 3 years ago come off Beaver,
A beautiful 6x6. he was a 335 bull in full velvet....
One of the coolest mounts I've ever seen.

4aec49a65c565954.jpg
 
Except for spikes I have never seen a bull in velvet during the archery season here in Colorado. Can it happen? Sure but I highly doubt you will find a bull in velvet any where past the 15th here in CO... I will see some rub as early as the 1st and the latest I see them with intact velvet it right at mid month... They rub off in a hurry...
 
I have always seen them rubbed off by the opener in Utah, as others have stated. Isnt it Arizona that has the earliest archery hunt opening? I may be wrong, but that may be your best bet. It would be very rare to find a mature bull in velvet by the Colorado opener.
 
This year in arizona during the late rifle hunt which opened november 30th we got into a small herd of about 15 elk with 3 spikes all of them were still sporting their velvet.
 
I'd give my left nut for a big velvet bull on the wall. I watched my uncle pass up 3 full velvet bulls 350-375 on Monroe a few years back when we went all or nothing for Spider, I dont think I could have held out.
 
My buddy shot a spike during the general hunt a couple years back that still had velvet....not that uncommon with spikes. Like everyone else mentioned the big bulls tend to rub early.
 

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