Average size of Elk Antlers?

crimedog

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So this thought popped into my head. I wonder what the average size of elk antlers are. is it 300? is it less? higher? Anyone have any ideas?
 
Depends on area, genetics etc etc...Some places a mature bull might not hit much more than 300...some areas a 300" bull is only 3-4 years old. So the question is pretty vague to answer because i would say there is no definite answer. All depends on where you are
 
I like mntnguides answer, but my 2 cents I would say in 300" to 340" range would be a mature bull elk's antler score.
 
I don't think a 3-4 year old bull is mature no matter where you are. A mature bull is 7+ years old in my mind. I'd say average antler size on a bull of that age which some areas don't have many if any would be 325" to 330". Average size of bulls in general I'd guess at probably 225" to 250" which would include rag horns.
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-01-17 AT 10:39PM (MST)[p]Usually, a 6 yr old bull goes 300 to 320. At 7 they have achieved full body size so usually 340 and up. But there are many variables, genetics, feed that yr, etc etc.

They get killed so fast when they get over 300 that I bet the overall average is 275 or less.
 
I know the size of an elk antler varies greatly depending on who's pulling the tape, and if it was witnessed. But as others have said, it varies a lot with genetics. No real answer to the question.
 
>I don't think a 3-4 year
>old bull is mature no
>matter where you are. A
>mature bull is 7+ years
>old in my mind. I'd
>say average antler size on
>a bull of that age
>which some areas don't have
>many if any would be
>325" to 330". Average size
>of bulls in general I'd
>guess at probably 225" to
>250" which would include rag
>horns.


I wasn't saying 3-4 was mature...i said there are areas where a young bull 3-4 years old can already be over 300". Hence good genetics
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-04-17 AT 11:41PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Apr-04-17 AT 11:34?PM (MST)

In south Central Utah, I see quite a few bull elk, alive or in someone's pick up. I hear people say the units, in this area, produce a pretty fair number of elk over 350", compared to other areas. Don't know if that's true or not but I have observed this, the lower the harvest rate, i.e.: the fewer the number of tags, the more bulls I see, and the more bulls I see, the more bigger bulls I see.

I've been counting bull elk numbers around here for a little over twenty years, pre- hunt and post. This is just my empirical opinion. On just about any unit in So. Central Ut, if there was never an elk hunt and all the bull elk were allowed to just grow old and die naturally, the average bull, five years and older, would average about 335" in size. On a bell curve, a few would be smaller and a few would be larger. The largest part of the bell curve would, I think, be between, 320" and 350".

On another antler average question, BYU wildlife biology department, Dr. Larsen, and Dr. McMillian are who I think did the research, if my memory serves me correctly, did a study on the average outside antler width of mature mule deer (I think they said 5 years or older but not sure) was 24". I think it was done on hunter killed deer. The study was done sometime in the last ten years, as I recall.

In both cases, as others have mentioned, with harvest strategies being different, from unit to unit, and State to State these " numbers will vary, according to which ever harvest strategy is being used.

DC
 
I almost always hunt a different unit of public land each year, hunting pressure is medium to high depending on the season. Elk get shot fairly young on public lands, so most bulls I see are rag horns. My average is around 225-275. I've got eight bulls with only two bulls being 320 or better.

2f350s: Hunt hard, hunt ethically.
 

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