Elk droppings

[Griggs]

So I have searched and cannot find a thread talking about this, likely for good reason, either my google-fu and search-bar-fu isn't that great, or it hasn't been discussed yet, or there's no need...

I am curious about the differences in male and female droppings. I have tracked a few, and have noticed differences. In males I tend to see more of a dimple, whereas I don't see that in females. Is that correct or is that just happenstance? When tracking down elk, this type I have equated with bulls, which I have either corroborated with tracks or sightings. So I don't know if that was by mere chance, or it was because they do have specific formations...



This type seems to be cow, as that's what I seem to find after seeing these.



Is that correct? Or has it just been by chance and I'm seeing a connection that isn't there?

 

[diamond hitch]

that's what it says in elk of north america

 

[Griggs]

that's what it says in elk of north america

is that a book? I just ordered a few elk books to pass the time, but I'm always looking for more.

 

[diamond hitch]

look back in old threads. there was a lot on it a month or so back

 

[Gila]

Why worry about shit?
Better off looking for tracks around rubs or wallows

 

[thatsjet]

Mental note: @Griggs is prone to talking shit.

 

[Griggs]

Why worry about shit?
Better off looking for tracks around rubs or wallows

I suppose I’m just always trying to learn about the animals I hunt. Why bother learning algebra? Better off buying a calculator. I’m not out lookin for crap, but when I find it, after a second harvest meal, I like to know what left it.

 

[Gila]

You could start by learning the difference between deer shit and elk shit. It's all bull shit to me anyway.

 

[Losing_Sanity]

I think the difference is more in the taste...

 

[Griggs]

I think the difference is more in the taste...

Second harvest...

 

[Tradewind]

ask Elkduds

 

[diamond hitch]

Now that you have that out of your system- if the goal is large bulls after the rut, you need to know at what elevation the cows are located. The bulls will be ~ 500 ft higher and 1-2 ridges over from the cows. The little bulls will hang with the cows.
Just another trick to get you to the big bulls.

 

[SG25]

Depending on an elk’s diet, a cow’s scat will be tapered at both ends, while a bull’s will have dimples. -RMEF website

 

[hank4elk]

I know what fresh scat looks like & what fresh is. I have found several silent elk by how fresh.
Steaming poop is a much better sign than a rub or wallow.
Cows are separate acorns & bulls more clumps,just like bucks.
I know my shit.

 

[Griggs]

Thanks. I usually track them down to watch them or photograph them in the off season. Fascinating animals.

 

[westbranch]

I know what fresh scat looks like & what fresh is. I have found several silent elk by how fresh.
Steaming poop is a much better sign than a rub or wallow.
Cows are separate acorns & bulls more clumps,just like bucks.
I know my shit.

Clumps vs. pellets has more to do with diet for both elk and deer. Clumps are from grasses, forbs, clover, alfalfa, etc. I have seen whitetail doe/fawn poop clumped from eating in young growth clover/alfalfa fields.

 

[hank4elk]

Not many bound up cows in NM.....Yeah sometimes a cow will look like a spike pile.
Never seen a bull just drop pellets. Ever. Nor a buck.
Never mistaken a bull pile for cow pellets either.

 

[Gila]

Clumps vs. pellets has more to do with diet for both elk and deer. Clumps are from grasses, forbs, clover, alfalfa, etc. I have seen whitetail doe/fawn poop clumped from eating in young growth clover/alfalfa fields.

You nailed it, except it is more about the spring growth of grass and the first cut of alfalfa. Even my mustang clumps on first cut alfalfa.
Steaming poop? Ah yes, fire up the jetboil fo some Kopi Luwak!!

 

[dgc1963]

I think the difference is more in the taste...

yup bull are a bit more tangy

 

[Caseknife]

Then when they start eating the mushrooms, all the clumping and pellets goes out the window! Yes, generally bull droppings are only tapered at one end, dimpled on the other. "Elk of North America : Ecology and Management", by Jack Ward Thomas