JACKSON, Wyo. — Over the weekend, Buckrail photographer Nick Sulzer captured herds of bull elk enjoying each other’s company while moving across the landscape along the foothills of the majestic Tetons. It is rare for so many bulls to be traveling together.
Elk are social animals and spend most of their time in herds. An exception is during rut, the elk mating season lasting from mid-September to mid/late October, when older bulls will live in their own herd, and cows, yearlings and young bulls will live in their own herd.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), elk are visible in the valley and on the National Elk Refuge (NER) from mid-December through early April. The Jackson herd, which numbers approx. 9,000 to 13,000, winters in the sagebrush basins and irrigated fields of the Refuge, with less than a quarter of the herd wintering in the Gros Ventre drainage.
Elk migrate one-way, an average distance of 39 miles, with some migrating as far as 168 miles.
According to Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), elk are primarily grazers and subsist mostly on grass in open prairies or meadows, but in winter the species relies on browsing brushes and other higher up edibles.
Due to snow arriving late this winter, there has not been a need for supplemental feeding on the National Elk Refuge to date.
This spring, elk will begin migrating off the Refuge toward their summer ranges. Most elk will follow the receding snow line up to higher elevations in GTNP and the Bridger-Teton National Forest, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
