Montana Hunters: Know Your Bulls

[Len Backus]

With elk archery season opening Sept. 6, and backcountry elk season set to open Sept. 15, no elk hunter wants to shoot the wrong elk in the right place, or the right elk in the wrong place. Some elk management units also have special regulations that state the type of bull elk that is legal to harvest. Elk hunters need to know their bulls.

An antlered bull elk is any elk with an antler or antlers at least four inches in length measured from the top of the skull. A brow-tined bull is any elk with an antler or antlers with a visible point on the lower half of either main beam that is greater than or equal to four inches long.

A spike bull is an elk with antlers that do not branch, or if branched, the branch is less than four inches long measured from the main antler. And an antlerless elk is a female, or a juvenile male with antlers less than four inches in length measured from the top of the skull.

For details on elk identification, go to page 27 of the 2008 Big Game Regulations.