What are antlers?
Antlers are bones growing from the elk's head. When they first start to grow, the antler are covered with a fuzzy skin-like cover called velvet. The velvet-covered antler are living tissue at this stage, with nutrients supplied to the antler by blood vessels that go up into the antler. Eventually, the antler hardens into bone, and the elk rub the velvet off.

Do all elk have antlers?
Only bull elk grow antler. Starting the spring after they are born, most bulls will grow spikes that are from 7 to 18 inches in length. Because of this, two-year old bulls are called "spikers". The next year (as three-year olds), bulls will grow antler than have anywhere from 4 to 6 points on a side. At this stage, their antler are fairly lightweight and resemble the antler of a large deer. By the time a bull is a four or five year old, however, they will grow much larger antler with 7 or 8 points on a side. (Some grow as many as 10 points, but that is somewhat unusual - the most we've had is 8 points on a side). The antler grow to about 4 to 5 feet long and weigh 20 to 40 pound each... a lot of weight on the head and neck.

How fast do antlers grow?
Very fast. Growing antler is among the fast growing tissues in the mammalian world, with rates of grown of up to an inch per day when in velvet. From no antler at all to a full rack of hard bone takes only 3 to 4 months... and it happens every year.

What do the elk use the antler for?
Antler are primarily for the breeding season with begins in late August or early September. Elk with larger antler tend to be the dominant breeders. Antler also provide protection from predators, though most elk prefer to use speed as their primarily method of staying alive in the wild.

When do the elk lose their antler?
Our larger bulls generally lose their antler around St. Patrick's Day, though the younger bulls often don't drop antler until May. We pick up the drops (provided we can find them) and have sets for sale. As soon as the antler drop, a new set begins to grow.