Since it was late September, I was surprised to see the antlers of these two young males still covered in velvet, the skin and blood vessels that supply nutrients to the antlers as the grow anew each year (the fine hairs give rise to the velvet name). Both were part of the same elk herd as the older bull in the previous post.

The dominant bull was an even older bull with a full rack of antlers on his head, I was also surprised to see him let the younger males in the herd, mixing in with the females of his harem. I did see a couple of older bulls half-heartedly sparring elsewhere in the rainforest, but all of the males here were getting along just fine.

I love the bugling call of the bulls during the rut so I was sorry I only heard the calls once in Mount Rainier and not at all in the Olympics. The rut would have been winding down this time of year in Wyoming, but I must have missed the prime time for Washington.