Yesterday I loaded up the VarmintMobile and headed out on a combination Varmint Hunt and Spring Bear Hunt.
The high basin I wanted to get to was 35 miles from my home and once I got to the mouth of this huge basin the road was blocked by a snow drift.
As I was turning around to go check another basin I spotted a herd of 14 Elk about 500 yards away - watching me.
As I got my binoculars onto them I was a bit shocked to see antlers on several of them shining in the sun!
I mean it was April 27th and I would have thought all antlers would have been shed by now?
I got my spotting scope out and viewed them close up - 4 Elk had sets of "spike" horns and and a fifth had just a single spike!
Two more of the Elk (who were obviously much larger and "bull colored") had obvious pedicles and I am sure they were mature Bulls but no new horn growth showing yet.
I spent 20 minutes watching them wander directly away from me - all the while scanning for "sheds" but none seen/found.
I will be back to get into this basin in a week, to watch for Bears again, but I was very surprised that the young Elk still had their antlers?
Any thoughts?
I have Hunted this basin several times in the past and have never seen this much snow this late?
Maybe the longer cooler winter we have had has kept the young Elk from shedding by now?
Or maybe the younger Elk just keep their antlers longer?
No luck on Bears but did see a set of tracks going across a large snow patch.
Like I say i'll be back in a week to try again.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Not all that unusual, spikes hold their antlers pretty late. I watched a B&C spike a few days ago with his head gear.

I've seen a few 6pts holding their racks later than April...

We generally refer to spikes as “eleven pointers” 😊

Latest I've seen hard antlers here in SE Oregon is May 5 on a couple of good sized 5 by's. For sure not the norm though.

1minute & All: Thanks for your insights - I started seeing antler "gatherers" out and scoping the hills March10th - I am marking the date (April 27th) on my reference calendar and will compare next year - I guess I had just never seen Elk with antlers still attached this late?
Thanks again.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

A friend told me he was driving around the country a few days ago and spotted a spike elk.

Different species and totally different circumstances but I had a doe whitetail that maintained her 3 point (*Eastern 6 point) antlers for over 4 years here in Indiana. She dropped two fawns each year, no idea what happened to her, simply disappeared, probably got freezer wrapped.

All our spikes still have antlers on. I figure with spikes they don’t loose them until the new ones push them off. They seem to hold on to them the longest. Have seen some bigger bulls have them on into may. Not sure if any weather attributes to it. Never seen much of a pattern to it

Spike antlers don't have any weight to them and they are just a single tine. Bigger antlers weight a lot more and that weight helps them shed and they also get smacked against more brush and tree limbs which helps them shed. When I grew up in CO it wasn't too unusual to see a spike or two this late in the year but I never saw a bigger racked bull this late that I can remember.

ShootAI, Millerish, Just a Hunter: Appreciate all your inputs. I am off and headed east today chasin guns and will take my "bino's" along in my high mileage car with me. i will be driving through a lot of good Elk country.
Reminds me of an Elk Shed I found high in the foothills of the west slope of the Snowcrest Range of the Rocky Mountains a few years ago.
I found a beautiful long "spike" shed and it is still holding brown colors.
Anyway I was fly fishing at a high, remote, seldom frequented lake - I am sure the lake is 7,500' elevation and I got to wondering back then - that spike Elk should not have been there at that elevation in March (when I thought all Elk shed their antlers) just way to much snow there at that time of year.
Obviously that spike Elk kept his antler on until the Elk returned to that country (elevation) on or about the first of May (green up at that elevation).
I consider my self an avid (but obviously an amateur!) nature watcher - I will try and watch more closely in the future.
Thanks again.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I've seen horns on raghorn bulls on tax day so not too out of whack. What is crazy is by the end of the May they can have horns several feet long already.

I saw a spike last weekend here in pa.

Thumbcocker: Interesting - Pennsylvania! Cool.
Watch out for peta types trying to re-introduce wolves!
I just came down my drive and there were 80 Mule Deer on the east side of the drive and 20 on the right side - and only two Mulie Bucks had horn growth long enough (4" to 5") to see from 100 yards distant.
Love watching Mother Nature.
Green up is just getting going here at 5,400'.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

There is a season here too. They have shot some monster bulls.

Last week 2 bulls with doorknobs were spotted so antler growth getting going. Happy Trails

This past week abut 100 elk moved into the fields across the road below my house. Through my spotting scope I couldn't find any antlers, but like WAM posted, several of the bulls have doorknobs on top of their heads.