Educate me on wallows...

[smalls]

Will ALL bulls find/create/use wallows during the rut?

Where does one generally find wallows? Is moisture usually obviously present in areas surrounding wallows?

How often will animals come back and check on a wallow?

 

[elk_hntr]

I believe that most bulls will create a wallow or two in their lifetime. The wallows generally provide relief from the hot summer months, as well as help them identify their territory.

Bull elk typically roll in wallows to cover their bodies with scent, creating bathtub-size depressions with low walls of displaced mud ringing their perimeters. Receptive cow elk, drawn by the odor, will also roll and urinate in the wallow, indicating their willingness to mate.

Mud wallows are musky smelling and have light-colored hairs lining their bottoms as well as fresh hoofprints all around. Wallows are found where the ground is wet and muddy, usually near water and almost always in a secluded area where elk feel relaxed enough to drop their guard a bit.

I've found some wallows only 100 yards off logging roads, but most are made in secluded, remote areas. Here in Oregon I've found that there a few wallows that I watch throughout the year, some go untouched for seasons at a time, whereas others are used regularly during the summer and early fall.

Hope this helps.

EH ~

 

[elk_hunter]

Because of their wide-ranging nature, individual bulls use scrapes and wallows infrequently. However, different bulls may use the same scrape and wallow when they are near it. While the scrape and wallow are used to place the combined urine, testosterone and belly gland scent on the bull, they are also used to remove parasites and cool the bull in hot weather. This urine/testosterone/belly gland/dirt scent is a sign of a mature dominant breeding bull. Cow elk are attracted to the smell and sounds of bulls when they are in heat. It has been suggested that cows can determine the physical health of the bull by the amount of protein in its urine, and that cows may choose a bull with a high protein content in the urine to associate with. There is also evidence that older cows will return to the sound and smell of dominant bulls that treat them gently. They may be able to associate gentle bulls by the combination of the protein, testosterone and belly scent from wallowing, and the familiar sound of the bull's bugle.

Urine and testosterone from the bull's neck and antlers may be placed on rubs when the bull comes in contact with them. There may also be forehead and preorbital scent on the rubs. These same scents occur on branches that are thrashed by the bull when it rubs the branch with its head and antlers. This combination of scents may be a sign of dominance to other bulls.

The complex combination of scents left at the signposts of the scrape, wallow, rub and the animal itself occur primarily during the rut. The scents of the scrape, wallow and rub occur as soon as bulls begin to shed their velvet. The scents of the scrapes and wallows begin shortly after the elk begin rubbing, but may occur earlier during hot weather. These scents can be used to attract bulls anytime after the rubbing phase begins. They become less effective after the first breeding phase, because the bulls are not as aggressive. Because a dominant bull makes rubs, scrapes and wallows as a proclamation of dominance, it is impelled to check out the smell of any unknown bull intruding on its territory.