It’s Elk Rut Season And They Can Be Extra Aggressive!

Yellowstone National Park has had a record setting summer and likely not going to slow down much. May, June and July were all record breaking months. July was the first time in the history of the park, with over a million visitors in one single month! Through July 2021 there were 2,668,765 visitors to the park, which is 346,494 more than 2018.

Because of the record breaking amount of people, we've heard lot's of stories this summer of wrong doing. Early in the season a women was caught on video being too close to a bear and was charged, tourists walking in places they're NOT supposed to be and given a jail sentence, multiple arrests for DUI and MANY tourists being WAY too close to the animals.

This time of year is important for many of the animals, it's Rut. Which means mating season! Rut is the time of year that animals like Bison, Deer and Elk get that "urge" and mating occurs! During this time, the bulls/bucks don't like to be messed with and may perceive anyone as being their rival.

If you're not looking to have an antler come charging at you, it would be in your best interest to stay as far away from the animals as possible. In the past, there have been many close calls because people got way too close and caused Elk to become irritated and enraged. If you've never seen an Elk up close, they stand between 4 1/2 and 6 feet at the shoulder, add large antlers, around 8 feet long and a body weight of up to 1,100 pounds.

When you visit Yellowstone you're guaranteed to have many stories...getting beat up by an elk is NOT one you want to have to explain! REMEMBER...At LEAST 25 yards (1/4 of a football field)!

A couple years ago, a man and woman were in a bad spot and almost payed for it.