Wintering bull elk -Trapped by snow

[cnelk]

A few years ago, a friend sent me these pics of he took while snowmobiling up near Steamboat Springs.
It seems that the bull elk had migrated up in elevation after the rut, but heavy snows had trapped him with no chance of escape.
Once the snows melted, he went back and found the skull....

Mother Nature hath no mercy

 

[Swede]

Hard winters and loss of weight due to the rut can ultimately take a heavy toll. I have seen elk out in deep snows in the winter. When the snows get deep and last, you can expect the very young and the weak to become food for the coyotes and others that will find a meal off of them.