08/17/2026
As summer winds down, elk are getting ready for the rut — and that means it’s time to lose the velvet.
Despite the name, antler “velvet” isn’t really velvet. It’s a soft, living layer of skin covered in fine hair and filled with blood vessels. While the antlers are growing, it supplies them with the nutrients and oxygen they need to develop.
Once the antlers are fully grown, the velvet dries up and the elk begin rubbing it off against trees and other vegetation.
It doesn’t always come off all at once, either. For a short time, an elk can walk around with strips of dried velvet hanging from its antlers — just like this one.
Before long, the velvet will be gone and those antlers will be ready for the rut. 🦌
