Seen mostly along the Gros Ventre River
One of the more distinctive bulls
I started paying attention to Custer in 2011. He was a beautiful young bull but would need need a few more years to consider challenging any of the big bulls. By 2016, he was ready but he was quite passive. I watched him back out of numerous confrontations, even when he was the larger bull. I looked forward to “his year” in 2017, but he never returned.
In 2014, Custer showed up with one drop tine, then two in 2015. In 2016, he grew a drop tine on each side, plus an oddball tine out of his skull. That small tine broke off not long after he stripped his velvet.
Custer had several distinctive features. By 2016, he had a down tine on each antler. Unlike many of the area bulls, Custer lacked much of a dewlap hanging from his bell. In several of the years, he would have white spots on his sides. I always figured he bedded down in a patch of forest with some sort of plant that caused the bleached white spots. Moose shed their winter coats in the spring as a sleek new coat prepares them for the upcoming summer, fall, and winter. The spots were never in the same place from year to year.
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- Right Place: Right Time. Fall in Grand Teton National Park. . . .
