Elk Dirt or Dry Wallows, fact or fiction...

[WapitiTalk1]

I've ran into quite a few of these over the years. I've called them dirt wallows, dry wallows, or yarding areas. They can be on a protruding, semi-open flat knob on a sidehill where bulls have stood to bang out location bugles (I also call these bugle points), they can be on benches, on the edges or even in the middle of dry meadows, or they can be somewhat close to an actual wet wallow area. They all bear the same similarities. They are not dug down to water (oftentimes, there is not water beneath), they can be smallish to pretty large, are seemingly not natural mineral licks, and... they have been rolled in, whizzed in, and generally show that bulls have rolled around in the dry, oftentimes very powdery dirt. Have you cats seen these in the elkwoods before? Do you think they are actually dry wallows bulls use for rut bullhood advertising purposes? I do but am interested in hearing what other elk hunters think of my observations. Here's a crappy pic of one in ID. There are roll marks in this one, horn marks by the roll marks, whizz marks on whizz marks, and seemingly used by bulls most years. Thoughts on the dirt/dry wallow theory?

[nwwanderer]

I have never seen them roll around like a buffalo, do they?

[Crunchy]

I see them as often as wet wallows.  Although that is in Oregon where there are just MORE elk.  I thought at first they roll in these sand type wallows to de-tick or whatever but that doesn't explain why they are full of urine and scent. 

[DOUBLELUNG]

Pretty common in arid areas, I've seen this frequently in eastern Wyoming and a couple places on the Colockum

[Grizman]

We find them all the time in N Idaho.  We call them "bull yards".  Generally they seem to be located on little flat spots on heavy timbered ridge tops or flat spots in big dark timbered draws. Always dry and churned up with lots of bull smells.  They are used year after year generally getting the most use from late Aug thru mid Oct.  I believe the activity is very similar to what horses due when they roll in their favorite dusting areas. 

[RadSav]

We call them dry wallows as well.  In Oregon a lot of them are mineral rich, but not all.  Most often old dried wet wallows or old lightning strikes.  Always a great place to start your morning bugle sessions.

[JJB11B]

We placed a Tcam near one and got about 1000 pics of a lone bull hanging out in it all day...

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

I have seen a few out east.  I always assumed that they had just dried up and the elk would just graze around them in the field.

[Shawn Ryan]

I've thought they were either wet earlier in the year and elk were still using them because of the earlier use or they had minerals.  I've never tested/licked/eaten the soil, so don't know if there are minerals. How does a guy know?

[huntnnw]

Never saw one till this year when I drew a mt view bull tag...there was a lack of wallow areas in this unit no springs anywhere but creeks in the bottoms. I found tons of dry dirt pits loaded with rubs around them...shoulda killed a bull standing right next to one

[dreamingbig]

Fact.  I have a few pics if some in the archives.  Might have to dig the out.


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[huntnnw]

I posted a video of my elk hunt on here awhile back and you can see the dirt wallow in the vid

[Elknut1]

Fact, there are dirt wallows! The one in the photo above appears to be a natural mineral lick where both cows & bulls will frequent. Dirt wallows are generally no bigger than a bathtub, when in use they stink like a barnyard.

  ElkNut1