Game animals · Side by side
Caribou vs Elk
How to tell them apart
Quick answer
Check who carries antlers and what hangs over the face: most caribou cows have antlers, and bull caribou have a flattened 'shovel' brow tine reaching down over the nose and a white neck mane in fall. Elk cows are antlerless, and bull elk have a dark brown neck, round, pointed brow tines and no shovel.
Caribou and elk are both big, herd-living deer with sweeping antlers, and in the mountains of western Alberta, British Columbia and parts of the Yukon the two share the same valleys. Most hunters never meet both on one trip, but photos, shoulder mounts and long-range glassing cause plenty of mix-ups. A few traits settle the question at a glance.
Key differences
| Trait | Caribou | Elk |
|---|---|---|
| Antlers on females | Yes, on most cows | No; only bulls grow antlers |
| Brow tines | One or two flattened shovels over the face | Round, pointed tines |
| Neck | White or cream mane on bulls in fall | Dark brown mane |
| Bull weight | About 350–400 lb (barren-ground); woodland bulls larger | About 700 lb (Rocky Mountain) |
| Hooves | Huge, round and crescent-shaped | Ordinary pointed deer hooves |
| Antler drop | Big bulls in late fall; pregnant cows after calving | Bulls in March and April |
| Winter food | Mostly lichens dug from under the snow | Grasses, sedges, browse and bark |
| Range | Alaska, northern Canada and Greenland | Rockies, Pacific coast, prairies and restored eastern herds |
Where both live
For the most part, elk live south and caribou live north. The overlap comes in the Canadian Rockies and the ranges of British Columbia and the Yukon, including Jasper National Park, where southern mountain caribou, listed as Threatened under Canada's Species at Risk Act, share the landscape with elk. That overlap is part of the caribou's problem: abundant elk, moose and deer support more wolves, and those wolves also kill caribou. Parks Canada's caribou conservation strategy names that shift in predators and prey as one of the main threats in the mountain parks.
Antlers up close
A bull caribou's antlers are tall, curved, often palmated beams, with a second set of forward tines, called bez tines, above the shovels and flattened points at the tops. A bull elk's antlers are long, round beams that sweep back over the shoulders, with six or so pointed tines rising off the top on a mature bull. Timing helps too: big bull caribou drop their antlers soon after the fall rut, while pregnant cows carry theirs until they give birth in spring, so a caribou still wearing antlers in late winter is usually a cow or a young bull. Bull elk hold their antlers until March or April.
Hunting and status
Elk are thriving, with about a million in North America and hunting seasons across the West and in several eastern states. Caribou are listed as Vulnerable worldwide, and many herds have crashed: Canada's boreal and southern mountain caribou are not hunted, Quebec and Labrador have suspended sport hunting of migratory caribou, and Alaska's Western Arctic Herd has fallen sharply. Alaska still offers the most caribou opportunity, usually on fly-in or float hunts timed to migrations.
By the numbers
The traits the daily hunt game compares for each.
| Clue | Caribou | Elk |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Big game | Big game |
| Habitat | Tundra | Mountains |
| Headgear | Antlers | Antlers |
| Region | Arctic tundra | Western mountains |
| Typical weight | 400 lb | 710 lb |
| Diet | Herbivore | Herbivore |
FAQ
Are caribou smaller than elk?
Yes. A barren-ground caribou bull in Alaska averages about 350 to 400 pounds, roughly half the weight of a Rocky Mountain bull elk. Woodland caribou run larger but are still lighter than most bull elk.
Do female caribou have antlers?
Most do. Caribou are the only deer in which females regularly grow antlers, while cow elk almost never grow them; only bull elk carry antlers.
Can elk and caribou interbreed?
No. Elk belong to the genus Cervus and caribou to Rangifer, and the two are not closely enough related to hybridize.
Where can you see caribou and elk in the same place?
The best-known spots are the Canadian Rockies, especially Jasper National Park, where elk are common in the valleys and small herds of mountain caribou use the high country. Both are sensitive to disturbance, so viewing from a distance matters.
Could you tell them apart from a few clues? Test yourself in today's puzzle.
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