Plants Elk hunters should know

[Bull_n_heat]

This thread goes hand in glove with a podcast recording that Jaden and Luke did in March 2026 (here). Hopefully this pictorial is helpful for giving visuals of the plants discussed there, but definitely go check it out for a bunch of background info on when and why elk will use these plants. There are some great tidbits in a related post about mule deer food (https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/plants-every-mule-deer-hunter-should-know.395040/) that would have a ton of applicability for elk. In particular, look at the Fire-associated plants. The purpose of this post is to familiarize folks with general information about plants that are useful in the field and to help inspire greater curiosity about the places you are hunting. For a deeper dive (and the pool can turn to an abyss quickly!), see some of the linked references.

In short, Elk can and will eat most of the same plants that deer will eat, but they can also eat lower quality plants due to their much larger digestive system. The list below focuses on Graminoid (grasses and their allies) plants. These are some of the toughest to identify, so this post is organized to illustrate general groups of grasses and not necessarily individual species (of which there are hundreds in the Mountain West).

If folks take nothing else from this post, it’s that native bunchgrasses are what you might want to focus on, and that they are usually indicative of high quality and intact habitat. Essentially, these grasses come out of the ground in big bunches or bouquets. If they are fairly short, they can appear grainy from a distance, but are usually homogeneously grainy (see bunchgrasses from Wyoming below). Mixed forbs and shrubs also appear grainy from a distance, but appear to have more texture and usually color contrast. Some examples below.


Nevada


Wyoming

Utah

Generally, grass-dominated openings tend to look a bit homogenous in color and texture:


Forb and shrub-dominated areas tend to look a more “grainy”, textured, and heterogeneous:



Helpful references:

https://www.washakiecd.com/uploads/4/6/2/9/46293003/rangeland_plants_wyoming_tough_publication.pdf

https://parkcountyweeds.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Grass-Range-Guide.pdf

Grasses of Wyoming » Homestead on the Range

Learn about the characteristics, distribution, life cycle, ecology, uses, and hazards of the grasses of Wyoming.

homesteadontherange.com

And MANY others!

 

[Bull_n_heat]

Specific Grasses

1. Sedge (Carex spp.)
As the old adage goes “Sedges have edges, and rushes are round.” If you were to cut across one of the leaves, you would see a characteristic “W” of the leaf in cross section that creates the “edges” you feel when you run your hands along them. Usually these graminoids (not true grasses) are found in relatively wet areas around seeps, along riparian corridors, or in wet meadows. Typically, they will stay greener longer into the season and in archery and early rifle seasons, might be some of the only green herbaceous plants available. This makes them pretty valuable to both deer and elk later in the summer when other herbaceous forage cures out. There are several kinds, but they are generally darker green in color, fairly tightly-spaced stems and might have small black “pom-poms” for seedheads (top photo). The seedheads on some other Carex can be fairly distinct as you get more used to looking at these plants. They might resemble cobs of corn?


One llama, one dog, and a whole bunch of sedges (leafy forbs in the foreground)


Sedges along water’s edge and in meadow behind fence posts. Note the darker green associated with lower elevations and near the water.



2. Timothy Phleum pratense
Not a native species (European derived), but introduced and usually regarded as being very high quality. I often see this in wetter areas – mountains, irrigated pastures, along trails and roads, etc., but not immediately in a riparian area usually. Usually a pretty tall grass with seed heads that reach above other grasses. Has a very distinct cigar shaped seedhead. Individual seeds are quite small and relatively flat. Seedheads are often quite a bit higher/longer than the leaves of the plant. Once you’ve seen it, hard to confuse it with other things.

 

[Gmr777]

Great stuff thanks!

 

[Bull_n_heat]

3. Smooth Brome Bromus inermis
Thing to remember: Brome = “Broom”. Another introduced grass that is similar to Timothy above – often found along roads/trails, near irrigation or in wetter microclimates. In some places, WY Game and Fish introduced it to wintering areas creating the common name “Game and Fish Grass”. Big, broad seed head that splays out widely with large wheat-like individual seeds, and the plant itself is usually pretty large (waist high or more). Seed head can sometimes take on a red or purple hue to it. Good to know this one because it looks similar to a lot of native brome grasses. Later in the fall, bromes in general tend to stay a bit greener than other grasses and color up with reds and oranges a bit more than others (who tend to just go brown).






3. Wheatgrass – Pascopyrum spp. and Elymus spp.
Many different types of these grasses. Generally though, the seeds are fairly large and “tight” to the stem of the plant; they also tend to have a very uniform spacing of seeds. This closely resembles a wheat seed from pop culture lore. Western Wheatgrass (Wyoming’s state grass!) is one I find to be distinctly blue in color relative to most other mountain grasses. Other species (thickspike wheatgrass, others) are much more green, but all share that distinct seedhead form. These species are technically not bunchgrasses, but instead are rhizomatous (growing in individual stems from large root masses).




5. Basin Wildrye Leymus cinerius
This is typically a very large plant that one might see in non-forested, sagebrush rangeland. I think of it as a species I would see somewhere between the bottom of the basin and the forested area - maybe in places you might see aspen, for instance. I would imagine it takes a bit of moisture to grow such a robust grass. It’s usually a bit darker green and nearly as big as individual sage plants. It was also likely more common prior to overgrazing that happened in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but still is pretty common in some areas. Seedheads will look similar to other wheatgrasses, but the shear size of the plant will help identify it.