Elk Country here is made up of valleys and mountains, ... The autumn is “the rut,” a time when the bulls are bellowing or bugling for the cows to mate.

The bellowing sounded loud near our viewpoint in West Horseshoe Park, although it came from far across the valley — the pathetic call of a lonely male elk. The echoing bellow from the bull elk ...

A long, guttural bellowing bugle can stand the hair up on the back of your neck. For the last couple of centuries, one had to roam the Rockies to hear elk. Now we have them here in Missouri.