A Check Mark on My List

In this country, we never tire of seeing elk...never! My "bucket list" always includes photographing elk. A year and a half ago, I was fortunate enough to spend 20 minutes one early morning with a group of bull elk, but I was only in zoom lens distance. Today, I still had a zoom lens, but I was much closer to two bulls who were trying to cross the highway. The next valley has become the temporary residence of hundreds of elk who have moved down from the mountains.  The snow is deep, the wind often blows relentlessly, and the elk are searching for food.  This is the time of year when the bulls become "bachelors" in groups, although some stay with the large herds of cows and calves.  When two bachelor bulls were traveling alone today, I happened to be in a car very close to them -- with my camera.  I much prefer focusing on the heads of elk, but this will do for now.

A Wildlife Photographic Coup

"Coup" is defined as "a sudden, brilliantly successful move."   I'm not certain "sudden" or "brilliant" apply to my situation, but I'll certainly take "successful."   Photographing elk in their habitat has been a goal of mine for years and years.  I had limited success one hunting season when a herd was moving from nighttime feeding back to the hills.   But I've never been close enough to capture a decent photo.  That changed this past weekend when my husband and I set out to see a small herd of bull elk out in the country.  Several people--primarily men--had talked about the big bull in the group and some people even had photos at a distance.  This endeavor of ours involved leaving the house no later than 4:30 a.m. to catch the animals before they moved back into the nearby canyon and trees. Elk are extremely wary of people, and they move very fast.

Morning #1...no sign of anything; that night we made another trip but saw only two other vehicles with people who had the same goal of seeing the elk.  Morning #2...just as we neared the end of the road, we saw them, but it was barely light and they ran back across the road, jumping a fence to get to the canyon.  Morning #3...we missed our alarm and left about 15 minutes later.  Perfect!  Ten bulls were in the same field as the morning before, but there was more  light, and I urged my husband to drive farther to prevent the animals from doubling back across the road to the canyon.  When the elk did move, we also moved slowly and were able to enjoy watching them for 10-15 minutes, while I worked my camera.  The results were spotty because I need to read up on low-light wildlife photography.  But I ended up with some images that are once-in-a-lifetime.  I can cross that off my bucket list!

I didn't even notice the background in this image until I pulled it up on the computer. 

  The Big Bull ...the largest I, and many others, have seen in a lifetime.