Clash of the Elk

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Matt Hunt

I woke up early on one of my last mornings in Canada to photograph the sunrise at Two Jack Lake. Shortly before arriving at the lake, there is a meadow the size of a handful of football fields. There wasn’t much light out at this point, but I could clearly see a couple big bull elk in the field. I snapped a few photos, then headed to the lake for sunrise, hoping the elk would still be present upon my return.

Not only were they still there, but neither one of them wanted the other to be there! Now in some better light, they were duking it out at the far end of the field. I was far enough that I needed all of my 300mm lens, but close enough that I could hear the crack of the antlers every time they butted heads. What a special unexpected treat that morning!

The Elk Rut

Posted on October 18, 2016 by Matt Hunt

Back when I was a kid, and still to this day, I loved watching nature shows on TV. I didn’t have cable growing up, so it was always whatever was on PBS. I specifically recall Marty Stouffer’s Wild America. Growing up in the suburbs, however, I never had the opportunity to observe wildlife in its natural habitat.

Since getting into photography, I’ve been drawn to wildlife as one of my subjects. Many have just been chance encounters on visits to National Parks, but on this trip to Colorado I made the plan to spend two nights in Estes Park with one sole purpose: to witness the elk rut.

Fall is mating season for the elk. The bulls are hormone-crazed, and for the most part the females don’t seem to pay much attention. Bugling is non-stop, though outright battles are few and far between. While watching these bull elk, you may see them digging into the ground by swinging their antlers side-to-side, urinating on themselves and the ground, then rolling around in it and the mud, covering the lower half of their bodies in dark brown sludge. I don’t think human females would find any of this attractive, but then again, I’ve never tried it.

I felt like odds were pretty good I’d see some elk, but I didn’t know that it would be such a given. I had rented this monstrosity of a telephoto lens for the sole purpose of getting some great shots of these majestic animals!

I arrived around lunch time and went straight to Moraine Park, a meadow area of Rocky Mountain National Park, not very far from Estes Park. This was center stage for the elk rut, and indeed I found a bull with a large harem of about 20 cows on the far side of the meadow.

They slowly worked their way closer to the road, and I had walked out away from the road to a little rocky area where I ended up sitting down to observe this bull and his harem. There were quite a few people behind me watching this group as well, but aside from that I wasn’t totally aware of my surroundings. I hadn’t seen any other elk in the meadow, so my focus was on this group.

Then I hear this guy yelling, “Toni! Toni!” I didn’t even budge, but then I hear this Toni speaking to two ladies that were behind me, telling them to walk slowly over to her and sit down. I looked behind me, and I see this young bull no more than 20 yards away heading right for me!

Alright, I decided I’d head over to huddle up with Toni and those two other ladies! Toni seemed to be pretty knowledgeable in elk behavior, stating that she hunts elk. The idea was that this young bull likely would not charge all four of us close together, and that we should sit still, and NOT start running! This young bull walked around to the other side of the rocks, picked at the brush for a little while, then walked no more than 10 feet behind us and off into the meadow! Wow!

At this point there was another bull headed this way from the other side of the meadow. He wasn’t as young, but he still wasn’t as big as the bull who controlled this large harem. At one point it looked like he wasn’t going to mess with big daddy, and walked off a bit, but he lingered. And he lingered. And gradually he worked his way closer and closer to the harem. Big daddy had enough. He got up and started chasing the young bull off!

There was no battle, as this younger, smaller bull knew he’d be no match for big daddy. So he finally decided to wander off.

After getting checked into my hotel and getting some food, I ventured back to the meadow. I observed a few more bulls, only one that was very close, but there didn’t seem to be much going on. I had read the elk are more active in the evening, but to this point, that didn’t seem to be the case. So I began driving back as we had just about reached dusk.

When I got toward the front of the road, I came upon pure madness! There were at least 3 or 4 bulls and maybe 100 cows! Bulls were chasing each other and bugling, the females were squealing, and cars and people lined the road watching the show!

I ended up running into my buddy again, the same young bull I saw earlier. Some of these bulls were easily recognizable due to distinct features, and for this young gun, it was his beat up antlers. He must have engaged in a battle at some point during the rut, because he was missing the end to his right antler. This time I was in the safety of my vehicle, and he walked right in front of it.

I noticed how heavy he was breathing! You can see here his mouth is open; poor guy had his hormones going bonkers, and just couldn’t find a female to link up with! Maybe next year!

Day 2 started out near mid-morning, as I made the hike to Dream Lake for sunrise. I was told when I got there that I had missed some action, and that there was almost a battle. No big deal, as there was still plenty to see the rest of the morning, and I was able to get some great close-ups with much more favorable light than I had the previous day!

Such an amazing animal. I wish I’d had more time to spend watching them, and I wish I could watch them year-round! That evening I had hiked to Alberta Falls, and didn’t get back to the meadow until it was just about dark. There didn’t seem to be much going on, anyway, so I kept the camera in the bag and just observed with my own eyes.

The final morning brought rain showers, and for me I was actually trying to find some bighorn sheep. No such luck with that, but there were still plenty of elk. I saw this guy outside of the park, but close to the entrance.

After that I went to the Sheep Lakes area, looking for sheep, but finding more elk! This guy was walking away from the road, but I was able to get a couple good shots in before he was only displaying his backside to my direction.

I took a drive down Fall River Road, still looking for sheep, but finding another elk that was actually behind a fence, so I was able to get VERY close to him and remain safe! He didn’t seem to be to interested in finding a mate, as he was just grazing through the grass.

And with that, I was off to Denver! I have hundreds more photos of these awesome creatures, but these were some of my favorites. I hope you enjoyed looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them!

The Narrows

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Matt Hunt

Ahhh, it sure was good to be back at Zion National Park! This is without a doubt one of my favorite places, even though I had previously spent all of one day there! After a long drive out from Dallas, I had spent the previous night in nearby Kanab, UT, about an hour away. I arrived at Zion relatively early in the morning, and planned on heading to the last stop on the shuttle, the Temple of Sinawava, which was where The Narrows hike began.

Before I got through the east end of the park, however, I ran into a huge group of bighorn sheep, so I had to stop and take some photos! I originally only saw one standing on top of a rock, so I turned around, and by the time I got back in that area several cars had stopped, and I noticed quite a few. Then more showed up. Then more showed up! They were all females with the exception of one male ram. Of course I focused on snapping pictures of him, because those big horns (hence the name) are pretty impressive!

This has to be one of my favorite animals. And sure, you can see bighorns and other animals in an enclosed space, like a safari drive, but there’s just something so much more magical about seeing them out in the wild. Obviously these animals have been around for a long time, as they can be seen in petroglyphs throughout this area of southern Utah. What a magical creature!

Moving on through the park, I got to the visitor’s center and got my bag put together and caught the shuttle. It takes quite a while to get all the way to the final stop in the canyon. I’d recommend getting there much earlier than I did, and catching the very first shuttle out. I had to wait in line for a while just to get on the shuttle. It was mid-morning, I forget what time, but this seems to be the busiest time of day for the park shuttle.

The trail starts on the Riverside Walk, which is a well-maintained path, so that part is easy. This goes for about a half-mile I believe. Where this ends, it’s time to go straight into the Virgin River! I purchased a pair of water shoes with a pretty thick sole on them a few days prior to leaving, however I was never able to find any neoprene socks. I noticed that many others had the same shoes on, with sizes noted by markers. They were rentals. I should have done more research! Those shoes (and socks) looked legit, and much better than my $25 water shoes. As it would turn out, I really could have used those! The insoles in my shoes came loose, and were shifting all around inside the shoe, and rubbing against my feet. I ended up with skin scraped off in four different areas, two on each feet. The most problematic of them all were on the inside “corner”, if you will, of each foot right at the ball of the foot. This spot on the right foot in particular would end up being an issue for the entire duration of the trip! So if you do the Zion Narrows hike, be sure you are properly outfitted for it! I’d recommend using one of the local outfitters to rent those shoes. I couldn’t tell you which one those people got them from, but I’m sure a little research would reveal that!

At any rate, I’m not sure how far out I went, but I hiked for about 3 hours before deciding to turn around and come back. The water was never even waist deep, and most of the time was only ankle deep. In this 100-degree weather, it was much more pleasant hiking in the mostly shaded, cool waters of the Virgin River! I heard one guy saying you could go as far as 14 or 15 miles down the river if you are so inclined. Obviously I didn’t go quite that far! But it’s a good hike for the family, and you can make it as long or as short as you want.

As far as a photography standpoint, well that was tough. The river was absolutely packed with people, so I had a hard time finding spots where I could get a clear shot. On many occasions, just as I thought I had a clear shot, a group of 10-15 more people would start hiking through. At one point right after I had set up my tripod, this kid literally sat down RIGHT in front of my camera. Ugh, really kid?! I just glared at him, and after a minute or so he started moving out of the frame. I’m sure it wouldn’t be so packed during the cooler months, but at those times a wet suit may not be a bad idea!

Enough words, on to the photos! Contact me for prints or canvases of any of these photos!