This is one of my favorite elk photos. These are not practically tame elk in a tourist area of a national park. These are real, wild, free roaming elk. Although not necessarily the best, clearest, sharpest bull elk photo I have, it tells a story when you look at the details. I love that about photos.
A herd of approximately 75-100 elk came out into an open meadow we call hidden valley on the Buena Vista ranch in New Mexico. Some of the elk grazed while others drank from a water hole to the right of this photo. These elk were being hunted by another group of hunters several hundred yards away. After a few minutes, sensing the approaching danger, the heard bull seen in the upper left, began to methodically round up his herd into a smaller, tighter circle just like a rancher would with cows from a horse. He was obviously the boss. Not just by the size of his antlers, but his presence demanded the attention of everyone. As you can see most of the other elk’s butts are facing the camera and they are all watching him or looking at the other elk playing in the pond off camera like a mother glaring at her kids for not paying attention during a Sunday church sermon. I saw his head tilt back and snapped this photo mid bugle as his scream echoed through the valley. The three elk to his left were the first to get the message and are already responding to the call. Within 30 seconds of this photo, the entire herd was moving out and up the other side of the mountain valley. Within a couple of minutes, there were no more elk in the valley. The danger was avoided and not only did the herd bull live to see another day, he protected his herd like a leader.
All this week I’ll be sharing some elk related photos to my photo a day gallery. You can order prints and photos and save 10% on your order with code PAD10.
Also I still have some dates available to video or photo hunts this year. Get on my schedule earlier than later. #elkweek #bullelk #bullelkbugeling #outdoorphotography #elkhunting #september #wildlife #sonywildlife #Arkansasphotographer
