Pennsylvania Elk Country: 2012 Rut

I returned yesterday from four incredible days of shooting the Pennsylvania elk rut.  The elk activity and number of decent bulls was the best I have ever experienced.  However, even with a good number of bulls around, I could not pass up this shot of a cow on my first morning when she posed where the light was simply perfect! 

 

The beautiful light was not to last with cloud cover moving in by afternoon.  Drab sullen skies and frequent showers were the norm for the remaining days.

 

 

Late in the evening a good bull roars a challenge to a lesser bull with a harem of only two cows.  Upon seeing this bull approaching the lesser bull slipped away without a fight.

 

Standing on a ridge top with the foggy mountains for a backdrop one of the larger bulls bugles.

And lying along a steep hillside overlooking his harem this old bull loudly proclaims his dominance.

 

Updating my son with an overview of the trip I entitled the e-mail the good, the bad, and the ugly.  The good was the incredible light of the first morning and the good elk activity during the entire trip.  The bad was rain for three of my four days, and the ugly was when I dumped the 600mm lens with camera attached Wednesday evening.  The camera survived the crash but the 600 did not leaving me without it for the remainder of the trip. It is now on a trip of its own; back to Canon for some much needed repairs.