Shooting the Elk Rut

Elk viewing area along Dewey Road

 I just returned home after spending four mornings and three evenings in the Pennsylvania elk range. 

 

 

 

Dense fog enveloped Winslow Hill each morning.  While fog can obscure the scene it also can add it's own particular atmosphere to the resulting images. 

 

 

When a bull began battling a tree it was necessary to get quite close to photograph the action.  Note the flying debris resulting from his violent shaking.

 

 The fog lifted between 9:30 and 11:00 am each morning but by that time the elk activity had moved into the woods.

 

 

Elk began returning to the open areas by late afternoon.  This bull was taking a short break when I photographed him bedded on the outskirts of his harem. 

 

 

On my last evening this old bull seemed to have tired of all the rushing about.  After walking away from a harem guarded by a younger bull, the old bull bedded soaking up the last rays of the late evening sun.  I was too close to the bull to get him all in a single frame with the 600mm lens but yet was not satisfied with the appearance of the image when shot with 70-200mm.  To obtain the image posted here I turned the Canon 6D vertical and shot a series of images moving left to right then stitching them together in Photoshop.

 

Once again I thoroughly enjoyed my excursion to the Pennsylvania elk range.  The elk activity, while not as wild as it has been some times, was good as was visiting and shooting with the ever growing group of dedicated wildlife photographers who make the annual pilgrimage to Benezette Pennsylvania each autumn in search of memorable elk images.