A Morning on the Elk Range

 

Our son Chad and his wife Sandy spent a week with my wife and I during mid-September.  Now living in the Orlando Florida area, this was the first Chad had been able to get back home in seven years and was Sandy's first visit ever.  Each day of their vacation was planned with Chad wanting to visit family and old friends.  While most of their time was spent together, Tuesday was a guys and gals day; a day where the guys went their own way to do their thing and the gals did likewise.  For Chad and I the plans called for a day trip to Benezette, the heart of the Pennsylvania elk range while the gals headed for a beauty shop. 

 

Chad and I were on the road by 3:30 am and arrived at our destination around 6:00.  As we climbed the hill, among the elk bugles ringing from the ridges I could hear the deep roar of Limpy, the icon of Winslow Hill.  Heading toward the roar, we soon encountered Limpy with a small harem of cows and a couple of satellite bulls nearby. 

 Limpy Roaring

 

 Limpy, named for a limp he developed after becoming injured in a fight during the 2010 rut, is a dominate mature bull.  I have been photographing him each year beginning in 2009.  His photographs have graced a number of Pa Game Commission publications including the current calendar and the Game News.

 

Chad photographing Limpy

 

Limpy is a completely trusting animal as shown here while passing between myself and a group of elk viewers.

The old boy paused to bugle with the onlookers in the background

This was Chad's first time on the Elk Range and it wasn't difficult to see that he was enjoying the shoot.

During the course of the morning we spotted a number of other bulls, however the overcast skies and the short mowed grass just didn't provide the conditions for outstanding elk photography that I was hoping for.

 

 

After the elk had retired to the woodland the leaden skies finally opened up with beautiful white clouds scuttling across the sky and their accompanying shadows dancing across the landscape painting in an ever-changing pattern of sun and shadow.

After stopping in at the visitor's center and another stop at the Benezette Store Restaurant for a Big Ben's Burger, it was time to head for home.

While in past years I have been spending the best part of a week on the elk range during the rut; this day-trip would be my only opportunity to photograph the rutting bulls this year.

Revisiting the Elk Rut

With the local whitetail activity at a low point and the ground remaining free snow for the most part, I have been spending my free time catching up on things around home.  In the midst of all my catching up I  realized that I had not posted to Country Captures in nearly a week!  Sometimes a fellow just can't win! 

 

 Since I have not been shooting much new material lately it is time to step back, and this time step back to one foggy late September morning on Winslow Hill and revisit the mature bull elk, Limpy, as he pursues a cow waiting for that moment that she will accept his advances.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Limpy in the Evening



During my recent trip to the Pennsylvania elk range a good number of bulls were frequenting the Winslow Hill area with an old bull, known in the Pa. elk photographic community as "Limpy", carrying the most impressive rack.  The following shots were taken during the course of one evening when he was pursuing a very trusting collared cow.

 

 

It has been quite a privilege to have photographed this impressive trusting animal for the last five years.  Hopefully he will be around for a few more seasons.

Elk in the Fog

 

Thick fog enveloped Winslow Hill every morning of my recent trip.  The elk here are quite tolerant on humans so getting close enough to photograph them was not a problem even with the limited visibility.

A common mistake when photographing in fog is to under-expose the image.  The camera's meter cannot accurately set the exposure automatically in fog.  To correct the exposure it is necessary to compensate anywhere from +.5 to  +1.5 stops.

 

When properly exposed, fog shots can be some of the most memorable images from an outing to Pennsylvania's elk range.

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.

Wildlife in the Garden

Bull Elk, Elk County Pa
September 2012

 When wildlife is mentioned oft times our thoughts picture one of the glamorous species of wild
 creatures




Bumblebee on an annual Zinnia

 

 However we are surrounded by untamed creatures, many of which make areas that we consider home their home as well.




Skippers on a Zinnia

To invite appealing wildlife species to our yards and gardens plant some flowers.  Not only will the flowers brighten the landscape but they will provide food and cover to a multitude of wild creatures.

 



Immature Ruby-throated Hummingbird on a Canna Lily

 

Hummingbirds as well as butterflies and bees will be attracted to the sweet nectar.

Thinking about the Elk

Today as I pursued rutting whitetails my mind would frequently wonder back to my recent trip in Pennsylvania's elk country.  With the exception of accidentally breaking a camera lens the trip was an excellent time afield with good friends, new friends, and a number of good bulls to photograph against the colorful autumn backgrounds.  While during the rut these animals allowed us to approach with little concern of our presence, today with the 2012 elk season opener they became legal game for the hunters.

 

The bull pictured here is known by the Pennsylvania elk photographic community as Limpy.  He has thrilled viewers and photographers for a number of years and I have had the pleasure of photographing him over the past four.  Photographing him the last morning of my visit, as he looked out across the foggy mountains he calls home, I could not help but wonder if this would be the last time I would see this majestic trusting animal.  The next few days will tell the tale as reports from the elk range begin to filter in.     

Photographing the Photographers: Pa Elk Country

Each September a dedicated group of photographers gather around Benezette, Pennsylvania to shoot the elk rut.  This is an informal group bound together with a common interest in photographing wildlife and elk in particular.  With wildlife photography growing rapidly in popularity so to is the number photographers showing on the elk range.

 Visiting, chatting about elk, equipment, technique and catching up on each others lives during lulls in the elk activity is a big part of the elk rut experience.  For most of us this is the only time we will meet during the year while others may meet up again during the whitetail rut in Virginia.

The elk here are accustomed to people and seldom shy away as the paparazzi moves in.

As you can see in this shot where the elk in the photo graze peacefully in front of the cameras.

Other years I returned from these trips finding that I had focused my attention upon the elk and had missed photographing the people.  This year I was determined to capture the shooters.  To remind myself I carried a camera around my neck at all times with either the 24-105 or the 100-400mm lens attached just for that purpose. 

 

Checking my cards after this trip I was satisfied that I had captured a suitable number of shots of the photographers in action on the Pa elk range.

 

I mentioned in an earlier post about dropping the 600mm lens on this trip and now as Paul Harvey would say here is "the rest of the story".  I dropped the lens off with FedX last Saturday and it arrived at Canon repair on Tuesday.  Before noon on Wed. I had a repair quote and promptly approved it.  The repaired lens was delivered to my home on Saturday!  I took it out for a test run this afternoon and it appears that the lens is every bit as good as it was before the accident.  Now that is Good Service!  

Pennsylvania, a great place to experience Elk

The Elk rut is a time of intense activity with adult bulls challenging one another, bugling, and fighting.  However in this moment, as a big bull bugled with his breath turning to steam in the frosty mountain air a cow and calf in the foreground lend the appearance of a family posed for a portrait. 

 A moment later the bull turned his head looking directly towards the lens as he again roared forth his challenge.  The bugle of a bull elk drifting across the countryside is an unmistakably beautiful sound of the wildlands.

Even during the frenzy of the rut a cow takes time out to do her duty as a mother nursing her calf.  The calves, with the exception of a few late born, have lost their spots appearing as miniatures of their mothers.

 

Pennsylvania offers a unique opportunity to view and photograph elk close-up with the Winslow Hill herd being acclimated to where they pay little attention to humans.  However these are wild animals in the sense that they are free-ranging and should not be approached too closely.  The first two photos in this post were taken using a 600mm lens and the last with a 500mm at distances of 80-100 yards.  A distance at which both the elk and the photographers remain safe.

Pa Elk: Limpy, the Star of the Show

The star of the show during my recent trip to Pennsylvania's elk country was a bull known to the elk photographic community as Limpy.  I first photographed this fellow in 2009 but it wasn't until he sustained an injury during the 2010 rut that he acquired his name.  The injury left him with a bad limp.  He is doing much two years later but he still retains a limp most easily observed when he walks.  This year he was my most often sighted bull as well as carrying the most massive antlers.

 

I captured this series of photographs of him as the sun rose during the first morning out.

 

A number of photographers were photographing the elk activity as Limpy protected his harem.  The scene was beautiful in the soft morning light and shutters were clicking rapidly.  As the sun began touching the far mountain side I remembered how pleased I had been with the results from a morning shoot in SNP when the sun kissed the antlers of a good buck.  With this thought in mind I hoped against hope that the same would happen with Limpy before he moved off the ridge top.

 

Not only did he stay on the ridge but he posed and bugled as if he were a trained model.

The cow near him was not quite as accommodating, however if she had paused from feeding to lift her head, she may have been a distraction in this photograph.

A little later, after the sun was fully up, Limpy posed like a statue testing the air.

 

You are free to disagree but for my taste the second and third images in this post are the best elk portraits I have ever captured.  His chances of making it through the upcoming elk season are slim and I will always be thankful that he gave me such and incredible morning of digital memories.

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.