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| Mature Bull Herds Cows During Peak Of The Rut |
I arrived in Pennsylvania Elk Country just
as a northwest cold front was moving through on Sunday afternoon. Elk
enthusiasts who were there all last week said that activity was good
earlier in the week, but crashed as the weather got warm later in the
week. With the passing of the cold front; however, activity exploded
again and it was very intense for a few days.
I took
mostly video for the first few days of the trip, but on Wednesday
evening several bulls were working a herd of cows in ideal lighting
conditions for still photography so I broke out the Canon 5D MK III
with the 600mm f4 lens and the 70D with the 300mm f 2.8 and took the
photos used in today's post. At first only one bull was present, but
soon more arrived on the scene.
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| Bull Runs Toward Action |
One of the bulls has large, sweeping antlers and is
called "The Western Bull" by many as his antlers look more like those
seen on bulls in the western states. It seems that the antlers on most
Pennsylvania bulls are more likely to be relatively narrow in relation
to their width, while many of western bull's racks tend to be long,
thin, and sweeping in appearance. This bull is very aggressive and one
point on the right antler is broken off from fighting.
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| "The Western Bull" A Damaged Warrior |
Bulls locked antlers at times during the evening and I
got a few frames of the action, but there was always some high grass
between me and them when this happened and the blurry, out of focus
grass detracted from the quality of the photos.
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| Bulls Fighting |
Most expected the activity to continue this morning
(Thursday),but most of the elk left the meadows shortly after daylight
and there was little bugling. Later in the morning, a solitary bull was
seen feeding and resting along Winslow Hill Road near Elk View Diner
and he soon became the major attraction on the hill.
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| Old Bull Along Winslow Hill Road |
This is the bull that many elk enthusiasts call
"Limpy" He is a mature bull that is showing the signs of advancing age.
He has been in the center of the fighting for much of the rut, but now
it seems he has moved away from the herd for a time, to rest and avoid
confrontation with the other bulls. He was still there in mid-afternoon
when I drove past as I headed out for the evening's photography
session.
Originally published at
Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.
