Pennsylvania Elk Rut Explodes

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

Book by Marci Geise Features Photos from PA Elk Country

Mid-afternoon September 22, found me traveling to The Wildlife Center at  Sinnemahoning State Park where author/photographer Marci Geise was holding a book signing for "Elk Scenic Drive"  The book features photos of points of interest and wildlife that may be seen while traveling the elk scenic drive, a 127 mile route through the heart of elk country.  I arrived to find Marci and her father, Phil chatting with attendees.

Marci Geise Poses With Her Book  The Wildlife Center: Photo by W.Hill

Marci Geise maintains an active presence on the internet and her work may be viewed at Marci Geise Photography or on Facebook.  In addition, she was recently featured in the Monday September 17th edition of The St. Marys Daily Press.

Marci graciously contributed video footage and still photographs to "Running Wild In Pennsylvania Elk Country", a film which I released in late September.  Of special note are two video clips of bears playing and several photographs of bull 36, better know as "Fred" or "Freddy".  One of the featured photos is shown below.

Fred In 2009: Photo by Marci Geise-all rights reserved

Geise will hold another book signing on October 12 at the Cameron County Artisan Center.  Her book may be purchased at Benezett Store & Restaurant, Cameron County Artisan Center, Elk County Council On The Arts, Wharton General Store, The Wildlife Center at Sinnemahoning State Park, and the Cameron County Artisan Center. In addition the book may  be ordered directly from the author.  Please visit her website for  ordering instructions.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer.

Pennsylvania Elk Photography: Fast Lenses Needed?

6x7 On Winslow Hill: Low Light Requires Fast Lenses

During my recent trip to Pennsylvania Elk Country, I stopped by the Elk Country Visitors Center and purchased "How I Photograph the Pennsylvania Elk" by Bob Shank.  The book is only 39 pages long, but it is chock full of good advice and information about a wide range of subjects ranging from where to find the elk, the proper equipment to use, elk viewing etiquette and more.

In chapter 2" Techniques for Making Quality Photographs", and again in "Photo Equipment and Software" in chapter 5, Bob stresses the importance of large f stop lenses,  for their ability to capture wildlife in extremely low-lighting conditions such as morning and evening when elk are most active, and for their shallow depth of field at the wider f stops, which  isolates the subject from the background.  He recommends a  f2.8 lens such as the 70-200mm f2.8.  This trip served to  highlight the importance of such lenses as most of my encounters with bulls were in very low lighting conditions, which required lenses of F4 or larger for best results.

The first photo posted today was taken at 6:15 in the morning at ISO 400mm with the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L lens.  I did stop it down to F4 to increase the chances that both the antlers and the tip of the nose would be acceptably sharp.  This called for a 1/50 second shutter speed, which required the subject to be standing perfectly still with no movement on the part of the photographer.  In this case the rig was mounted on a Gitzo tripod with Wimberley head and the camera was fired by a remote release to lessen the chance of camera movement.

The following photo was taken even earlier that morning at 5:56 am. I was filming this bachelor group of bulls with the Canon 7D and the 70-200mm when at one point I paused, put the camera in still mode and fired a few frames at 1/30 sec. f3.2 ISO 640.

Bachelor Group In Rain

On another morning I found one of these bulls alternating between grazing and browsing before he went into the woods for the day.  Again the situation required low shutter speeds and wide f stops.

 1/80 Sec. f2.8

1/60 Sec. f3.2

Excellent photos can certainly be taken with slower lenses, but when one is upgrading they should consider the faster f2.8 and f4 models.  It is also good to look for a lens that has a consistent f stop throughout the zoom range, but like most good things in life this does not come cheap.  At this point my two favorite elk lenses are the Canon 70-200mm F2.8L IS lens, and the 300mm F2.8 L IS.  No matter how much one may like the prime lenses such as the 300mm F2.8, the 500mm F4, or the 600mm F4, it seems that  the 70-200mm receives the most use for elk, as the other lenses are too powerful in many cases. This changes, however; when photographing at the restricted areas such as the Gilbert or the Dents Run Viewing Area, where elk are often at long distance and the power of the long primes is a welcome feature.

Be sure to stop by Elk Country Visitor Center and check out Bob's book, which is for sale in the gift shop there.  Also visit his blog,  Bob Shank Photography  for interesting and informative writing about sports and wildlife photography, and for information about he and Dick McCreight's  "Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience". which features workshops on the natural history of elk, photography equipment, and Adobe Lightroom.  To see Bob's book online or to order visit: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1611137

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.