Pennsylvania Bull Elk Fight-2013 Rut

Where The Fight Took Place: Canon 70D-Canon 70-200mm@ 200mm  f2.8 IS II-ISO 200 1/250 sec. f 5.0

Today's post features a 4min. 18 sec.video, "Pennsylvania Elk Rut 2013", which is some of the better shots from my recent two week trip to elk country.  The clips were taken entirely with the Canon 70D and the Panasonic GH3.  The video is based around a dominance fight that I filmed during my first week there.  Here is the story of the fight.

It was warm in the afternoon of Wednesday September 18th when I arrived at the Porcupine Run-Winslow Hill viewing area with the thought in mind that even though it was too early and too warm to have much chance of seeing elk that one couldn't see elk if they were indoors.  Another factor to consider was that it was good to get an early start and take it easy walking into the back country to a good vantage point and wait for activity to start.

Just before 3:30 pm. I found fellow photographer Charlie Cropp at the upper Gilbert Farm food plot and stopped to talk to him.  In short order wildlife artist and photographer David Anderson also stopped by.  I told both of them that there was little chance of seeing anything right now as elk are best seen in early morning and late afternoon and filled them in on my strategy for the evening.  Shortly thereafter one of them pointed out a few cow elk at the edge of the food plot.I still didn't expect anything noteworthy to happen, but then more and more cows spilled into the field and a bull bugled down over the hill out of sight of the field.  At this point we frantically set up cameras and tripods and I began filming as beautiful 6x6 followed the cows into the meadow.   At 3:33 a 6x7 wearing a brown radio collar came out of the woods, charged down the hill and locked antlers with the 6x6.  In all I filmed 7 minutes and 25 seconds of footage counting from when I started the camera running on the 6x7 running down the hill to fight the 6x6.  I paused the camera a few times during the encounter to change some settings, but these pauses were very brief so it is doubtful that the entire encounter lasted 8 minutes. I filmed 5 minutes 18 sec. of actual antler contact, which of course would be a bit longer also, but it is likely there was no more than 6 minutes of  contact.  At the end the 6x6 broke contact with the collared 6x7  and fled from him.

After The Fight: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 500mm f4 IS-ISO 100 1/500 sec. f 5.0

What is amazing is that the  bull that "lost" the fight went back to chasing the cows as though nothing happened. One concentrates on filming what is before them so I am not sure, but it is my impression that the "victor" continued to chase cows in the area, but not in a position that I could photograph and film him.  It could be that although he made the 6x6 give way, it was such a traumatic experience for him that he wanted no more of fighting for the day.  Also it is likely I would not have recorded the victor because of the brown collar, when a more photogenic bull was right in front of me.

At this point I will not comment on what camera took specific scenes in the video. Hopefully that will be a post for another day.  It is generally accepted that the GH3 is better for video than the Canon DSLRs excepting for the 5D MK III.  The truth is their is a lot more to this than just which camera can record the better image. To have a meaningful comparison the shots must be under tightly controlled conditions and often the clips that are posted to prove one cameras' superiority do not meet that standard.  These clips were of course not taken under controlled conditions, but rather in situations where you were trying to make the best of a less than ideal situation.  For example, there was plenty of light to film the fight, but it was very harsh and glaring.  At one point I was zoomed in very close on the bulls and mirage (heat waves) are very visible on a large screen HDTV, but does one avoid this type of dramatic shot, just to avoid the heat waves.  Fortunately  most of the shots did not have a problem with this, but it would have been much better in early morning or late evening light. 

In another case you will note two bulls that never quite come to combat, but rather touch antlers a few times.  This was taken at 7:44 in the evening at ISO 3200 and 1/30 sec. f2.8, which is nearly dark at that time of year..  Ideally one would use both cameras with the same or similar lens in this situation and compare the quality. These two clips do look a bit heavy and dark, but that is on purpose because that is what it looked like to be there.  It looks perfectly acceptable to me on an HDTV, but it may not to you.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.
 

Pennsylvania Elk Rut 2013 -As The Rut Continues, Some Calves Still Nurse

I filmed and photographed a lot of elk during my recent two week trip to Pennsylvania Elk Country.  There is certainly no shortage of bulls, but with few exceptions the bulls seen on Winslow Hill this fall are young animals that have not yet reached their full potential or older bulls that  do not have the genetic make-up to grow a large rack.

Winslow Hill Bulls: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 70-20mm f2.8 IS L@105mm--ISO 1000-1/200 sec. F 4.0

The bull on the right is the famous 2D and yes I did remove the collar with Photoshop to preserve the wild look of the scene.  He is one of the few elk, and perhaps the only bull, on Winslow Hill that still has the bright yellow collar and number.  The PGC has shifted to a more esthetically pleasing brown collar as the yellow collars made the animals stand out like a sore thumb in elk season.  I hope that in time the collars will be eliminated entirely and replaced by an implanted chip or something like it.  At any rate the new ones are much less objectionable than the old and are worlds ahead of the ridiculous collars used on the whitetail deer in Shenandoah National Park.

2D is the largest he has ever been, but it seems that he is one of those elk that will never be a real contender. Although it is possible that he will be a late bloomer so as to speak and suddenly skyrocket in size,  I do not expect this to happen.  I first photographed him about 2008 and he is not a great deal larger now.  One need only see a mature bull up close to fully realize the difference between them and the second tier bulls.

Mature Herd Bull: 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 IS L --ISO 200-1/800 sec. F 2.8

 The bull above is the only mature herd bull that I saw on Winslow Hill this fall.  He is a bit smaller than last year.  It was truly a privileged to document him during the rut this year.  There were other bulls with wide,  high antlers, but they were young bulls with years of development ahead of them if they live, while this bull has the thick heavy antlers typical of a bull at or past his prime.The photo below was taken when he lunged at a cow which he was following.

Herd Bull Lunges at Cow:  5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 IS L+ 1.4x extender II --ISO 200-1/250 sec. F 5.0

While the bulls are the center of attention, it is worthwhile to pay attention to what the other elk are doing as well.

Elk Herd on Winslow Hill: 5D MK III-Canon 24-105mm f24 IS @85mm-ISO 200-1/200 sec. F 8.0

 Some have expressed amazement that they are seeing calves still nursing from the cows.  This is not extremely common at this time of year, but neither is it rare and I get to film this on occasion.  I even saw a calf nursing on President's Day weekend one year, and I have seen a cow nursing its' calf from the previous year, during the rut in Septermber..

Calf Nursing-Sept. 25, 2013: 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 IS L+1/4 extemder--ISO 400-1/1000 sec. F 4.5

Whitetail fawns are  still nursing at times also, but the does ordinarily do not stand long for them and in some cases will not stand at all but shy away from the fawn as it approaches.

Whatever the species, the outdoors is a place that never ceases to amaze and there is no better way to appreciate the beauty of nature than to be afield with a camera.

Originally Published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

More Photos 2013 Rut

6x6 Bugles on Winslow Hill: Canon 70D-300mm f2.8 L IS-ISO 640 1/200 sec. f4.0

As the Pennsylvania elk rut continues no one has reported seeing a 400 class bull on Winslow Hill.  There are some very nice bulls, but two separate outfitters have confirmed my belief that the best bulls seen so far are running in the 350-360 class.  One speculated that the large bulls will show up later and some do report seeing bigger bulls in other areas of the elk range, but at this point I do not think the outlook is good for seeing outstanding bulls at the viewing areas..

Lest we forget what a mature bull looks like, below is a photograph of a mature bull that is slightly smaller than he was last year, but if you look closely you will note that he has much more antler  mass and a larger body than most of the bulls seen on the hill this year.

Mature Bull Bugles on Winslow Hill: Canon 70D-300mm f2.8 L IS-ISO 100- 1/1000 sec. f5.0

A  unique bull has been frequently seen this rut.  Some speculate that it is a a young bull, while others are convinced it is an old bull past his prime.  Whatever the case his palmated antlers  make him him stand out from the rest of the bulls and he is instantly identifiable at a glance.  The mass of the antlers does seem to reinforce the position that this is an old bull as does a comparison to photographs from last year.

Palmated Bull Bugles: Canon 70D-300mm f2.8 L IS+2x estender-ISO200 1/320 sec. f8.0

The last bull posted today is another one of those bulls that falls comfortable into that range between "raghorn' and mature bull.  He is about average for the better bulls that we are seeing on the hill this year.

6x7 At Dusk: Canon 70D-300mm f2.8 L IS-ISO 1600- 1/80 sec. f 2.8

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

News From Elk Country

The 2013 elk rut continues on Winslow Hill with some periods being very dead and a good level of activity at other times.  So far no 400 class bulls have been spotted at the Winslow Hill viewing areas, but it  has been reported that the holder of the Governors Conservation Tag took a 430 class bull in the Karthus area yesterday. This is a special license that is auctioned off  to the highest bidder. This year the successful bidder could hunt from September 2-November 9th.

I hope that some larger bulls will show up on Winslow Hill if the rut intensifies next week as it usually does.  As it is most of the bulls are either small or young bulls that have not reached their prime.  Although some of these are very nice, they are not top tier bulls.

Young 6x6 Winslow Hill: Canon 5D MK III-70-200mm f2.8 L IS- ISO 1600-1/320 sec. f4.0

At the other end of the spectrum is a bull that is quite popular with the community of elk photographers.  This is "Limpy" so called because he frequently limps as a result of injuries he received in 2010.  He is now an old bull and his rack is smaller than last year. I hadn't had a particularly good encounter with him until last evening.

There was a lot of rain on Saturday afternoon, but it tapered off into light sprinkles in the evening and elk activity was good.  Odie Swartz and I found Limpy and a small group of cows at the Porcupine Run-Winslow Hill viewing area and photographed him until he left the food plot just before dark.  He spent most of the evening on the grain that was planted, which is not the best setting for photographs. As it was growing late he got in the more natural looking grass at the edge of the plot, which gave a better composition. It was twilight by this time, which  made a perfect opportunity to see how the 70D performed in low light conditions, but I only took a few frames of him bugling before he wheeled an ran down over the hill toward the Gilbert Meadows where several bulls were chasing cows. .  My lens of choice was the 300mm f2.8 and I used ISO 1600. After working with this photograph I would say  the 70D, as one would expect, does not equal the 5D MK III at 1600  ,but this is offset by the better long range ability of its' 1.6 crop sensor and its' much lower cost. This  is an excellent DSLR for wildlife.

Limpy: Canon 70D-300mm f2.8 L IS-ISO 1600-1/50 sec. f 2.8

Another bull that was seen in the saddle earlier last week was also being seen in the meadows at the Gilbert  at the end of the week. Many have commented that this is one of the wildest bulls they have seen in the area.  He barks at people who at times are 100-200 yards away.  He doesn't do this when among the herd at the Gilbert, but he still has that "wild" alert look in his eye.

"Wild Bull": Canon 70D-300mm f2.8 L IS-1.4x extender-ISO 400-1/1000 sec. f  4.0

Another bull has an impressive spread, but I was surprised that he is only a 5x6.  This bull is also a bit on the shy side, but not as much so as the one  above.

5x6 Chasing Cows: Canon 5D MK III-300mm f2.8 L IS- ISO 400-1/400 sec. f4.5

He is shown in hot pursuit of a cow in the photograph above and bugling in the one below. It was hard to get a good portrait pose as he was with a large herd of cows and there was usually one or more out of focus cows in the frame.

5x6 Bugles: Canon 70D-300mm f2.8 L IS+1.4 extender-ISO 160-1/0 sec. f  5.6

I used ISO 160 and 1/60 for the above photo as I was taking video (1/60 sec. is the ideal shutter speed for video in many cases) and fired a still while it was paused in video mode, without changing to settings better suited for stills.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.