by Kurt Bowman
The last few years of the rut season have not lived up to what I would call normal standards at Rocky Mt National Park. Four years ago, they added a lot of fences to protect tree saplings. Three years ago, the culled thousands of elk. Two years ago, flood waters whipped out almost all roads leading into the park from Denver. between that and the federal government shutting down, the park was closed for the best weeks of the rut. Last year, was warm and very windy everyday I visited keeping the elk down in the grass and up in the forest. I sure hope this year is better. 
So far, I have only spend four days in the park. Lots of activity, but most of it has been far away or in the woods. I didn't have much light this day, but the sun just peeked out of the clouds a little at the right time for this bugle. I was low in the grass and unfortunately had some grasses in the way towards the rear which explains the back end of the body not looking as sharp as the rest of the image....but beggars can't be choosers right?
1DX, 500mm f/4, 1.4 TC, 1/1600 at f/8, ISO 1600
Comments
12 commentsHello Kurt , Good looking Bull! Great to see him in excellent position here! Gotta love those unique Bugling sounds!
Bill
www.BillBickle.com
Kurt: nicely captured grasses and all. I like the soft light, the head turn while bugling and the oof background. As an aside, I went to RMNP the last Saturday in September. Turns out that is always a free day and the crowds were incredible. A ranger mentioned that last year, they admitted 13,500 cars into the park and that they expected more this year. Richard
Really nice bull you managed to capture here. The golden grass and the way he stands out from the background add a lot. The grasses along the rear were unfortunate, but in no way a deal breaker.
A fine image, the head and antlers are nice and sharp. Better them than his back half. Thanks for sharing Kurt. I just returned from there last night and I can concur with Richard about crowds. It was Yellowstone like traffic jams on Saturday evening (annual elk fest in Estes Park). Cars were backed up from the Fall River road turn off all the way past the Horseshoe Park overlook. Didn't seem to be great numbers of elk but what groups I did see were fantastic. When I get a chance to PP some I post them. Weather was nice with hardly any wind.
Kurt,
"Pesky" grass strikes again, but in no way diminishes the image.
Is this the same area that was so badly polluted Rocky Mountain Arsenal?
@Ken: no, this is at Rocky Mountain National Park which is in the mountains just outside Estes Park, Colorado. Rocky Mt Arsenal is in Denver out on the plains and is a Wildlife Refuge instead of a National Park. Hope that helps explain better.
Wonderfully composed and exposed, Kurt. The grasses match his coat nicely, and the pose is hard to beat.
Hi Kurt,
The soft light and background make this one for me. The BG is soft but still discernable which is a huge plus.
Cheers,
Hisham.
Beauty. Agree the bit of grass is unfortunate, but not a huge deal.
This is Picture Post Card Perfect . . .
Congratulations on the WP