Roosevelt Elk

I'll be heading for the Oregon coast and Northern California Redwoods on September 19-29th. I'm putting together a presentation on Elk and would like to take some images of the Roosevelt Elk.

I've seen some images in the past of Elk along the Ocean. Is this a rarity or is it something with some luck I might be able to photograph?

I would appreciate any information on locations where these animals hang out.

Thanks,
Don George (RMNP)

P.S. I enjoy visiting your forum what a great bunch of photographers!

I know I just saw quite a few a little bit North of Orick.. (I think that is how it is spelled) on 101 - there were a bunch of them right off the highway, and of course there is a viewing area.. you may be looking for more natural habitat?

Don... Check the parking lot at Indian Beach at Ecola State Park. There are sometimes elk that feed right there late in the day. Don't know if they are Roosevelt's but they might be.
JG

Don, I have always had good luck viewing Rosevelt elk at the Elk viewing area, just east of Reedsport OR, on Hwy 38 (runs along Umpqua river.) It is a few miles east of Reedsport and coast Hwy 101. Here is a link that may help.
http://www.loonlakerv.com/dean-creek-elk-viewing-area-reedsport.html

Good Luck!

I would second Jack on Ecola. I have seen Elk ( 12 head or more ) on multiple occaisions on the trail to crescent beach at dawn. If they are gathered just below the road it may make for a real nice shot through the trees to Haystack and the Needles.

Thanks all for the information. Craig that website is really neat especially the webcam etc.
I will be checking out each of the locations really appreciate the inputs. From what I can tell it looks like the rut is the same time as it is in Colorado.

I've seen Elk everytime I've been to the Redwoods at Prairie Creek in the field by the campground. Also at Gold Bluffs Beach (On the Ocean) which is also in the Prairie Creek Redwoods.

Roosevelt Elk are found all along the Oregon coast, but in my experience they're not commonly spotted except in a few places. The Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area just east of Reedsport is almost always a good bet and the elk are generally close enough for frame-filling shots even without a super-telephoto. The Sept-Oct rut is a great time to get action photos of the bulls posturing and locking antlers.

There's another elk refuge at Jewell Meadows not far south of Astoria on the northern Oregon coast. Sometimes great and sometimes the elk are far from the viewing points.

As far as seeing them right on the beach, the best place I know of is Gold Bluffs Beach, as Douglas D. mentioned. The meadows at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park are often full of elk, and they frequently wander into the campground. If you go there, don't miss nearby Fern Canyon.

Jack: in the Pacific Northwest, the elk on the coast, in the Coast Range mountains, on the Olympic Peninsula and some places on the western slopes of the Cascades are Roosevelt Elk. East of the Cascade crest they're Rocky Mountain Elk. Roosevelt Elk are a subspecies of Rocky Mountain elk found only in the PNW (No. Calif, OR and WA), and are a little larger.