September 23rd was going to be a good day. My wife and I spent two days in Elk County, Pennsylvania less than a week prior to this and warm weather made for poor elk viewing. You can read about that experience in my blog "Days To Remember In Elk Country". Within a week, I began to hear stories of a few bull fights and sightings of some the older, well known bulls that have roamed the mountains of north central Pennsylvania for many years. It was time to go back.
Since I have a two hour 20 minute drive, I need to leave pretty early in the morning to get there at daybreak. So on this day I pulled out of the driveway at 4:30 in the morning and immediately ran into thick fog. It's always foggy in the Benezette area but I know I'm in trouble when I have fog in Butler County too.
I arrived on Winslow Hill at 7 a.m. and began to listen for bugles. I didn't hear much but soon saw a small herd of elk cows held together by one bull. There were several people already there so I stood among them and made some images of the bull and his harem. When a bull feels that some of his cows are roaming a little too far away, he puts his head down like he's charging the cow but he will run a large circle around her to keep her where he wants her. Occasionally, I've seen a little nudging with his antlers too. In the next photo, the bull is racing up the hill to let the cow know she is "out of bounds".
I said there were several people on the hillside and talented, Facebook friend, Dave Bowser was one of them. We finally got to meet in person and I look forward to having a longer conversation next time. I also met up with a group of Wisconsin residents that I've met on Facebook and shared photography stories with over the last couple years. They were visiting for a week to photograph elk and the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside.
As the fog began to lift on the hill, I was able to get a more detailed photo of the bull elk.
My next stop was the fields behind the Elk County Visitor's Center. The fog was still very heavy in that area and there were a few bugles in the distance. The highlight of the visitor's center fields was a lone Wild turkey making its way deeper into the fog.
As I was leaving the viewing area I met up with another fellow photographer, Jake Dingel. Jake and I have photographed birds together this summer and we decided to spend the next several hours looking for wildlife.
As the morning wore on, the elk disappeared into the woods. I've seen a lot of people driving around the Benezette area looking in the woods for elk bedding down. The elk prefer to be underneath the cool canopy of a deciduous forest or large evergreens, such as, an Eastern Hemlock. The bull in the next photo was laying down accompanied by three elk cows.
As we were driving to a location where Jake has had luck photographing birds, we found this small bull and one cow laying down in the comfort of someone's backyard.
The Elk State Forest is a beautiful place to drive through. There are also great places to photograph birds. We drove up Hick's Run Road to see what kind of migrating and resident birds were in the area. We were able to find and photograph a Blue-headed Vireo. The bright sun and dark background really caused contrast issues for me. I overexposed the scene while being careful to not blow out the highlights of the photograph. Overall, the image could be better but it still shows the beauty of this little vireo.
Another bird we were able to photograph is a Northern Parula. This bird is absolutely beautiful in the spring but it still had many of its colors for easy identification. The Northern Parula will end up in Central America when it completes its migration.
Today was also the first time I ever photographed a Common Raven. Unfortunately, it wasn't wild. Note the jesses on its legs. Apparently, this raven escaped from someone and hopefully finds its way back.
This raven, with its jet black feathers, was a treat to watch.
After lunch and a visit with another photographer friend, Willard Hill, Jake and I parted ways and prepared to photograph the elk when they came back out of the woods in the evening.
It was a warm afternoon and the sun was shining brightly so the elk didn't enter the meadows until later that evening. I sat and watched a forest edge and meadow for three hours, hoping I didn't miss anything. Finally, a couple elk cow and their calves began to exit the woods. The next photo is an elk calf running down the hill to be with its mother.
Over the years, I've made plenty of the basic photos of elk standing in the fields. Still, you need to remain alert for whenever they do something unusual. I don't know what this elk cow was looking at but she was practically bending over backwards.
After about 12 to 15 cows and calves entered the meadow, their bull followed. He trotted down the hill looking like the "man in charge".
I don't know it this is typical but, in my observations, a bull elk will stop and sniff the wind when it enters a clearing. I've seen White-tailed Deer do that, too. Are they sniffing for the scent of a cow or for the presence of another bull?
I love to photograph the pose when they are holding their head high into the wind.
I wanted to share this photo that shows the great width of his rack.
Occasionally, another bull would stand at the edge of the forest to survey the situation with the cows in the field.
Of course, all the large 7X7 bull needed to do was stare him down for a minute and the other would turn and walk back into the woods. He would finish with a regal, bugle.
While the elk occupied one side of the meadow, White-tailed Deer began to use the other side.
With the threatening bulls out of the way, the 7X7 headed back to his harem demonstrating some aggression as he herded them together.
There were many young elk calves with this group. They tend to stay close to mom when the big guy bugles.
The last few photos you viewed were made as it was getting very dark. The sun had already dipped behind the adjacent mountain bringing on darkness earlier than normal. Finally, it was time for me to pack up my gear and head home and end my 18 hour day.
I have been there again since the trip you just read about. Check back soon for another day in elk country.
Thanks for looking,
Dan