A few elk

[saddlesore]

This may have been posted twice. Admin: Remove one if so.

I took a trip up to Rocky Mountain Nat. Park this morning.

Saw a herd of 52 bull elk.These two were the biggest.The one on the right was a nice 6x7

Did not get a picture of the bull herd,but went over the ridge and came upon a herd of 72 cows with a few bulls mixed in.They were pretty far out there too.

[six]

Thanks for sharing. Very nice bulls in the first picture.

[WapitiTalk1]

Awesome... I could sit and watch those guys all day.

[saddlesore]

When you see those bull with a pot gut, you know they have some age to them

[longspeak74]

Beautiful. Wish I still lived there.

[Lost Dog]

I might have to make a trip up there to see them. Thanks for sharing!

[saddlesore]

The bulls were in Horseshoe Meadow, the cows in Beaver Meadow.You need to be there right after daybreak. 9-9:30 they are in the timber already

[Indian Summer]

Thanks for sharing Saddlesore.

It always interests me to see bachelor herds of bulls. It makes me wonder how well they get to know each other in "the off season" and what role that might play when the rut rolls around.

Raghorn to big bull: "Hey man you're not lookin' too good this winter. Maybe I'll be taking over the harem this fall" Big bull to little bull: "Over my dead body punk" Little bull: "Exactly!" .... as he runs for cover.

I've seen some bachelor herds during gun season. Anywhere from 4 to 8 bulls together. 52 is insane! That must have been quite a sight.

One time I was guiding a guy from California. We had spotted some elk bedded in the timber above us and on the other side of a drainage. His dad was pretty old so he picked a spot to watch and told us to go for it. We never could tell if they were all cows or if there was a bull in there. When we got to the place where they were all we saw were fresh beds and yellow snow. They had moved. Was it because of us? Hard to say. So we got above them and started sidehilling just below the top of the ridge. I was at a snails pace knowing they were close and glued to my binoculars. As I was panning right to left ... right in the center of my field of view I see a bull. Yikes.... he is staring right at me and I can see all 4 brow tines pointing at me and curving up at the tips. I turned and whispered "Bull!" and pointed. Lots of times it takes the hunter awhile before he zeroes in on the animal. Not this guy! Before I could say another word he poked his .300 Weatherby over my right shoulder and BOOM. I immediately got the binos back up and (with my ears ringing) looked down to see if an animal was down. When I did that I watched another elk come across my binos. Then another and another and another. All the while I was saying bull, bull, bull, bull, bull. There were 8 of them. We hurried on down there and sure enough there was a decent bull on the ground. As soon as I looked at it I said "Not the same bull I saw." It had a missing brow. I had to laugh. No wonder he managed to get his crosshairs on the bull so fast. There were nothing but bulls down there and he didn't even have to see the same one I happened to lay eyes on. About 7 years later I killed my biggest bull in nearly the same spot. I never see too many cows there but the bulls love it and the place is full of rubs of all sizes and ages. When I see a bachelor herd I make a mental note about the spot and the conditions. I never forget it and the spot becomes part of a daily hunting route and I approach it with care every time.

[saddlesore]

In the first photo,the bull on the right was the top dog,he would walk around and just posture with his antlers back and snout out and every bull he went passed gave ground.

Out of all our trips,this was the first time my wife did not take her 600 mm lens.She has a four draw file cabinet filled with cataloged elk photos, but I am sure this would have yielded some photos to top any of them. This was a rare event that I bet a person will only see once in a life time. You wish others were there to add credence to your story, but usually tourist show up past the time when the elk head for the timber to bed down for the day

There were very few spike bulls in the herd most were decent sized branched antlered.

Colorado had very good antler growth this past year because of the abundant rain

[Indian Summer]

About 30 years ago in Wyoming's famed unit 7 I was out on the open sage flats hunting antelope. Not a hill or tree for miles and miles. Three of us were peeking over a small rise at a herd with a good buck in it trying to get a shot. I just happened to turn around and I noticed these brown objects moving along angling toward us. I watched them for a few seconds and said "hey, what the heck are these things behind us coming our way?" Within about 2 minutes it became obvious they were elk. There were 32 of them. In that herd were 17 bulls. They were moving along single file. The bulls ranged in size from a couple little raghorns to some small and bigger 5 points and then a half dozen 6 point bulls. But the one big dog was by far the king of the hill. He was monstrous. He had his chin up and rack laid back and he would move along beside the herd passing them all up. When he got ahead of them he would stop and stand off to one side hooking all the other elk with his rack as they went by. They would trot to get out of the way and some of the other bulls circled out of his reach as they passed. Then when the last one went by he'd strut his stuff in the back for a bit before passing them up and doing it again. I was 20 at the time and the two guys with me were in their 50s and had been hunting elk for years. They said to me kid.. you will never see anything like that again. They were right. Wow! I wonder what happened to those antelope anyway?

[Deanmac]

neat pictures and stories, thanks for sharing

[MidwestHunter]

Awesome story Indiana summer. Thanks for the photos saddlesore

[Lefty]

About 30 years ago in Wyoming's famed unit 7 I was out on the open sage flats hunting antelope. Not a hill or tree for miles and miles. They were moving along single file. The bulls ranged in size from a couple little raghorns to some small and bigger 5 points and then a half dozen 6 point bulls. But the one big dog was by far the king of the hill. He was monstrous. He had his chin up and rack laid back and he would move along beside the herd passing them all up.:

Some of you know I hunted Idaho desert for 6 years. It was those huge bulls I kept running into that kept me there( and a messed up hip).
If there is enough un bothered open space they will be there.
Many seem to forget elk were a plains animal.