RMNP: Elk Rut 2014

I shot some gorgeous scenery at Rocky Mountain National Park this past Saturday. But I was mainly there for another reason -- the annual elk rut. Unfortunately, the elk weren't cooperating.

My first two stops at Sheep Lakes and Upper Beaver Meadows yielded nothing.  I finally ran into a harem in Moraine Park, most of whom were still resting in the tall grass.  One cow was feeding on her own, and showed some interest in these pine needles though I never actually saw her take a nibble of them.

Another cow soon joined her, and was bound and determined to eat this thistle.  She eventually succeeded.

A bull could be occasionally heard bugling in the area, but he wasn't visible.  So I went back for another peek at Sheep Lakes and Upper Beaver Meadows and once again came up empty.  So I decided to head back to the Moraine Park harem one last time just in case.  Good thing I did, as Mr. Six Point had finally decided to show himself.

He was keeping a fairly close eye on his girls.  And a large group of tourists was keeping a similarly close eye on him.

The cows were quite comfortable with us gawkers.  So much so that they regularly got quite close.  As in, close enough to see the reflection of the clouds and their own radio collars in their eyes.

Another four-point bull eventually came sniffing around -- literally.  With their sizable size difference there was no real chance that the two bulls would fights.  The smaller one relied more on stealth, then would trot off when the larger one got wise to his presence.

Big Boy sure did get agitated over the other fellow's insistence on hanging around.  He turned into an impressive herder, working to corral his ladies into a tighter group.

And his harem responded.  They didn't really seem interested in the interloper.

The chase eventually led across the road, where our hero seemed to think he'd finally gotten rid of his adversary.

But as soon as he started to graze, Mr. Sneaky  circled back around and made another pass at the group.  Which eventually caught Six-Point's attention and brought him back across the road, quite close to the parked cars, bugling his imminent return.

I could have watched this little chess match for hours.  But I felt like I'd gotten a decent crop of shots, and having been up since 4 a.m. was getting a little tired.  Perseverance definitely paid off with a great opportunity to see the rut in action!