Behind the Photo - Intensity

I was cozy in my sleeping bag listening to the rain hitting my tent.  It’s one of my favorite things.  Two more of my favorite things are fall and the elk rut, which it just happened to be both.  It was starting off as a good trip.

I was woken by an elk bugling off in the distance.  Haunting in the early morning darkness.  I crawled out of my warm sleeping bag and immediately fired up my camping stove to make coffee.  Can coffee taste any better than at camp on a cold damp morning.

The sun started to rise revealing a blanket of fog covering the valley helping to hold in the moisture from the overnight rain.  Off in the distance two more elk joined into the morning revelry.  Sounds like it is going to be a good day.

I have a few spots in mind to watch and photograph and was lucky with the first place I came to.  There were females everywhere and at least four bulls vying for their attention.  

The fog was still hanging in the valley and the moisture was accentuating not only the elk, but the fall colors that they were in.

The bulls are busy keeping their harem close together, but at the same time chasing away any bulls that try to steal their cows.  It looks like exhausting work.

This bull stopped in front of me huffing and puffing.  He was just chased away by a much larger bull.  The cold caused his breath to turn to steam as he exhaled.  

He was taking a minute to rest and size up the situation.  His hide glistening in the dampness.

Bulls bugled all around trying to intimidate one another.  I’m not sure who was listening more intently, him or me.  I wish I knew the thoughts going through his mind.  

It was his lucky day.  After a few minutes, two stray cows wandered out of the willows just in front of him.  Immediately, he took action and claimed them as his own.  He gathered them and pushed them across the creek and out of site from all.

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