It’s that time of year – elk rut season! It’s a pretty big deal here in Colorado, a spectacle that I witnessed myself for the first time just last year in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a very impressive show, so I was determined to see it again this year.
I made it only far as the Estes Park golf course this time, so the setting isn’t quite as “natural,” but it’s all the same to the elk. There seemed to be only two dominant males in residence there, with their big herds of females and yearlings, plus there were quite a few single males lingering about, half-heartedly practicing their fighting skills in preparation for the day when they think they’re ready to challenge the big guys.
At one point, I was standing next to a footbridge across the Big Thompson River when the biggest of the bull elks chased a slightly-less-big male back across the bridge in my direction. I was maybe 10 feet away when the slightly-less-big fella came thundering across. Scared the bejabbers out of me.
Not someone I'd care to meet in a dark alley
Sparring practice
Sore loser