Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Elk of Estes Park, Colorado - Photos by Bob Kelly

I spent about three hours photographing these elk and every minute of it was fun, exciting, and rewarding! The first photo was shot out near the boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park, and shows an alpha male with his ladies as they moved through the forest. All the rest of the photos were taken in Estes Park, Colorado as a herd of about 60 elk slowly meandered through the city. They stopped traffic, ate grass, one camped out on a golf course, the males were bugling every few minutes, and one pair of young males had a little practice sparring with one another, as the others ignored them! After about five minutes the sparring elks just stopped and walked off together.

 One day soon they may be challenging the alpha male for control of the herd. Rocky Mountain National Park was shut down, while we were there, but as it turns out, with the elk going through Estes Park, I was able to see them closer and longer than would have been the case out in the wild! Many of these photos were taken out of my driver's side window as they just walked by less than ten feet away from me, and sometimes much much closer! It was wonderful and I am happy to be able to share it with you.



















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