Bull Elk at Cherokee

[mjcmt]

Bull Elk guarding his harem on a lazy afternoon
Great Smoky Mountains
Cherokee, NC

Nikon D750, 180mm f2.6 edif

 

[K9Kirk]

Nice shot, impressive male there.

 

[mjcmt]

Thanks, I'll be posting more when I get around to viewing them.

 

[Soocom1]

Nice sized guy.

Hope he gets to make more.

 

[mjcmt]

 

[mjcmt]

Keeping his girls in line. During this episode 2 cows broke rank and he bolted after them.

Part of his harem

 

[mjcmt]

Strutin' his stuff. There were 3 other bulls about 300 yrds away. This is not the same bull as in the 1st photo I posted from earlier in the day.

 

[mjcmt]

Other bull elks sparring. They were too far away for me to photograph w/ my 180mm lens. Wish I had the Nikkor 200-500mm wildlife lens. I cropped this photo about 33%. They must have been 300 yrds away.

 

[Winona]

Wow! You saw nice action.

 

[mjcmt]

Wow! You saw nice action.

Yup. The rut sure is a good time to be out there. What made it even better was how close I was to be able to use my only long lens, a 180mm.

 

[Space Face]

Great time of year to get these rutting. What's the collars?

It's interesting you call them bulls and cows. Our deer here are called stags and hinds or does.

 

[mjcmt]

Great time of year to get these rutting. What's the collars?

It's interesting you call them bulls and cows. Our deer here are called stags and hinds or does.

'guarding his harem on a lazy afternoon'
Cherokee, NC

Deer are called bucks and does. Elk are called bulls and cows.

Elk once roamed the southern Appalachian mountains. They were eliminated from the region by over-hunting and loss of habitat. The last elk in North Carolina was believed to have been killed in the late 1700s.
In 2001-2002, 52 elk were re-introduced into the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The protected herd is now over 200 strong. The collars are used to track their movements as part of the re-establishment program.

 

[Space Face]

Great time of year to get these rutting. What's the collars?

It's interesting you call them bulls and cows. Our deer here are called stags and hinds or does.

'guarding his harem on a lazy afternoon'
Cherokee, NC

Deer are called bucks and does. Elk are called bulls and cows.

Elk once roamed the southern Appalachian mountains. They were eliminated from the region by over-hunting and loss of habitat. The last elk in North Carolina was believed to have been killed in the late 1700s.
In 2001-2002, 52 elk were re-introduced into the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The protected herd is now over 200 strong.

All good. Cheers!

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

I love the whole Cherokee/Gatlinburg area. I haven't been there since around 1999. I am due another visit. Really nice photos of magnificent animals.

 

[mjcmt]

I love the whole Cherokee/Gatlinburg area. I haven't been there since around 1999. I am due another visit. Really nice photos of magnificent animals.

Thanks for your compliment. It's a great place. Been to Cherokee 3x and Gatlinburg once. I'm sure a lot's changes in 21 years.