Tule Elk

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5, 1/1600s, ISO:400

I'm not sure if this guy was in the process of sitting down or standing up.  Kind of a funky stance.  It's the intensity in the eye that I like about this shot.

As I recall, this group of elk was pretty close to the trail heading out to Tomales Point.  That's always a fun hike to take in the fall.  The elk are in rut and quite active.

Tule elk are smaller than Roosevelt and Rocky Mountain elk, but with males weighing in at five hundred pounds or so they are still large animals.  I've read that their small size may be due to poor nourishment.  Some people claim tule elk can grow to be nine hundred pounds, meaning they are potentially the same size as the other American breeds of elk.  I haven't seen any that big.

Tule elk are only found in California.  There used to be hundreds of thousands of these animals roaming the wilderness but by the late nineteenth century they had been reduced to a very small number of individuals (a single breeding pair or up to thirty animals depending on the source).  They were discovered by a game warden and Henry Miller, the rancher who owned the land they were found on, protected them.  Today, Point Reyes is struggling to keep the herds numbers in control.  I read they were going to sterilize some of the females but I don't know if that ever happened.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 192, image #4754.

Hiding in the Grass

Tule Elk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 5000

I took this picture late in the day last October at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge.  That place is hit or miss for elk photos.  I get killer shots on some trips, on others I get skunked.  Same with coyotes.  More often than not I don't see a coyote there, but I've had a couple of very nice opportunities as well.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 155, image #6326.

Tule Elk

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5, 1/1600s, ISO: 320

Bull Elk

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 640

Not sure what this guy was up to, but it made for an interesting pose.

Rump Sniffing

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5, 1/1600s, ISO: 320

Fair warning: if you bring your kids to the elk reserve during the rut they may learn a thing or two about life.  Not a bad intro to the birds and the bees, actually.

Tule Elk

Tule Elk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, 1/2000s, f/5.6, ISO: 500

I took Pongo on a drive out to the San Luis refuge on Sunday.  He hasn't been out on an adventure in over a month so he was extra excited about the trip.  Most of the birds are gone until winter, but we did see a lot of hawks.  I always hope for a coyote or two, but no such luck.  There were a few elk hanging out near the fence, though.  It looks like they've shed most of the velvet from their antlers.

Elk on the Meadow

Tule Elk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II, 1/2000s, f/5.6, ISO: 640

This is as close as I ever got to the elk on Sunday.  I only saw three, these are two of them.  The rest must have been tucked into the central part of the refuge.  I like this picture, though.  The yellows and greens are nice and I like how the elk stand out.

Who's the Man?

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS, 1/320s, f/5, ISO: 200

Like I said a couple of days ago, getting nice shots of elk at Point Reyes isn't too tough, all you've got to do is take a hike through the reserve with a camera.  This guy had a pretty big harem.  They were hanging out right next to the trail.

Anyway, I felt like I needed to post a nice photo after the last couple of not-so-interesting days.  So, there you go.

Tule Elk

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II, 1/2000s, f/5.6, ISO: 640

I've been debating whether or not this picture was worth posting.  It's from pretty far away and better photos of elk aren't too tough to come by at Point Reyes.  These guys were in an area I've never seen them, perhaps twenty miles from the actual elk reserve.  I know the dairy farmers aren't too crazy about the elk wandering off the reserve, bur I didn't realize just how far they wander.  The context of the photo is interesting, anyway.

Tule Elk

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS, 1/320s. f/4.5, ISO: 125

One of my favorite hikes close to home is out to Tomales Point at Point Reyes.  The trail is four and a half miles one way from the parking lot to the point.  The entire trail runs through a tule elk reserve.  Close encounters with these fantastic animals are almost guaranteed.

I photographed these elk shortly after the government shutdown ended last fall.  I remember because the shutdown forced me to put off my visit and by the time I made it the harems had pretty much sorted themselves out.

It's not only elk out on the point.  There are plenty of deer and birds as well.  On my last visit we had a coyote pass us on the trail, coming within a few feet of us and not even giving us a nod.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun page, photo #4852.