Been planning this birthday trip for awhile so when I pinned down the dates I emailed the biologist for the region to see if he had any info on past rutting history and how the herd was doing. He was very helpful and told me exactly where he had been see the bulls at and that the rut was in full swing and plenty of action.
So got all loaded up and headed for the mountains. With any luck I would be in the thick of it and get in on the action. After all the driving with the pressure change in elevation which required several doses of Advil and Excedrin I was finally where I needed to be. Made a plan, e-scouting was pretty easy with the help of the biologist, and would be ready for the morning.
Got up early in the morning and headed out for where the elk should be. Rounding a curve to where a meadow is and sure enough a nice herd of elk across the way a good couple hundred yards away. No way to get around at this point so watched a decent 6x6 move some cows around and then watch the bigger 6x6 herd bull run him off. Ton of bugling going on between them and another bull off a few hundred more yards to the left and in the timber.
Got a little further down and watched them go in the timber and bed. This was my chance even though it would be difficult with all the cows around I thought I could get to him. Made a wide path around to the left and followed a creek to where I last saw them. When I got up to the area sure enough there he laid with the cows around him.
I crept up and took aim and took a lot of pictures with my phone though the binoculars because hey these are Great Smoky Mountain elk and that's the best I can experience right now.
So had fun looking and listening to them that morning and that evening. And boy those elk are popular, dozens if not hundreds of people there with cameras and lenses that definitely cost more than my vehicle I drove up there. Even had some sparing action with the younger bulls.
Was a good trip and hope to have a nice camera one day to get better photos of these memories.
So got all loaded up and headed for the mountains. With any luck I would be in the thick of it and get in on the action. After all the driving with the pressure change in elevation which required several doses of Advil and Excedrin I was finally where I needed to be. Made a plan, e-scouting was pretty easy with the help of the biologist, and would be ready for the morning.
Got up early in the morning and headed out for where the elk should be. Rounding a curve to where a meadow is and sure enough a nice herd of elk across the way a good couple hundred yards away. No way to get around at this point so watched a decent 6x6 move some cows around and then watch the bigger 6x6 herd bull run him off. Ton of bugling going on between them and another bull off a few hundred more yards to the left and in the timber.
Got a little further down and watched them go in the timber and bed. This was my chance even though it would be difficult with all the cows around I thought I could get to him. Made a wide path around to the left and followed a creek to where I last saw them. When I got up to the area sure enough there he laid with the cows around him.
I crept up and took aim and took a lot of pictures with my phone though the binoculars because hey these are Great Smoky Mountain elk and that's the best I can experience right now.
So had fun looking and listening to them that morning and that evening. And boy those elk are popular, dozens if not hundreds of people there with cameras and lenses that definitely cost more than my vehicle I drove up there. Even had some sparing action with the younger bulls.
Was a good trip and hope to have a nice camera one day to get better photos of these memories.
