A 5x5 elk. If you look at the tip of left beam you'll see the nubbin of a sixth tine. Not legal to shoot. This year. You can just make out his buddy behind him.
I started my Saturday off in slippers and a housecoat, stalking a bull elk with a camera in hand.
It’s about as far as you can get from our prehistoric ancestors reaction to seeing an elk, but in today’s world of hunting regulations and vegan landlords, what can you do?
I woke up early this morning and wandered around the house, threw a log in the woodstove and wandered out of the livingroom. When I next returned I happened to look out into the dim light of 7:45 a.m. and and saw the elk.
There were two of the beasts scraping through the snow just at the edge of our clearing, looking for greens buried under the crust. The elk sedately walked back into the bush, having eaten greens in our backyard for 10 minutes before deciding to move on.
Crystal and I watched them from our living room, hunched down to avoid spooking them. We only saw one clearly, a bull with five tines on each beam, which means he isn’t legal to hunt. Looking through the binoculars we could see one beam had the beginning of a sixth tine, meaning that guy will have to watch out next fall.
After they started to move away I went outside, gently moving to the left along our deck, snapping pictures as I went.
And then they came back
Just as I was about to hit “Publish” on this post, I happend to look out the window and saw the elk had returned. I snapped some more photos, taking advantage of the better light. The same 5×5 elk came closest but I got hints of the other bull, which I think had a much larger rack.
Looking at the photos closely, the older bull had at least six tines on one beam, which means he’s legal to hunt. I wonder if his decision to stay farther back from the clearing had any relation to someone hunting him earlier?
