Anniversary Trip to the National Bison Range, Part 3

Do you see the elk in this picture? the white rump is a giveaway, though the big cow elk had her head down as she grazed. This was taken in the lower reaches of the refuge and it also shows that the refuge isn't at all totally baren, even in the fall.

Here is another cow elk. See how well she blends in? Oh, wait, you can't see her? The next picture might help.

Yes, elk blend in and can be hard to see, despite their size. This is a good sized cow, too; about 500 pounds. She is about 50 yards away, plus she blends in, so she's difficult to see.

All told, we only saw about 15 elk, which would be a small herd. There were two bulls and the rest were cows. The bulls also know how to blend in, too. Here is one of the two bull elk and this bad boy was about 800 pounds. He also has a large rack of antlers that doesn't show up well.

Here is the bull elk after zooming in. He can clearly be seen laying down just to the right of center, chewing his cud. Though the picture doesn't show it, he has a rack of 7 points on one side and 6 on the other (usually written 7x6), and those antlers are about 4 feet wide. 

There is a mule deer doe in this image. Do you see her? Here is a hint; she is to the right of the pine tree, with her back (and butt) to the camera. She is close to the creek if that helps any. The brown in front of the pine tree is just a dead pine branch.

Although I took a lot more pictures on that visit, this is the view to the northeast when we left the NBR. The mountains in the distance are the Mission Mountains. The beauty can't be expressed properly in a picture, but it is truly awesome. This is part of what it is like to live in Montana.