As with any wildlife refuge, you never know from one trip to the next what animals you will see. On some trips, a person might only see a few animals. On others, there might be many. It helps to be extremely observant, but this still holds true even if you aren’t.
On the trip we took to the National Bison Range the day before our 40th anniversary, we saw lots of animals. Naturally, we saw plenty of bison, but that isn’t all that is in the refuge. As the following pictures show, there is more to the NBR than just barren hills and bison.
First sighting of elk
Another cow elk
Here she is
The bull elk
Zoomed in on the bull
If you think that the elk were hard to see…
Leaving the National Bison Range
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.
Elks are regal and so upright animals think they are majestic
They are also very large; over 800 pounds.