The first notable wildlife during today’s hike started with a really loud and excited group of Clark’s Nutcrackers… aka the “camp robber”. Their calls grew louder and louder as I made my way toward the reservoir, so I stopped to watch the group of ~60 birds for a moment. I’ll update this post in a week or so with some audio and video of the jamboree. I have never seen such a large or excited group of these birds in my life. There was a surprisingly wide range of vocalizations across the group. It was fun to watch them for a minute, but I had my eye on bigger critters as usual.

I run into wildlife a lot out in this area, but it can be really difficult to get a clear view of them due to the density of trees in certain sections. During several previous hikes in the same spot, I’ve spooked groups of elk and moose in the woods – only to have them run away before I can hardly even see them, much less get a picture. So, today I was hiking particularly quietly and I had my camera in the ready at all times. Throughout the first ¾ mile I was seeing very fresh elk and moose prints. Lots of droppings, lots of very fresh evidence.

Quietly I proceed and then suddenly I hear a loud crash of hooves maybe 12 feet away! Despite being so close, I had no idea they were there and didn’t even see one animal. It sounded like at least two animals.

I didn’t try to go their direction, and instead I was making my way to the marshy meadows of willows. I continued to find a ton of moose and elk tracks, but still no proper sightings. Eventually I did spot a large bull with the biggest antlers I’ve seen so far this year. I was tucked back in the woods, but I could see him out in the meadow.

I snapped a few shots and walked up to the edge of the trees where the willows began. I was a good 150+ yards away from the big bull at this point.

Since I’ve had so many great close encounters lately, I almost forgot just how skittish some of them can be. I didn’t try to hide myself at all, since there was a lot of distance and very thick patch of willows between us. But, that didn’t matter to the bull. Once he saw me, he turned and ran away. I didn’t try to get any other shots of him since it was clear my presence stressed him out. Gorgeous moose though and a fun sighting even if it only lasted a minute.