On one of the days last weekend I bypassed the usual action of the elk rut and instead headed to the high altitude tundra. While there, much to my surprise, I happened across this handsome fellow.

Normally by now these guys have moved to lower altitudes in search of the ladies and preparing for their own rut. He apparently preferred the cooler environs up high. That was fine with me as it had been quite a while since I photographed any bighorn and he looked quite nice lying of the fall-colored tundra.

This was one handsome and muscular fellow! He was clearly in fighting form and ready for the rut.

Five rams were hanging out in Waterton Canyon southwest of Denver recently, on the prowl for the ladies. This was one of the bigger members of the bachelor herd and he was definitely large and in charge. Unfortunately, they were not in the mood to fight each other on this particular day but I did manage some nice captures.

This was one handsome fellow and he was more than willing to give me some good looks last weekend. Like with bison, I tend to like black and white pics of them. It really draws out the finer details, particularly of those awesome horns.

There are three subspecies of bighorn sheep with the Rocky Mountain variety being the largest. These guys can weigh over 300 pounds with their horns alone weighing 30 pounds!

Here in Colorado they are our state animal and are incorporated into the logo for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Finally! It had been two years since I got some decent pics of Colorado’s state animal and yesterday that streak came to an end.

I headed to this spot southwest of Denver where the bighorn sheep frequent. I counted eight rams, five that were easily accessible. Unfortunately there wasn’t any head-butting which is what I was really hoping for, but they did give me some nice poses.

On this one, the leader of the pack takes the bachelor herd down the road, the first time they have been down that low this season.

The bighorn sheep is the Centennial State’s official animal and to me that is quite fitting. Just like the terrain and many of its people, these animals are very rugged, strong and tough.

The animal is found in many places in the state’s high country. Diseases from European livestock and overhunting had caused the animal’s population to drop precipitously by the early 1900s. Thankfully conservation efforts have been successful in helping the sheep rebound since then.

I took yesterday off and headed southwest of Denver in the hopes of getting pics of the Centennial State’s official animal. Technically I succeeded but not the way I had hoped. Naturally I was really wanting to see the Bighorn Sheep rams, the big boys.

Unfortunately, my 10 1/2 mile bike ride yielded only ewes and lambs. I did see a few rams but they stayed high on the canyon sides and never came down to give me a decent shot. At least the little ones are cute and made for a decent consolation prize.

August 1st is celebrated here as “Colorado Day,” the anniversary on which we officially became a state. President Ulysses S Grant issued a proclamation on August 1, 1876, “declaring the State admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States.” And with that, 100 years after the birth of the nation, the Centennial State joined the union.

The Bighorn Sheep is Colorado’s official animal and to me that is quite fitting. Just like the terrain and many of its people, these animals are very rugged, strong and tough.

The animal is found in many places in the state’s high country. Diseases from European livestock and overhunting had caused the animal’s population to drop precipitously by the early 1900s. Thankfully conservation efforts have been successful in helping the sheep rebound since then.