One for #MooseMonday. Taken back on August 1, 2018 in Arapaho National Forest, Colorado. As always seems to be the case, the rest of my camping crew was sleeping in so I ventured out alone in search of photo subjects. Moose were my biggest goal as I knew they frequented the area and I was not disappointed.

I happened across four bulls grazing through willows in a canyon. Three of them were big boys and, I admit, garnered most of the attention from my camera.

This one though was not to be denied some clicks of the shutter as the youthful curiosity of the yearling seemed to get the best of him and he couldn’t help but watch me. He was a bit wary, never really wanting to fully show himself, but this made for some cute scenes like this when he would peek out at me.

Perhaps this big guy knew his mug would be seen online and made famous. 😉 In truth, he wasn’t so much smiling as I just happened to catch him mid-chew, giving the appearance of a toothy grin.

This image was taken back on August 1 of last year during a camping trip in Arapaho National Forest. I headed out early while the rest of my crew slept in and was rewarded with four bulls grazing on the willows at 10,000 feet.

It was a very special morning as it was just myself and them, not another soul in sight and not another sound in the forest. Just awesome!

Certainly that isn’t really what was going on here but when it was happening, it seemed like it. This big guy was grazing on willows, regularly dipping his head down and completely out of sight. He would then pop his head back up, giving a look at me to see if I was still there watching him.

This was a very fun encounter, particularly since he was one of four bulls in the area at the time thus giving me a ton of photo ops.

Taken on August 1 in the Sulfur Ranger District of Arapaho National Forest.

The calendar still may have said summer but on this early September day at 10,500 feet high, you definitely had a feel for a change of the seasons. Temperatures were near freezing and frost had coated flora and fauna alike – including these two big guys.

With the frost coating their backs, the sun was rising and so too were the bulls’ temperatures. The rut was starting to kick in and the bulls felt nature’s calling to begin to establish a pecking order. Two chose to test each other’s mettle with some sparring, an event that was a ton of fun to watch.

The pushing and shoving was relatively mild but impressive nonetheless as you might imagine with two 1,000 pound creatures going at it.

For as big as these guys are, you would think they would be easy to spot. However, with as dense as the foliage is in Colorado’s high country, moose can sometimes seem to appear out of nowhere. Such was the case with this big guy last month.

I was studying the trees and willows soon after dawn trying to find the moose bulls that are usually in the area. This big guy had his head down and with the thick brush, was virtually invisible. Once he picked his head up though, he was pretty hard to miss with those massive antlers.

It definitely serves as a reminder to keep close watch when you are in remote locations as you never know what is right nearby.

Yeah, these guys can definitely be a bit intimidating. Don’t worry though, I definitely was keeping a respectful distance as this was shot with a 600mm lens and cropped to give this kind of a close look.

On this particular morning a few weeks ago, there was a good bit of sparring between the bulls as they geared up for the rut. This particular guy was probably about the second biggest in the area so he was large and had the potential to be in charge.

From a couple weeks ago, this big guy was one of four I was taking pictures of. They weren’t being particularly cooperative as they tended to stay covered pretty well. This one though did give me some nice shots and I think this one is my favorite. The soft light, the foliage framing him and the gentle look on his face make for a nice capture. Taken in Colorado’s Indian Peaks Wilderness Area.

This image would look awesome on your wall! Get it here!