Here' some pics I took of some Tule elk near Lone Pine California on 8/9/02. The elk are already bugling and rutting pretty good. They go into rut much earlier than the Rocky Mountain elk.

This was the heard bull, a decent 6x7. He had about 12 cows, 6 or 7 calves and 4 spikes with him. There also was a raghorn who was trying to sneak in for some loving with the cows. It was too dark for me to get the raghorn once he came into camera range.

I talked with a DFG warden Sunday and he said the elk archery tag holders were out and one guy had missed a shot so far with no elk being taken. The elk bow season for the Eastern Sierras opened 8/10/02. He also let me know that they were watching the area and discouragign people from bothering the elk or the archery hunters. He said his supervisor had already tagged someone for harrassing the elk so you might want to keep the pic taking to the roadside only.

Camera was an Olympus 2100UZ with a Olympus B300 1.7 tele lens. The camera has a 10x optical zoom (384mm in 35mm camera talk) and the B300 adds another 300mm in lens. Range of pics is about 100 yards out to maybe 175 yards.











[ 08-15-2002, 12:29: Message edited by: spectr17 ]

Great Pictures spectr17!

Was he bugling or just keeping his herd intact?

Elk are such majestic animals!

Greg

Good pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Great shots - thanks for sharing

Super photos!

I take it that your Olympus is a digital? About what did this set-up cost you? Also, did you use digital zoom or just optical?

Thanks.

Thanks everyone, I love to watch and film the elk.

Amosgreg,

He was bugling, sniffing, raking and working himself into a lather.

Stonecreek,

The camera is digital and I never use the digital zoom, it's a waste of time and just pixelizes the pic.

I paid $550.00 for the camera 1 1/2 years ago but they are now near $400.00. This is one of the very few 10x optical digital cameras which really helps out in filming wildlife from afar. It is 2.1 megapixels which is good for printing up to 8 1/2" x 11" prints. If you need larger prints or want really sharp print pics you'll need to get a higher megapixel camera.

The B300 tele lens is no longer available and I paid $125.00 for mine. I've seen them going for $200.00 and higher now on eBay.

Thanks for taking the time to post these. Kinda makes me homesick!