Last Call
I had just arrived in Yellowstone when I came across this bull near the Madison River. He had a much smaller group of females than another bull a little ways down the river. It was near the end of the fall rut and he was clearly exhausted, laying down in the meadow beside the river. Even when laying down with his head on the ground, his antlers stuck up and gave away his position. He never kept his head down for too long though, as eventually one of the other bulls in the area would bugle and he’d lift his head and call back.
I was dressed more for the day’s drive and not for the cold fall weather, so as the sun began to set my teeth began to chatter despite my winter coat. After spending an hour and half with this one bull, though, I finally got the look I wanted as he looked in my direction as he called out, nicely displaying his rack of antlers.
I chose a vantage point to give me a similar background to the bull below (taken in a similar location the year before), with the alternating fields of light and dark brown.
