I decided to take one last trip to the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Range on October 2, 2021. I had not planned on making another trip this fall (my third) but I had a free afternoon so I decided to make the trip. I thought the fall colors in the trees might be at their prime so I should be able to get a few good shots. The afternoon was unseasonably warm (in the mid 80’s) so the elk were a little quite when we first got there. Most of the elk were just lying in the shade of the cottonwood trees. After about an hour the elk started getting up on their feet and started to get active. There were still a lot of elk in the area and there was plenty of bugling to be heard. The bulls seemed to have their harems pretty well established so most of the fighting was just lite tussles between younger bulls. I pretty much used my Canon R5 and my Canon 600mm F4 Version 2 lens for most of the pictures, but I did have my Canon 70-200mm 2.8 Version 3 on my old Canon 5D IV I used to take some wider shots. For it being a Saturday the crowds were actually not too bad. I can only attribute that to it being later in the season and maybe the hot weather.
A mature bull with this cows with the fall colors of the cotton wood trees on full display in the background.
An intimate moment between a bull and a cow while they were still laying down in the heat of the day.
A mature bull strolling around the cows.
This bull was caked in mud that gave him kind of a grey, ghost like appearance.
A mature bull making his way through the sage brush.
A bugling bull seranating a cow.
A large bull amongst the colorful under brush.
A colorful sunset with the elk and fall leaves of the Missouri River.
A bull elk near dark.