Crested Butte Mountain Web Cam & Photos

Date: Sep 30, 2009

Caption: ‘Tis the Season in the Gunnison Country : : : : : : : : This time of year, it’s not uncommon to see trucks pulled over on the shoulders of Hwy. 135, their occupants “glassing” some teeny specs of elk, way up on the valley walls. The irony is that the elk are typically on private land (receiving little pressure from the folks in blaze orange), where the vast majority of hunters will never be able to get to them. So the hunters can look, scope and glass all they want, but unless they have a special relationship with the land owner or can pay the big bucks for a ranch hunt, all they can do is look. : : : : : : : : But on Wednesday evening’s drive home I noticed several cars (most of them not big, 4x4 trucks with gun racks in the back windows and orange ball caps on the dashes) pulled off on the shoulders of the highway, so I started eye-balling the meadows along side the road, hoping to catch a glimpse of what everyone was watching. Today’s shot is what they were checking out . . . this stout looking bull and his thirty-four-or-so girl friends. If you’ve never watched a heard of completely untamed elk in person (not the ones you see hanging out for peanuts and photos in the national parks), they are neat to see. Nervous, highly alert and never really standing still, this little herd seemed to ebb and flow like a liquid through the low areas of the pasture they were in. I can see where it would take a good bit of concentration on the part of a hunter to single out one animal for harvesting in that mass. The elk weren’t talking to each other much and were leery of vehicles pulled over, watching them. Seeing this herd was a nice treat to wrap up the day with. : : : : : : : : One more shot for you today . . .