TheConstantGardner
Well-Known Member
So I'm driving back from the big city today and decide to stop off and do a bit of hiking and see if I can get some good moose pictures. I stopped at a game refuge where there are always moose prevalent. I get my camera ready and march on down the trail.
Immediately upon entering the refuge I start to hear rustling in the spruce thickets. Instinctively I stop, raise the hat flaps from my ears and concentrate on sound while looking for movement. Everything goes silent.
I know where the moose are and deviate from the trail off across the frozen river and through the flats. There are tracks and dropping everywhere less than 100 yards from where I left the trail. I walk in the game trail to avoid the 20" of fresh snow and to lead me through the next large crop of spruce trees.
Is that movement I see in my peripheral vision? I swing my head and look through the thick frost covered growth. Something moved on my other side. Nothing. I don't see anything. Must be a snow hare.
Walking silently I press on. This is the only time of year I would ever quietly stalk through the forest for fear of startling a grizzly. This time, though, I want to press on quietly and maybe get some good shots of a herd of moose grazing under the snow for grass. It's only about 200 more yards to the clearing where I suspect they'll be. I'm already 200 yards in.
There! Directly in front of me is a massive bull! He's not more than 100 feet away and I can barely make him out through the cover of spruce. He stops. Such awesome camouflage. I raise my camera and get one shot. Movement off to my right. I spin and see another moose; this time it is a cow. I turn to look at the bull and realize just how hard it is to see them when they are still. Movement off to my left. I turn to see another bull and two cows standing silently in the timber.
I remember to breathe, now feeling light headed. These bulls look to weigh between 1,600 and 1,900 lbs each. The cows are nearly as large. Calves should be near by. Oh god, where are the calves? There is movement behind me. If I have come between the calves and their mother, I am in trouble.
One of the bulls and two of the cows turn towards me and take a step in my direction. My mind has already shut down. I can't run through 20" of snow, my only weapon is a camera body, and nobody knows where I am.
I have to have an exit strategy. I turn 180 and see another cow behind and to my left. I turn back around to face the larger of the threats and slowly start backing up.
Good, it appears they are content to let me retreat. Even the cow that was behind makes a few awkward bounds into a nearby tangle of bush.
As I walk back down towards the river, I can still hear them behind me. As I turned back, I could see them come to a standstill; they are following me out.
I make it back to the trail and quickly return to my truck a little spooked out at would could have turned ugly.
I'm going back tomorrow.
Here is the picture I snapped. There is a moose, and he's very hard to see. You can see part of his body, two legs, and part of his rack. There may also be ninjas...
Immediately upon entering the refuge I start to hear rustling in the spruce thickets. Instinctively I stop, raise the hat flaps from my ears and concentrate on sound while looking for movement. Everything goes silent.
I know where the moose are and deviate from the trail off across the frozen river and through the flats. There are tracks and dropping everywhere less than 100 yards from where I left the trail. I walk in the game trail to avoid the 20" of fresh snow and to lead me through the next large crop of spruce trees.
Is that movement I see in my peripheral vision? I swing my head and look through the thick frost covered growth. Something moved on my other side. Nothing. I don't see anything. Must be a snow hare.
Walking silently I press on. This is the only time of year I would ever quietly stalk through the forest for fear of startling a grizzly. This time, though, I want to press on quietly and maybe get some good shots of a herd of moose grazing under the snow for grass. It's only about 200 more yards to the clearing where I suspect they'll be. I'm already 200 yards in.
There! Directly in front of me is a massive bull! He's not more than 100 feet away and I can barely make him out through the cover of spruce. He stops. Such awesome camouflage. I raise my camera and get one shot. Movement off to my right. I spin and see another moose; this time it is a cow. I turn to look at the bull and realize just how hard it is to see them when they are still. Movement off to my left. I turn to see another bull and two cows standing silently in the timber.
I remember to breathe, now feeling light headed. These bulls look to weigh between 1,600 and 1,900 lbs each. The cows are nearly as large. Calves should be near by. Oh god, where are the calves? There is movement behind me. If I have come between the calves and their mother, I am in trouble.
One of the bulls and two of the cows turn towards me and take a step in my direction. My mind has already shut down. I can't run through 20" of snow, my only weapon is a camera body, and nobody knows where I am.
I have to have an exit strategy. I turn 180 and see another cow behind and to my left. I turn back around to face the larger of the threats and slowly start backing up.
Good, it appears they are content to let me retreat. Even the cow that was behind makes a few awkward bounds into a nearby tangle of bush.
As I walk back down towards the river, I can still hear them behind me. As I turned back, I could see them come to a standstill; they are following me out.
I make it back to the trail and quickly return to my truck a little spooked out at would could have turned ugly.
I'm going back tomorrow.
Here is the picture I snapped. There is a moose, and he's very hard to see. You can see part of his body, two legs, and part of his rack. There may also be ninjas...
